In the crowded travel industry, standing out isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s essential. Whether offering hiking tours in the mountains or cooking classes in the city, your customers are bombarded with choices. With so much noise, how do you ensure your business isn’t just another option but an option for your audience? The answer lies in positioning.
Drawing insights from Al Ries and Jack Trout's classic Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, let’s break down how travel businesses—whether you're a tour operator, activity provider, or travel service—can apply the principles of positioning to cut through the noise and claim a distinct place in your customer’s mind.
The first rule of positioning is that you can’t be all things to all people. Trying to appeal to everyone dilutes your message and confuses your audience. Instead, you need to focus on a narrow segment and communicate a simple, clear message that resonates with them.
Take the case of a kayak tour operator. Instead of offering a wide array of outdoor activities—kayaking, hiking, fishing, etc.—focus solely on being the best kayak tour company in a specific region. This narrow focus gives you a competitive edge and allows you to communicate clearly what you do best. The more specific you are, the more your audience will remember you.
Let’s say your business is "Sunny Days Kayaking Tours." Your core message should be simple: “We offer the most scenic and serene kayaking experiences on the East Coast.” This clear and focused message helps you position as the go-to option for nature lovers looking for peaceful water adventures.
In today's over-communicated world, customers receive thousands of messages daily. The average consumer remembers just a tiny fraction of them. For your business to stand out, you must avoid complexity. A message cluttered with too many selling points or confusing jargon will get lost in the sea of information.
A good rule of thumb is to focus on one idea. Are you the “most family-friendly tour operator”? Or perhaps you run the “best adventure tours for solo travelers”? Pick one and own it.
If you offer guided walking tours through historic cities, your messaging should focus on one clear benefit. Instead of saying, “We offer fun, educational, and exciting tours with food and drinks included,” you could say, “The best historic walking tour for history buffs.”
Repetition is also key. The more consistently you reinforce your message, the more it sticks. Repeat your message across all platforms—your website, social media, brochures—until it becomes synonymous with your brand.
Being first in your customer’s mind is a huge advantage. But what if you aren’t the first in your category? If you can’t be the first, you need to create a new category or reposition yourself by offering a different angle.
Consider a travel business that offers vineyard tours. There are plenty of competitors, but instead of trying to outdo them in every way, create a unique category. Maybe you offer “the first vineyard tour designed for couples celebrating anniversaries.” This positioning creates a new category that plays to your strength and resonates with a particular group of people.
Imagine you own a bike rental business in a tourist town where there are already several competitors. Instead of trying to be the "best bike rental in town," why not focus on creating a category? You could be the “first bike rental designed for eco-conscious travelers,” offering electric bikes and carbon-neutral tours. Now, you’ve created a new niche in the minds of your potential customers.
Consumers often rank products and services on a "mental ladder." For example, they might think of the best tour companies in terms of a hierarchy: first, second, third, and so on. You must recognize where you are and position yourself appropriately if you're not at the top.
You can’t pretend to be the top option if you’re not there. Instead, embrace your place on the ladder and find a unique angle that speaks to your audience. Maybe you’re the “most affordable option” or the “most adventurous.”
If you run a whale-watching tour company in a region with three larger competitors, don’t try to compete with their size or resources. Instead, position yourself as the “intimate, small-group whale-watching experience” that offers a personal touch. Customers looking for a more private and less commercialized tour will remember you.
One of the biggest mistakes travel businesses make is expanding into too many categories. If you’re a successful operator of snorkeling tours, trying to jump into zip-lining, mountain climbing, and jet skiing might weaken your brand. Success in one category doesn’t guarantee success in others, and expanding too broadly can dilute your positioning.
If your travel business is known for offering top-tier surfing lessons, stick to that. Instead of adding a completely unrelated service like city tours, consider a natural extension like offering advanced surfing camps. This narrows your focus and reinforces your position as the go-to for surf experiences.
If you are fortunate enough to be the leader in your market—whether that’s based on size, quality, or reputation—it’s essential to keep reinforcing your leadership. Don’t assume that you can rest on your laurels just because you’re the biggest or the best. Leaders must continually innovate without diluting their core positioning.
If you operate your region's most popular zip-lining tour, keep reinforcing that position. Run campaigns that highlight your reviews, awards, and customer testimonials. Consider introducing a VIP zip-lining package, but make sure it ties back to your core promise: offering the most thrilling zip-line experience.
Not everyone can be the leader in their field, and that’s okay. People love a good underdog story.
Followers can often find great success by positioning themselves against the leader. Don’t try to beat the leader at their own game. Instead, focus on what makes you different and fill a gap the leader has left open.
Suppose you're operating a culinary tour in a city where one company dominates the high-end dining experiences. Rather than compete directly, you could position yourself as offering “the best street food and local eats tour,” targeting a different audience—people who want a more authentic and budget-friendly food experience.
Sometimes, the most effective way to position your business is by repositioning your competition. This doesn't mean launching an aggressive attack but subtly altering how your audience views your competitors. Instead of focusing on your strengths, you highlight how the competition’s strengths may not be as beneficial as customers perceive. It’s about finding a weakness in their strength and shifting the narrative.
Let’s say you run an eco-tourism company in a region where a larger operator has dominated the market for years. While their tours are popular, they might use larger buses or less sustainable practices. You can reposition your business as the “eco-friendly alternative” by subtly highlighting the environmental benefits of smaller, more sustainable group tours. By shifting how consumers perceive your competitor, you highlight your strength without making direct attacks.
A brand name is a crucial element of positioning. It needs to communicate who you are and what you do, and it must resonate with your audience. A strong, memorable name reinforces your positioning, while a weak or overly complicated name can hinder your ability to stand out.
If you offer high-end, bespoke vacation packages, your name should reflect that luxury and exclusivity. A name like “Elite Escape Adventures” instantly communicates high quality and exclusivity, while a name like “Travel Fun Packages” feels generic and fails to differentiate your brand. Choose a name that speaks to your core audience and reinforces your position in the market.
Many businesses fall into the trap of picking trendy or abstract names that don’t convey meaning to potential customers. While it may feel unique or modern, a name that doesn’t communicate what you offer will confuse or alienate customers, especially when clarity is key.
Let’s imagine you’re running a company offering outdoor adventure tours. A name like “Windswept” might sound poetic, but it doesn’t tell a potential customer anything about what you do. On the other hand, “Mountain Summit Tours” is clear and descriptive and immediately informs the customer what type of adventure they can expect. Avoid names that are too vague or abstract—they may seem cool, but don’t help your positioning.
Some brands make the mistake of trying to capitalize on the success of an established competitor by mimicking their name or style. While this may seem like a shortcut to success, it rarely works in the long run. Customers can tell the difference between the original and the imitator, and this strategy can dilute your brand.
If you're starting a new adventure tour company, don’t choose a name or branding that closely mimics the biggest player in your market. For example, if “Summit Adventures” is the established leader, naming your business “Summit Journeys” won’t get you ahead. Instead, it will confuse customers and make it harder for you to establish a unique identity. Focus on what makes you different, not what makes you similar.
Line extensions—when a brand expands into new categories using the same name—can dilute your positioning if not done carefully. While it might seem like a good way to grow your business, offering too many different products or services under the same brand can confuse customers and weaken your core identity.
Imagine your company specializes in hiking tours, and you've built a strong reputation for being the best in the region. If you suddenly start offering completely unrelated services, like spa packages or sailing trips, under the same brand name, your core customers might be confused. They associate your brand with hiking, and these new services could dilute that. Instead, stick to natural extensions of your core offering—like adding multi-day hiking expeditions or family-friendly options.
While line extensions can be risky, they can succeed when done thoughtfully. The key is to ensure that any new service or product you introduce reinforces your core positioning and makes sense in the consumer's mind.
If your business is a surf school known for teaching beginners, a natural extension could be offering advanced lessons for more experienced surfers. This makes sense to your audience and strengthens your position as the go-to brand for all levels of surfing instruction. The key is that the extension aligns with your existing brand rather than confusing your customers with unrelated services.
Xerox pioneered the photocopier business but struggled when it tried to reposition itself as a broader computer company. This illustrates the dangers of straying too far from your original core position. If you’re known for one thing, trying to be everything to everyone often leads to failure.
Let’s say you own a successful wine tour company in Napa Valley. If you decide to suddenly start offering business consultancy services, you risk losing the trust and clarity you’ve built in your original market. While diversification is tempting, staying true to your established reputation is important. Stick to what you’re known for, and build on that success rather than moving into areas where you lack expertise or credibility.
Positioning doesn’t just apply to companies and products—it can even apply to entire countries. Belgium, for instance, is often associated with chocolate and beer, which helps the country position its tourism and exports around these national strengths. The key takeaway for businesses is leveraging existing perceptions and building on them rather than trying to fight against them.
If your tour business operates in a region known for its rich history, such as Rome or Athens, lean into that perception. Position yourself as the expert in historical tours, offering deep insights and access to hidden gems that reinforce the area's cultural heritage. Leveraging existing perceptions makes it easier to connect with potential customers who already have a mental image of what the destination offers.
Milk Duds overcame consumer objections about the candy being “too chewy” by repositioning it as a treat that “lasts longer.” Positioning is about demonstrating your strengths, addressing objections head-on, and turning them into positives.
If you're a tour company that offers long, full-day excursions, you might encounter customers who are hesitant because they think it sounds tiring. You can reframe this by positioning your tours as “immersive, full-day adventures where you get to see it all” rather than just another long tour. This shifts the narrative, turning what might be a negative into a positive selling point.
Services, just like products, need clear positioning. To succeed, your messaging should focus on your service's specific benefits and why it’s superior to alternatives. People need to quickly understand what you offer and why they should choose you.
If you operate a luxury travel service, make sure your messaging highlights specific benefits such as “exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime experiences” and “customized itineraries tailored to your every need.” This differentiates your service from others focusing on budget travel or group tours. Reinforce these benefits consistently across all your marketing channels to ensure your positioning sticks.
In a highly competitive industry like travel and tourism, effective positioning is the difference between being remembered and being overlooked. You can create a strong, memorable position in your customer's mind by narrowing your focus, keeping your messaging clear and simple, and avoiding common pitfalls like diluting your brand. Whether you're a tour operator, activity provider, or travel service, these principles from Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind offer actionable strategies to help you cut through the noise and become the go-to option for your audience.
Take the time to evaluate your current positioning. Are you trying to be everything to everyone? Is your message clear and easy to remember? Applying these principles will create a lasting impression and ultimately grow your bookings.