There’s a feature sitting inside your booking platform right now that can raise revenue per booking, and most tour operators have never turned it on.
It’s not a new upsell page. It’s not a loyalty program. It’s a simple sequence of automated pre-arrival emails and SMS reminders – messages that go out between the time a guest books and the time they show up at your tour.
This article breaks down exactly how these sequences work, what to include in each message, and how to set them up inside the most common booking platforms. If you’re running tours, activities, or experiences and you’re not doing this yet, this is the fastest revenue lever available to you.
Why Your Booking Platform Is Sitting on Untapped Revenue
Most tour operators think about automated emails in one of two ways: the booking confirmation (which they have) and maybe a post-tour review request (which they might have). The space in between – the period from booking to arrival – is almost universally ignored.
That’s a mistake, because the window between booking and arrival is the highest-value moment in the entire guest relationship. Here’s why:
- The guest is engaged. They just gave you money and they’re excited. They want information. They want to feel good about the decision they made.
- The sale is already made. You’re not trying to convert a cold lead – you’re communicating with someone who is already coming. Every message has a captive audience.
- Upsell context is natural. “You’re going to love the canyon hike – here’s what to bring” slides into “would you like to add a professional photo package?” more cleanly than any cold pitch.
Every message in this window reaches a guest who has already paid, so any revenue it adds comes from bookings you already have.
Where the Extra Revenue Comes From
The added revenue comes from three effects that build on each other:
- Reduced no-shows and cancellations. Guests who receive pre-arrival touch points are less likely to forget, ghost, or cancel on a whim. Fewer no-shows means more revenue per booking slot.
- Increased add-on conversions. Pre-arrival emails surface upgrades, merchandise, or companion bookings while the trip is top of mind, when guests are most open to adding to it.
- Higher tip and review rates post-tour. Guests who feel well-informed and cared for before arrival tip more and review more. Reviews compound into future bookings.
The feature already exists in most booking platforms. The only question is whether you’ve switched it on.
The Anatomy of a High-Converting Reminder Sequence
A standard pre-arrival sequence has three messages. Each one has a job.
Message 1: The Booking Confirmation + Welcome (Immediate)
This goes out automatically the moment a booking is made. Most platforms send this by default. What matters is what’s in it. A strong booking confirmation does more than confirm the reservation. It:
- Confirms the details (date, time, meeting point, number of guests)
- Sets expectations (“Your guide will meet you at the front entrance in a branded jacket”)
- Signals what’s coming (“We’ll be in touch a few days before your tour with everything you need to know”)
- Opens the door to add-ons without pressure (“Want to add a private photography package? You can do it anytime before your tour date.”)
Message 2: The Pre-Arrival Email (48-72 Hours Before)
This is the workhorse of the sequence. It goes out two to three days before the tour and does the heavy lifting on both logistics and revenue.
Subject line formula: “Everything you need to know before [Tour Name] on [Date]”
What to include:
- Logistics block: Address, parking, check-in instructions, what to wear, what to bring
- Experience primer: A paragraph that builds anticipation – what makes this experience special, what they’ll see or do
- Add-on pitch (soft): One relevant upgrade offered naturally in context (“Guests who add our VIP tasting upgrade tell us it’s the best $30 they spent all trip”)
- Contact info: A direct line in case anything changes or they have questions
This email reduces last-minute calls to your inbox, reduces no-shows, and converts add-ons at a higher rate than checkout upsells because the guest is now imagining the experience in detail.
Message 3: The Day-Before SMS
Short. Practical. Text only.
“Hi [First Name], we’re looking forward to seeing you tomorrow for [Tour Name] at [Time]. Meeting point: [Address]. Questions? Reply here or call [Phone]. See you then!”
This message has one job: ensure the guest shows up. Text open rates hover around 98%. If you send one SMS in your entire pre-arrival sequence, make it this one.
What Makes These Messages Convert
The difference between a reminder sequence that drives revenue and one that gets ignored comes down to four principles:
1. Personalization at the basic level. First name, tour name, date, and time should be dynamically inserted. Generic messages feel like spam; specific messages feel like service.
2. One clear CTA per message. Don’t ask guests to do six things. Pick one. The pre-arrival email’s job might be “click here to add the photo package.” The SMS’s job is “show up.”
3. Helpful, not salesy, tone. Every upsell should be framed as information or care, not a pitch. “Many guests bring sunscreen and a light jacket – and if you want to take home professional photos, we have a package for that” lands better than a hard sell.
4. Mobile-first formatting. Most of your guests will read these on a phone. Short paragraphs. No walls of text. Single-column layout. Large tap targets on any buttons or links.
How to Set This Up in Your Booking Platform
Every major tour operator booking platform has some version of automated messaging. Here’s where to find it:
Peek Pro: Go to Setup > Communications > Automated Messages. You can configure email and SMS sequences by trigger (booking confirmation, X days before, etc.). Peek Pro calls these “pre-arrival notifications”.
FareHarbor: Navigate to Dashboard > Company > Communications. Automated emails can be set up per activity with custom timing and content. SMS requires the add-on messaging feature.
Rezdy: Under Settings > Notifications > Customer Notifications. Rezdy supports email sequences with merge tags for personalization and allows timing triggers based on days before the booking date.
Bokun: Communications > Automated Emails. Supports HTML email templates and conditional logic (e.g., only send add-on pitch if guest hasn’t already purchased an add-on).
If you’re not sure where to find this in your platform, search your platform’s help docs for “automated messages” or “pre-arrival notifications” – or contact their support and ask them to walk you through setup. Most platforms have this feature and under-promote it.
The Revenue Compounding Effect
The first gain shows up on each booking. The bigger gain builds over time:
- Higher tip rates improve staff retention, which reduces hiring costs
- More reviews improve search visibility, which drives organic bookings at lower acquisition cost
- Fewer no-shows improve your ability to fill waitlists and manage capacity
- Guests who felt well-served before arrival are more likely to rebook and refer
Here is an illustration. A tour operator running 200 bookings a month at an average booking value of $150 brings in $30,000 a month. If one guest in ten adds a $10 upgrade, that is $200 more a month; at one in four, $500. Track your add-on rate for a month before the sequence goes live and a month after to see what it adds to revenue per booking for your tours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will guests find these messages annoying?
Not if they’re useful. The key is making sure every message has a clear reason for existing – logistics, a helpful tip, a direct piece of information the guest actually needs. Reminder spam happens when operators send generic messages. Genuinely helpful messages get clicked and appreciated.
How many messages is too many?
Three is the sweet spot for most tours: confirmation, 48-72 hour email, and day-before SMS. For multi-day tours or high-ticket experiences, you can add a one-week-out email. Anything more than four messages is likely to generate unsubscribes.
What’s the best time of day to send the pre-arrival email?
Early morning (7-9 AM in the guest’s local time zone) or early evening (6-8 PM) tend to perform best. Avoid midday and late-night sends. If you can’t control timing precisely, a morning send is the safer default.
Do I need to write all this content myself?
No. Start with a template for each message type, then personalize the tour-specific details. Most booking platforms provide starter templates you can edit. If you’d like a set of plug-and-play templates calibrated to your tour type, that’s something a marketing partner can build out in a single session.
What if a guest doesn’t open the emails?
That’s why the SMS exists. SMS doesn’t require an open – it lands on the lock screen. Even if your pre-arrival email lands in the promotions tab, the text message reaches the guest’s lock screen.
The Bottom Line
Tour operator email automation – specifically the pre-arrival reminder sequence – is one of the lowest-effort, highest-return improvements available to any activity business running a modern booking platform., and it earns on bookings you already have.
If your booking platform supports automated messages, and most do, the infrastructure is already there. You just have to turn it on and write three emails.
If you want help building out your sequence, setting the right timing, or crafting messaging that actually converts add-ons – that’s exactly what BeaconPoint does for tour operators and experience businesses. Start a conversation with us.