Understanding Your Target Audience and Their Search Behavior

When tour and activity providers understand how travelers search online, they can stop guessing what to post and start showing up where it counts. The more you align your marketing with real customer behavior, the less you rely on expensive OTAs—and the more direct bookings you earn.

TL;DR - Key Takeaways

• Most travelers start planning trips on Google before visiting OTA sites.

• Local and seasonal keywords convert best (e.g., “kayak tours near Asheville in summer”).

• Mobile searches and reviews play a major role in booking decisions.

• Understanding how and why travelers search lets operators attract direct traffic.

• Smart tracking with GA4 and Booking Engine data (via custom reporting) can reveal where your customers come from.

How Travelers Search for Tours and Activities

Before travelers book, they explore. According to Google Travel Insights, over 70% of travelers begin their planning process on Google or YouTube. They type questions like:

• “Best things to do in Asheville this weekend”

• “Family-friendly hiking tours near me”

• “Sunset kayak tour reviews”

These aren’t just random searches—they’re digital breadcrumbs that reveal intent. Understanding these patterns is the first step toward meeting travelers where they already are.

Most people move through three phases:

1. Dreaming: They’re inspired by content, reels, or blogs about destinations.

2. Planning: They compare experiences, prices, and reviews.

3. Booking: They act fast once they feel confident in the provider.

Tour operators who tailor content to all three stages build trust early and stay top-of-mind when travelers are ready to book.

What Today’s Traveler Cares About Most

When travelers search online, their priorities are consistent—even if their destinations change. Across data from Booking.com, TripAdvisor, and Google Trends, five key motivators show up repeatedly:

When your website and listings reflect these motivators, your business earns credibility before a traveler ever clicks “Book Now.”

Understanding the Direct Booking Mindset

Many operators think travelers only find them through OTAs, but that’s changing. A growing number of travelers want to support small, local businesses directly. In 2024, Google reported that “book direct” searches in the travel category rose more than 40% year-over-year.

This means the opportunity is huge—but you have to capture that intent before OTAs do.

When someone searches “book direct with local tour company,” they’re:

• Trying to avoid OTA markups

• Looking for confirmation of legitimacy (reviews, photos, social proof)

• Expecting the same or better booking experience as OTAs

Your job is to make sure your website delivers that confidence. That means:

• Fast, mobile-friendly design

• Clear pricing and real-time availability via FareHarbor

• Prominent review badges and testimonials

• Local-focused content that reassures travelers they’re booking with the real expert.

How to Identify Your Target Audience

Your audience isn’t “everyone who travels.” It’s the specific group of people most likely to book your experiences.

Here’s how to define them:

1. Start with existing data. Look at Booking Engine, Google Search Console, and GA4 reports to find patterns. Where are your customers located? What devices do they use? What channels drive conversions?

2. Interview or survey guests. Ask why they chose your tour. Their answers often uncover motivations you can use in copy or ads.

3. Look at reviews. The words customers use to describe your tour reveal emotional triggers—“friendly guide,” “safe for kids,” “worth every penny.”

4. Analyze your competitors. Search your main tour type + city (e.g., “Asheville e-bike tour”). See which listings rank first and what keywords they emphasize.

When you understand who’s already booking (and why) you can focus your SEO and ad spend on people who look just like them.

SEO and Search Behavior: What Matters Most in 2025

Search engines and AI models are now emphasizing clarity and trust more than keyword density. For tour operators, this means practical SEO steps like:

• Writing web copy that matches search intent, not just search terms.

• Using structured data (schema) so Google and AI tools can easily identify your tours.

• Building topical content clusters (e.g., “Asheville waterfalls,” “Blue Ridge Parkway tours,” “things to do in Western NC”).

• Creating blog articles that answer conversational questions—like this one.

Use phrasing that mirrors how real people ask questions in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews—helping your content perform in both SEO and LMO contexts.

Using Data to Map Search Behavior

Tools like GA4 and Search Console can show where travelers are coming from, what they search before booking, and where they drop off.

Track these metrics regularly:

By connecting FareHarbor data with GA4, you can see not only how travelers find you—but why they book. This is where most operators miss the mark. They look at traffic without tying it back to revenue.

Adapting to Seasonal and Local Search Trends

Tour search behavior isn’t static. It changes with weather, school schedules, and travel seasons. For instance:

• Winter: “indoor activities near [city]” and “holiday tours” trend up.

• Spring: “outdoor adventure tours” and “things to do with kids” spike.

• Summer: “best tours near me” dominates mobile searches.

• Fall: “scenic drives” and “fall foliage tours” climb.

Use Google Trends to track these patterns for your location, then create seasonal pages or promotions. This helps maintain consistent traffic even in slower months.

Common Mistakes Operators Make

1. Targeting too broad an audience. Trying to rank for “tours” instead of “historic walking tours in Charleston.”

2. Ignoring intent. Writing content that doesn’t match what travelers are actually searching for.

3. Not tracking properly. Missing GA4 or Booking Engine data means lost insight.

4. Copying competitors blindly. What works for one market may flop in another.

5. Overcomplicating the message. Travelers don’t want jargon—they want clarity and trust.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How can I figure out what my target audience is searching for?
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or even your own Search Console data. Look for patterns in “people also ask” questions and build content that answers them directly.

2. Do travelers still book directly, or is everything through OTAs?
Direct bookings are growing fast, especially among travelers who value local experiences and fair pricing. OTAs are still useful for visibility, but your goal should be to convert those visitors into loyal, direct customers.

3. How often should I update my website content?
At least quarterly. Update your top pages before each season, refresh tour descriptions, and add blog posts about trending local topics.

4. Is SEO still worth it in 2025 with AI tools emerging?
Absolutely. AI engines still rely on clear, structured content. The better your SEO fundamentals, the more likely your business is to appear in AI-generated travel summaries.

5. What’s the best way to use GA4 for tour operators?
Set up event tracking for key actions—like viewing availability, clicking “Book Now,” or completing checkout. This helps you see which marketing channels actually lead to revenue.

Key Takeaways

• Travelers search with intent—understand those patterns, and you’ll reach them first.

• Direct booking growth is your best opportunity to reduce OTA dependence.

• Track everything: visibility, traffic, and conversions.

• Align your content with how travelers actually talk and search.

• Use data, not guesswork, to refine your audience and messaging.

When tour operators learn SEO, understand their target audience and how they search, marketing becomes less about guessing and more about guiding. Each search query is a signal—and when you listen closely, it tells you exactly how to get more people booking your tours directly.