Spending money on experiences over things is becoming more popular. Most people today prefer going to art exhibits, doing extreme outdoor activities, and traveling to places—the things that allow them to create wonderful memories. This is good news to travel and hospitality businesses, especially that many customers can now plan and book their trips online.

According to statistics, over 148.3 million people make reservations for their accommodations, tours, and activities via the Internet while 57% of travel reservations are made online. Booking and travel apps like Airbnb, Hopper, and Booking.com are getting more attention due to the level of convenience they provide.

The mere fact that this generation’s travelers are digitally dependent means that travel and hospitality businesses should not miss the huge opportunity to connect with them using digital channels like email. Email marketing for travel and hospitality businesses could mean a lot, as it can help them meet different business objectives such as captivating travelers to boost reservations, increasing loyalty, and providing better customer support.

Just like other digital marketing strategies, there are rules to follow to make email marketing a driver of revenue. Here are email marketing tips for your travel and hospitality business.

Send personalized travel inspirations

Personalizing your emails should not just be about calling customers by their first names. Customers will find high value in your email when you give them travel ideas and inspirations according to their liking.

You can start by looking at your customer information to know about their recent trips. Are they into islands and beaches? Or are they urban travelers? Which country or continent do they usually go? This information can be useful to come up with recommendations your customers will more likely to avail.  

Use emotions to drive action

No one wants to miss a great travel deal. Create a sense of urgency by emailing them a countdown timer to your limited travel offers. The fact that a good deal is about to expire soon will build excitement and can drive them to act immediately. To avoid frustration among customers, recommend a similar travel deal once your limited offer expires.

Read more: How to Use Intrigue to Increase Your Email Open Rates

Address abandoned booking offers immediately

A study showed that the travel industry as a whole suffers a high abandonment rate at 81%. The good news here is that email has been effective in addressing abandoned bookings.

By sending a follow-up email to your customer, you can remind them about their unfinished booking. You can attract them further by giving a hard-to-resist discount on the abandoned offer.

Timing is everything with abandoned cart emails. It is recommended that you send it within the first 60 minutes, when the interest is still hot and customers are most engaged with you.

Plan your customer’s trip on special days and holidays

Be mindful of the days and seasons when people travel a lot to avoid missing out on opportunities. These include holidays, summer, and long weekends.

Check your database for birthdays and anniversaries so you could recommend a trip to as a gift for themselves or their loved ones. Be sure to send this email days or weeks before the special day just when they are about to make plans.

Read more: 5 Vacation Autoresponders Everybody Hates to Receive

Experiment, test, and analyze

The great thing about email is that it’s easy to test strategies due to the quality and amount of data provided by your analytics. Perform an A/B testing in your email marketing by sending two versions to similar segments and identifying which email yields better results. You can also check which call-to-action have better performance by changing the color your button or the messaging.

There are many email elements that you can tweak for your experiment. What’s important is that you test and analyze them properly to arrive at correct conclusions.

Since the digital revolution has changed the way travelers plan their trips and bookings, email automation is a significant strategy that helps the travel industry in keeping up with the trend. Follow these email marketing tips for travel and hospitality business, and expect more reservations, bookings, and travelers for you.