Tourism & Travel Marketing That Books More Travelers

It depends on your destination, your season and the services you need. Most tour and travel clients pair SEO as the long-term foundation with paid search to capture travelers who are ready to book this week.

We’ll right-size a plan to your tours, your competition and your booking goals, and we’ll show you exactly where each dollar goes.

Very. At the typical hospitality business in the calls we've listened to, 30% (about 1 in 3) of calls went to voicemail or were never picked up: 34% during business hours and 28% after hours. And most of those callers do not try again: 72% of callers who reached voicemail did not call that business again within a week.

That is why we track every call from your campaigns, flag missed calls, and help you set up call routing, after-hours coverage and fast call-backs, so the leads you pay for are not lost at the front desk.

Based on calls to 7 hospitality businesses we market, Apr to Sep 2026.

Mostly business hours: 30% of calls came outside Monday to Friday 9 to 5 (18% on weekends), and the busiest day is Tuesday. Of the calls that were answered, 52% were new-customer inquiries, 29% were existing customers, and 9% were sales pitches or wrong numbers.

That mix is why we report on qualified calls, not raw call counts.

Based on 4,300 calls to 11 hospitality businesses we market, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026 (timing) and Apr to Sep 2026 (call types).

Across the Google Ads accounts of the 15 hospitality businesses we manage, the median cost per lead over the last 12 months was $80, with a median cost per click of $2.60 and a median conversion rate of 2%.

Your number depends on your market, services and how well the landing page and phones convert. We use these medians as a starting benchmark, then work to beat them.

Source: Google Ads accounts managed by SmartSites, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026; a lead is a tracked call or form conversion as set up in each account.

For the 5 travel businesses whose Google Business Profiles we manage, the median profile got about 1,770 views, 56 calls and 196 direction requests a month over the last year.

Reviews, photos, accurate hours and categories move those numbers, which is why local SEO is part of every plan we build for a travel business.

Source: Google Business Profile performance data for profiles managed by SmartSites, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026.

Online travel agencies are useful for reach, but every booking costs you a commission. We win more of those travelers back by ranking your own pages for destination and activity searches, running brand and high-intent Google Ads, and building a website where checking availability and booking takes less effort than on a third-party listing. Email and SMS then bring past guests back without another commission.

We plan around your calendar, not a flat monthly routine. Paid budgets ramp up ahead of peak season when travelers start planning, then shift toward last-minute and nearby audiences once they’re in town. SEO content goes live months before the season it targets, and off-season email keeps your list warm for early-bird bookings and repeat visits.

Results vary by market and starting point, but our tourism and travel case studies include a 1200% increase in leads for Pacificortez Sailing SA de CV, a 1474% increase in organic site traffic for Hawaii Ocean Rafting, a 1400% increase in conversions for Trophy Gators and a 158% increase in revenue for Empire Cruises.

Paid search usually produces bookings and inquiries within the first month, and it’s where cost efficiency shows up first. Hawaii Ocean Rafting saw an 89% improvement in cost per lead. SEO needs a season or two to mature, then keeps filling dates; Foods of NY Tours grew organic conversions 37%. We report on bookings and revenue, not just traffic.

Very. Travelers searching “tours near me” or “boat rental near me” on their phones choose largely from the map pack and the star ratings next to each listing. We optimize your Google Business Profile with photos, tour categories and booking links, keep your listings consistent across directories, and set up post-trip review requests so happy guests actually leave reviews.

Yes. We optimize for generative engines (GEO) as well as traditional search, so your tours show up when travelers ask ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews or Perplexity what to do on their trip. That means clear, well-structured pages about each experience, consistent business details across the web, and tracking that includes AI mentions and citations, not just rankings.

Yes. Our travel clients include ocean and sailing tour operators, food tours, guided outfitters, event cruise lines, vacation planners and marinas. The playbook adapts to how each one sells: ticketed departures, private charters, custom trip planning or slip rentals and boat services. What stays the same is the focus on tracked bookings and inquiries.