Guided Walks | Private Tours | Podcast

By the nature of their work London tour guides are big into CPD (Continuing Professional Development). As part of our CPD, all London guides who work with us are encouraged not only to go on other local London walks led by fellow London Guided Walks guides but to also to attend tours by other tour guides. 

In January I had booked my place for a local London walking tour for February.  I had done this over their website (after having submitting more information than I really though necessary about myself - have they heard of GDPR?). Within minutes I had received a booking confirmation with an order number  and I was good to go. One vital piece of information was missing: the meeting place. This booking is for a guided walk after all and I needed to know where to meet my guide and fellow walkers. After a couple of emails asking for this information, on the day of the walk I had a response saying “I actually don't update the website very often as I use Facebook much more. Please see the event section of my FB page for further details. Cheers [Guide’s name]”

Lovely.

Technology and Travel

It makes sense for tour guides to be active on Facebook, that is usually how I first came across them. Interestingly, 55% of travellers will like at least one Facebook page relating to a trip they are planning. 52% of travellers also said that friends travel pictures inspired them to travel. (https://www.webfx.com/blog/social-media/social-media-mobile-travel/)

Tourism as an industry is well and truly up there with the other industry giants with stats that back that up and local tourism is a part of this. Surely, in years to come, continued growth with an increased uptake of technology by businesses and travellers together is expected?

But what about now? 

Social media now has more influence over traveller decision making than ever before. In fact, more than 50% of travellers from the US, UK, Canada, and Australia said that content, promotions and deals on social media influence their travel plans. (https://info.advertising.expedia.com/multi-national-travel-trends-in-the-tourism-industry)

76% of travellers prefer to research their journeys using a desktop. (https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/5-digital-trends-to-watch-in-hospitality-marketing-infographic/520225/) 

Armed with their research the customers are ready to book their London tours. The customers are ready. Why isn’t the industry? 

At London Guided Walks we deliver an end-to-end customer experience from research through to purchase and follow up. All bookings are sent a reminder with clear meet-up details including a map and on-the-day contact information. It’s not hard, but it takes care and consideration. True it’s difficult as a small business to keep on top of available softwares and best practices but we ourselves are customers in the wider world and we should aim to offer the same customer experience as we expect to receive.

London Guided Walks deliver private tours in London to Londoners and visitors alike. We ensure every guide is a London expert who represents their unique style of “infotainment”, mixing history and their own style of charismatic storytelling. See all private tours in London.

Written by Hazel Baker, Director of London Guided Walks