Tourism and hospitality businesses looking to grow their international visitor market will now be able to access top tips on how to work with the Travel Trade.

Developing a travel trade strategy for North East England is a key strand of Destination North East England, the country’s first Destination Development Partnership Pilot. Part of this strategy is to engage with businesses who want to grow their international visitor numbers by working with online tour operators, travel agents and buyers from key overseas markets.

To support visitor attractions, hotels, transport providers and tourism experience providers in ensuring they are “Travel Trade Ready” a toolkit has been created to give businesses a step-by-step guide on what they need to do to adapt their business.

To be able to start attracting international visitors who book a trip through a travel agent or online tour operator, businesses in the region will need to think about creating a bookable product that can be booked in advance.

The How to Get Involved with Travel Trade Guide gives essential tips and information on:

• Who is the Travel Trade?

• What is the benefit to your business in working with the Travel Trade?

• What is a bookable product and how can you create one?

• What is a familiarisation trip and how will it benefit my business?

It also highlights the benefits of working with the Travel Trade such as being able to fill gaps in their season when visitor numbers may traditionally be lower; manage staffing levels as bookings will be made further in advance; increase visitor spend as international visitors spend three times more than domestic travellers and working with a tour operator means a business can reach new markets and customers that they wouldn’t be able to reach on their own.

Alongside this toolkit Destination North East England has also been running a series of webinars to further support businesses looking to work with the Travel Trade.