What We Do
Travel Trade Consulting Services
Explore Marketing offers a focused range of travel trade consulting services for destinations, DMOs, museums, attractions, sightseeing companies, and tourism technology providers. The goal is not simply to increase visitor numbers. It is to help organizations build the partnerships and distribution channels that bring the right visitors, create good experiences, and support long-term growth for communities and businesses alike.
Travel Trade Representation
Building the travel trade relationships that drive bookings
Explore Marketing provides hands-on travel trade representation at key industry events, sales missions, and buyer meetings on behalf of its clients. This includes major trade shows such as IPW, World Travel Market, ITB Berlin, and regional sales events across North American and international source markets. Good representation is about more than filling seats. It is about connecting the right visitors with the right experiences, and building the long-term trade relationships that sustain destinations, museums, and attractions over time.
- Trade show attendance and travel trade representation
- Sales missions to key domestic and international source markets
- Buyer meetings with inbound tour operators and OTAs
- Relationship development with receptive operators and wholesalers
- Follow-up and ongoing travel trade account management
- Market intelligence and competitive insights
Serves: Destinations, DMOs, museums, attractions, sightseeing companies, hotels
Contracting & OTA Distribution
Expanding your reach through the right tourism distribution channels
Contracting & OTA Distribution
Expanding your reach through the right tourism distribution channels
OTA distribution and travel trade contracting are the foundation of tourism business development. Explore Marketing helps clients identify the right distribution partners, from OTAs and attraction pass programs to wholesalers and receptive operators, negotiate favorable contract terms, and build a diversified channel strategy. Well-structured distribution reduces dependency on any single source of business and helps ensure that visitor spending reaches the local businesses, cultural institutions, and communities that depend on a healthy tourism economy.
- OTA partnership development and distribution contracting
- Attraction pass program participation (CityPASS, Go City, etc.)
- Wholesaler and receptive tour operator agreements
- Reseller and affiliate channel strategy
- Rate and inventory management guidance
- Tourism distribution channel audits and optimization
Serves: Attractions, museums, sightseeing companies, tourism technology providers
Strategic Sales & Marketing Planning
Practical tourism sales plans grounded in industry experience
Many tourism organizations know they need to grow travel trade business but are unsure where to focus. Explore Marketing provides strategic clarity, identifying the highest-potential markets, the most relevant travel trade channels, and the practical steps needed to build a sound tourism sales and marketing program. The best travel trade strategies attract visitors who engage deeply with a destination, support local businesses, and return, rather than simply maximizing short-term volume.
- Travel trade readiness assessments
- Market prioritization and segmentation for tourism organizations
- Tourism sales and marketing plan development
- Travel trade channel strategy and roadmaps
- Budget and resource planning guidance
- Performance metrics and KPI frameworks
Serves: DMOs, destinations, museums, attractions, tourism technology companies
Project-Based Tourism Consulting
Flexible support for specific tourism business development needs
Project-Based Tourism Consulting
Flexible support for specific tourism business development needs
Not every organization needs ongoing travel trade representation. Explore Marketing offers project-based consulting for specific, time-bound needs, whether launching a new OTA distribution channel, entering a new international market, or evaluating a travel trade partnership opportunity. Each project is approached with the same conviction: that thoughtful, well-executed tourism development creates real value for organizations, for the visitors they serve, and for the communities that host them.
- New international market entry strategy and execution
- OTA and distribution channel launch support
- Travel trade partnership evaluation and due diligence
- Tourism sales program audits and recommendations
- Short-term and long-term project assignments
- Interim tourism sales and marketing leadership
Serves: All tourism organizations — flexible scope and duration
Travel trade partnerships are a means to an end, and that end is more than bookings. It is visitors who engage genuinely with a place, spending that supports local businesses and cultural institutions, and communities that benefit from a tourism economy built to last.
Ready to Discuss Your Travel Trade Goals?
Every engagement begins with a conversation. Reach out to discuss how Explore Marketing can support your organization's travel trade sales and marketing goals.