David London of Softrip shares his perspective as a tech startup founder on how to achieve product-market-fit and understand whether your tour business might be stuck in a certain growth phase.
This live webinar is part of Tourpreneur’s ongoing series of biweekly livestreams.
Running a tour business is never static. Whether you’re just starting out or already making steady revenue, chances are you’ve hit a few plateaus — or worse, gotten stuck. Growth isn’t linear, and the tourism industry, marked by global instability, changing customer behavior, and shifting trends, only adds to the uncertainty. But the good news is that uncertainty can be your greatest opportunity — if you know how to harness it.
This guide outlines a structured approach to understanding the stages of tour business growth and how to move from one stage to the next. Based on lessons from the startup world, it’s about replacing assumptions with discovery, testing before building, and learning how to focus your energy on the right things at the right time. Let’s walk through the key stages and the mindset shifts that will help you grow — with less frustration and more clarity.
1. Embrace Uncertainty as the Norm
The tourism industry is inherently volatile — geopolitical events, visa regulations, weather, and consumer sentiment can all shift quickly. Instead of fearing these changes, use them as opportunities. Operators who remain flexible and see uncertainty as a challenge to solve are the ones who thrive during disruption.
The right mindset is everything. Treat your business as a constant work-in-progress. That means being willing to adapt your tours, routes, and offerings as new realities emerge. Ask yourself regularly:
- What has changed in the last 3 months that might affect customer behavior?
- Are my tours still solving a real, urgent problem?
- Where are new pockets of opportunity emerging?
2. Stop Planning, Start Testing
A common trap is to over-plan before launching a new product or experience. It’s easy to believe you need a fully built-out tour, perfect supplier relationships, a polished website, and detailed systems before you start selling. In reality, action beats perfection every time.
Get your idea in front of real customers as quickly as possible. Build a one-page landing site, post in a relevant Facebook group, or ask your mailing list to pre-register. Then use their responses to decide what to build next. Try this instead:
- Launch with a pilot trip before committing to five.
- Use simple tools like Google Forms or Stripe to take early bookings.
- Talk directly to potential customers before finalizing your itinerary.
3. Differentiate Between Imagined and Discovered Needs
Many tour operators build their business around what they imagine customers want, only to discover later that they were wrong. There’s a huge difference between needs you think exist and those you learn through real interaction and feedback.
To avoid wasted effort, start with discovery. Your customers will tell you what matters — if you ask the right questions and observe their behavior. Look for:
- Pain points they mention repeatedly in conversations or reviews.
- Workarounds they’ve created because of your current offering.
- Features or destinations they request that aren’t yet part of your lineup.
4. Do Things That Don’t Scale (Yet)
Before you worry about automation, scale, or tech stacks, you need to validate your offering. That means doing the unglamorous work yourself — replying to inquiries manually, handling payments via PayPal, or walking into local restaurants to build partnerships.
This effort gives you valuable insight into what really works. You can systematize and scale later. At this stage, focus on:
- Manually building relationships with your first 50 customers.
- Personally following up on every inquiry or lead.
- Running small-group test trips before scaling to large tours.
5. Know When You’re Ready for Systems
Many tour operators jump into buying expensive tech or building out infrastructure before they actually need it. If you’re not overwhelmed by demand or losing hours to manual processes, you’re probably not ready yet.
Use chaos as your benchmark. When you can no longer manage your bookings on spreadsheets or feel your service quality slipping due to growth, it’s time to consider better systems. Signs you’re ready include:
- You’re manually repeating the same process dozens of times per week.
- You’re hiring team members to manage basic admin tasks.
- You’re losing leads or creating guest confusion because of lack of structure.
6. Understand the Four Stages of Growth
Tour business growth happens in four distinct stages. Understanding which stage you’re in helps you prioritize the right actions and avoid wasting time on the wrong ones.
Here’s how they break down:
- Stage 1: Satisfaction – Is your offering delighting customers? Do they want to come back or refer others?
- Stage 2: Demand – Can you consistently acquire new customers? Are your marketing channels working?
- Stage 3: Efficiency – Can you fulfill tours profitably and smoothly at scale?
- Stage 4: Scale – Are you expanding into new markets or trip types while maintaining high satisfaction?
7. Focus First on Sales and Marketing
Many operators spend too much time polishing their backend systems or designing tours — and not enough time selling. Until you’ve validated strong customer demand and created consistent bookings, sales and marketing should dominate your work week.
Shift your energy toward:
- Building your email list and nurturing leads.
- Testing different acquisition channels (organic content, OTAs, partnerships).
- Refining your messaging until it clearly resonates with your ideal customer.
8. Find and Focus on Your Ideal Customer
Trying to appeal to everyone often means resonating with no one. Instead, go narrow and deep. Choose a niche customer profile and build tours specifically designed for them. Then craft marketing messages that speak directly to their needs and desires.
To define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP):
- Identify where they spend time online (e.g., vegan Facebook groups, travel forums).
- Understand their physical lifestyle (e.g., golf clubs, yoga retreats, adventure expos).
- Tailor every message, image, and offer to this specific group.
9. Don’t Fall for the Shiny Object Syndrome
The temptation to keep building new tours, targeting new markets, or creating new features can be strong — especially when revenue plateaus. But often, the answer isn’t more. It’s better.
Instead of adding more to your plate, double down on what already works:
- Improve the performance of your best-selling tours.
- Increase margins on existing products through better supplier deals.
- Create better onboarding or referral incentives to increase lifetime value.
10. Align Your Whole Business to the Same Stage
Different parts of your business can be at different stages. You might have a stellar product team designing brilliant itineraries, but a weak sales engine. Or amazing marketing that leads to poor post-sale experiences. For sustained growth, every department needs to evolve together.
Do a quick audit:
- Is your operations team able to deliver the promises your sales team is making?
- Does your customer service reflect the quality of your tours?
- Is your onboarding experience aligned with your brand tone?
The goal is stage alignment — making sure your entire team and every system is optimized for your current phase of business.
