Optimize Your Tour Business with Jeff Woelker

The Travel Marketing Podcast

Description: Welcome to another episode of The Travel Marketing Podcast brought to you by Propellic. I am Brennen Bliss, your host, and today, I am joined by Jeff Woelker, founder of The Underground Donut Tour - an ingenious tour concept with 13 locations across the US. He's also the CEO of Ixperimint.

In today's episode, Jeff and I discuss topics such as what to do with unbooked tour times, the mindset around paid versus organic traffic, and when you should give up on an underperforming channel. Jeff also shares his extensive knowledge and experience in marketing applied to tourism, he gives great advice about what to do and what to avoid when promoting your business online.

Key Takeaways:

[1:21] What has been the most memorable travel experience for Jeff?

[2:08] Jeff talks about The Underground Donut Tour’s international locations.

[2:33] What is The Underground Donut Tour and what makes it unique?

[4:55] Jeff is also the Founder and CEO of Ixperimint.

[6:54] What was the pandemic like for the Underground Donut Tour?

[8:34] The three competencies: GWC: Get it, Want it, and the Capacity to do it.

[9:51] In regard to marketing, Jeff talks about what can be done that is paid versus what is not paid.

[13:45] Jeff talks about his philosophy of paid.

[16:03] What channels are working well for Jeff right now and which aren’t?

[18:15] Jeff talks about the partnership with Airbnb.

[19:27] Jeff and Brennen talk about booking tours on Expedia

[20:40] Jeff talks about a complete marketing failure he had launched.

[22:26] When did Jeff realize Facebook was not working for his company and decide to cut it off?

[24:20] What is Jeff noticing currently in travel behavior?

[29:27] What is going to be Jeff’s next trip?

Mentioned in this episode:

The Travel Marketing Podcast is brought to you by Propellic

Learn more about Jeff Woelker

Underground Donut Tour

Ixperimint.

Tweetables and Quotes:

“If you are not paying commissions for the bookings then you have to take your business elsewhere.”— Brennen Bliss

“You have to figure out where you can win consistently.” — Jeff Woelker

“What is a “truly organic” sale today?” — Jeff Woelker

“A brilliant optimization strategy is that regardless of what channels it falls under when you have a gap in time you fill it with something that is going to generate PR for the company.” — Brennen Blis

“People are more cautious now than they were pre-COVID” — Jeff Woelker