Guests want memories of their tour & activity photos from adventure travel experiences.
We surveyed your guests to find out what they wanted in their photo experience! Continue reading to learn the details…
Good news — PicThrive’s online store makes it easy for guests to instantly buy and share tour & photo digital memories.
We designed our software to help facilitate the photo experience to make your life easier! We know that your guests are always experiencing the adventure with fresh eyes and big smiles, that’s why at PicThrive we’re also thinking about the guest’s perspective.
As a result, our team at PicThrive conducted a survey to ask your guests about their photo experiences. Our goal was to collect feedback and data so we could learn how to take your tour & activity photo program to the next level. Over 600 guests from all over the world participated in our survey and the information we collected gave a deep understanding of what guests loved and what they wanted to see improved. If you want to learn how to take your photo program to the next level – read on to find out!
THE TOP 3 REASONS WHY GUESTS WANT TO BUY PHOTOS
PHOTOS FOR THE MEMORIES
The overwhelming majority of guests told us that they buy photos to save their amazing memories. Guests want to remember their once-in-a-lifetime trip where mom, for example, was actually brave enough to speed down the zipline or battle the rapids on a rafting trip!
Saving these memories is the number one reason they pay for photos and that’s why it is essential that the memories are captured to perfection.
You can capture the best memories by including photography into the overall guest experience by taking goofy and candid photos. Make this possible by letting your guests know from start to finish that their unbelievable experience is being captured. If the photos tell the story of your guests’ adventure whether that experience is scuba diving, rafting, ziplining or surfing – your guests will always be willing to buy!
PHOTOS FOR SHARING
The 2nd most important reason guests purchased photos is in order to share their memories with friends and family! PicThrive makes sharing easy for guests as they can quickly share their photos/videos straight from their phone with 1-click. When guests are able to quickly share their photos, while they are still running on the high of the adventure, they engage with your brand and you’ll improve your online engagement. With built-in automated marketing tools, PicThrive helps to automatically increase your TripAdvisor reviews and Facebook shares with the goal of helping improve bookings and brand awareness for your company!
Check out how we helped increase one of our partner’s TripAdvisor reviews by 30% in only one season.
PROFESSIONAL QUALITY PHOTOS
Another big reason why guests want to buy photos is because they want high-quality images, trusting a professional to capture the photos for them. Smartphones cannot produce the same quality as a real camera, which is why selling high-quality photos of once in a lifetime moments becomes an opportunity you can capitalize on.
Don’t let your guests forget their great adventure with your tour company! If you are providing memorable experiences, guests want high-quality photos to remember it by! All memories should be captured by a professional DSLR camera as they produce high quality and clear images that your guest will value and want to purchase!
WHAT GUESTS DON’T WANT IN TOUR & ACTIVITY PHOTOS
When given the opportunity to provide suggestions, your guests took the time to provide honest feedback. This feedback is what helped shape our understanding of what your guests want and don’t want. By listening to what customers don’t want, you can prevent easily fixable problems from occurring and take your photo program to the next level.
Variety Needed:
| “If there are more photographers it would be better as the album did not have any photos of our boat on the river”.
“My nephew was only in one photo. Would like to know when and how many photos will be taken so to prepare for the photos. My nephew only came out in one photo.” “I would have liked more photos from other rapids.” “Maybe have another photographer do different location so back people can be seen.” “Let us know the photo opp was coming up. Sadly, my daughter is not in ANY of them!” |
Peak Experience – Why photos need to be part of the experience
| “If there had been some photos of the fish and or coral with myself in the picture with them” |
Scenic Photos:
| “It would be nice to have some nature pictures added to the gallery.” |
Group Photos
| “We were with a group and would have enjoyed a group photo.”
“Why didn’t we get a group photo taken before we boarded the bus? Most of the photos weren’t very crisp/clear plus our grandson was hardly seen. All in all, not happy.” |
Want to prevent these responses? Here’s what you can do to ensure you avoid these not so positive results and how to take your game to the next level.
WHAT GUESTS WANT TO SEE WITH TOUR PHOTOS
Your guests responded to our survey and voiced exactly what they were looking for in their photos and they all seemed to be looking for the same thing – quality, variety and diversity!
Guests want to see themselves doing cool activities, smiling and looking good with their friends and family.
Our survey shows that guests want enough photos to tell the story of their experience and this means you need a variety of shots. Below are some key features that guests have said are crucial to include in their albums:
WHAT GUESTS WANT:
- Group shots
- Individual shots
- Close ups on faces
- Action shots
- Lots of Variety: different angles and locations
- Smiling shots
- Scenic shots
We can ensure that including these features in your albums will increase your guest’s willingness to purchase your photos. These eight simple features are exactly what guests want and will be the key to your photo selling success.
QUALITY
Guest emphasized the importance of the photo quality. Guests are paying for pictures that they are unable to take themselves for lack of equipment or ability. Which means guests don’t want to buy blurry, off centered, or poorly exposed photos. The majority of guests said they value high quality, sharp images. They want to be proud to share the photos of their trip on Facebook and with friends/family. Luckily, it’s easy to produce quality photos by shooting with a DSLR camera, by following the rule of thirds and abiding by PicThrive’s Five Fundamentals.
The Five Fundamentals include:
- Group Photos
- Capture moments your guests can’t
- Provide photos from more than one location
- Use a real camera and lens
- Make photos part of the experience.
If you have a static photographer it may be in your best interest to hire more photographers, or have one photographer follow for a section of the trip. Another option is having your current photographer take a variety of photos, so that the photos don’t all look the same.
To create variety in your albums and make your guests happy have your staff take multiple group shots before the trip starts – this will get your guests together in one photo, which is a rare occasion. The guests have spoken and we’re certain that an increased variety of photos from different vantage points will increase your sales and make your guests happier!
If more photographers or increasing the variety of shots taken isn’t an option, try the Souvenir Photos feature in PicThrive. Souvenir Photos are a selection of the best photos taken of your guests which your photographer selects and puts in an album. When you sell Souvenir Photos you can guarantee your guests are purchasing the best of the best and that they will be extremely satisfied with the results!
WHY THESE RESULTS MATTER
Knowing what your guests want to see in their photos will help keep you ahead of the game this season. Impress your guests with a variety of quality shots and we know that applying these tips will have photos selling themselves.
WHY DOES PICTHRIVE CARE ABOUT WHAT MY GUESTS THINK
PicThrive is the only online partner that provides a Guest Experience Team that is dedicated to answering your guests’ questions and concerns – so you don’t have to!
We want you to focus on making the guests’ experience as amazing as possible by telling their stories through your professional pictures and with your guides’ charismatic personalities. As your partner, we love saving you time by dealing with your customers questions!
Having the advantage of knowing what your guests want in their albums will help you effortlessly specialize their photo experiences – and the happier your guests, the better your sales! Your happy guests will then share their photos through social media and improve your online engagement.
Guests want something to remember the experience by and to share! All you need to do is produce a variety of quality photos and your guests will be happy and buy. Just focus on capturing the precious memories of guests and let the rest happen via PicThrive! Read how it works here.
If you don’t take photos already, we suggest you create a photo program to boost your guests’ experience and to increases the revenue of your company. PicThrive helps you make that process super simple, helps produce an additional revenue stream, increases your social marketing capabilities and relieves you of guest photo support – since we do it for you!
About the Author
Karin Keller, Customer Success Associate; Co-op Student
Karin works in PicThrive’s Customer Success operations after holding a position at the Walt Disney Company at Disney Interactive as a Client Support Representative. Her expertise in tourism comes from her experience as a Tour Guide in Vancouver and Victoria, BC, Canada. Karin is also studying International Relations at the University of British Columbia.
Karin is currently a Vancouver-based travel and adventure photographer. Her passion for hiking and her pursuit of landscape images takes her all over the Pacific Northwest, to see her adventures follow her on instagram @karinkells.
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