23 Free Marketing Tools For Tour and Activity Operators

Investing in the right marketing tools is a tricky business, especially if you’re just starting out.

You have to consider a number of things, including its features and how you can tailor it to your business. The best way to find out whether a tool is working for you is by first trying its free plan.

With that said, not all software tools offer free versions. To save you time, we’ve put together a list of 23 free marketing tools for tour and activity operators.

These tools will help you market your tour packages through each step of marketing on search engines, social media and forums.

Quick check: Before discussing marketing tools, how solid is your online presence?

A compelling online presence is the foundation of any successful marketing strategy.

For tour and activity operators, this begins with a well-designed, user-friendly website with features to increase travel website bookings.

Before getting on with the marketing features, we’d love to introduce two notable platforms that cater to the travel industry: WP Travel Engine and Tripcart.

They’re built to increase your business’s credibility, improve visibility on search engines, and simplify bookings.

WP Travel Engine

WP Travel Engine is a comprehensive WordPress plugin designed to transform your website into a fully functional travel booking platform.

You can create unlimited packages for tours and activities, as well as sell and collect payments using the same interface.

As a WordPress plugin, it is very customizable and easy to use.

WP Travel Engine also gives you a comprehensive breakdown of your analytics, including the total number of your bookings, payments received, new customers, and more. 

Key features include:

• Ease of Setup: The plugin integrates seamlessly with WordPress. This means you can install the plugin quickly and intuitively. 
• SEO-Friendly Design: Built with SEO best practices, WP Travel Engine ensures your travel packages are easily discoverable by search engines, enhancing organic visibility.
• Performance Optimized: Core Web Vitals and lazy loading optimized for speed.
• Customizable Templates: Access to various themes and templates to help you to tailor your website’s appearance to align with your brand identity.
• Integrated CRM Tools: Manage customer relationships effectively with built-in CRM functionalities.
• Payment Gateway Integration: Supports multiple payment gateways, facilitating smooth and secure transactions for your clients.

WP Travel Engine also has a massive community of tour and activity operators with over 20,000+ active bookings to date.

It also has excellent customer support reviews, so you know their team will have your back if you run into an issue.

Tripcart

If you want a non-WordPress solution, go for Tripcart.

Tripcart is an all-in-one travel booking solution for tour and activity operators.

It offers powerful booking and management features, as well as great website-building features, including free hosting and an integrated website builder.

Through its upselling tools, you can boost your average order value by recommending a premium experience or selling complementary experiences with its cross-selling tools.

Plus, you can recover abandoned carts by sending your clients automated reminders.

Key features include:

• User-friendly website Builder: Design professional websites using customizable templates tailored for the travel industry.
• Automated Email Notification: Send email reminders for every booking confirmation and other reminders.
• Accommodation: Add accommodations like hotels, hostels, and rentals to your trip packages.
• Advanced Multi-Workspace Support: Supports 9+ secure and reliable payment gateways, including options for deposit payments.
• Comprehensive Booking Management: Manage bookings efficiently with tools that seamlessly handle reservations, cancellations, and customer inquiries.
• Multi-Workspace Support: Handle multiple travel websites through the same interface.
• Analytics and Reporting: Gain insights into your website performance and user behavior.
• Advanced SEO Tools: Enhance your site’s search engine ranking with built-in SEO tools, including customizable titles, meta descriptions, and URL optimization.

Top 23 Free Marketing Tools for Tour and Activity Operators

Social Media Marketing & Management

Social media is what gets everyone talking about your business.

According to WinSavvy, 48% of travelers have booked a trip based on social media marketing platforms. This number highlights the need to set up a good social media presence for your bookings.

You need high-quality visuals and consistent posting to establish a strong social media presence. Here are three tools that will help you with this:

1. Meta Business Suite

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could manage your Facebook and Instagram posts on the same interface?

Well, with Meta Business Suite, you can! 

Meta Business Suite is a great platform to help you create, manage, schedule, and edit posts for Facebook and Instagram and collect insights.

To access Meta Business Suite, you must create a Facebook page and a business instagram account. Once you link your Instagram account to your page, you can start managing your posts and stories through this platform.

Meta Business Suite lets you analyze key metrics like user engagement, views and trends. These will help you strategize your future content and work more on gathering more leads.

Plus, it also helps schedule automated chats for each message so you can build stronger customer relations.

Check out Meta Business Suite’s documentation to learn more about this tool. 

2. Publer

If you run multiple social media accounts, including Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, or more, Publer is the tool for you.

Publer is a social media management tool designed to help users schedule, manage, and analyze their posts across multiple social media platforms.

It helps you bulk-schedule your posts across many social media platforms simultaneously. It also lets you monitor analytics and collaborate with your team by assigning tasks.

Publer helps you understand what post performs well through its A/B testing. This is where you share two posts for the same agenda to understand what will yield more results.

Plus, it integrates with Canva, Google Drive, and DALL.E by ChatGpt to streamline your content creation and management process.

3. Canva

You probably live under a rock if you haven’t heard of Canva by now.

Canva has totally changed the way we design content. This is especially true for social media, ads and marketing designs.

It offers thousands of templates for all types of photos and videos. Plus, it also integrates AI capabilities to generate unique content.

While the free version of Canva might feel a bit restrictive, considering they limit access from fantastic designs, it is still a game changer.

You can design and export your content in Canva in JPEG, PNG, PDF, MP4, GIF and PPTX. Plus, you can also collaborate with your team on every design with Canva.

SEO & Keyword Research

You must have tools to perform basic SEO and Keyword Research to bring more traffic to your website.

When you target keywords with more search volume and low competition, you can bring in more visitors to your website.

Here are some of the tools you can use to conduct keyword research for SEO:

4. Google Search Console

Google Search Console is a vital tool for tracking your website’s performance on Google.

It lets you monitor search impressions, clicks, and the average position of your pages. With this tool, you can ensure your site is indexed correctly by identifying issues like crawl errors, broken links, and mobile responsiveness. 

 Plus, you can track which search queries drive traffic to your site. This will give you great insights into user behavior and opportunities for optimization.

The tool also offers sitemap submission to help Google quickly discover and index your new content.

5. Keyword Planner

Ever wondered what your ideal customers are actually searching for? Google Keyword Planner unlocks that secret.

With Keyword Planner, you can discover keywords related to your products or services, along with their search volume and competition.

It offers insights into how keywords perform within Google Ads, helping you optimize your campaigns.

Additionally, Keyword Planner provides keyword grouping and forecasting, aiding in content and ad strategy development.

Thus, Keyword Planner helps identify relevant keywords to drive targeted traffic and improve ad performance.

6. AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is a tool that helps you discover the questions people ask around a specific keyword.

Its free version provides visualized data of search queries. This will help you identify popular questions and topics your audience is interested in.

This allows you to create SEO-friendly content that answers these queries and meets your audience’s needs.

By targeting these questions, you can improve your content strategy and increase the chances of ranking higher on search engines.

7. Yoast

Yoast SEO is a popular WordPress plugin that optimizes your website’s on-page SEO.

While it also offers a premium version, its free version lets you analyze factors like keyword usage, readability, and internal linking.

It also automatically generates XML sitemaps, making it easier for search engines to crawl your site.

Yoast also provides a snippet preview feature to optimize your title tags and meta descriptions. This can significantly help you improve click-through rates in search results.

Overall, Yoast is essential to ensure your content is optimized for search engines and your audience.

Content Creation and Blogging

Once you’ve searched for appropriate keywords, you would want to look into tools that will help you with content creation and blogging.

The tools we’ve listed will help you create, organize, and refine your content. We promise that these tools are game-changers for creating great content. 

8. ChatGPT

Writing content is not always as easy as it seems (trust us, we know!)

If you catch yourself staring at a black screen wondering what to write, try ChatGPT. The AI tool does a range of content writing, including blogs, captions, emails, and so much more.

ChatGPT can be a great tool for brainstorming, rephrasing texts, and generating outlines for content you’re about to write.

With that said, we highly recommend exploring ChatGPT prompt engineering. This unspoken step makes a great difference in generating ChatGPT’s best content.

9. Google Docs

When it comes to writing content, Google Docs is one of the best free options available.

Google Docs is a free, cloud-based word processor where you can write, edit, and collaborate in real-time.

While it is cloud-based, you can also work on your document offline if you enable offline mode in Google Docs. Plus, it offers extra tools for translation, voice typing, checking word count, and more.

It supports HTML heading tags, making it easier for you to structure your content. Google Docs also lets you export your content in a number of file types, including a Word file (.docx) and a PDF file.

10. Grammarly

No one likes typos, especially when you’re trying to impress potential customers. And no matter how perfectly we try to curate our content, we’re bound to some human errors.

This is where you need Grammarly.

Grammarly’s free version helps you catch grammar mistakes, fix awkward phrasing, and improve readability.

It’s like having a writing assistant that makes sure your content is polished and professional.

While the free plan doesn’t include advanced tone suggestions, it’s still a good tool to ensure your emails, blogs and captions are error-free.

11. Hemingway Editor

Ever feel like your writing is a little too wordy?

Hemingway Editor helps you simplify sentences and improve readability. It highlights complex phrases, passive voice, and unnecessary adverbs. This makes your content clear and easy to read. 

This is especially useful if you want your tour descriptions, blog posts, or social media captions to be punchy and engaging.

It’s a simple, free tool that can make a big difference in how your content connects with readers.

Content Management

We’ve sorted the content creation part, but what changes your productivity game is content management.

See, when you have mountains of ideas and content, it can get tough to stay organized. To help you navigate through the potential mess, we’ve added a few content management tools for you to check out:

12. Notion

Ever feel like your content ideas are scattered everywhere?

Notion is like your digital notebook but way more powerful. It helps you keep all your blog post ideas, social media plans, and even just simple notes.

You can create lists, calendars, and even little databases that look like spreadsheets but are super easy to use.

It’s like building your own personalized content planner, and you don’t need to be a tech whiz to do it. Think of it as your friendly digital assistant, helping you keep everything organized and in one place.

13. Google Sheets

Don’t let the word “spreadsheet” scare you! Google Sheets is like a simple table that helps you keep track of things.

You can use it to see which blog posts are popular, plan your social media calendar, or keep a list of your content ideas.

It’s super helpful for seeing what’s working and what’s not, and it’s easy to share with your team. 

Google Sheets is a simple, visual way to keep your content on track without needing any complicated formulas or tech skills.

14. Asana

If you’re juggling content ideas, blog schedules, and social media posts, you definitely need Asana to stay organized.

You can create to-do lists, set deadlines, and plan marketing campaigns all in one place. It lets you assign tasks, track progress, and see everything on a neat calendar.

What we love most about Asana is how easy it is to collaborate with team members on shared tasks.

While you might have to upgrade to its paid plan as your team grows, Asana’s free plan is a great starting point.

Analytics & Performance Tracking

Now that you’ve figured out how to create your blogs let’s look at how you can track their performance.

Guesswork won’t grow your business. You need to know what’s working and what’s not.

You must track analytics and performance to see where your traffic comes from and what content gets the most engagement and interaction.

With the right insights, you can fine-tune your marketing, boost bookings, and make smarter decisions.

Here are some tools to help you with this task:

15. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that helps track website traffic, user interactions, and conversions.

The free version lets you gain insights into your audience and identify high-performing pages. You can also analyze how visitors navigate your site.

Google Analytics helps refine your marketing strategy by letting you analyze key metrics. This includes bounce rates, session duration, and goal completions.

Additionally, its conversion tracking feature helps measure the effectiveness of your campaigns and understand which channels drive the most bookings.

16. Microsoft Clarity

Microsoft Clarity is a free analytics tool that offers heatmaps and session recordings to understand visitor behavior.

Its heatmaps visually display where users click, scroll, and engage the most. This information is helpful to optimize your website’s layout and content.

Its session recordings provide real-time insights into how users interact with your site. With this tool, you can spot usability issues and enhance customer experience.

Unlike Google Analytics, which focuses on traffic data, Clarity emphasizes behavioral insights. This makes it a valuable tool for improving website engagement and conversion rates.

Online Reputation & Customer Interaction

Your reputation can make or break your business, especially in the travel industry.

Good reviews and active customer engagement build trust, attract more bookings, and boost your visibility online.

When you interact with customers and manage feedback well, you show potential travelers that your tours are worth experiencing.

Here are some tools you can use to boost your online reputation and increase customer interaction:

17. TripAdvisor Business 

TripAdvisor Business is a free tool for collecting customer reviews and boosting visibility for your tours and activities.

With TripAdvisor, you can create a well-optimized list for your tours and activities. This will make your packages look more attractive to your customers and increase bookings. 

Its free version lets you manage your profile, respond to customer reviews, and showcase your details.

It is a valuation tool for managing your reputation, as positive reviews on TripAdvisor can boost credibility and influence potential customers. 

18. Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is a must-have tool for increasing local visibility on Google Search and Maps.

You can use this tool to make your business appear in local searches when potential customers look for tours and activities in their area.

You can add important details such as business hours, location, contact information, and photos to make it easier for customers to reach out.

The platform also lets you collect and respond to customer reviews. As reviews build trust, you can improve your rankings in local search results.

19. Google Forms

Google Forms is a simple yet effective tool for collecting customer inquiries, feedback, and preferences at no cost.

It lets you create custom forms for booking requests, post-tour surveys, or gathering customer insights.

It automatically collects customer responses in Google Sheets, making it easy for you to manage and analyze data.

Since Google Forms is cloud-based, it allows seamless sharing and collaboration, ensuring smooth customer communication and operational efficiency.

It’s an ideal free solution for handling customer interactions, improving services, and gathering feedback to enhance the overall experience.

Free Stock Photos & Videos

Great visuals make your marketing stand out. However, hiring photographers can be costly, especially when starting out.

To work around this issue, you can make use of free stock photos and videos. They add professional-quality images to your website, social media, and ads without the cost.

Check out these two tools that will help you get free stock visuals:

20. Pixabay

Finding high-quality images and videos that you can use freely for your marketing efforts can be challenging.

Pixabay provides a large collection of free stock photos and videos for commercial use.

You can use them on your website, social media, or promotional materials without worrying about licensing issues.

The platform covers a wide range of categories, including landscapes, cityscapes, and lifestyle shots. This makes it quite resourceful for tour and activity operators looking to add engaging visuals to their content.

21. Pexels

Pexels is another great source for high-resolution stock photos and videos.

It has a strong selection of free-to-use images and clips to enhance marketing materials, blog posts, or social media content.

The platform features professional-quality shots, often contributed by photographers worldwide. Such diverse perspectives can help illustrate different aspects of a tour experience.

For operators who want to maintain a visually appealing online presence, Pexels is a useful tool for sourcing relevant and engaging imagery.

Video Marketing Tools

One of the best ways to bring your tours to life is travel video marketing. Instead of just describing an experience, you can them the sights, the atmosphere, the adventure.

Whether it’s a quick highlight reel, a customer testimonial, or behind-the-scenes footage, videos help build trust and excitement.

Plus, with social media favoring video content, having the right editing tools makes it easier to create engaging clips without needing professional skills.

22. InShot

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to edit videos on your phone, InShot is a great option.

It lets you trim clips, add music, text, and transitions, and combine short promotional videos in just a few minutes.

Whether you’re capturing snippets from a tour or sharing behind-the-scenes moments, InShot makes it simple to create engaging content that’s ready for social media.

It’s especially handy if you need to edit on the go, without complicated software.

23. CapCut

CapCut takes things a step further by offering more advanced editing tools while still keeping it beginner-friendly.

It has features like motion effects, multi-layer editing, and AI-powered enhancements. This makes it perfect for creating high-quality promotional videos.

Since it’s owned by TikTok’s parent company, it’s also optimized for social media. So you can easily create eye-catching clips that are sure to grab some attention.

If you want to add a more professional touch to your videos without spending hours editing, CapCut is a solid choice.

Conclusion

The right marketing tools can take your tour business to the next level, and the best part is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get started.

Test these free tools, experiment with different strategies, and see what works best for your business. 

If you’re new to digitalizing your business or looking for ways to expand, check out WP Travel Engine and Tripcart. These tools will help you make your presence known and help you stand out from your competitors.

Happy Marketing!