In the shifting and dynamic travel industry, providing document and other border requirements has become increasingly important to travellers. Inspired by this need, sherpa° has set out with the mission of equipping travellers with the right information while helping mitigate disruptions and boosting ancillary revenue for our partners.

Here are our 5 tips to streamlining the travel document experience with Sherpa°:

1. Present eVisa offers at the right time by focusing on travellers who have just completed their booking
2. Illustrate the importance of an eVisa by differentiating it from optional upgrades and positioning it as a requirement for travel
3. Personalize the offer by ensuring the requirement is accurate based on the traveller’s itinerary and details
4. Understand the emotions of your travellers and introduce sherpa° as a trusted partner, ready to provide vital information and travel documentation instantly
5. Be open to optimizing the experience by working with sherpa° and adjusting your strategy as we learn more about what makes your travellers unique

Keep reading to dive deeper into these tips and learn more.

1. Present eVisa offers at the right time

We’ve recently published a blog post detailing our recent research into when travellers buy their visas. As part of that research, we found that 56% of travellers purchased their visa after booking a trip. From that post:

Based on these figures, we start to see the importance of offering visa services early in the travel journey - typically at or close to the point of booking. The opportunity to advise travellers and sell these services drops rapidly as travellers approach their trip.

In our research, we’ve learned that travellers purchase visas around the same time as booking the flight. And the best way to capture that potential revenue is to make a meaningful presentation of the need and the offer around that time. This can come in different forms depending on your existing user journey but should involve making a user aware during the booking flow that a visa may be required, then including explicit calls to action within your post-booking communications that direct them to a sherpa° solution to verify the visa requirements for the trip and make a purchase.

While having a visa requirements page accessible pre-booking or during the discovery phase can be a great way to introduce your travellers to sherpa°, focusing on travellers who have just booked a trip is the key to getting the most out of that potential visa revenue.

2. Illustrate the importance

In a world of upgrades and optional extras, it’s easy for travellers to think visas are just another choice to make. In fact, visas exist in a unique space that sets them apart. If you require a visa for your trip, it is not optional. It’s not something a traveller can skip to save money or because they simply aren’t interested. A traveller who does not get a necessary visa for their trip can be turned away at the airport or be denied access to their destination country. This often results in fines and additional costs for airlines as well as complaints and a damaged reputation, not to mention the terrible experience for the traveller.

For all of these reasons, we recommend not including sherpa° within a list of optional extras or ancillaries. Separating offers for visa products into their own section and clearly outlining their importance can help reduce the chance of a traveller skipping this should they decide they aren’t interested in any upgrades or extras.

3. Personalize the offer

Visas can seem complex to a traveller. Requirements differ from country to country, passport to passport. Personalizing the offer is one of the best things you can do to increase the likelihood of a user purchasing a visa. That means communicating the correct requirements based on their information and itinerary whenever possible.

It may sometimes be necessary to make assumptions based on security requirements but if it’s possible to capture a traveller’s nationality or passport country, this information can be passed to your sherpa° solution alongside the trip itinerary to get accurate visa requirements for that particular traveller. This also unlocks the possibility of sending personalized emails addressing the traveller and communicating their visa requirements directly.

Whatever your existing flow, travellers benefit from having their requirements presented to them based on their unique circumstances. This can be accomplished regardless of which sherpa° solution you’re using. We’re here to help suggest how and work with your teams to build it.

4. Understand the emotions of your travellers

Travel can be stressful, and applying for visas on top of everything else can make that even worse. Many travellers may have had bad experiences purchasing visa products or know others who have. Whether you apply directly through the government or use a third party, it can be a complicated and convoluted process. That’s why at sherpa° we’ve set out with the mission to make that visa application process simpler and safer by partnering with some of the leading airlines and travel companies to help travellers feel at ease when they apply. We want travellers to see sherpa° as a trusted partner so they feel confident buying visas as part of their booking journey.

By presenting visa-focused calls to action directing to your sherpa° solution as part of your post-booking experience and in your communications with travellers, you can alleviate the traveller’s burden of searching for where to learn about and purchase visa products. In our experience, travellers will thank you for it by being more likely to purchase a visa than if they had to hunt down that information themselves.

5. Be open to optimize

After we help you get that first integration up and running, we’ll monitor the analytics with you to see how it performs. We may have suggestions for improving engagement and conversion by introducing new placements or changing the existing ones. We recommend being open to this kind of optimization process. Our understanding of this space is always evolving, so placements shouldn’t be static. Trying new things and understanding how they impact your success will be a critical piece of the puzzle.

Conclusion

By incorporating these tips on leveraging sherpa° for selling eVisas, you're not only simplifying the application process for travelers but also opening up a gateway to maximize ancillary revenue. These five tips will help pave the way towards success: from timely offers to illustrating their importance, from personalization and optimization to understanding the power of emotion. As the digital landscape evolves, embracing innovative solutions empowers your business to unlock its full potential, ensuring both customer satisfaction and increased profitability. So, take these insights to heart and embark on a journey to boost your ancillary revenue and elevate your brand's position in the ever-evolving travel realm.

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