For 140 years now, Gaudí’s iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral has been under construction in Barcelona. Visitors have been coming from all over the world to marvel at its yet-unfinished glory.
Evelyn Aragonés is the CEO at 4 YOU BARCELONA, which offers a premium tour experience inside the cathedral, as well as another at the sprawling, mosaic-covered Park Güell.
Her sales have doubled year-on-year thanks to a strategy firmly set on prioritizing quality over short-term gambles.
The company recently expanded to a second location, the southern city of Seville. Across the two locations, they employ 20 guides, with three staff in the office.
With the Sagrada Familia expected to be completed in 2026, Evelyn and her team can expect even more visitors in the years to come. Here’s how she built a business set on sticking around for the long-term.
Prioritize quality over quantity to stay in the long game
4 YOU BARCELONA’s Sagrada Familia tours often sell out a couple of weeks in advance. So you might assume they’d be trying to increase the number of tours they offer, in order to capture more last-minute guests.
But a key part of their sustainable growth strategy is being unwilling to compromise on the quality of their offer.
“I think what sets us apart as a company is that we choose the right guide for each tour,” says Evelyn. “We don’t hire just any guide in order to fill up spots, we want high quality guides. And we also don’t want our guides to be overexposed. If they take on too many tours, the quality will decrease.”
For Evelyn and her team, focusing on quality over quantity is essential for going the distance. She ensures that all her guides have experience guiding groups, and plenty of knowledge about their attractions. They also need to have a genuine passion for the industry.
“Our business only makes sense as long as we believe we are offering a high-quality experience to our guests. If we only see them as customers that can give us money, then we are done. We will lose our sense of purpose.”
Tip: If you’re in this business for the long-haul, maintaining a high-quality experience is what will help you grow sustainably. What can you do to make sure your guides have everything they need to deliver quality every time they head out with your guests?
Build a close relationship with a trusted OTA
Partnering closely with GetYourGuide has been crucial for the company’s growth, but also offered them shelter through hard times.
Evelyn says, “our relationship is amazing. GetYourGuide’s Barcelona team has always been very supportive of us.”
In fact, today GetYourGuide brings in 80% of 4 YOU BARCELONA’s business, having played a major role in increasing its sales volume over the past years.
“Our tours tend to sell out weeks in advance,” she explains. “But if a tour hasn’t sold out, we can adjust the cut-off time on GetYourGuide to as low as 30 minutes before the tour starts, and they’ll help us fill the last spots.”
Evelyn says she also appreciates the work GetYourGuide does on Google search rankings, to ensure their tour is the first to be found when guests search for experiences.
The strength of their OTA-supplier relationship was proven during the pandemic, when GetYourGuide adapted its invoicing and payout process to pay out every 15 days, rather than monthly. “This gave us access to much needed cash faster, which was essential for keeping our business going,” she says.
“Our business feels protected by GetYourGuide – I know they will support us in good times and bad.”
She adds another example of the extent of care she has felt from her local GetYourGuide partners:
“A couple of years ago there was a bomb threat here in Barcelona, which closed the Sagrada Familia. We had 30 people booked on a tour that we weren’t going to be able to run. Sandra and Toni from GetYourGuide actually came down personally to welcome the group, explain the situation and offer them an alternative. We really appreciated that and so did the guests.”
Tip: Running a tour business can be so hectic, you might feel like you don’t have time to sit down for a coffee with your local distribution partner. But don’t lose the opportunity to build good relationships with those who can support you – they’ll be there when you need them most.
Let your reviews speak for themselves
Contrary to common tour operator wisdom, “we don’t actively ask our guests for reviews,” says Evelyn.
Instead, she lets GetYourGuide take care of sending a reminder email to guests, asking them to leave a review following their tour. This is the benefit of online distribution partners, which automatically set up review requests, saving you time.
And it seems to do the trick – their Sagrada Familia tour has an eye-wateringly high rating of 4.9 stars, with more than 6,000 reviews clocked to date.
Tip: Sometimes when it comes to requests, less is more. Getting your OTA on side to prompt guests on your behalf is a great way to ensure honest and genuine reviews.
Make the most of discount offers to drive sales
Running a successful tour business is all about weathering the changing seasons.
During low periods, anything you can do to nudge up your sales is going to have a positive impact on the health of your business. Offering short-term discounts is an effective way to do exactly that.
“I love GetYourGuide’s offers system!” says Evelyn. “Because if sales are down a little they make it easy to offer a limited-time discount, and it really works for boosting sales. It’s an easy tool to manage with a good result.”
Tip: Understand your profit margin is absolutely key to implementing discounts. First, work out how much it costs to run your tour. Then add the commission percentage from distributors and/or your marketing costs, remembering to include the time you personally invest in marketing on your own (direct) channels.
Next, add a percentage of profit. Once you find this amount, you know exactly how much you can discount your product without running at a loss. Remember that the overhead costs may reduce for each incremental visitor you welcome, so each extra customer, even at a lower price, is more money in your pocket.
What’s the weirdest customer question you’ve been asked?
4 YOU BARCELONA has seen its fair share of funny questions over the years.
“Some customers don’t take the time to understand what they’re buying a ticket to, or even where they are,” laughs Evelyn. “One time a guest bought a ticket for our Sagrada Familia tour in Barcelona, but he was at our other location, 1000 km away in Seville!”
She faced some more visitor confusion at the tranquil Park Güell. “A family had come on the tour because they thought it was an amusement park. They kept asking where the roller coasters were for their children.”
Thanks to her focus on playing the long game, Evelyn and her team have been able to weather the storms of the experience industry, along with some strange requests from confused guests.
She’s confident her commitment to delivering quality, along with a strong relationship with partners like GetYourGuide, will see her business through whatever comes next – including the eventual opening of that iconic cathedral.
Key takeaways
- Invest in quality over quantity – it’s tempting to go all-out on new products and tours, but quality is what will ensure your longevity. What can you do to tweak what you’re already offering to make it just that little bit better?
- Partner with an OTA to reach a bigger audience, and weather the tricky moments together
- Reviews are the most authentic way for customers to assess your offer. Make them a central part of your strategy, then let your customers speak for themselves
- Offer a discount when you need a pick-me-up – GetYourGuide offers an in-built tool to quickly lower your prices for a limited time
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