Puchong Nakchatree is the founder of Bangkok-based BigCountry Experience, known for its idyllic floating market tour where guests paddle up to food and souvenir stalls, just like the Thai locals.
Puchong has overcome natural disasters and a global pandemic to build (and rebuild) one of the most successful guided tour companies in Thailand.
Since joining GetYourGuide 7 years ago, Puchong and his team have been able to grow their business 10x, a success he attributes to his strong partnership with GetYourGuide.
So what can you do to make the most of your partnership (and commission!) with an OTA?
Work with an OTA to launch new products
Today, the floating market tour is BigCountry Expereince’s top-selling product, with an average of 300 people taking the tour every day, and up to 1000 guests per day during the high season.
But Puchong’s business wasn’t always humming away like this. For the first couple of years, the operator offered just two products, until GetYourGuide’s country manager for Thailand got in touch with Puchong to suggest broadening their scope, with GetYourGuide’s support.
Today, BigCountry Experience offers more than 40 products on GetYourGuide, from trips to UNESCO-listed temples, to a street food tour that follows the tips of the much-touted Michelin Guide.
Puchong says being able to take some risks and diversify their tours is all because he was willing to trust an OTA. He says working with GetYourGuide feels like, “being part of the same body”.
“GetYourGuide isn’t like other OTAs. They really take their time with us and care about every product. In fact,” he says, “[country manager] Marlin is coming to see me later today!”
Now, whenever Puchong dreams up a new product, Marlin is the first person he calls so they can strategize the new product together.
Tip: Keep your OTA on speed dial and don’t be afraid to hit the call button. Your GetYourGuide country manager is invested in seeing your business thrive and has the expert knowledge to partner with you and make it happen.
Increase your capacity with a trusted OTA
Puchong has been in the tourism business for 20 years, so he’s seen his fair share of hard times.
Right after he got started, the 2004 tsunami hit, destroying everything he had. More recently, Covid came knocking, wiping out his entire business for a number of months.
However, the passion of experience creators really knows no bounds – Puchong ended up selling his house in order to keep the business afloat.
What kept him believing in his ability to recover his business? Puchong says it was the knowledge that he wasn’t alone.
“I’ve worked with GetYourGuide for a long time, so I know how hard OTAs work to win us customers.” He says it’s critical to have a supportive agent on your side who genuinely cares about your business.
Since the pandemic, BigCountryExperience has bounced back bigger and better, with an 150% increase in net revenue in 2023, compared to 2019. Today, Puchong has 30 staff in his office, and about 300 guides working across his tours.
Puchong has purchased more vehicles and hired more guides to meet the demands of customers coming via GetYourGuide.
“Our company grew up a lot because of GetYourGuide," he says. “We really appreciate working with them.”
Tip: Increasing your business’s capacity – this might mean hiring new guides, offering tours in additional languages or growing your vehicle fleet – allows you to reach more customers, sending your business soaring.
Take our advice and reduce your cutoff times to zero
The hot tip GetYourGuide is always encouraging its partners to pursue? Zero cutoff times. With our operational support, BigCountryExperience has been able to achieve just that.
They now have a cutoff time of zero for their wildly popular floating market tour. Today, the tour appears as “sold out” half as often as it did before. This is a big win, where earlier cutoff times were preventing the operator from maximising their sales.
“A lot of tourists want to make last-minute bookings,” explains Puchong. “Before they arrive, they book their flights and then they book their accomodation. But tours are usually booked once they’re here at the destination.”
“That’s why we’ve moved to zero cutoff times for more of our products. Now they can show up even 10 minutes before the tour and still book it.”
Tip: Reduce cutoff times to zero for any product you know can cope with it. Removing as many barriers as possible for your customers will help keep them happy and your bottom line healthy.
Make sure your relationship with your OTA is a two-way street
A good relationship is about give and take, and your relationship with your OTA is no different.
Puchong says one of the key benefits of working with GetYourGuide is the simplicity the platform offers him. “I can’t afford to hire an engineer to build a whole platform for us. And I don’t need to, because that’s what GetYourGuide offers us.”
He’s chosen to lean in to this benefit, by sending customers directly to his GetYourGide page to make their bookings, even though it costs him a commission. “I send them the link to GetYourGuide and ask them to book the tours there, so I can concentrate on all the other things I need to do as a tour operator.”
Tip: OTAs can be an extension of your business and act as your marketing and engineering arm. The key? Price your products so that the commission is always covered, and hand over the technical and promotional tasks so you can focus on doing what you do best: creating unforgettable experiences.
Puchong says it can be hard to stay competitive in a squeezed market where it sometimes feels like everyone is offering the same thing for the same price.
Key takeaways
- Launch new products– an OTA have the insights to help you strategize your next big move
- Increase your capacity with an OTA to help reach new audiences. Who dares, wins!
- One tip GetYourGuide is always dishing out? Reduce your cutoff time to zero, so you can fill as many seats as possible. Don’t be afraid to take your OTA’s advice – they’ve seen it all before
- A successful business relationship is give and take: Account for commission in your pricing so you can unload all the technical and marketing work onto the OTA, freeing up time to focus on scaling and innovation.
What helps keep BigCountry Experience in business is the support and expertise of their trusted OTA. Puchong says, “GetYourGuide supports us to improve our quality, scale up our availability and keep reviewing prices so that we remain competitive.”
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