Marketing Mythbuster #3: Past guests are yesterday's news

Let's face it, it's very common for marketers in tourism to always focus on marketing activity that creates new customers to fill their rooms, tours or schedules. If your marketing strategy is heavily focused on attracting new customers, you’re not alone.

But the reality is that treating past guests like “job done” is a missed opportunity because while new acquisition seems like the right focus, your past guests are often your easiest, most profitable growth channel.

Let's explore why and ways to get new bookings from previous customers.

Why This Myth Exists

There’s a natural bias toward new campaigns, new audiences, and new bookings. And with platforms like Google Ads and Meta Ads making it easier than ever to target fresh audiences, it can feel like growth equals more reach.

There's also an assumption that travellers (especially if your market is mostly international visitors) are unlikely to book your experience again because they're always seeking new experiences, or too far away to come back again.

But what often gets overlooked is: You’ve already done the hard work once. Someone has found you, chosen you, booked with you, experienced your product, and are ready to recommend you - a proven customer and ambassador for your product.

Common pitfalls include:

• No structured follow-up after a booking
• Guest data sitting unused in a CRM
• Email lists that only get contacted during promotions
• No clear strategy for turning guests into advocates

In short, the relationship ends too early. But a simple shift to change your approach and start asking how you can get more value from customers you already have will reduce your reliance on constantly chasing new demand and create higher ROI on your marketing spend, more consistent bookings, and stronger brand advocacy.

The Opportunities: Rebooking, Referrals & Retention

When you shift focus from just acquisition to include retention strategies, three opportunities open up.

1. Rebooking

Convincing someone to book again is significantly easier than converting a brand-new customer. They already know what to expect, the quality of your experience, and whether you delivered on your promise.

A well-timed follow-up, seasonal reminder, or “come back and try this next” offer can go a long way. Perhaps your experience can be completely different in another season (think Queenstown summer adventures versus winter skiing). Or better still, perhaps you can offer enticing off-peak rates for their next visit.

Whatever your niche or story, if you create a set of reasons for them to come back for more you'll have a messaging strategy that can be implemented for all previous guests.

TIP: Set up post-stay emails and an automated nurture series campaign to activate for completed bookings.

2. Referrals

Happy guests are your most credible advocates. Travellers are increasingly influenced by peer recommendations (and even AI-curated suggestions), word of mouth still carries serious weight - and people love to share their travel advice!

Encouraging referrals doesn’t need to be complicated:

• Simple “share with a friend” incentives
• Post-experience nudges
• Making it easy to leave and share reviews

Done well, one great experience can turn into multiple future bookings.

3. Retention

Not every tourism business is built on repeat visits, but many underestimate how much repeat potential actually exists. Even if guests don’t return immediately, they might visit again in a different season, return with family or friends, choose you again when hosting visitors. Retention is about staying top of mind, not just making a single sale.

Practical Ways to Get Value from Your Past Guests

1. Build a post-visit lifecycle, not just a “thank you” email

The biggest missed opportunity is what happens after the experience. Instead of a single follow-up, marketing automation tools (like Mailchimp, Hubspot, Klaviyo etc) help make it easy to implement a series of emails to nurture the relationship.

Here's an example of how you could design an email nurture series:

• 0–48 hours post-visit: Thank you message while the experience is still fresh, review request (timing here is critical for conversion), light prompt to share on social
• 7–14 days later: Storytelling content that reinforces their experience, “Did you know?” add-ons or behind-the-scenes insights, soft cross-sell of related experiences
• 1–3 months later: “Plan your next trip” inspiration, seasonal or alternative experiences, rebooking prompts
• 6–12 months later: anniversary-style messaging (“It’s been a year since your trip…”), location-based triggers (e.g. “Heading back to Queenstown?”)

2. Segment like you know them

Bulk send emails are where engagement goes to die. You’re sitting on valuable insights from previous guests, so use this knowledge by segmenting according to things like:

• Experience type (adventure, luxury, family, etc)
• Travel party (couples, solo, families, groups)
• Origin market (domestic vs international)
• Season of travel

You can also go deeper to create more relevance and drive re-engagement by looking at high-value vs low-value guests, first-time vs repeat customers, and behaviour (clicked, reviewed, referred, rebooked). This allows you to tailor messaging like: “Loved our guided ebike tour? Here’s what it looks like in winter.”

3. Create content for your database

Don't just think of email marketing as “promotions only”. Continue to build your relationship with them with content you can publish on your website and/or in your social media:

• Share local tips and insider guides
• Highlight new experiences or upgrades
• Feature guest stories and UGC
• Showcase seasonal changes

This also increases your chances of showing up in AI-driven discovery, where fresh, experience-rich content is being surfaced through platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity AI.

4. Design intentional rebooking prompts

Repeat bookings may need to be prompted. Create clear “next step” journeys to make the decision easy:

For multi-product operators: bundle experiences (“Next time, pair this with…”), introduce progression (“Level up from beginner to advanced”), offer returning guest incentives (priority booking, small perks, upgrades)
For single-experience businesses: different seasons, different group types (e.g. “bring your family next time”), partnerships with complementary operators

5. Encourage referrals

“Word of mouth” works best when it’s actively encouraged, you just need to give them a nudge and the tools. Build it into your flow with pre-written messages, easy share links, and clear calls to action:

• Post-experience referral prompts (“Know someone who’d love this?”)
• Simple referral rewards (discounts, add-ons, exclusive access)
• Shareable content (photos, videos, itineraries)

6. Use paid media to re-engage

Your past guests are also your best-performing ad audience. Upload your database into platforms like Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads to run re-engagement campaigns, promote new experiences, and drive repeat bookings. You can create "lookalike audiences" (to find more people like your best guests).

This is where retention and acquisition start working together.

7. Track results with data

Marketing isn't marketing without data and metrics - you need to always monitor what activity brings results so you can continue to fine-tune.

Set up processes to start tracking data like repeat booking rate, referral volume, email engagement by segment etc. Even simple insights like “Guests who did X are 3x more likely to rebook” can help refine your marketing priorities.

Key Takeaways

Your past guests aren’t yesterday’s news, they’re your warmest audience, your easiest conversions, and your most powerful marketers.

Customer acquisition is getting more competitive and expensive, the smartest growth strategy isn’t always about reaching more people. It’s about getting more value from the people who have already chosen you.

More in the Marketing Mythbuster Series

Our "Marketing Mythbuster" series will have a new Myth added each month throughout 2026, keep an eye on our LinkedIn newsletters, and this blog to view them all!

• Myth #1: My website is just a brochure
• Myth #2: Just post something, anything
• Myth #3: Past guests are yesterday's news