Tour email isn’t guesswork. Three truths and one lie. Spot the lie, then steal the plays that actually convert.

Timing beats a discount. Truth.

Timing really does beat a discount when it comes to making a sale from email. 

In the week before a tour, guests are in “make-it-easy” mode—figuring out parking, what to wear, how to keep the kids happy, and how to make the day feel special. A pre-arrival upsell that solves those jobs (photo package, VIP seating, wetsuit rental, picnic basket, transportation, “add a wine flight,” etc.) feels helpful, not salesy. It rides the momentum and reduces anxiety, so conversion is naturally higher. 

Compare that to a random 10% code sent right away to brand new leads: intent is cold and a generic coupon may not map to anything they actually need. It just trains people to wait for discounts and taxes your margin.

The practical play: set a pre-arrival automation that triggers off the FareHarbor start time—say 5 days out with a friendly “Get ready for your trip” email, then a light follow-up 48–24 hours before. 

With TourAdvantage, you can target every adult attendee (via waivers), suppress offers they’ve already bought, and swap the upsell based on the specific activity (rafting gets photos + booties; wine tour gets picnic + driver add-on). 

If you’re going to offer a discount, wait until you’re a bit further along down the sales cycle road. If they’ve had opportunities to purchase and haven’t, this may be the time.

Keep the copy short, value-led, and one-click simple to purchase. You’ll lift average-order-value without cutting price—and your guests show up better prepared and more excited. 

Win–win.

Most guests need more than one reminder email. Truth.

One reminder is a nice gesture; two or three is a system. 

Guests book days or weeks out, skim the confirmation on their phone, and then life happens. By the time your lone reminder lands, it’s buried under school emails and Lyft receipts. 

A staggered cadence catches people in different headspaces—planning mode five days out, logistics mode 48 hours out, “we’re leaving soon” mode day-of. 

Each touch can do a specific job: finish waivers, read the arrival info, buy the thing that makes the day smoother (photos, parking, picnic, booties). You’ll see fewer “where do we park?” calls and more guests who show up ready.

The practical move: build a 2–3 nudge sequence keyed to the FareHarbor start time. 

• T-5 days: “Get ready for your trip” with a short checklist and one helpful add-on. 
• T-48 hours: “Heads up for your visit”—waiver reminder, arrival window, parking map, weather note, plus a last-chance upsell. 
• T-3 hours: pure logistics only. 

With TourAdvantage, you can send to every adult attendee (via waivers), suppress anyone who’s already completed tasks and swap content based on the specific activity. Keep each email tight with one clear CTA. 

It feels like service—not spam—and it reliably moves the needle.

Email more people, get more upsells and reviews. Truth.

Many operators already use a waiver tool like Wherewolf or Smartwaiver—and that’s great. But now that FareHarbor waivers are included at no extra cost, there’s no reason not to use them to collect every adult attendee’s email right inside your booking flow, especially if you don’t need the more advanced features of the other tools. 

Whether from a waiver company or a FareHarbor waiver, one booking could equal two, four or eight inboxes, not just one. 

That means the photo package lands with the person who actually cares about photos, the VIP upgrade hits the birthday friend, and your review request doesn’t die in the booker’s cluttered Gmail. 

This is especially clutch for OTA bookings where you might not get the booker’s real email—waivers give you direct lines to the actual guests.

The play is simple: turn on waivers, FareHarbor, Smartwaiver or Wherewolf and TourAdvantage manages the rest. Let automation do the boring work—pre-arrival “get ready” upsells to all adults (suppressed if they already bought), and a tidy post-tour review ask to everyone who attended. 

No newsletters, no list juggling, just more qualified eyeballs on the right message at the right time. 

More reach → more add-ons sold → more five-star reviews.

Cart abandonment = browse abandonment. Not even close.

Cart abandonment only fires when someone starts the checkout process (including the email address field) and bounces. 

Browse abandonment kicks in earlier—when a known visitor is comparing tours, picking a date, or reading FAQs, and leaves before they ever touch “Book now.” 

In tourism, a huge chunk of shoppers live in that pre-cart limbo, so cart-only emails miss most of the warm intent.

TourAdvantage’s browse-abandonment watches real site behavior and sends a helpful nudge: quick FAQs, top reviews, a reminder that Saturday fills fast, or an alternate time. No coupon needed. 

It works for known visitors (captured via pop-up lead magnet or clickers of your email newsletters), and it auto-suppresses if they go on to book. 

That’s how you turn “just looking” into real reservations.

Ready to leverage these truths in your own business? Watch this online demo, then book a no-pressure call with us here.