John’s Tours of Ireland partnered with The Roadmap to extend its reach to international travellers, particularly customers in the US planning trips to Ireland.
The goal was to reduce reliance on third-party booking platforms, build a stronger direct booking channel and make it easier for travellers to discover John’s bespoke private tours and book directly through his own website.
John had built a strong reputation as a private tour guide, but a large proportion of his business was coming through third-party online travel agents.
Platforms such as Viator and GetYourGuide were helping to generate bookings, but they were also taking significant commission from each tour.
This meant John was losing a percentage of the revenue from bookings that could otherwise have come directly through his own business.
He wanted a clear, attractive website that could properly showcase his tours, reach international travellers planning trips to Ireland and give them an easy way to book directly with him.
We created an easy-to-navigate website designed around the way international travellers research and book private tours of Ireland.
John’s tours and experiences are presented clearly, with a simple journey from discovering the business online through to exploring individual tours and making a direct enquiry or booking.
The website is supported by high-quality video content that shows the personality, knowledge and experience behind John’s Tours of Ireland.
Alongside this, we developed a tailored SEO strategy focused on the high-intent searches travellers make while planning private trips to Ireland.
The result is one connected customer journey:
Google Search → Website → Tour Page → Direct Booking → Tour With John
✗ No consistent social media presence
✓ High-quality cinematic video content across social platforms
✗ Reliant on third-party booking platforms such as Viator and GetYourGuide, with commission paid on bookings
✓ The majority of turnover is now generated through John’s own website
✗ Limited Google visibility, with important keywords ranking outside the first page
✓ First-page and top positions for multiple high-intent tourism keywords
✗ Travelers often booked through online travel agents
✓ More travelers from United States & Canada now discover and book directly with John
John’s SEO strategy was built around one clear objective: more visibility for searches that could turn into private tour bookings.
The website now ranks prominently for high-intent searches used by travellers actively looking for private tours and experiences in Ireland.
This puts John’s Tours of Ireland in front of potential customers at the point where they are deciding who they want to travel with.
The biggest change has not simply been more traffic.
It has been a major shift in where John’s business comes from.
Instead of depending heavily on online travel agents that take commission from every booking, John now generates the majority of his turnover through his own website.
That means more control over the customer journey, a direct relationship with the traveller and more of the revenue from each tour staying within the business.
Founder, John’s Tours of Ireland
