Is B2B cooperation in tourism difficult? This planning method makes corporate clients rush to sign!

At present, for B-end client groups such as tour operators and local travel agencies, the key challenge is how to stand out in the fiercely competitive tourism market, build more attractive and competitive cooperation models, and provide partners with stable and high-quality tourism resources and services. This requires a deep understanding of the future trends of the tourism market, planning with the needs of partners at the core, and grasping the dynamics of market traffic… So, what key steps should a high-quality tourism cooperation plan follow? If we divide the process steps of cooperation plan design, the main ones are as follows:

01. Demand Insights

Demand insight is the very first step in planning a cooperation proposal. Many practitioners who have been working in the tourism industry for years often overlook this step, which can lead to incomplete thinking, vague positioning in later cooperation, and unclear business objectives.

Demand insight requires clarifying which types of partners you intend to collaborate with: is it tour operators focused on high-end customized travel, or local agencies targeting the mass market? You need to understand what kind of customer needs your partners want to meet—whether it’s the pursuit of ultimate luxury experiences or cost-effective leisure vacations. At the same time, it’s essential to assess the market size of this demand and determine the market share you hope to capture through the cooperation, so that you have a clear picture in mind.

Every tourism cooperation project is essentially a solution to the needs of the partner’s clients. Whether it’s organizing a cultural journey through Europe, a beach holiday in Southeast Asia, or a visit to famous mountains and rivers within the country, all of these stem from the client’s initial psychological needs—perhaps relaxation, broadening horizons, or spending quality time with family and friends.

We must ask ourselves: what can we do to create delightful experiences for our partners’ clients? Sometimes, client needs are not singular but composite. Clients may want not only to enjoy beautiful scenery but also to experience local culture and taste authentic cuisine. If these needs can be anticipated and comprehensively addressed in advance, it will bring partners and their clients great delight and an experience beyond expectations.

In some complex cooperation projects, it is also necessary to distinguish between partners and clients. Partners are the key players enabling the cooperation, while clients are the end consumers of the travel services—and their needs can differ. Only by accurately identifying and understanding the needs of both sides can a cooperation plan be designed and presented in a way that truly appeals to partners. This is the first step to standing out from competitors.

02. Competitor Analysis

Once the needs are clarified, the next step is to conduct an in-depth study of the market and existing supply. What similar tourism cooperation projects already exist in the market? Who are the competitors? How do they position and price themselves? Where do their resources and supply channels come from? What is their gross margin level? What kind of value do their cooperation proposals create for partners? What are their business objectives?

All these considerations should be organized and documented in a way that is accessible and traceable. Initial thinking is often incomplete, so it is necessary to iterate and adjust continuously based on the information gathered and market feedback. Only then can we gradually approach the commercial truth.

Tourism cooperation is, at its core, a business activity. It involves understanding and analyzing the needs of partners, investing resources and effort into designing cooperation proposals, communicating with partners, and ultimately achieving mutual satisfaction and commercial returns. This process is also about understanding business and uncovering the essence of demand. Only through constant iteration and refinement can the maximum benefits of cooperation be realized.

03. Identifying Your Own Advantages

Identifying advantages is an inward-looking process. After gaining a comprehensive perspective through understanding partners, the market, and competitors, the next step is to examine your own strengths.

Looking inward means analyzing what advantages you possess. In terms of tourism resources, do you have unique attractions, strong hotel partnerships, or pricing advantages? In terms of services, do you offer original service processes or a team of professional tour guides? In terms of operations, do you have efficient sales channels or smooth processes that cover everything from partnership negotiations to agreement finalization and service delivery?

Generally speaking, for a cooperation proposal to achieve strong market feedback and effective collaboration, it needs to demonstrate a competitive edge in at least one area. For example, during peak travel seasons, being able to provide partners with stable resource supply and preferential pricing can help achieve better cooperation results throughout the year.

It is worth noting that such advantages should not be limited to sales strengths, such as extensive sales channels or networks. Although an efficient sales network can positively influence cooperation outcomes, it does not in itself constitute a core advantage of the cooperation proposal. A proposal should not rely on marketing or channel advantages to make up for weak design. The role of channels will be discussed in detail later.

04. Defining Cooperation Positioning

Building on the earlier steps of demand insights, competitor analysis, and identifying internal advantages, the next step is to clarify cooperation positioning, pricing, expected channel networks, and revenue goals.

Clarify target partners: Define which price range you will operate in, what types of partners you aim to serve, and in what scenarios their clients’ needs will be met.

Outline cooperation channels: Determine through which channels the cooperation plan will be promoted, and in what situations partners will encounter your proposal—whether at industry trade shows, online travel platforms, or through direct engagement. Different channels have distinct characteristics, partner needs, and cooperation processes. It is difficult to apply a single proposal across all channels and achieve optimal results. Therefore, during the design stage, it is necessary to establish priorities and consider how to communicate effectively with both partners and channels.

Quantify revenue targets: The commercial value of a cooperation plan lies mainly in two areas: achieving profitability and building long-term partnerships. For most cooperation proposals, the primary objective is profitability—earning a margin and service fees based on resource costs while delivering value to partners. With the thorough analysis completed in the earlier steps—covering partners, market, competitors, and channels—you can now make forecasts for sales volume and total revenue.

05. Planning the Cooperation Content

After completing the previous four steps, this stage is where the cooperation proposal truly takes shape. Nowadays, many tourism enterprises, when working with B2B partners, tend to skip directly to this step—or they may have considered the earlier steps only vaguely in their minds, without proper documentation, forecasting, or later evaluation. A high-quality cooperation proposal must be built on thorough preparation in the earlier stages. As long as the preliminary thinking is clear, execution at this stage will be swift and efficient.

06. Validating and Optimizing the Proposal

The action loop of problem → hypothesis → validation → refinement originates from the work methods and habits of the internet industry, and it is highly effective when applied to the field of tourism cooperation. After the previous analysis and initial planning, the cooperation proposal is now designed. But does that mean it should be rolled out on a large scale right away?

Not necessarily. It still needs to go through market validation, partner feedback, and iterative optimization. Every line of thinking may contain blind spots and subjectivity. If a plan is launched broadly right from the start, many issues overlooked in the early stages will be exposed directly to partners—this can be very risky. Often, the opportunity and trust granted by a partner come only once. For example, if you want to know which promotional copy works better, the scientific approach is to run an A/B test and use data-driven results. If Copy A clearly achieves a higher conversion rate but you persist in using Copy B, the result will be wasted resources.

Although the tourism industry does not necessarily require such rigorous processes at present, small-scale rollouts, close monitoring of feedback, and attention to partner evaluations can help continuously optimize a cooperation proposal. Some tourism enterprises even organize partner experience groups or internal test groups, using a “small steps, quick iterations” approach to refine their proposals to the best possible version.

Just as internet products must pass through various test environments before launch, tourism cooperation proposals need similar checks. Some well-structured tourism enterprises, especially for major annual cooperation projects, even establish a cooperation committee and proposal adjustment mechanism. These committees often include senior executives, partnership directors, marketing planners, customer service personnel, and account managers. Once a proposal is launched, if complaints about quality or experience arise and the negative review rate or termination rate exceeds a set threshold, an early-warning mechanism is triggered automatically—requiring timely intervention, root-cause analysis, and adjustment.

In today’s rapidly evolving tourism industry, B2B clients such as tour operators and local agencies must constantly optimize cooperation models and design more competitive cooperation proposals. Participating in professional tourism exhibitions is an excellent way to gain the latest industry insights, expand cooperation channels, and enhance brand influence. With this in mind, we sincerely invite all colleagues in the tourism industry to join the UTE Global Tourism Exhibition.

The UTE Global Tourism Exhibition provides a 100% B2B outbound tourism exchange platform for domestic and international travel agencies and local operators, hotels, resorts, tourism boards, online platforms, overseas car rental companies, inbound platforms, wholesalers, MICE organizers, study-tour and educational travel groups, cruise companies, and more.

At the exhibition, you can engage in face-to-face discussions with industry elites, share experiences, and explore cooperation opportunities. You can gain insights into the latest tourism market trends and product innovations to inspire your cooperation planning. You can also showcase your strengths and unique offerings to attract the attention of more potential partners.

By participating in the UTE Global Tourism Exhibition, you will gain access to abundant industry resources and valuable opportunities, helping your tourism cooperation proposals stand out in the fiercely competitive market. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to strengthen your competitiveness and expand your business landscape. Join us and open a new chapter of tourism cooperation! We look forward to seeing you at the UTE Global Tourism Exhibition in the second half of the year—let’s work together to create a brighter future for the tourism industry!

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