Email Marketing and CRM for Tourism: How to Win Back Guests Who Already Chose You

Every year hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people pass through your property or join your tours. They already chose you, they know your service, many left happy. How many do you contact again after they leave? For many tourism businesses the answer is: none. It’s the most neglected asset in the industry.

Why email still works

For all the attention on social media and messaging, email remains the channel you truly own: it doesn’t depend on an algorithm, doesn’t cost per message, and reaches people who gave you their address. And trip-related emails are read far more than a generic newsletter.

An Experience Hotel analysis of more than 9 million hotel emails measured very high open rates for stay-related messages: about 60% for the email sent seven days before arrival and 46% for the one sent two days after departure, with click rates between 57% and 64%.

Open rate of stay-related emails

7 days before60%2 days before54%During the stay50%2 days after46%

Automated campaigns also beat one-off blasts. According to Revinate data reported by Stripo, automated emails see open rates around 57% versus 32% for one-off sends. It’s the difference between an expected message and a generic one.

The 6 emails to automate

1. Booking confirmation: clear, with every detail and your contacts. It’s the most opened email of all.
2. Pre-arrival (7 days before): how to get there, what to know, and offers for transfers and excursions.
3. Welcome: on arrival day, with Wi-Fi, opening hours, tips and a quick contact.
4. Post-stay (1–2 days after): thanks, a review request, any photos from the tour.
5. Anniversary: a year later, “remember Naples?”, with an offer for returning guests.
6. Seasonal: two or three times a year, with events and good times to come back (Christmas, Easter, the off-season).

CRM: you don’t need huge software

A CRM is simply an organised record of your customers: who they are, when they came, what they booked, where they’re from, whether they consented to marketing. For a small business, your management or booking system may be enough, as long as the data is:

• complete: email, language, country, dates, type of trip;
• clean: no duplicates and no masked platform addresses;
• segmentable: couples, families, groups, repeat guests;
• with consent recorded, keeping service communications separate from promotional ones.

One important detail: many platforms provide “masked” email addresses and forbid using them for marketing. That’s another reason a guest who books direct is worth more.

Writing emails that get read

• In the guest’s language. If half your customers are international, send emails in English (and perhaps other languages).
• One goal per email. Book the transfer, leave a review, come back at Easter.
• A concrete subject line. “Your arrival in Naples: everything you need” beats “October newsletter”.
• Readable on a phone: short text, big buttons, light images.
• Signed by a person. “Maria, reception” builds more trust than “The team”.

Which numbers to watch

Open rates are less reliable than they used to be, because some email apps inflate them automatically to protect privacy. Clicks, bookings generated and returning guests are more useful. Measure how many of this year’s customers had stayed with you before: that’s the real indicator of a good relationship.

Frequently asked questions

Can I send offers to all past guests?

Only to those who consented or, in some cases, to customers who already bought similar services and can easily opt out in every message. Check your situation with a privacy adviser.

How often should I send promotional emails?

For a tourism business, a few useful emails a year beat a monthly newsletter with nothing new.

Which software should I use?

It depends on volume and your management system. Often the most effective approach is to connect your booking system to an email service, so emails go out on their own based on dates.

Sources

• Hospitality Net – Experience Hotel, 9 Million Hotel Emails Analyzed
• Stripo – Hotel email marketing statistics and benchmarks

{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “FAQPage”, “mainEntity”: [ {“@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Can I send offers to all past guests?”, “acceptedAnswer”: {“@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “Only to those who consented or, in some cases, to customers who already bought similar services and can easily opt out in every message. Check your situation with a privacy adviser.”}}, {“@type”: “Question”, “name”: “How often should I send promotional emails?”, “acceptedAnswer”: {“@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “For a tourism business, a few useful emails a year beat a monthly newsletter with nothing new.”}}, {“@type”: “Question”, “name”: “Which software should I use?”, “acceptedAnswer”: {“@type”: “Answer”, “text”: “It depends on volume and your management system. Often the most effective approach is to connect your booking system to an email service, so emails go out on their own based on dates.”}} ] }