Tourism Start Up

The challenge intensified as NaviTour attempted to serve two very different audiences simultaneously:

• Independent travelers seeking unique, off-the-beaten-path experiences

• Travel trade buyers requiring standardized, scalable, and dependable inventory

Compounding this, guides often lacked the time, tools, or expertise to manage availability, pricing structures, and distribution across multiple sales channels—leading to inconsistent supply and missed revenue opportunities.
NaviTour needed to rapidly build both supply (guides/experiences) and demand (buyers/bookings) while creating a system that could scale across regions without sacrificing authenticity.

Solution

19 Oaks led the full go-to-market strategy, positioning, and sales infrastructure for NaviTour, acting as both strategic advisor and execution partner.

Key initiatives included:

1. Reframing the Product for Scale

• Transitioned from guide-specific listings to standardized, buyer-friendly experience templates (e.g., walking tours, food tours, kayak excursions)

• Ensured 12–18 month bookability, critical for travel trade adoption

• Enabled guides to “claim” bookings, removing friction around calendar management

2. Building a Dual-Sided Marketplace Strategy

• Developed targeted messaging for both travel trade buyers and local guides

• Positioned NaviTour as a “back office for New England experiences” for buyers

• Created value propositions emphasizing authenticity + reliability at scale

3. Travel Trade Sales Engine

• Identified, segmented, and engaged 150+ domestic and international buyers

• Built outbound sales sequences, partner onboarding flows, and CRM pipelines in HubSpot

• Developed net-rate pricing models and distribution strategies tailored by buyer type

4. Scalable Marketing & Content Strategy

• Launched a recurring buyer webinar series to showcase experiences and partners

• Created modular itineraries (including themed offerings tied to major events like the U.S. Semiquincentennial)

• Produced sales collateral, including CSV inventory feeds, sell sheets, and partner-ready content

5. Revenue Diversification

• Introduced an accommodation partner program, generating upfront marketing revenue

• Designed an integrated promotion across email, social, blog, and booking flows

Result

19 Oaks successfully transformed NaviTour from an early-stage concept into a structured, scalable marketplace with measurable traction:

• 150+ travel trade buyers engaged across the U.S. and international markets
• 50+ contracted partners actively promoting experiences
• Established a repeatable sales and onboarding system for both supply and demand
• Created a scalable product framework enabling long-term growth across New England

In addition, 19 Oaks built the foundational systems required for long sales-cycle industries:

• CRM-driven pipelines and automated outreach
• Standardized, buyer-ready inventory and pricing
• Marketing assets aligned with travel trade adoption timelines (often 2–3 years)

While external market forces ultimately impacted the broader travel landscape, the NaviTour project demonstrated 19 Oaks’ ability to:

• Launch and scale a two-sided marketplace
• Align product, marketing, and sales into a unified growth engine
• Build durable relationships across complex stakeholder ecosystems

Members of Our Team to Participate

Are you at that point where growth needs more than effort, and sales and marketing need to graduate to a more lasting system?

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