Daily Deal Websites Around the Globe (Part 2)

I initially wrote about the daily deal industry abroad and have since been traveling in Europe and have taken notice of a few key things about the deal industry…

My first and foremost observation is that when traveling abroad, daily deal sites do not cater to foreigners.  Redeeming coupons and vouchers as a local is awkward enough.  Imagine being a foreigner who doesn’t speak the native language; mix that with the fact that most employees have no idea how to mark a coupon as redeemed – and it’s a recipe for disaster and more so a recipe to look like a fool.

Each deal site that I visited while in Paris was in French and offered no translation on the deals other than the poor Google Translation button that often times does more harm than it’s worth…   Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand this reasoning because one of the allures for businesses and merchants to run a deal is the high potential to turn a new customer into a repeat customer.  Foreigners are most likely not going to become repeat customers and so it doesn’t make too much sense to target offer campaigns towards tourists.

Or does it?

The tourism industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that has been around since well before daily deal sites or even the internet were around.  Maybe deal sites should put more focus into catering to tourists?

I believe it could be an incredibly wise decision for those deal sites to offer certain “tourist” deals and give me the option to view those deals in my home language and specifically cater certain offers to the “tourist traveler.”

These tourists’ deals wouldn’t have to be your typical deal, and in essence, they could simply get us in the door.  Most tourists take recommendations from friends who have previously traveled or a concierge at a hotel on which restaurants to visit, shows to see, etc, and I believe if the deal sites had a tourist portal that would help someone such as myself explore and find the best things to do, eat, and see in the city, it could go a long way and potentially add a great deal of revenue to the deal business.

Living Social has Escapes – but I’m thinking beyond that.  I’m thinking Living Social Concierge…

Deal sites don’t have to solely offer 50%-90% off on local restaurants, spas, golf outings, canopy tours, etc…  In fact, to remain on top and stay highly profitable, you MUST innovate and provide a more full service site that offers more than just coupons.  Offer an experience.Offer a reason for people to share your site and deals.

A firsthand written deal from a tourist about their experience at a certain activity would make me far more likely to want to experience the same thing (and it could give a good insight on the culture)…  Tourists also tell their friends about the great things to do, eat, and see and putting great effort into getting tourists to visit your business through daily deal sites could open up an entirely new revenue stream.

Do you want tourists buying daily deals from you?

Marc D. Horne
DailyDealBuilder.com

Originally posted this article at Daily Deal Media