GroupTravel Made Easy
March 15, 2010 by admin
Filed under Travel Blog
How to Organize It:
A group is defined as collection a of people that have a common interest or goal. I have written this guide to cover the main parts of how to organize group travel, including where to start, brainstorming, budgeting, raising money, organization and other useful ideas you may not have considered. It does not matter what the purpose of the group maybe, organizing a group tour can be a fun and a profitable experience for all concerned.
This article is intended to help you organize a successful group travel program. Whether you are new to group travel planning or are simply looking to improve on your prior experiences. It is aimed at a variety of people with no experience to those you have arranged group travel but just need a refresher. You may be an allocated tour committee member, club secretary, club president; or you may be a manager having been asked to organize a corporate trip. You may also be a best person for organizing a to-do list or simply organizing a holiday for a large group of friends or family.
Where to Begin:
If you have not organized group travel before, you are probably thinking where do I start? If you have organized group travel before and it did not go so smoothly you should be asking – where should I have started last time?
The first thing you need to decide is who will be responsible for what duties. Make sure these roles are clearly defined, and that each individual understand their responsibilities. The number of people who need to be involved in organizing group travel will vary depending on size of your group and destination. For small and informal groups you may decide that one person will take responsibility for all the tasks. For large and more formal groups it is often best to assign tasks to multiple people or a committee.
You should consider:
- Who will be responsible for collecting the necessary funds?
- For specialized groups – who will organize tours and individual activities?
- Who will sell the tour to your group and encourage them to go.
- Who will organize your group – make sure all parties have up-to-date passports and carry out any other administration requirements that need to be done.
- Fund raising- if required.
Brainstorming 101:
Once, it has been decided on who is responsible for what, you will need to come up with some general ideas of where your group should go and what they should do. In some cases this will be simple, as other factors will have already been pre-determined. If your group requires special needs or has a particular agenda it may require more pre-planning. In this situation you should consider what other activities you may also want to do in order that you get the most enjoyment out of your trip.
In many cases brainstorming will be a much more involved process. If you are a group wishing to go on a special tour, then the options are almost endless with regards to destinations, activities and itineraries.
You will probably need to do some research into ideas for your group and the brainstorming process could take several weeks to a month. Why not get some help from the experts! There are a number of professional group travel organizers such as your professional travel agent, who will have many ideas and have probably done something similar before. Contacting a professional group organizer will not cost you anything and will enable you to pick their brains. Professional tour operators also provide a large collection of pre-built itineraries for your consideration. You may be able to take one of these directly or adapt it to meet your group’s needs. You can also do research about different destinations and tours by using the internet to get ideas. There are great web sites with lots of useful information. Remember to consider your destination and itineraries. These two items will determine your approximate date of travel, likely numbers, accommodation type, and extra excursions that you might want to do.
Budget Is Important:
A group’s budget is very important. If you create an overpriced trip then no one from your group will be able to come. Equally if you set the budget so low, then you will end up in accommodation that no one wants to stay in, which again may put them off from committing.
You need to agree upon a price range that your group can afford and create a trip based on that information. For example, if you want to go on a week’s tour to Europe but realize that your group can only realistically afford $1500 per person, then you will need to consider fund raising or making an adjustment to your tour in terms of time, length, destination or itinerary.
Remember any group can afford a tour; it just takes the right amount of planning, creativity and preparation. Some members may have a particularly difficult economic background. You may want to consider subsidizing these members from the clubs funds and fund raising. Some people may also be prepared to pay more in order to reduce the cost to others. You should also take into consideration a Tour Conductor slot for the leader of the group. In most group bookings you should be able to get free accommodations for every 10 to 25 members in the group (this number depends on the tour operator) although airline seats are not normally affected.
Putting your Group Together:
Your first step is persuading people to go on your group trip. There are three main factors that decide this. Does the trip appeal to them is it at a price they can afford and how dynamic are you at selling them the idea! If you can get these three things right then you should have no problem in getting most of your group to go on the trip.
Organizing group travel can be time consuming and challenging. You can find yourself having to call people multiple times because they are not in. Following up with people up who have not done something you’ve asked them to do, dealing with people who have dropped out or adding new members on to the tour who now want to come. You must be prepared for a complex and time consuming operation if you’re doing everything yourself. You can significantly ease the burden by using a professional group organizer. They can help to deal with these problems on your behalf, depending on which company you go with and what you have agreed upon. If you want them to do everything then you should expect to pay extra for their service. By doing this it would free you up to do other tasks that might otherwise be more costly by ignoring them. One solution is to allow a professional travel tour company or a travel agent, who is trained in group travel to run your tour for you. They can provide a series of online facilities to help you with collecting of money, organizing your trip and getting quotes from suppliers.
Financing or Fund raising:
Is your group is on a limited budget! No one is going to give charitably to support your group tour? If you’re a corporation organizing group travel, then the only way you are going to get someone else to pay, are by offering commercial benefits like free advertisement on brochures or banners during meetings.
With most groups though there is a multitude of ways to raise finances for your group travel. You can organize generic events, fun days or organize something based on what your group does. General events and fund raisers could include: – sponsored marathon/competition, car washing at a local supermarket or school, coffee morning for you local retirement homes, put on a disco, create a night out, or organize an auction. The list is really only limited by your imagination. Also you should try organizing something that relates to what your group does. If your group is a car club, for instant, then organizes a car rally for your local community to raise the necessary funds for your group. You can quite quickly raise the money you need for your trip; all it takes is a little enthusiasm and it can be lots of fun.
One of the things people are most reluctant to do is part with their money. At the early stages it is important that you collect a deposit from every group member who has confirmed they are going on the trip. Without this there is no commitment or incentive for them not to drop out at the last second and this put your group tour in jeopardy. By doing this, your trip will becomes more manageable. You should keep your members aware that the final amount due and may be liable to change slightly if group members drop out or new ones join. You will normally find that quotes are given in price bands as group travel operators are aware the people may drop out or you may get additional travelers. You must also make people aware of cancellation cut off dates. Normally if you cancel with a hotel within 30 days prior to departure you will be liable to pay the full amount.
Travel Insurance:
As a group travel organizer or initiator for your group you will be viewed as responsible for everything that happens to your group members. Unfortunately from time to time things won’t go quite as planned. You must there for ensure you and your group members are protected against such instances. This is especially true with school, youth groups and family reunions. Often travel insurance is not that expensive and it can be a legal requirement in many situations. Ask your tour operator or your travel agent for information on the cost of Travel Insurance.
Raising Money for Charity:
Another reason to consider doing a group tour and getting people to participate is by raising money for a particular charity. Most people will contribute their hard earned money to a charity they believe in. Most tour operators have programs that will donate money to your favorite charity for every booking you make from your group. There is a simple formula that can be used to figure how much money your group would like to raise. Set a reasonable amount and divide it by the number of members in the group that are committed to going. For example; if you would like to raise $1,000 for your charity and your group consist of 100 members you would have to add $10.00 for each ticket sold. Depending on the tour operator, they will either match a percentage of extra money raised or give a set amount. Either way everyone wins, the charity gets money from your group, your group members have a sense of helping a charity and the tour operator received your business. Just make sure the charity you are raising money for is a legitimate charity.
