HOW TO LEAD YOUR TOUR
Once you’ve selected a destination, worked with us to put together the ideal tour package for your group and sold enough seats to confirm your tour, all you need to do is run it! If you’ve never served as Group Leader for a tour group, you’ll naturally be a bit nervous the first time. If you’re unsure about the best course of action, your driver is a great source of knowledge, ideas and experience and will happily give you an opinion or help you make the right decision for your group. There’s simply no substitute for experience in travel, so begin with the confidence your group knows and likes you and will likely follow your lead in most matters. Approach the situation with a plan, and all will go well. Here’s a brief discussion of 11 important details you’ll want to plan for on every tour you take.
Boarding Points Name, address and if necessary, road directions, for each place where you intend to stop the motor coach and board your travelers. (Remember its your responsibility to ensure your travelers can safely park their cars at each departure point for the duration of their tour.This is important! No one wants to come home to a towed car!
Clothing Advise travelers what the expected dress will be throughout your tour. (Many events are casual today but there are still occasions when other dress is appropriate and if your tour has such an event, remind travelers to pack the correct clothing before departure.)
When traveling long distances on motor coaches we recommend comfortable, loose clothes – sweat suits, jeans and shirts. Bring a sweater or jacket and dress in layers which can be removed when too hot; put back on when cold. Winter weather calls for protective, outer clothing that will usually be removed while traveling on the coach.
Food & Drink Although you’ll be making scheduled meal and break stops en route, your travelers may bring food and drink aboard the coach to eat en route. As Group Leader you must set the policy on whether alcoholic drinks will be allowed on your tour and communicate to us in advance. For the safety and comfort of all on board we ask that you actively monitor and enforce the drinks policy at all times on your tour. Your driver cannot do this as his/her full attention is required for safe operation of the motor coach and maintaining your tour schedule. Thank you. Please ask for your passengers’ help in keeping the coach tidy when traveling and use waste baskets both on board the coach and at rest and meal stops at all times. Your driver is responsible for keeping your coach clean throughout your tour and will be highly appreciative of any efforts you make toward this goal.
Gratuities (tips) are included for all professional and local guides hired by Legacy and included in your travel package. Tips for your Hawkeye driver (and professional Tour Manager if included in your tour) are customary, but discretionary, and so, NOT included in fares quoted by us. A fair tip for both drivers and tour managers is $2.00-$2.50 per person per day. These can be pre-paid and included in your package so travelers don’t have to “dig into their pockets” at the end of the tour. This is an increasingly popular option and many group leaders are now taking advantage of it.
Luggage There are two kinds of luggage – checked luggage and hand luggage. Here are some brief comments about each.
Checked luggage is handled under the motor coach, in baggage cars on trains, and in the hold of airliners and isn’t normally available to passengers while actually traveling. When you send your final rooming list to us we’ll produce a paper luggage tag with each passenger’s name and send to you in advance of departure. Put these ONLY on “official” checked luggage so it can be readily identified by our driver and hotel bellmen as belonging to your group.
Hand luggage is that which travelers are responsible for carrying into the cabin, train accommodation or motor coach themselves, and typically contain items required while en route. Experienced travelers always take a minimum amount; whether checked or hand luggage. No one enjoys taking things they don’t need or won’t use while traveling, but over-packing is a common problem!
Some group leaders hold a “departure meeting” and show the luggage they’re actually taking on tour to set an example. Others send a copy of our handy checklists for what to do before leaving home, what travel documents to bring, and what general and personal items experienced travelers have found useful while on tour. (checklists for both domestic USA-Canada and International tours are elsewhere on this website).
Label your luggage! – Every item, whether checked or hand luggage needs a label both INSIDE and OUTSIDE to ensure it doesn’t get lost in transit. Airlines and hotels are notorious for tearing our official luggage tags (or even your personal ones) off luggage they handle for you, and if there’s no label inside the item, it’s hard to find its owner.
Take an Official Count of Checked Luggage! – Before departure get together with your driver and make an official count of the total number of checked pieces. Write this down and take a count each time your coach leaves a hotel after check-out. It’s the only fool-proof way to ensure you don’t leave any checked luggage behind!
Money All travelers are interested in knowing how much money to bring on your tour. If you’ve planned and booked an inclusive package – one with transportation, lodging, most meals, attractions, entertainment and tips for all service personnel – your travelers don’t have to bring much cash. If the package leaves them “on-their-own” for many meals, attractions entrance fees and tips, though, they’ll need more. Many places you’ll travel today accept credit cards, especially popular bank credit cards Visa & Master Card, and more are beginning to accept debit cards, too. If your tour is traveling to another country, you’ll have to anticipate and plan for currency exchange. Experienced travelers bring enough cash to cover items of a personal nature, such as meals, camera film, newspapers, alcoholic drinks (rarely included in tour & travel packages) and other sundry items and use credit or debit cards for larger expenses.
Motor Coach Your Hawkeye coach has many features for your safety and comfort. Four way adjustable seats (head, seat back, arm & foot rests) for maximum comfort on the road. Insulated walls and windows reduce road noise and temperature variation. AM/FM radio and DVD players provide a complete mobile entertainment system. Overhead, enclosed compartments store hand luggage and a washroom (toilet & mirror) is located at the rear of the coach. Regular washroom, coffee break and meal stops are made each day on the road. Please ask your passengers to use washrooms during these stops; using facilities on the coach on an “emergency basis.”
Schedule What time is the coach scheduled to leave from each departure point? (your Tour Planner and experienced scheduler will set the official timetable for you but you must communicate it to your travelers.) Beyond the basic requirements of coach, air, rail or ocean travel, you may be in a better position to know how long events, attractions or other stops on your itinerary will require. You may wish to print and publish this or send by email to each of your travelers so everyone knows where to be every day of the tour. Some group leaders prefer to keep some or most of these details open and handle them “on the day” over the public address system on the motor coach.
Telephones Many people now routinely carry mobile (cell) telephones everywhere they go, and use them freely. When traveling with a group this can be annoying or even impolite and you should ask passengers to keep mobile phone use to an absolute minimum when traveling on the motor coach.
Weather Poor weather may delay, but rarely causes complete cancellation of motor coach travel. If you are traveling in winter, when weather can be uncertain, make sure your travelers allow adequate time to drive to boarding points. Your driver will advise if weather conditions – actual or expected – are likely to cause changes to your schedule. He or she is responsible for the safety of your travelers and your coach and will always be guided by safety considerations above all else while en route.
Tips From Successful Group Leaders
In preparing this section of our website we asked experienced group travel leaders for
their best ideas on successful group travel. Here’s what they have to share with you!
1 Sit in the front seat of the coach on the door side. This puts you in the center of the action and close to the driver in case a quick decision must be made. By always sitting in the same seat, travelers always know where to find you.
2 Communicate well with your group at all times. Use the microphone and PA system to communicate all official messages to your travelers. There are speakers at every seat and this is the only way to ensure your message is heard throughout the coach cabin. (if your coach has one of the new cordless microphones, never take it outside the coach (you might lose it!) and always return it to the charger when not in use to ensure it has power whenever you need to use it.)
3 Give clear instructions every day! Review the day’s itinerary after everyone is aboard so everyone knows what the day’s travel plans include. Don’t give exact times for each stop as road or traffic conditions may cause unforeseen delays as the day progresses. When making a stop tell the group where the coach will park and when you want them back aboard for departure.
4 Always count your passengers every time the coach departs! If you don’t, its possible to leave someone behind and not realize it until later.
5 Interact and socialize with your passengers. Get to know your travelers. Welcome newcomers to your traveling family. Never show favoritism for any reason; give equal time and attention to everyone. Don’t sit, eat, drink or dance repeatedly with the same group members at every stop. Always thank your passengers for traveling with your group. Take necessary steps to know about and recognize special occasions – birthdays and anniversaries – while on the road.
6 Plan appropriate activities on the coach. Motor coach travel doesn’t take your time, it gives you time back to think, relax, make new friends, look out the windows at passing scenery, read or sleep. On a long travel day, though, a structured group activity of some kind may be appropriate for your group. You can play a game, using the PA system for communication, watch a movie or listen to music. You might ask other travelers to share information or experiences they have about travel, a particular destination or experience before or after arriving there. Certain groups may enjoy singing. Never “force” these activities on your group or let them go on too long they become annoying. Check with the group and ask what they want to do with their travel time.
7 Don’t allow anyone to take over the tour. Many people today are used to doing things individually or in very small groups and may be unaccustomed to large group travel or social interaction. Since your job is to plan and operate a tour for the entire group, you must not allow one or just a few people to unduly influence the group’s activities. Instead, there are many times you must ask travelers to “get along” or “go along” for the benefit of the group. Good groups often find the members begin actively looking out for each member of the group at each stop and activity. This is success!
8 Always look for ways to add new members to your group. It’s very likely you plan your tours or trips with a certain kind of traveler in mind. If these people enjoy your tours - and continue to travel with you – it’s reasonable to believe there are many others who would as well. ASK your regular travelers for recommendations of family, friends, colleagues, customers or others who might wish to learn about your future trips. If these new travelers eventually do book with you, you might consider providing some kind of “reward” to the person originally recommending them.
9 Every good tour tells a story. Tours make more sense when they’re carefully planned and operated in some logical order. This is what experienced Group Leaders call “telling a story.” Sooner or later you’ll find themes emerging in your itineraries. It might be visiting beautiful gardens, learning about wine at wineries, attending live concerts or plays, touring historic homes, public buildings or cities, etc. Find out what your travelers like and weave the travel, hotels, touring, meals and entertainment into a tour that tells a good story when it’s over.
10 Provide both Group and Non-Group Activities. Even the most gregarious, social people can become tired of touring or eating with the same 40 people for 10 days in a row on your tour! When you plan your tour designate certain activities as “full group,” and others as “non group” to allow travelers a choice in activity or meal. This can go a long way to providing the independence many travelers like (or are used to when they travel on their own outside the group) when discovering a new destination, hotel, restaurant or attraction. Especially where baby boomers – people born between 1946-1964 – are in your group, you may find it beneficial to offer more choices in every aspect of your tour planning. At Legacy, we call this “group travel for individuals.”
To return to the main Group Leisure Travel page, click HERE.