Travelling as a group can often be a great way to enhance your travels, taking in new destinations and experiences with friends, family or colleagues. For friends and families travelling together, a well organised group trip can take the stress out of the organising so everyone can enjoy exploring the destination and enjoying everyone's company. For corporate trips like retreats and conferences it is important that the travel logistics are seamless so the key outcomes of the trip are achieved for the employer and employees.
Organising a group however can be a highly stressful and frustrating experience. In this video I talk about my top 3 tips when organising a group and further in this blog you can read about some of the benefits that Airlines, Cruise Ships and Tour Operators offer to attract your group business.
Tip 1: Engage with an experienced travel professional early on. You want to make sure your travel agent has experience with groups previously as there are many logistics and elements that you want someone to manage that has done it many times before, and successfully.
Tip 2: Know what offers and benefits there are out there for group travel (see below) to you can maximise the inclusions and value for your group.
Tip 3: Hand the logistics over to your travel professional early on. Being the 'organiser' is a tough job communicating and organising your people (it can be like herding cats!) plus answering a myriad of questions that you may or may not know the answer to. If you are the 'organiser' once you have engaged with a travel professional they should have the tools and processes to take the pressure off you at a relatively early stage and just keep you updated along the way.
So what are some of the benefits of group travel?
Airlines
Firstly we need to make it clear that group airfares are not solely about price. The airline won't necessarily offer you a rock bottom rate to look after your group, but what they will do is offer you a fair and reasonable rate (subject to availability and capacity) plus a couple of key benefits that make organising a group that much easier.
- Payment flexibility: Most airlines group rates will allow for a small deposit up front per person and the final balance 30-60 days prior to travel. In a world where airfares have to be paid upfront in most cases this can be a real benefit to the group when not all people in your group will have the money upfront - this way they can still join your group and lock in a fair price with only a small deposit
- Name flexibility: Along with payments, most airlines only require the names of travellers approximately 30 days prior to travel. This makes it so easy if you are organising a group and you don't have the exact names etc (very handy for corporate trips where employees may change between booking and travelling
- Luggage: If your group is a sporting group or other type of group with additional luggage needs over and above the 23kgs provided, often the Airline will have additional luggage limits for specific types of groups. This is critical for bands, sports teams etc
Cruise Lines:
Cruising can be an amazing option for leisure or corporate groups - it's all done for you and most items are included! Think multi-generation family trips for milestone birthdays, weddings and even conferences. Having everything at your fingertips takes a lot of stress out of a group trip. Some of the key benefits of cruising as a group are:
- Best of both worlds on price: Many cruise lines will lock in a group rate for you but if at the time of booking a promotional special rate is released you can book the cheaper rate and still enjoy the benefits of your group rate
- On board credit: Many cruise lines will offer an onboard credit amount to each cabin on a group that can go towards any onboard spending you do. You can also opt to use that credit to hold a private function or party onboard one evening
- Free cabins: Yes that is right, many cruise lines offer a free person for every 8 cabins booked on the group. This means that as the host or group organiser you can travel free, or you can opt to spread the free spot across your group and give everyone a discount
Touring:
Most tour operators will offer the option for group rate on an existing brochured tour or a private group tour with just your group on it. Just like cruising, with a private group tour everything is done for you so no one bears the stress of being the 'organiser' or virtual tour guide.
Price: Sometimes a private group can be a sharper price that a brochured tour as the tour operator have a lower cost of selling and administration of the tour
Free spots: For groups of 12+ often the tour can include 1 person free of charge as the 'host'. This is great for professionals in the Fitness, Wellness, Life Coaching and Special Interest fields as they can 'host' a group and travel free (the free part makes up for the effort they put in hosting the group and adding value)
Bespoke Itineraries: There's nothing better than finding that secret place that not many travellers visit or might be emerging. As a private group you can design the tour to suit as most tour operators have great contacts on the ground that can tailor your itinerary to suit. It also means good flexibility on the tour as you can work with the tour guide on timings and small changes along the way (stay longer here, skip this etc)
Hotels and other travel providers also cater well for groups so if you are thinking of organising a group in the near future, contact us at info@mindandbodytravel.com and we can take the stress away and help you plan it from the start!
Commentaires