It is fair to say that planning a family trip away can be a challenge. The flights, accommodation, transport and activities can exhaust mum and dad before you even leave the country. Imagine then expanding those considerations to a group of 20…. Or 50… Or 180 (as we have been known to do).
The logistics can be mind boggling.
A travel agent is more than capable of booking flights for 180 people, they can make sure that they have allergy friendly meals on board. Some can arrange hotel rooms and maybe even a bus at the other end. But how many travel agents can offer the below:
- On site visits to check the H&S factors of all accommodation, activities and service providers to ensure that they meet the highest possible standards
- Age-appropriate rooming lists for the group, ensuring that youth guests never share bathrooms with the public
- Arranging concerts for your choir or band with community and school groups around the globe
- Can then arrange to rent timpani drums and bassoons for your concert tours… and knows you’ll need an instrument truck to follow your tour group around the country
- Can book a rugby team for you to play against and then ensure that there are ambulances on hand should you take a knock
- Can get you inside CERN or Ebay or NASA to give you real life experiences
- Will send a Tour Manager along to handle all on the ground organisational needs during your tour
- And knows not to order ice in drinks in certain locations, as they use tap water for ice and you run the risk of gastro-intestinal bugs taking your tour down
- And if you choose very carefully, your group travel provider will be Covid Ready, Financially Bonded and have the right relationships to get you the best possible tour experience
We could easily go on for hours about the differences… the key different being, a travel agent can get your family to Disneyland…a group travel provider can get your school group a session in Nickelodeon meeting with their animators…
If you are travelling with a group of 10 or more, the cost benefits of booking your travel through a group provider also comes into account… You might think it’s easy to book on Grab-a-seat for $79, until you realise that you have brought the last 3 tickets at that price and the rest have shot up to $300… in the middle is the power of group bookings partnerships. Additionally, you when booking with a group provider, you don’t have to provide names until just before travel which helps when you haven’t selected the team yet. Not only that, but when booking you only have to pay a deposit so you don’t have to come up with thousands of dollars to secure your seats 18 months out.
So, when you really look at it, when you’re planning a trip for your school, choir, sports team or bowls club…you should really consider all the benefits of using a group travel provider that has the experience, contacts and knowledge to create a tour, not just a trip.
