Understanding the Group Tour and Travel Industry

Tour and Travel 101

Tour and Travel 101

Terms and Definitions:

The information below refers to Packaged Group Travel. (Ten or More Travelers)

What type of tour operator are you?

Charter Only.

When a company does charter only, it means that they only contract out their motor coach fleet to transport a group to their destination. They do not get involved with tour or accommodation planning. These companies own their own business. Depending on their fleet size, quality, and motor coach capacity (pax) it will tell you what type of groups they attract.

* Opportunities: Referrals for guest’s traveling to our area or overnight accommodations for drivers that may be reaching their legal hours.

* Best Contact: Charter Manager, General Manager, or Owner.

* To get the thought process for creative ideas started… If they are in PA, MD, WV, NC let them know that Shenandoah and Christendom College are in area and they may get charter business from schools coming to play them in sports. Might be a good way to get return referrals.

Retail Tour Operators.

Retail tour companies market preset tours and scheduled dates to the public, and various types of travel groups. These types of companies either handle the tour planning in-house or they outsource the tour planning and operation to a receptive operator. Retail tour planning generally occurs from August-December so companies can launch a new catalog of scheduled tours (print and via website) for new year in January. Not all companies do this annually, some prefer quarterly. Due to the nature of marketing a tour that does not have preset travelers and the state of the economy these types of tours are not extremely strong right now. Strongholds still remain for Washington, D.C., NYC, and new exciting destinations that attract attention. (We can be new and exciting if they haven’t been here )

If they plan In- House:

They are busy! They have a staff that handles sales,...