Group travel is notoriously difficult, especially if you are gathering a group of strangers together for the first time. However, while there are many challenges to a group trip, these struggles are worth the excellent experiences that group travel can give you and the rest of your tour group. In order to lead your group well, here are some top tips on overcoming the most common problems with group travel.
Keeping Costs Down
Even though most groups are applicable for discounts and deals on travel and accommodation, it can be difficult to keep the costs of your trip down to an acceptable price, especially for smaller companies who are organizing group trips, or for groups that are looking to head to remote locations. One of the best ways that you can keep costs down is to book all of the elements of your trip far in advance. For instance, by booking a long term parking Atlanta airport spot in advance, you will be able to save on the cost of your travel, while also ensuring that you can find a suitable place to store your vehicle for lengthy group trips.
Organization
Before you even get on your tour, your organization can cause major problems for group planners. However, your organization can be aided through a number of different solutions. For instance, you should consider uploading your schedule to Google Calendar or using a similar calendar app. You should also keep all of your documentation together and make sure that you have back-ups of all of the most important forms. You might also consider taking charge of all documentation, rather than allowing group members to take care of it themselves.
Diverging Interests
Even if you have produced an itinerary which you have advertised to the group in question before you leave, there will always be members of the group who have diverging interests and who want to participate in different activities from each other. This can cause large problems for the group organizer, especially if they are trying to keep to a schedule. Then, you should always leave some time at the end of an activity to allow group members to explore, offer a variety of different activities, and plan your activities with enough time between them in order to accommodate spontaneous requests.
Safety
Although there is safety in numbers, there are still many risks to the safety of your group members while they are abroad. One of the top issues is sickness while you are away, such as infections caused by insect bites, viruses, or food poisoning. To ensure the safety of your group, you should plan toward government guidelines, request vaccination certificates, and carry a first aid kit at all times. You should also take out group travel insurance. Not only this, but group safety can be compromised if one of your group gets lost. To minimize the risk of this, you should offer a GPS app and a paper map to every member of your group, establish clear meeting points, and try to reduce the number of group members who are participating in activities alone.
