Traveling with a large group can be fun and rewarding, but also challenging and stressful. How can you make sure that everyone enjoys the trip and gets the most out of it? How can you cater to different preferences, needs, and expectations? How can you create memorable and meaningful experiences for all? Here are some tips on how to personalize travel experiences for a large group.
Before you plan anything, you need to know who you are traveling with. What are their interests, hobbies, goals, and preferences? What are their budgets, schedules, and limitations? What are their expectations and concerns? You can use surveys, interviews, or group discussions to gather this information. You can also create personas or profiles for different types of travelers in your group. This will help you understand their motivations, needs, and wants.
Here you need to think "single source of truth." Configuring an ecosystem that includes registration, online travel booking tool, housing management, activity planning, transfer management, mobile app and reporting, creates an effortless connected experience for every persona involved in the attendee or planning journey.
Según mi experiencia como tour leader de grupos grandes normalmente los grupos ya tienen un interés común que les ha llevado a elegir ese viaje o experiencia. Un viaje en grupo no es un viaje a medida y sería un error intentar dar este servicio ya que puede provocar problemas si se atiende más a unas personas que a otras. Quien quiere un viaje personalizado no viaja en grupos grandes y si lo hace hay que hacerles entender que no se puede atender a cada demanda especial.
The next step is to choose a destination that offers something for everyone. You want to avoid places that are too crowded, too expensive, too boring, or too restrictive. You want to find places that have a variety of attractions, activities, cultures, and landscapes. You want to look for places that have options for different levels of difficulty, accessibility, and comfort. You want to consider the season, the weather, the safety, and the logistics of the destination.
I agree with most of the points here. However in post-pandemic world with increase group and event demand, TIME IS YOUR BEST FRIEND. Groups are forced to chose their destination based on availability, rather than preference due to time constraints and last minute budgeting approvals. Take this information back to your management and explain that in order to find the ideal location, you need to plan earlier. M&E are now considered a hard cost by most. Working from home environments triggers the need for increased team meetings, and employee well-being triggers the need for incentives. Budget for these every year, rather than a last minute decision.
Elegir un destino flexible pero hasta cierto punto. - Un viaje a capitales europeas es cultural y gastronómico, quien quiere naturaleza no contrata este vaje. - Un viaje puede ser caro o barato y será tan bueno el uno como el otro, solo hay que asegurarse de que las personas reciben un trato profesional sin deoender de lo que hayan pagado. - hay personas a las que no les importa estar en lugares concurridos, se les informa de que la zona, monumento suele estar lleno y si ellos deciden ir no va a ser ningún problema. - Venecia no deja de recibir visitantes y es cara, y concurrida. El Machu Pichu tiene restringido el numero de visitantes y no pierde visitantes. Lo mismo con la Sagrada Familia.
Once you have a destination, you need to customize the itinerary to suit your group. You don't have to do everything together or follow a rigid schedule. You can offer different options for different days, times, and locations. You can allow some free time for individual exploration or relaxation. You can also mix and match different types of experiences, such as sightseeing, adventure, culture, nature, and food. You can use online tools, apps, or guides to help you create and share the itinerary.
Humans want to curate their pathway. Utilizing innovative registration technology, for example Lenos, enables stakeholders to curate "attendee types" and "registration pathways" for event attendees to curate their experience. Then during the event, utilizing a Mobile App provides a pocket assistant to keep all attendees up to date and informed during the entire event.
Una vez mas en un grupo grande es el grupo el que tiene que adaptarse a un itinerario que tiene un motivo o tema principal. Está bien adapatarlo para que sea lo más atractivo posible pero estamos hablando de grupos grandes no viajes personalizados para un grupo peque?o o un grupo cerrado que ha pedido algo particular.
One way to personalize travel experiences for a large group is to encourage participation from everyone. You can ask for feedback, suggestions, and opinions from your group members. You can involve them in decision making, problem solving, and planning. You can also assign roles, tasks, or responsibilities to different people, such as leader, photographer, navigator, or storyteller. This will make them feel more engaged, valued, and empowered.
Encourage participation by using Arts & Entertainment as a utility. The arts promote group cohesion to foster unrivaled levels of ingenuity. It will create an environment and an arena of commonality and unity. It frees the mind to break the bonds of conventional thinking and elevates creativity to levels that one may otherwise find difficult to achieve by themselves.
Normalmente las personas que contratan un viaje en grupo lo hacen sobretodo para no tener que pensar ni preocuparse. Son sus vacaciones, se puede crear un sentimiento de frustración y de no disfrute de las vacaciones si se encarga una tarea a una sola persona, se sentirá obligada a hacerlo bien y puede arruinar sus vacaciones.
One way to personalize travel experiences for a large group is to encourage participation from everyone. You can ask for feedback, suggestions, and opinions from your group members. You can involve them in decision making, problem solving, and planning. You can also assign roles, tasks, or responsibilities to different people, such as leader, photographer, navigator, or storyteller. This will make them feel more engaged, valued, and empowered.
Another way to personalize travel experiences for a large group is to create memories that last. You can do this by capturing and sharing photos, videos, stories, or souvenirs from the trip. You can also create rituals, traditions, or games that bond the group. You can celebrate milestones, achievements, or occasions that mark the trip. You can also reflect on the learnings, insights, or emotions that the trip evoked.
Saber gestionar un grupo significa saber estar para ayudar a crear momentos únicos y también saber dejar libertad a quien no tiene interés en relacionarse demasiado. Se puede crear un lugar donde compartir las fotos en común, ver que personas pueden tener intereses parecidos y animarles a que hagan actividades que les pueden parecer mas interesantes, pero un buen guía o organizador nunca puede priorizar a unos clientes por encima de otros, no debe organizar o forzar actividades donde sabe que una parte del grupo se va a sentir incómoda y puede pensar que les tratan diferente por no querer formar parte de todas las actividades de grupo.
Finally, you need to respect the diversity of your group. You need to acknowledge and appreciate the differences in personalities, backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives. You need to avoid stereotypes, judgments, or conflicts. You need to communicate clearly, listen actively, and compromise when needed. You need to support, help, and care for each other. You need to remember that everyone has their own way of enjoying and experiencing travel.
Este es el punto con el que coincido al 100% Un grupo son gente diferente que merece un trato igual y nunca hay que dejarse llevar por preferencias personales ya que el guía no está allí para hacer amigos, está para que todas las personas disfruten del viaje que han pagado y reciban el mismo trato por igual.