pre tour management

The Ultimate Pre-Tour Guide and Checklist

Going on tour is an exciting opportunity. You get to connect with audiences in a more meaningful way than you can through your recordings. Not to mention that touring is likely to be the most lucrative part of your income as a musician.

Nevertheless, going on tour can be something of a logistical behemoth. Without effective planning in place, various aspects can easily fall apart. This leads not only to financial and practical disruption, but it also makes the process less enjoyable. 

We’ve put together a pre-tour guide and checklist to cover the key aspects you should plan ahead.

Confirm Your Bookings

One of your first steps should be to confirm your gig bookings. This may seem unnecessary, but so much can change in a matter of days that it’s something to take seriously. Many venues closed as a result of COVID-19 and indie clubs are continuing to struggle financially in the aftermath. It can be the case that between initial booking and days before the tour that a show can be canceled due to problems or in favor of a more popular and lucrative artist.

Keep an open dialogue with promoters and venues in this regard. Check in with them occasionally. Don’t just make this a case of continually asking whether the gig is still on. Make a schedule to contact them at intervals to talk about the promotion of the event. Ask whether there is anything you can do as the artist to help them. This not only gives you confirmation of the event but also helps you make more meaningful connections with promoters.   

Part of your booking confirmation should include the arrangements at the venue. Reiterate any rider elements or pre-agreed comfort aspects. Run through the logistics of parking at the venue and equipment unloading procedures.

Check Your Accommodations

Tour accommodation is an essential consideration for your checklist. Being on the road can often feel chaotic and stressful. Never underestimate how a decent shower and a relatively comfortable bed can keep you positive and healthy during a lengthy tour. Even the moment of privacy to video call your partner and maintain your relationship can be invaluable. As such, you need to either arrange or confirm your bookings in this regard.

If you’ve booked hotel or motel rooms, double-check the amenities here. Few touring musicians expect 5-star accommodations, but there are likely to be minimum standards you should expect to be met. This is particularly vital if you live with mobility challenges and require specific resources to be in place. Double-checking these prior to hitting the road gives you the opportunity to make arrangements.

Many musicians don’t have the budget for hotels for the entire tour. As such, you may have arranged to crash with friends and acquaintances at points during your travels. Remember that people’s lives change and can get more complicated. So, it’s worth just making a call to double check you’re still able to spend the night with your generous hosts. That said, it’s also worth arranging some contingency locations in case of unexpected cancellations.

Prepare Your Home

If you live alone, going on tour usually means you’ll be leaving your house empty for lengthy periods. Before you travel it’s important to take some time to prepare your home accordingly. This is because there can be a range of security and safety issues that can arise from vacant properties. Arrange to have your mail paused or forwarded and ask your neighbors to keep an eye on your place for you. Making sure all your lights are turned off saves energy while you’re away, too.   

One specific aspect you should carefully consider is whether it is a good idea to turn your heating off while you’re away. It can certainly save energy and money, but at particularly cold times of the year, you may find this leads to damage. The last thing you want is to return from a tour to find your pipes have frozen. Look at the weather forecasts for your area during the time you’re away. If the temperatures are expected to go below freezing, it’s worth setting a thermostat to keep your home at around 55 degrees.   

Your arrangements should also include identifying a friend or family member as a point of contact for emergencies. Provide them with keys and details of any insurance documents. This way, you’re not having to rush back from the tour in the event of a problem. 

Consider Your Wellness Needs

Keeping healthy on your tour is important. It helps you to perform at your best in each show. Not to mention that it makes for a generally more pleasant touring experience. As such, your checklist needs to include making sure you have resources in place to take care of your wellness needs.

Stock up on relevant over-the-counter remedies for minor ailments. If you have prescription medications, make an appointment with your doctor to get extra supplies in the event of loss or other issues where possible. Load up on some healthy snacks and bottled water for your journey so you’re not relying on fast food with less nutritional value. It may also be worth identifying healthy restaurants and marking them out along your route.  

You should also make a note of medical facilities in and around the vicinity of your venues. Whether you need to visit a hospital or an appointment with a general practitioner, this will save time in the event of an issue. Check whether these facilities are in-network with your health insurer, too. If you receive specialist care — such as with an otolaryngologist if you’re a vocalist — make arrangements for remote telehealth access if you need it on the road.

Your pre-tour planning is an essential component of making sure your travels are successful. Engage with promoters and accommodation providers to make sure your needs are taken care of. Prepare your home to keep it safe and secure during your time away. Take steps to bolster your health while you’re on the road. The better you plan before you hit the road, the more positive an impact your tour is likely to have on everyone involved.

By Indiana Lee

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Tour Management: A Guide for Independent Artists to Plan and Execute Successful Tours

James Hanserton | December 22, 2023 December 25, 2023 | Music Business

As an independent artist, managing your own tour can feel like a daunting task. But don’t fret! I’m here to break down the basics of tour management, making your journey from the studio to the stage a smooth one.

In this article, we’ll dive into the nitty-gritty of planning and executing successful tours. From budgeting to booking venues, and even handling the unexpected hiccups that inevitably come up on the road, we’ve got you covered.

So, if you’re ready to take your music on the road and connect with fans in a whole new way, read on! This guide is packed with practical tips and insights that’ll help you master the art of tour management.

The Benefits of Touring for Independent Artists

As we delve deeper into the art of tour management, it’s crucial to highlight the core benefits that touring offers to independent artists. Understanding these advantages can inspire and prepare you for the challenging yet rewarding journey ahead.

Increased Exposure and Fan Engagement

The first and perhaps most obvious benefit is increased exposure . On a tour, you’re visiting numerous different cities, each with their own unique communities and music scenes. This means you’re not only reaching a wider audience but also tapping into diverse markets that might not have been accessible through online platforms alone.

Along with broadened exposure comes the opportunity for increased fan engagement . There’s power in the tactile, first-hand experiences that live performances offer. You’re not just a digital image on a screen, but a living, breathing artist expressing emotion, connecting to the audience in a visceral way. This real-life interaction can foster stronger connections between artists and fans, creating loyal fanbases that are vital for independent artists.

Revenue Generation

Financial stability can be a struggle for independent artists, and a well-orchestrated tour can provide a much-needed income stream. Earnings come from various avenues:

• Ticket sales
• Merchandise sales
• Sponsorship or partnership deals

The key is that it’s a more direct way of revenue generation. When fans attend your concerts, they’re more likely to buy your merchandise. They’re investing in you, your music, and your journey, which can lead to more consistent revenue rather than something more sporadic like online streaming royalties.

Networking Opportunities

Finally, touring facilitates ripe networking opportunities. As you travel and perform, you’ll meet venue owners, promoters, other musicians, and even fans who work within your industry. These connections can prove invaluable for future collaborations, gig swappings, and overall industry recognition. Always remember: people are more likely to remember and recommend someone they’ve met and liked personally. Networking is much more than a business strategy, it’s about building relationships and community within the music industry.

This is why it’s important to have proper tour management. It enables you to focus on these benefits—increased exposure, revenue generation, networking—and not allow the daunting aspects of tours to overshadow these gains.

Pre-Planning: Setting Tour Goals and Objectives

Preparation is the key to a successful tour. As an independent artist, you’ve got the freedom to make your tour align with your unique objectives and goals. The early stages of planning are crucial. Don’t rush this part. Take your time to properly establish your tour’s direction.

Define Your Tour Objectives

The first step is to define your tour objectives. Ask yourself what you want to achieve with this tour. Three common objectives for most independent artists are revenue generation, fan engagement, and exposure. Knowing your objectives will guide you in making informed decisions as you plan your tour itinerary and set your performance dates.

Determine Your Target Audience and Market

Next, you’ll need to determine your target audience and market. Who listens to your music? Who’s going to come to your shows? Understanding your audience is crucial to maximize the impact of your performances and to select suitable tour locations. Additionally, it’ll help you plan your marketing strategy, ensuring you’ll reach the people most likely to attend your gigs.

Not sure who your audience is? Extract data from your social media platforms and streaming services. This can provide insights about your listeners’ demographics, geographic locations, and musical preferences.

Research Potential Tour Routes and Venues

Lastly, research potential tour routes and venues. This step will depend largely on your objectives, target audience, and of course, your budget. Look for venues that cater is to your genre of music and are located in areas where you have a strong fan base.

Consider teaming up with local bands or artists who share a similar style. This synergy can increase your fan base and it often leads to exciting cross-promotion opportunities. Use digital platforms like Google Maps to visualize your tour route and to assess the distance between venues. This can help you to minimize travel costs and maximize your exposure.

Creating a Tour Budget

Crafting an accurate and practical tour budget is a must for all independent artists. Irrespective of your tour size and scope, understanding your expected costs and potential income plays a crucial role in your tour’s success. A well-planned budget provides the financial blueprint to accomplish your goals without incurring debt. Navigating financial elements may feel overwhelming given all the variables, but breaking it down into manageable categories can simplify the task.

Estimate Your Expenses

Your first task is to estimate your expenses. Costs can be wide-ranging and might differ significantly depending on tour specifics. Essential expenses include:

• Travel: fuel, flights, accommodation, and meals
• Venue fees: renting, sound, and light equipment
• Marketing: posters, online ads, and promotions
• Miscellaneous: emergency funds for surprises on the road

Be realistic and add buffers where necessary. Expect the unexpected and remember that costs can exceed initial estimates.

Accurate expense estimation also requires prior research about potential tour routes and venues, which you can accomplish through online resources, networking with other musicians, or possibly teaming up with local bands to minimize costs.

Identify Potential Revenue Streams

Subsequent to estimating expenses, it’s time to identify the potential revenue streams you can tap into. Start by assessing your primary income source – ticket sales. Analyze past shows to predict possible earnings, asking questions like, “What was the average turnout?”, “What price did the audience seem comfortable paying?”.

Next, explore other revenue generators:

• Merchandise: T-shirts, posters, vinyl, etc.
• VIP upgrades: Meet and greets, backstage passes
• Online platforms: Live streaming, crowdfunding

Remember, the goal is not just to cover your trip costs but also to generate significant revenue where you can engage more with your fans and increase your visibility.

Allocate Budget to Different Tour Costs

Lastly, divide your budget among the various tour costs . Try to keep expenses as low as possible while also boosting likely income sources. If you’ve been utilizing insight from social media channels and streaming platforms, you already have a pretty good idea not only of who your audience is but also what they might be willing to spend on extra experiences or merchandising. Use this data to prioritize your budget allocations, striking a balance between necessary costs and strategic investments.

Budgeting is not about restrictions, but about making informed decisions. With a detailed tour budget in place, you’ll be well equipped to make the most out of your tour, achieving your goals, and pushing your music career forward.

Booking Tour Dates and Venues

The next essential step in your tour management journey as an independent artist concerns booking your tour dates and venues. As an essential cog in the wheel of tour planning, effective venue booking ensures a well-organized tour that aligns with your pre-set tour objectives.

Reach Out to Booking Agents and Promoters

The initial process of venue booking involves establishing contact with potential booking agents, promoters, and venue managers. These stakeholders play pivotal roles in securing venues, dates, and drawing in the right crowd.

• Establish relationships : It’s beneficial to foster relationships with agents and promoters that share your artistic vision and align with your tour goals.
• Reputation checks : Don’t simply settle for the first agent or promoter you stumble upon; it’s vital to check their reputation, past gigs they’ve worked on, and connections in your target markets.
• Personalize the approach : The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work here. When reaching out, make it personal. Show them you’ve done your research and how they tie into your tour objectives.

Submitting Your Tour Package

Once you’ve established contact with potential agents and promoters, you’ll need to submit a comprehensive tour package. This showcases what you bring to the table as an independent artist and includes:

• EPK (Electronic Press Kit) : This digital portfolio should include your music tracks, high-quality photographs, previous press coverage or reviews, and a bio.
• Marketing Materials : These show how you intend to promote your tour. It could include flyers, postcards, posters, and social media campaigns.
• Technical Rider : This list presents what you’ll need technically. The list might include sound, lighting requirements, and stage layout.

Submitting a well-structured and comprehensive tour package can enhance your credibility and increase chances of securing your desired dates and venues.

Negotiating Contracts and Fees

After you’ve submitted your package, you’ll likely enter a negotiation phase. This critical juncture defines the terms of your tour including the fees, payment details, and other contract terms.

When negotiating:

• Be realistic : Understand your worth but don’t overestimate it. It’s crucial to balance your aspirations with the realities of the market.
• Think Holistically : Keep in mind that contract negotiations are not just about performance fees. Consider merchandising opportunities, catering, accommodation, and transportation provisions.
• Legal Advice : Ensure you understand all the terms in the contract. A lawyer or experienced manager would be helpful here to prevent unfavorable terms slipping in.

Remember, effective negotiation forms the backbone of a successful tour . A mutual agreement that respects both parties’ interests will cultivate relationships that may pave the way for future gigs and collaborations. As an independent artist managing your tour, attention to these details can make or break the success of your endeavour.

Promoting Your Tour

When I’ve finally secured my tour dates and contracts, the work doesn’t stop there. Next, I need to create awareness about the tour. Promotion plays a significant role in tour management, ensuring that tickets are sold for each concert.

Utilizing Social Media and Online Platforms

Perhaps, traditional forms of marketing may not be as effective as they once were. As I deal with a digital world, I’ve found social media to be a greater ally in promoting my tours. My audience is more likely online than anywhere else. I use platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and even Pinterest to reach out to fans. I usually post about upcoming performances, backstage events, rehearsal snippets, and band member interviews to hype my shows.

Additionally, I’ve embraced the power of email marketing. It’s a more personal way of reaching out to my fans. At every show, I create a fan email list and distribute newsletters about my music, future tours, and behind-the-scenes snippets.

Engaging with Local Media and Press Outlets

But the digital world isn’t the only place to promote my tours. I’ve found local newspapers and radio stations valuable in engaging my potential audience. I contact these mediums ahead of time, offering exclusive interviews about my music and upcoming tour. They usually appreciate community-based stories. Aligning with a local cause on some concert stops maximizes media engagement, and it can create a deeper connection with my audience.

Collaborating with Other Artists and Influencers

Finally, there’s the power of collaboration. Not only has it propelled my music but it has also broadened my fan base. I reach out to fellow musicians for possible partnerships – be it on-stage appearances or musical collaborations. I also identify social media influencers who resonate with my music and fan base. Their engagement with my tour amplifies its visibility.

Whether it’s engaging on social media, leveraging local press, or collaborating with other artists, each angle provides a unique pathway to promote my tour. It’s essential to combine these strategies, tailoring them to fit my music, my tour, and most importantly my fans. The aim? To guarantee a successful tour with sold-out concerts. It’s all about finding the balance and adapting to new opportunities as they present themselves.

Organization and Logistics

** ## Organization and Logistics ** Navigating the eventful landscape of tour management requires strategic organization and keen attention to logistics. As an independent artist, you’ll bear the brunt of these daunting tasks, a crucial detail often glossed over in stardom’s allure. Yet, the whirlwind adventure of touring life rests largely on these less-glamorous aspects of your music career.

In light of this, let’s delve into three significant areas:

Transportation and Travel Arrangements

For starters, wrapping your head around transportation and travel arrangements is paramount. Let’s face it: it’s not enough to simply know where you’re going, you need a rock-solid plan on getting there.

This can take the form of private vehicle bookings, airline reservations, and even coordinating public transport use in certain cities. It’s pivotal to note that you must factor in time for rest, soundchecks, rehearsals, and, of course, sightseeing – you’re travelling after all!

Key Takeaway : Proper transportation organization safeguards against unexpected hitches and offers a seamless experience moving from point A to point B.

Accommodation and Tour Bus Rental

Next up is accommodation arrangements and – when it makes sense – tour bus rentals. This step requires zooming in on your tour schedule and budget, which will shape your decisions.

Remember, it’s not just about where you’ll lay your head at night – hotel bookings, Airbnb rentals, couch surfing, etc. – but also about the travel between gigs. For example, a tour bus can double as both a mode of transport and a place to rest, making it a worthy investment for some circuits.

Key Takeaway : Prioritizing accommodation and transit rental decisions based on tour demands and budget constraints ensures comfort and efficiency on the road.

Equipment and Merchandise Management

Lastly, you’ll need a foolproof system for managing equipment and merchandise. This includes musical gear, stage props, along with branded merchandise such as T-shirts, CDs, vinyl, posters, and more.

As an independent artist, you’re likely to be juggling multiple roles. Thus, it’s vital to have an inventory system in place to track what’s been sold, damaged, or needs replenishing. Some artists even designate specific crew members for this responsibility to ensure this critical aspect doesn’t get neglected.

Key Takeaway : An effective merchandise management system boosts tour profits and prevents lost or damaged equipment.

On-Tour Management

Once you’ve meticulously planned and executed every preparation for your tour, you’ll step into the most exciting and challenging part: the actual tour. In this stage, effective management is crucial to ensure a smooth run of shows. You’re responsible for managing finances, dealing with unforeseen challenges, and maintaining your and your team’s health and well-being.

Managing Finances and Expenses

Sound financial management during your tour is of utmost importance. It’s not enough to simply settle your bills as they come up. Keep track of all expenses and collections to ensure you’re staying within your budget. The easiest way to manage this is by having a tour accountant or someone reliable —could be band members or management staff— taking charge of the money. Daily tour expenditures include food, accommodation, travel, and incidental expenses.

Here is an example of a simplified daily tour expenses breakdown:

Selling merchandise is a great way to offset these costs. Make sure the gains are properly accounted for and managed.

Dealing with Unexpected Challenges

On tour, there’s bound to be instances that don’t go according to plan. It could be van breakdowns, venue cancellations, bad weather, or even illness. Handling these issues professionally and calmly can make a huge difference in ensuring the show goes on.

Delay in show-stopping gear arriving? Have backups ready. Booked venue canceled last minute? Leverage relationships with booking agents and other contacts to find alternatives.

Preparedness is key. But remember, it’s not possible to predict all mishaps. Hence it’s important to keep a cool head, be quick on your feet, and act decisively and collaboratively.

Maintaining Health and Well-being

The physical strain of touring can be exhaustive as you’re always on the move. You’re performing one night, packing up the next morning, driving for hours to get to the next city, setting up, and doing it all over again. It’s crucial to take care of your and your team’s health and well-being on tour.

Proper diet, decent sleep, and adequate hydration mustn’t be neglected. Recharge your batteries with some downtime whenever you can. Avoid long stretches of shows without breaks. Manage stress by means of exercise, meditation, or any other activity that gives relaxation.

Post-Tour Follow Up

Following a tour, it’s important not to forget about your fans and the professionals you’ve met along the way. Post-tour follow-ups allow artists to build lasting relationships, and set the foundation for future tours. This is the crucial moment to analyze, build, and plan.

Analyzing Tour Performance and Fan Engagement

After the tour ends, it’s time to review how everything went. This includes looking at how many tickets were sold, which cities had the biggest fan turnout, and where merchandise sales were highest. You’ll want to look at your social media engagement during the tour period as well – noting any spikes in follower growth, likes, shares, and comments. Analyzing these metrics will allow you to understand which aspects of your tour worked best, and which ones need improvement for future tours.

Important : Track and monitor all relevant data from ticket sales to online engagement. Ensure you’re using a reliable analytics tool for this process.

Building Relationships with Fans and Industry Professionals

An independent artist’s greatest asset is their fan base. Therefore, interacting and engaging with fans after a tour is crucial in maintaining loyalty and keeping them excited for future music and events. Responding to comments on social media, creating post-tour fan content such as behind-the-scenes vlogs, or sending a personally addressed thank-you email can significantly foster these relationships.

With industry professionals like venue owners and booking agents, a simple thank you can go a long way. You’ll be remembered for your professionalism and might secure your spot on their stage for future shows. Let them know how much you appreciated their support.

Remember, networking is instrumental, so maintain those newly established links and continue to reach out. Become part of the music community and grow with it.

Planning for Future Tours

Based on tour performance analysis and the relationships built, it’s now time to start thinking about your next tour. Keep the variables of success in mind when considering where and when to tour next, which booking agents to approach, and what kind of support to bring on the road.

This is arguably one of the most important aspects of post-tour follow-up because your next steps directly influence your future success. Consider challenges faced and lessons learned during the previous tour. Remember to explore new potential cities and venues based on fanbase growth and engagement data.

Remember: Don’t rush this process. Proper planning and foresight will ensure an even more successful tour next time.

Taking these essential steps in the post-tour period will solidify the longevity of your tour life as an independent artist. This reflection time provides valuable insight, and the connections made become a vibrant part of your artist journey. Don’t underestimate the power of thorough analysis, consistent engagement, and well-informed planning for future tours.

Why is post-tour follow-up crucial for independent artists?

Post-tour follow-up allows artists to analyze tour performance and fan engagement. It provides insights into what worked well and what needs improvement for future tours.

How can analyzing ticket sales and fan turnout benefit an artist?

Analyzing ticket sales and fan turnout provides data about the market’s response. It helps in understanding the fan base better, which can be instrumental in planning future tours.

Why is fan engagement on social media important?

Fan engagement on social media maintains relationships with fans and boosts their loyalty. It gives artists a platform to interact with fans on a personal level, thereby deepening their connection.

How can artists build relationships with industry professionals?

Expressing gratitude and maintaining regular contact with industry professionals can secure future opportunities. These relationships may lead to more exposure, bookings, or collaborations.

What should be included when planning for future tours?

Planning for future tours includes analyzing and considering past tour performance, building relationships with fans and industry insiders, and exploring potential cities and venues. Proper planning and foresight are crucial for tour success.

Privacy Overview

Tour Management: Efficient Ways to Get Things Done

Are you looking for a complete guide on how to manage a tour? Look no further! In this article, we will provide you with all the information a tour manager needs to know in order to make your tour a success.

It doesn't matter if you are running a concert tour or a hop-on-hop-off city tour , taking care of day-to-day operations can quickly consume too much time without efficient management.

From planning and organizing to training tour guides and marketing and promoting, we will cover it all! So read on and get ready to take your tour business to the next level!

A Guide for Tour Operators

Running a successful tour requires effective management. Your tour needs to kick off without a hitch if you want it to be successful.

Aspects such as planning, organizing, marketing, and promoting the tour, as well as handling any issues that may arise, are all included in what a tour operator handles.

By managing your tour business effectively, you can ensure that your customers have a pleasant experience and that your business is profitable.

In this post, we will cover tour management:

What are the basics of tour business management?

• How can a tour manager effectively plan and organize a tour?
• What is the most effective way to market and promote a tour?

Let's begin with the basics.

Tours run smoothly when they are managed efficiently. Managing a tour involves a lot more than just herding people from one place to another.

Tour managers are responsible for both the administrative side, such as booking hotels and transportation, as well as the operational side, like keeping the tour on schedule.

But a tour manager also needs to be a people person, able to manage both tour guides and anyone working for your tour company. After all, it's the tour manager's job to make sure everyone has a great time.

Here are the areas of management that every tour manager and all touring professionals need to know:

Resource Management

To achieve a truly outstanding customer experience, you need to ensure that your tours and activities do not get overbooked so that you can deliver a fantastic guest experience.

A packed tour can make you feel like you are part of a cattle call, and you don't want your guests to feel that way!

What can you do to prevent overbooking?

Use a booking system with resource manager functionality. This way, you can limit your trips to available resources if one or more of your tours or activities rely on the same resources - like bikes, guides, or boats. You can also block off a resource for routine maintenance for a few days.

No overbooking means happy customers...and that's good for your tour company business!

Distribution Channel Management

A channel management tool can simplify your management if you're using online travel agencies and marketplaces, like Viator and Expedia.

Using channel management tools, you can connect all of your booking channels to one central system, making it easy to update your listings, availability, and pricing.

Not only will this save you time, but you'll also avoid double bookings and overbookings. Plus, you can make sure your customers see the most up-to-date info with real-time updates.

Managing Tour Guides and Staff

As a tour operator, you have a variety of responsibilities every day. The job description can be long, which includes juggling day-to-day operations, helping guests, hiring local guides and managing them. Your tour guides are one of the most helpful resources you'll have. You can tell a good tour guide by the quality of their service.

As your business grows, you'll need more staff or tour guides to handle the growth. More staff means more onboarding and tour guide training .

But don't just copy your current operations and management processes.

Consider simplifying and streamlining your systems instead.

Consider switching to a booking system that gives your tour guides rough idea to clear details about upcoming trips. By doing this, tour guides will always know how many guests to expect, the age group to host, and what special requirements they need to be aware of.

How do I plan and organize a tour?

Everything from managing your calendar to tracking bookings to connecting with guests to invoicing and payments requires management.

What can you do to make sure you're doing it right?

To begin with, know what each area of administration needs.

Booking Management

Is your tour and activity booking process efficient? You could be losing out on potential bookings if you use a contact form or email address for booking inquiries.

Consider using an online booking system instead.

Need help managing refunds and cancellations?: 5 Tips On How To Manage Tour Cancellation Policy In 2022

Booking systems make it easy for customers to see available times and dates, choose the one that fits their needs, and make a booking right away. You can automate key tasks like sending confirmation emails and reminders, so you can focus on providing a great experience.

We've got a magic link feature to help activity operators deal with guest booking changes. Guests can manage their bookings, change dates, or convert them into vouchers.

Find out more about the magic link here . 

Receiving and managing payments.

When it comes to payments, you want to give your customers as many options as possible. That's why you need a payment gateway for your online bookings on your website, like Stripe, SumUp, Adyen, and PayPal- so you can accept online payments.

But you don't want to stop there.

You also want a Point-of-Sale solution for your business, so you can accept payments in person, too.

With a payment gateway and Point-of-Sale solution, you'll be able to take down payments and deposits, so you can make sure that your business is always running smoothly. And the cool part is that your customers will have more options to pay , which means convenience for them. 

Calendar Management

It's easy to overbook or make mistakes when you're keeping track and managing your calendar manually. Additionally, you might not utilize your capacity because you are concerned about overbooking guides or resources.

Live inventory booking systems ensure that your bookings are updated across all channels.

Additionally, you can sync your Google Calendar. This allows you to easily see upcoming tours and activities and avoid overbooking . Moreover, its a key part to maximize your business capacity.

Keeping in touch with customers

Pre- and post-trip notifications are an excellent way to streamline your business and improve customer satisfaction.

Your customers will receive email and SMS reminders to bring the things they need to complete a great tour experience. In addition, you can inform them of any changes to an upcoming trip.

By sending them an email after the trip, guests can also provide more feedback about their recent tour. With this system, you can save time and money while providing customers with a better experience. 

How do you price a tour?

Tour operators' business plans depend heavily on pricing. Choosing the right price for your tour will influence the tone of your entire business and help you stand out from your competitors.

When planning a fee structure for tours, factor in your target market and the types of tours your business will offer.

Consider these questions when pricing your tour:

• How are competitors targeting their tours?
• Organizing a tour can be expensive, so how do you balance customer interest with costs?

You can price your tour business using two main strategies: raising the price and lowering it . As with any strategy, there are advantages and disadvantages.

The most common strategy for tour businesses is to mark up their prices. By setting your prices higher, you are able to generate a larger profit.

One drawback of this strategy is that it can sometimes make it difficult to attract customers as it prices your tours out of the market.

Marking-down

Instead of raising your prices, you'll lower them to generate a smaller profit by marking them down.

You can use this strategy if you're trying to attract a large customer base since lower prices are usually more attractive.

The downside is that you won't make as much profit per tour.

What is the best way to market and promote a tour?

Marketing and promoting a tour can be a tricky task. With a dash of creativity and effort, it can be a great way to boost sales . The most effective way to market a tour is through a combination of traditional methods and digital media.

Reaching Local Audiences with Traditional Marketing

Traditional marketing techniques, such as flyers and brochures, can be effective at reaching local audiences. Displaying marketing materials in high-traffic areas, such as airports or hotels, is a cost-effective way to reach potential customers.

Attracting International Guests with Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is also essential for reaching a wider audience, including international guests. Utilizing social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is a great way to promote a tour.

"83% of US adults want to book their trips online" - Over 60 Online Travel Booking Statistics (2022) by StratosJets

Tour Reviews Matter

Additionally, leveraging customer reviews is an excellent way to generate word-of-mouth marketing. After every great tour, be sure to ask guests to leave reviews on your own website or on popular travel review sites , such as TripAdvisor , TrustPilot , or Google Reviews .

Start thinking by figuring out which platform people prefer. When you ask for reviews, add a little personal touch. It'll get you far in the long run. Popular tour operators can prove this tested method of marketing. You'll get more bookings with more positive reviews.

By using a combination of traditional and digital marketing techniques, you can effectively promote your tour and attract more guests. Spend time keeping tracking of your marketing strategy's growth, then tweak it if necessary.

Get started with digital growth hacking with our free guide: SEO For Tour Operators: 4 Tactics To Generate More Leads

Use the Right Online Booking System for Your Tours

Ultimately, it all comes down to how effectively you manage your tours and activities.

Choose the right online booking solution!

An effective booking system will streamline all your administrative tasks, and improve regular communication between you and your guests and with your team. It also helps you plan and organize your tours more efficiently.

Whether you are running a grand cruise tour or smaller tours , tour managers of all sizes and touring professionals in the tourism industry all need the right tools to maximize time management.

An online booking system is definitely worth considering if you wish to improve tour management. 

Getting Started Finding the Right Booking System for your Tours:

• Distillery Tour Booking Software: 10 Must-Have Features
• Zoo Software: 8 Must-Have Features For Tour Operators
• How To Find The Best Online Booking Software For Tour Operators

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Online Travel Booking Tool: How Magic Link is Solving the Rebooking Problem

FareHarbor vs Rezdy vs TicketingHub: Honest Tour Booking Software Comparison Guide

Why Online Reputation Management Is Important for Tour Operators

How to Craft a Perfect Tourism FAQs Page for Your Tours

Keep Reading

Save time by simplifying daily operations & grow revenue by marketing smart. All of these require effective management. Here's what works!

Top 10 Key Functionalities: Tour Operator Software

Learn the top 10 must-have features of a tour booking software. 1. Calendar, 2. Email Automation, 3. Multiple Languages and Currency...

Delivering Efficient and Creative Tour Solutions

Featured Artists

410 MGMT Co. is a full-service tour management company. We work hard to support our artists and help bring their vision to reality. We provide the services, knowledge and resources to manage tours of any size.

Tour Management

• Advancement
• Day-To-Day Operations
• Hospitality and Catering
• Remote Tour Management
• photo credit; Jack Wilcox

Production Management

• Tour Logistics
• Crew Sourcing
• Production Vendors
• audio, video, lighting, special FX

Travel Management 
& Coordination

• Travel Management
• ground, sea, air
• Private Charters
• Accommodations

Merchandise Management

• Supplier Coordination
• Logistics and Handling

Pre-Tour Support 
& Consultation

• Pre-Production & Planning

Tour Administration

• show settlements
• cash management
• Master Tour Input
• Contract Rider Creation
• Stage Plot & Input List Build
• Credentials
• Tour Supplies

Ready to work with us?

We’ve had the pleasure of making some pretty incredible tours happen, all around the world.
 Check it out for yourself.

4U: The Music of Prince with Symphony

Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Bubble Guppies Live! Ready to Rock

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Cirque Musica

Darcy & Jer

Delhi 2 Dublin

Donovan Woods

Doodledops Live! Together Forever

Dora the Explorer Live! Search for the City of Lost Toys

Garaj Mahal

Kim Mitchell

Lindi Ortega

Live How You Live

Luke McMaster

Max & Ruby, in the Nutcracker Suite

Max & Ruby, Bunny Party

Mike the Knight Live!

Our Lady Peace

Paper Kites

Randy Bachman

Said The Whale

Shopkins Live! Shop it Up!

Steve Strongman

Strawberry Shortcake, Follow Your Berry Own Beat!

Too Many Zooz

Toopy and Binoo, Fun and Games

Toopy and Binoo, and the Marshmallow Moon

The Backyardigans, Quest for the Extra Ordinary Aliens

The Next Step

Treehouse, Big Day Out

Walk Off The Earth

Wild Rivers

Writes Of Spring

Our awesome team works diligently to ensure the best support for the artist, and the tour. Together, we create efficiencies within our organization and offer unique solutions backed by industry expertise.

Joe Cacioppo Tour Director || Tour Manager

John Morley Tour Director || Tour Manager

Eric Martin Tour Director || Tour Manager || Production Manager

Casey Carvalho Tour Manager

Erin Roblin Tour Coordinator

Ready to work with us? Send us an Email

Pre-Tour: Preparation

• January 24, 2021
• Before you leave

This section includes information on pre-tour preparation. For more information on touring, download the complete copy of Tour Well.

Promoting positive mental health and wellbeing on tour

COLLABORATE

Our industry is full of unique, passionate people. The success of any tour is dependent on mutual respect for everyone involved, whether they be cast, crew, company, audiences, venue teams, or school groups.

You want you and your touring party to feel as safe as possible on tour, both physically and mentally. Take some time to think about yourself on tour – remembering that the way you work and experience touring might not be the same as everyone else. Try:

• Sharing your story inasmuch as you are comfortable.
• Listen carefully to others.
• Never assume that your way of seeing the world is the only way.
• Identify and communicate your needs consistently and respectfully.
• Sensitivities towards community, family, extended family, and kinship systems, and religious and cultural customs.
• Communication style, body language, and language barriers. Don?t be afraid to ask for clarification or confirmation, rephrase or repeat questions.
• Perceptions of safety – everyone’s sense of safety differs – be conscious of how you and your touring party feel in cities, regional or remote areas, unfamiliar towns, late at night, or areas with non-diverse populations.
• Check in with your tour party to make sure you’re using the right form of address, acknowledgement, pronoun and pronunciation for them – and share your preferences too!

Everyone has challenges that you don’t know about. If someone seems to be struggling, gentle concern can go a long way.

Touring can be tough – be kind to each other.

CREATIVE IDENTITY

Sometimes ‘the tour’ becomes the biggest thing in your life, and the show slowly becomes your whole world. That’s not unusual – you’re doing something you’re passionate about, and you’ve worked really hard to get to this point.

There’s nothing wrong with being passionate and committed, but the risk is that ‘the tour’ starts to become ‘WHO you are’ not ‘WHAT you’re doing?’

Before you head off on tour, have a think about all the other threads – outside of the show – that make you YOU.

VALUES: What’s most important to you in life?

Connecting with your values can help orient you to goals beyond this current tour. Check out the list below for inspiration, then consider, ‘If I had a million dollars and a whole year, how would I live by that value? What about a hundred dollars and a week? Ten dollars and a day? One dollar and a minute?’

It’s a matter of choosing a small way of enacting your values in everyday life, so you’re living a life in line with what you value, rather than focussing on what you ‘should’ do.

PLAY: What made ‘child you’ happy?

We all have a ‘happy child’ part of ourselves that needs spontaneity and play. What made you happy when you were a child? Maybe a sight, sound, smell, taste, texture, object, even an imaginary world.

What are some of the ways you can incorporate that joy, playfulness and surprise into your everyday tour life?

MINDFULNESS: Pay attention to the moment

Mindfulness is promoted constantly for positive mental health and wellbeing – and for good reason! It has proven benefits for the immune system, can improve concentration and memory, and can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Our minds are constantly running, thinking about the past, worrying about the future, or just trying to keep up with today. Our mind, like our body, needs rest and recuperation.

Mindfulness is that rest. By paying attention to the present moment, with an attitude of open, non-judgemental curiosity, it can help anchor you. In the vast uncertainty that is arts work, mindfulness helps you become aware that no matter how difficult things might be right now, they will inevitably change.

Find out more and give it a go – you’ve got nothing to lose by trying it! smilingmind.com.au healthdirect.gov.au/mindfulness-and-mental-health headspace.com au.reachout.com/articles/how-to-practise-mindfulness

I AM: … Not synonymous with my work

Often we label ourselves – ‘I am a Director / Actor / Lighting Designer’ – reinforcing that feeling that we are our work.

• Keep it in perspective – ‘I am currently touring with [Show] as a [role].’ It’s just what you’re doing right now – not your whole life.
• Cultivate your other interests – pack a sketchpad, crossword book, journal – give yourself mental space outside the show.
• Allocate time for yourself the same way you allocate time for daily routines such as brushing your teeth. Make self-care a habit, not a bonus.

CONNECT: Remember the outside world

Watch a news update, read a local paper, chat with family and friends near and far – anything that keeps you from becoming trapped in a tour bubble.

Social media can be helpful for staying in touch, but can also leave you feeling disengaged and left out. Social media often paints an unrealistic view of what’s really going on.

Time spent on genuine connections is likely time better spent for mental health and wellbeing – explore the town, make new friends, and discover hidden gems.

Giving to others can have a positive impact on your mental health and wellbeing too. See if there’s a local charity that holds meaning for you in the places you’re touring. See if there’s time to volunteer, or simply drop in and say hi.

PACKING CHECKLIST

Clothes and shoes

• Plenty of socks and undergarments for a full week. Touring schedules can leave little time for washing, and you never know how far away the next washing machine might be!
• Clothes for all weather, and a range of activities (think comfy clothes for travel days through to something fancy for opening night dos or publicity events)
• Workout gear – swimwear, beach towel, goggles – even a bike or surfboard if you have extra baggage allowance!
• Skincare, nail care, haircare
• Toothbrush, toothpaste, mouth wash, dental floss
• Hygiene products
• Deodorant or crystal stick
• Perfume or cologne (be mindful of your tour party’s sensitivity to fragrances)
• Make up / make up remover
• Stain remover stick (perfect for a quick basin wash or the odd stain)

Kitchen kit

You never quite know what you are going to get in a hotel kitchen! You might be able to fit:

• Good knife and small chopping board
• Tupperware container and zip lock bags
• Basic cutlery/utensils set and your favourite mug (even your preferred pan/wok/baking dish if space allows)
• Single serve blender for on-the-go nutritious smoothies
• Basic ingredients (herbs, spices, salt and pepper, small bottle of olive oil, packed in a plastic bag) to save you buying them over and over in each city. Be sure to check biosecurity laws first.

Home away from home

• Comfort food
• Special piece of clothing
• Favourite blanket
• Photos of family and friends
• Scented candle or oils
• Your pillow (or if it won?t fit, pop your favourite pillow cases in your luggage for a touch of home).

Electricals and entertainment

• Phone and CHARGER (pack a spare – someone always leaves theirs behind!)
• Adapters (if travelling overseas)
• Laptop/tablet
• Earphones/headphones
• Cards / games

Don’t forget

• Items of cultural or religious significance. Check the calendar before you go for any days of cultural or religious significance that might happen while you’re on tour so you can plan appropriately.
• Any medications (and copies of prescriptions)
• If you have any ongoing medical, physical or mental health concerns, a referral letter from your GP can be helpful if you need to seek assistance on the road
• ID (passports, licenses etc.)
• Trigger biochemical stress reducers
• Reduce the perceived intensity of pain
• Increase workout endurance and performance
• Speed up post-workout recovery
• Elevate mood while driving – crank up your tunes if you’re feeling cranky in the car!

Check (and double check) your luggage allowances, and always check with Company Management if you want to pack something on the tour truck.

FEELING CONNECTED WITH OTHERS: A BASIC HUMAN NEED

While you might be around others on tour, being away from family and friends can take its toll.

Before you go, have a chat with your loved ones to come up with solutions for staying connected

What would be a reasonable expectation for how often you will be able to be in contact? Are there any periods that contact will be not possible? Would you prefer to work out a set communication routine, or would you prefer to be spontaneous?

Make the best of technology

Call, text, Skype, message, email – whatever works to stay in touch. Consider a closed social media group if you don’t want to ‘spam’ your friends with tour updates!

Figure out what would make you feel more connected while you’re away

Perhaps mates could send postcards to be waiting for you at the next town, or you could find a way to bring your partner for a visit.

Check for any important events

For example, birthdays or anniversaries that might take place while you’re away. Chat about how you might celebrate from afar.

Work out a plan for managing potential crises at home

Who can help coordinate things and keep you up to date while you’re away? There are times when life throws a curve ball, like an accident or an illness, and you can’t be there – you’ll feel better knowing a plan is in place if the unexpected happens.

Notice if you’re feeling lonely

It sounds simple, but keeping an eye on your feelings can help you to take action. The antidote to loneliness is connection and you can seek it in many ways. Connect with a human or an animal in the community where you’re staying, seek support from your tour mates or direct your attention back home.

TOURING WITH A MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION

If you have an identified mental health condition, planning will be key.

Talk with your GP, specialist or psychiatrist before you leave and get their advice on how to manage your medication while you’re away. The effectiveness of certain medicines follows the body clock, so interruption or reversal of the sleep/wake pattern can interfere with treatment.

If you need advice about medication while you’re on tour, you can call 1300 MEDICINE (1300 633 424) from any state or territory between 9am and 5pm AEST (except NSW public holidays) or Nurse on Call (24/7 Victoria only) 1300 60 60 24.

Seeing your psychologist

Chat with them about whether you can continue having sessions while you’re away, perhaps via video-conferencing or phone.

Schedule a pre-tour session to consider stressors and triggers to feeling unwell, and develop specific management strategies to implement while on the road.

Sharing your story

Consider disclosing to at least one trusted person on tour so you have someone to seek support from if needed.

If you work for an organisation you feel supported by and feel comfortable sharing your mental health journey, talk to them about what you need. It can be worthwhile to share with company management, too, confirming that you are prepared for touring, and you have a management plan in place.

You might need to be quite firm about your needs and boundaries. That’s OK – your health is the most important thing.

Stay up to date with our latest resources, events and training opportunities delivered straight to your inbox.

How to master Tour Management

Managing a tour is an art form that demands a unique blend of logistical prowess, interpersonal skills, and quick-witted problem-solving. It’s not just about getting from point A to point B; tour management is the art of crafting unforgettable experiences while ensuring that every aspect of the tour runs like clockwork.

Introduction to Tour Management

At its core, tour management is about meticulous planning and flawless execution. Whether you are guiding a rock band through a multi-city concert series, leading a group on an exotic adventure, or conducting an educational field trip, your primary objective is to ensure everyone involved has a safe, enjoyable, and seamless experience.

This guide is designed to transform your approach to tour management. From planning to execution, you’ll learn how to navigate the challenges that come with managing people, time, and resources on the road.

1. Understanding the Fundamentals

Let’s start with understanding the role of a tour manager. This position involves acting as a point person for all matters concerning the tour. From budgeting and scheduling to conflict resolution and customer satisfaction, a tour manager wears many hats.

To master tour management, you must develop a varied skill set. This includes logistical planning, financial management, personnel management, negotiation skills, multitasking, and adaptability.

2. Pre-Tour Planning

Your tour’s success greatly depends on a well-planned itinerary. Research your destinations, define routes, book accommodations, and plan activities while considering time zones, travel times, and potential delays.

Imagine planning a music tour. You’d need to coordinate venue bookings, accommodation near the venues, and ensure travel time allows for rest and rehearsals.

A solid financial plan is critical. This includes preparing the budget, managing cash flow, and keeping detailed records. An understanding of foreign exchange rates and taxes can also be beneficial for international tours.

3. Logistical Coordination

Transportation is the lifeline of any tour. Ensure that you have reliable transportation arranged, whether it’s a tour bus, van, plane tickets, or car rentals. Be prepared for last-minute changes.

For an adventure tour group, having a Plan B in terms of transportation, like an additional van on standby, can save you from last-minute stress if there’s a breakdown or accident.

Quality rest is crucial. Secure accommodations that are comfortable, safe, and within the budget. Consider proximity to venues or attractions and look into options like hotels, motels, Airbnb, or even hostels for budget tours.

4. Managing People

If you’re on a music tour, you’ll be managing the band, the tech crew, and possibly a support staff. Their needs vary from schedules to personal necessities. Excellent communication and organization skills are vital here.

You may also be responsible for the well-being of clients, such as a speaker or artist. This means catering to their needs, personal requests, and ensuring their comfort and readiness for performance.

5. During the Tour

As the tour unfolds, it’s your job to see the itinerary is followed closely. Keep all parties informed of schedules and any changes. Regularly check in with service providers to ensure all arrangements are in place.

When problems arise, staying calm and collected is essential. Develop a proactive approach to foreseeing potential issues and have contingency plans ready.

Perhaps a historical tour encounters an unexpected site closure. A tour manager with foresight might have a secondary list of sites to visit or activities that ensure the tour experience remains enriched and uninterrupted.

6. Enhancing the Experience

Being culturally aware can profoundly impact the tour’s success, especially when traveling to foreign countries. Research customs and educate your group to avoid offenses.

Going the extra mile could mean arranging special backstage passes for a group at a concert or ensuring there’s always bottled water available on a hot day. These touches can make a significant difference in client satisfaction.

7. Technology in Tour Management

Leverage technology to streamline tasks. Use apps for scheduling, accounting software for budget management, and social media for marketing and engagement.

8. Post-Tour Activities

After the tour, collect feedback from participants and staff. Reflect on what went well and areas for improvement.

A thorough financial review ensures you’re on top of expenses versus budget and helps with planning future tours more accurately.

9. Staying Ahead of the Curve

The tour industry evolves, and so should you. Stay updated with trends, attend workshops, and build a network with other professionals.

The demands of tour management can be taxing on your health. Managing stress and maintaining your well-being is just as much a part of mastering tour management as the logistical aspects.

Mastering tour management takes time, dedication, and real-world experience. It’s a balancing act of planning, people management, and adaptation. By following the comprehensive steps outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to becoming an artist in the realm of tour management, orchestrating experiences that resonate long after the journey’s end and ensuring a standing ovation for your meticulous behind-the-scenes symphony.

It’s your turn to lead the way, ensuring every tour is an ovation-worthy performance. With each successful tour, you don’t just travel from place to place; you craft unforgettable stories and experiences that resonate with every participant’s heart for years to come.

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• Community Trips
• TTIFridays (Community Events)
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The Ultimate Pre-Trip Planning Checklist — 12 Things to do Before Your Next Trip

Pro-tip: Don’t keep these pre-trip plans for the last minute!

Photo credit: Annie Spratt (@anniespratt) via Unsplash

Pre-trip planning can be just as important as the trip itself (if not, more tbh). Therefore, we’ve put together a checklist of things for you to do/think about as you plan out your next dream holiday.

1) Sign up for a multi-currency card

If you don’t already have a multi-currency card, now’s a good time to sign up for one. You get the convenience of going cashless without paying for it with jacked-up exchange rates like with credit cards.

This is especially useful when you’re travelling in countries that prefer cashless payment (many parts of Europe as well as major cities in Asia). You could even save the trip to a physical money changer and travel with zero cash!

My personal favourite is YouTrip , which offers real-time exchange rate conversion over 150 currencies and has a clean app interface that allows you to easily track your travel expenses.

*Pro-tip: It’s also useful for online shopping when you’re not travelling! You’ll be surprised, a few bucks saved here and there can definitely add up to quite a bit.

Once registered, all you have to do is link your YouTrip card to your local debit or credit card to transfer money over. Using the YouTrip app, you can either use the “Exchange” function to change your currency in advance or just leave the credits in your home currency and the app will convert it at the time of transaction.

If you haven’t gotten a YouTrip card yet, use the promo code < TRAVELINTERN5 > to get S$5 when you  sign-up for a YouTrip account !

Revolut is another good alternative. On top of the usual functions of obtaining currencies at favourable rates, there’s also no extra fee when you withdraw from ATMs (up to a certain amount).

Read also: The Best Multi-currency Travel Card For Travellers — YouTrip vs Revolut vs InstaReM vs TransferWise Review

2) Download budgeting apps

If you haven’t started putting money aside for travels, now’s a good time to save up. Simply calculating your estimated budget and putting aside a small sum every month already sets your pre-trip plans in motion!

You can roughly estimate your trip budget by shortlisting the activities and experiences as well as type of accommodation you fancy.

P.S. Our budget itineraries are pretty useful for that! 😉

Allocating a pre-trip budget also ensures you’re not spending more than you can afford. To stick to your plan, we recommend downloading a budget app.

Our favourite is Trail Wallet . The app is user-friendly and organises your spending into categorises such as food, activities, transport, etc. You can also set the exchange rate so you’ll always know how much you’ve spent in your home currency.

For Android users, TrabeePocket is another favourite for its similar easy-to-use functions.

3) Get in shape for your next adventure

Nothing brings you down more than being short of breath at the start of your hike 🥵

Or when you run out of energy to snorkel further to see more fishies in the sea 😭

Even exploring a city can really drain your energy if you’re not used to walking long distances.

If you know your trip involves hiking, sea activities or even just a whole lot of urban exploring on foot, make sure to prepare your body for it!

As someone who travels for work , I can confidently say being fit makes the trip a lot more enjoyable. Working out doesn’t need to be heavy-duty or take up hours of your time! It can be as simple as having night walks in the park or a quick 8-minute full-body workout .

Feel free to skip this tip if you’re lounging by the beach, though 🍹

4) Shop for smart travel essentials

Instead of rushing to buy what you need the week before your trip, why not stock up on essentials early?

Uniqlo is my favourite place to shop for basics such as T-shirts and bra-tops which are versatile with many outfits and saves luggage space! There’s also has great options if you’re travelling to colder climates! If you’re travelling in winter , now is a good time to buy off-season pieces as prices are usually marked down.

Shopee is also great for pre-trip shopping. Apart from affordable fashion, you can also find other travel essentials like USB charging adapters , refillable silicone bottles and packing cubes that are perfect for every trip.

Read also: 13 Travel Gifts Any Jetsetter Will Love — Starting From Under S$15

5) Relook your packing list

Do you really need 14 tops for a two week winter trip?

Our rule of thumb is that you only need to pack about a week’s worth of clothes no matter how long the trip. We’ve even travelled a month on just a cabin sized backpack !

This might be surprising but other than Southeast Asia, backpacks are also more convenient in places like Japan as many subway stations don’t have lifts or escalators!

If we’re travelling across multiple cities — whether it’s Asia or Europe — a backpack is usually our choice of luggage!

Read also: Ultimate Travel Packing List: 35 Essentials to Pack for Long-Term Travel

One tip is to look out for places where you can do laundry. When travelling in colder seasons, it’s also easy to simple re-wear and match different tops with the bottoms to change the look entirely.

Read also: The Secret to Packing Lighter — 7 Travel Essentials for the Smart Traveller

6) Pick up the local language

Knowing simple phrases of a country’s language can be helpful in making friends with locals. So if you have extra time, why not try to learn the language?

My personal favourite is the app Duolingo — it turns the whole learning experience into a game and there all kinds of languages (even High Valyrian if you’re going to Essos)!

Read also: 10 Free Online Resources to Learn a New Language — Japanese, Spanish, Korean and More

However, if you happen to be in a rush, or if you simply don’t feel like committing to learning a new language, a quick way is to create a cheat sheet of useful everyday phrases and store it in your phone.

Omniglot is a great website to use when compiling your cheat sheet. It has 250 languages, complete with audio to help you get the pronunciation right.

For quick and easy referencing on trips, download the offline language pack for Google translate. This will come in handy if you happen to miss your last bus and need directions from locals!

Also check out our destination pages for 10 of the most essential phrases you need in each country.

7) Put together a sickass trip playlist

Photo credit: Fixelgraphy (@fixelgraphy) via Unsplash

What better way to get you in the mood than a playlist that gets you grooving? This comes in handy when you’re road tripping with your pals or on a long train ride to the next city.

Spotify is the easiest place to get creative with your playlists. You can compile songs that perk you up in the morning or your friends’ favourite sing-a-long tunes.

Not sure where to start? Check out our playlist that’s full of chill vibes, perfect for long drives along the coast or a dreamy staycation!

8) Find Out Which Countries Are Open to International Travellers

Greece will be opening its borders on 15 June .

If you’re hoping to travel soon, the options are currently limited as most borders are closed. However, some countries have announced dates when they’ll be reopening as the COVID situation gradually improves.

Countries like Thailand, Bali and Iceland are in fact scheduled to reopen for international travellers by June 2020. Find out which countries are available for travelling by keeping this page bookmarked !

Be prepared that travel will be different from before. There will be more steps and measures at the airport and during the flight to lower the chances of catching the virus during transits. The last thing we want is to be sick while on holiday!

Read also: Travelling Out of Singapore After COVID-19 — What to Expect

9) Consider travelling solo

A long period of lockdown has us feeling the effects of cabin fever and isolation. This might seem ironic but to me, nothing is as recharging or illuminating as solo travelling. If you’ve never experienced travelling solo, now’s the time to work toward checking it off your bucket list.

The most liberating thing about solo travelling for me is being able to explore in my own time and at my own pace — something you don’t get to do as much when you have to accommodate your travel buddies.

The idea can seem daunting at first but travelling on your own doesn’t mean you’re alone. You’ll find yourself connecting better with locals and other travellers, which always makes the trip extra meaningful and special. They can give you a more intimate insight into their culture and even take you to hidden gems that other tourists don’t know about.

Read also: A Beginners Guide to Solo Travelling For The First Time

10) Or travel with us!

If solo travelling just isn’t your thing but you’d like a more immersive experience into a different culture, check out TTI Experiences ! Join us and other fun, adventurous travellers on exotic locations with access to meet elusive local communities, like the Mongolian Reindeer nomads . It’s a genuine adventure like no other!

Be one of the first 50 participants to sign up for the  North Mongolia Reindeer Expedition  and get a 25% discount (U.P. S$5,390)! You save S$1,400 and your spot is valid till Dec 2021* — of course we’ll only be travelling when it’s safe to!

* Extendable if the travel restrictions are extended.

11) Learn how to edit your travel photos

A skill I picked during circuit breaker was learning how to edit my travel photos better with Lightroom . With all the tools in the system, Lightroom can either seem like a magical place or a hell hole of confusion. However, once I got the hang of it, the journey to achieving the perfect picture was very satisfying.

For the more visual learner, there are many helpful Youtube tutorials on how to get started. If you’d like a greater challenge after honing the basics, why not try figuring out your style and making your own presets!

Read also: Lightroom 101: 9 Simple Techniques That Will Instantly Improve Your Travel Photos

12) Interact with other travellers

Photo credit: Travis (centre)

Even after googling in-depth about a destination, there are times where research and reviews cannot match up to a friend’s personal recount. I personally prefer talking to other travellers who have been to places I plan to travel to.

On Telegram, SG Travel Insider is a great place to get that second opinion. Here you’ll be able to connect with other travel enthusiasts for advice and suggestions on where you’re heading to next!

Photo credit: Nicola Nuttall (@nicnutt) via Unsplash

Travel is not the same as before. With most borders closed and few flights operating, our skies have been pretty silent this year.

However, as the pandemic slowly improves, countries are announcing their plans to reopen their borders to international travellers — there is hope! If you’re thinking about backpacking for your grad trip , or visit Iceland when it opens, there is an abundance of helpful guides and itineraries on The Travel Intern to get you started on your pre-trip planning.

Whether you’re learning a new language , creating a playlist or shopping online for travel essentials , these are small ways that can make a big difference during your trip.

That said, there’s no specific formula to pre-trip planning — that’s what makes travelling unique to each person. The final pre-trip tip I can leave you with is to expect the unexpected. Our ‘perfect’ plans might take unexpected turns, but we can still turn seemingly bad experiences into amazing ones!

What other pre-trip plans do you usually make before each trip? Share with us in the comments below!

For more travel inspiration, follow us on  Facebook ,  Instagram ,  YouTube , and  Telegram !

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Travel Intern (@thetravelintern) on Aug 15, 2019 at 6:30am PDT

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Pre-Tour Checklist For School Teams Sports Tours Organizers

• Customer Experience

Before you wave goodbye to the team or set out on the road with them to go on tour, you need to ensure that everything is in place for a smooth travel experience.

The time leading up to the departure can be a busy period, as you have last-minute details to finalize and the team to keep motivated. No one ever said that group trip planning was easy.

As it turns out, we know a thing or two about group travel. To help you stay on top of the admin, we have put together a sports tour organizer's pre-tour checklist. In this, we have listed and explained the boxes you need to tick before setting off.

Sports Tour Organizer's Pre-Tour Checklist

Start by taking a quick minute to run through these checklist points and establish whether you have actioned the following:

• Are continuing to build up the pre-tour excitement for the participants
• Ensured that all the necessary payments are in
• Paid relevant deposits to suppliers, either with your WeTravel virtual card or via WeTravel Supplier transfers
• Emailed the dossier - or at the very least a packing list, itinerary, and emergency plan to participants
• Received all the signed indemnity forms
• Set up communication channels for the team to use on tour
• Confirmed everyone has the necessary travel visas and insurance
• Collated all the hosts’ information in one secure place
• Confirmed the accommodation and transport
• Sent dietary requirements and sleeping arrangements through to hosts
• Confirmed the match fixtures with opponents
• Have access to the necessary boarding passes, train, or bus tickets
• If driving - packed a first aid kit and stocked up on waters to take on the bus
• Arranged a pre-tour meeting with the team to run through everything

Now that you have the sports tour organizer's pre-tour checklist, let us examine these points in a bit more detail.

Continue To Build Excitement Around The Tour

Part of the pre-tour experience is drumming up excitement for the attendees. If they arrive on tour excited and ready for the competition ahead, you can expect everyone to have a more enjoyable trip.

Of course, as the tour organizer, this is good news for you. Happy customers tend to pass on good news or even become repeat clients. Either way, it is valuable marketing for your tours and business, as you could get access to other schools that might need your skills or increase your margins with a return customer.

Ways to do this include setting up communication and social channels for the participants to access. As a school team, it is likely that parents will also want to see photos of their children playing the matches while on tour. This means you will need to open up a suitable communication channel for everyone to join.

A suggestion could be to invite everyone to a Facebook or Whatsapp group once they have completed their trip registration and paid a deposit. In the time leading up the tour, you can share destination tips, insights into the opponents’ teams, and general information about the trip on this.

Just before the travel dates, it is also a good idea to bring all the participants, parents, and stakeholders from the school together for a pre-tour meeting. Here, you can go over some of the general expectations of the trip as well as answer any questions.

Reconcile Payments

Arguably, the most important point on the sports tour organizer's pre-tour checklist is to reconcile the ingoing and outgoing payments. This will highlight how things look financially and give you an indicator of what you need to action.

When you are using the WeTravel platform to collect payments, you can set automatic prompts to send to participants so that they pay on time. If any of the participants have fallen behind for some reason, now is the time to remind them to settle up.

Also, check to see if there are any transfers you still need to remit to suppliers. If you have left things to the last minute, both WeTravel's supplier transfers and virtual card process your partner payments immediately. The recipient will receive the money right away so there's no need to wait days to receive confirmations.

Prepare and Send The Necessary Documentation

A lot of documentation goes into bringing together a tour. As we mentioned above, there is the dossier, itinerary, packing lists, and emergency plan to put together and then send to participants, parents, and school stakeholders.

In turn, they also need to send you completed indemnity forms, along with copies of the visas and travel insurance where necessary.

Without these sorts of document guidelines and requirements in place, you run the risk of not being adequately prepared for travel. The idea is to collate all the trip documentation into one easily accessible location. This includes having the details of the accommodation, transport, and hosting teams available at a glance.

Wrap Up The Finer Details

Confirming the match fixtures for the team is always going to be a top priority when it comes to finalizing some of the finer details. However, there are the usual items such as accommodation and transport to tick off the sports tour organizer's pre-tour checklist as well.

The hosts will want to know whether or not there are any dietary requirements to consider, as well as details of the sleeping arrangements. Depending on the transport you have booked, you either need to have all the tickets on hand or alternatively, a bus ready to welcome the team on board.

Final Thoughts

While this is just a rough sports tour organizer's pre-tour checklist, we hope it has helped you to remember the last-minute, crucial details, which ultimately ensure the tour goes off without a hitch.

If you would like to know more about WeTravel’s payment platform for travel organizers, watch the short clip below. We have designed it especially to help group travel organizers like you collect payments, communicate with attendees, and manage bookings.

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TAG offers unrivalled expertise for artists and bands of all sizes, including your production crew. Our technical experience extends to a wide range of productions and performances. Whether your tour is for live music events, television events, festivals and theatre productions or corporate events, our specialist team will arrange travel and accommodation according to your budget. 

From pre-tour planning and selecting the best venues across international cities, to designing and promoting your live event, we will be on hand from start to finish to help plan and deliver a world class concert or performance tour. Whether you’re a production manager working with A-list or breakthrough artists, dancers, classical concerts, musical or theatre production, we can tailor our services to your specific needs. Using our innovative tour management app, we can also provide on-the-road live support, allowing you to view and manage travel bookings in real time.

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TAG provides complete logistical support for artists and touring parties of all sizes—from newly signed acts to established international bands and productions. From one-off events to major tours, we have superior experience across the board, so production crews and steel teams can rely on us for complete support.

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We’re with you throughout the journey, providing the support you need, when you need it. If required, one of our Tour Specialists will be on hand to provide the travel and expertise needed to make sure every performance and live event is pulled off without a hitch. The specialist in tour management can travel ahead—arriving before your crew or VIPs, ensuring everything is in order behind the scenes. 

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Are you a breakthrough artist? If you are new to touring, or are unsure where to start, you can leave everything to TAG. This may be your first time, but we are used to working with new artists. In fact, many of our clients started with us on their first ever tours—and we still work with them now as they are selling out worldwide stadium tours.   Whatever your budget, we can work within it—and we will be there for you every step of the way.

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Pre-Tour Preparations. Learning Objectives To know how to start preparation for a tour. To prepare a checklist for a multi-day international tour. To.

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Comprehensive Guide to Managing a Tour Business

By Rezdy — 14 Sep 2023

1. The importance of managing a tour business efficiently

2. target market, 3. value proposition, 4. marketing plan, 5. customer service, 6. staffing, 7. financial management, 8. risk management, 9. legal compliance, 10. reporting and analytics, 11. summary.

As you embark on the journey of starting a tour business , it’s crucial to understand the importance of managing it efficiently. That’s where the power of our tour business operations ultimate guide comes in.

By following our tips and tricks when managing tour operations, you can ensure that your travel business runs smoothly and successfully.

In our tour business operations definitive guide, we will delve into key areas that will help you make informed decisions and run your business effectively.

1. The importance of managing a tour business efficiently

Regardless of which tour operation type you choose, efficiently managing a tour or activity business is crucial for its success and sustainability. Effective management ensures smooth operations, timely customer service, and streamlined processes, ultimately leading to enhanced customer satisfaction. By optimizing resource utilization and minimizing operational inefficiencies, the business can achieve better profitability and allocate resources towards growth and expansion. Efficient management also allows for quick adaptation during unexpected situations or crises, maintaining the business’s reputation and customer trust.

Let’s take a closer look at the key areas that will be covered in this complete guide to successful tour guide management:

• Target Market: Identifying and understanding your target audience is the foundation of your business strategy.
• Value Proposition: What sets your tours apart from the competition? Your unique selling points will attract customers.
• Marketing Plan: Developing a well-rounded marketing strategy is essential for reaching and enticing potential customers.
• Customer Service: Exceptional customer service will lead to customer satisfaction and positive reviews.
• Reporting and Analytics: Analyzing data will provide valuable insights to improve your business.
• Risk Management: Identifying and addressing potential risks will safeguard your business.
• Financial Management: Sound financial practices will keep your business on track.
• Legal Compliance: Understanding and complying with relevant laws and regulations is crucial for smooth operations.
• Staffing: Building a competent and motivated team is essential for delivering outstanding experiences.

2. Target market

Understanding your target market is the foundational pillar for successful travel agency and tour operations management. The target market represents the specific group of people who are most likely to be interested in and benefit from the tours and experiences your business offers.

Defining your target market

The first step in understanding your target market is to clearly define the characteristics of your ideal customers. This involves considering various aspects of your potential clients, such as:

• Demographics
• Interests and Hobbies
• Preferences and Expectations
• Pain Points and Needs

Conducting market research

Market research is an essential tool to gain valuable insights into the industry, target market, and your competitors. It helps you make informed decisions and develop effective business strategies. Consider the following steps when conducting market research:

• Industry Analysis: Study the tour and travel industry, both at the local and global levels. Identify trends, opportunities, and challenges that could impact your business.
• Target Market Analysis: Use surveys, focus groups, or online research to gather data about your potential customers. Analyze the collected data to gain a deeper understanding of their preferences and behaviors.
• Competitor Analysis: Identify your main competitors and analyze their strengths, weaknesses, pricing strategies, marketing efforts, and customer reviews. This analysis will help you position your business effectively in the market.
• Demand Analysis: Assess the demand for tours and experiences in your chosen location(s). Understanding the demand patterns and seasonal variations will help you plan and optimize your offerings throughout the year.

Communicating to your target market

Crafting effective marketing messages is crucial for reaching and engaging your target audience. Consider the following tips when communicating with your potential customers:

• Tailor your Message: Use the insights from your target market analysis to customize your marketing messages. Address their specific interests and pain points, showcasing how your tours can fulfill their needs and desires.
• Use the Right Channels: Identify the most effective marketing channels to reach your target market. This might include social media, email newsletters, travel websites, or collaboration with local businesses.
• Highlight Unique Selling Points: Emphasize what sets your tours apart from others in the market. Whether it’s exclusive experiences, expert guides, or sustainable practices, highlight the unique selling points that will resonate with your target audience.
• Build Trust: Establish trust with your potential customers through transparent communication and genuine customer reviews. Trust is crucial in the tour business, where people entrust you with their travel experiences and memories.

3. Value proposition

Your value proposition is the essence of your tour business—it is the unique combination of benefits and experiences that sets you apart from competitors and persuades customers to choose your tours over others. Developing a compelling value proposition is crucial for managing tour operations, capturing the attention and interest of potential customers, ultimately driving bookings and building brand loyalty.

What makes your tours unique?

To create an impactful value proposition that aligns with your travel and tour operations management, it’s essential to identify and highlight the key features and experiences that make your tours truly stand out. Consider the following aspects:

• Exclusive Experiences: Showcase any exclusive or hard-to-access experiences that your tours offer. Whether it’s access to private locations, behind-the-scenes tours, or unique encounters with local cultures and wildlife, emphasize the extraordinary moments your customers can enjoy.
• Expert Guides: If your tours are led by knowledgeable and passionate guides, highlight their expertise and how they enhance the overall experience. Having guides who can share fascinating insights and create a personalized journey for each customer adds significant value to your tours.
• Tailored Itineraries: Emphasize the flexibility and customization options available in your tours. Whether you cater to specific interests, age groups, or travel preferences, communicating that your tours are designed to suit individual needs will resonate with potential customers.
• Sustainable Practices: If your tours prioritize sustainability and eco-friendly practices, make sure to highlight this aspect. Many travelers today seek responsible and environmentally conscious tour options, so showcasing your commitment to sustainability can be a powerful selling point.

Communicating your value proposition

Effectively communicating your value proposition is essential to attract and engage potential customers. Use clear and concise language that highlights the unique aspects of your tours. Consider the following communication strategies:

• Compelling Website Content: Ensure that your website clearly communicates your value proposition on the homepage and throughout key pages. Use engaging visuals and captivating copy to illustrate what makes your tours special.
• Engaging Social Media Presence: Leverage social media platforms to showcase the unique experiences your tours offer. Use images, videos, and customer testimonials to create an emotional connection with your audience.
• Captivating Marketing Collaterals: Design marketing materials, such as brochures and flyers, that effectively convey your value proposition. Include the most compelling features and experiences to entice potential customers.
• Personalized Email Campaigns: Segment your email lists and send personalized messages to different customer groups, highlighting the aspects of your tours that align with their interests and preferences.

Highlighting the benefits of your tours

Apart from showcasing the unique features, it’s equally important to highlight the benefits that customers will gain from choosing your tours. Benefits appeal to customers’ desires and needs, making them more likely to take action and book with your business. Some benefits to emphasize include:

• Unforgettable Memories
• Stress-Free Planning
• Cultural Immersion
• Time Optimization
• Group Bonding

4. Marketing plan

A well-defined marketing strategy is essential for promoting your tour business effectively and reaching your target market.

Setting marketing goals

Before implementing any marketing initiatives, it’s crucial to set clear and specific marketing goals. These goals will serve as the foundation for your entire marketing strategy and will help you measure the success of your efforts. When setting marketing goals, consider the SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound.

Marketing channels

Selecting the right marketing channels is critical for effectively reaching and engaging your target audience. Different channels cater to different customer segments and offer unique ways to showcase your tours. Consider the following marketing channels:

• Website and SEO
• Social Media
• Email Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Paid Advertising
• Partnerships and Affiliates

Pro tip: Your website is your primary marketing channel. To boost user experience, consider incorporating live booking availability .

Marketing budget and ROI

Allocating a budget for marketing is essential to ensure that your strategies can be executed effectively. Consider your marketing goals, target audience, and the channels you plan to use when setting your marketing budget. It’s essential to regularly monitor and analyze the performance of your marketing efforts to calculate the return on investment (ROI).

Evaluate the success of each marketing campaign and channel by tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rates, cost per acquisition, and revenue generated. Analyzing ROI allows you to identify which marketing strategies are most effective and make data-driven decisions for future marketing allocations.

5. Customer service

Exceptional customer service is the cornerstone of a successful tour business.

Providing excellent customer service

Delivering excellent customer service starts with understanding and anticipating the needs and expectations of your customers. Train your staff to be friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about your tours and destinations.

You can also use AI in tour management to further enhance your customer experience.

Responding to customers

Prompt and effective responsiveness to customer inquiries, feedback, and concerns is crucial for building trust and loyalty. Establish clear guidelines for responding to customer communications across different channels:

• Phone Calls
• Post-Tour Follow-Up

Pro tip: To save time and ensure a consistent customer experience, you may want to start automating communications .

Collecting feedback

Customer feedback is invaluable for improving your tour business and understanding how to better meet the needs of your customers. Implement a feedback collection system that allows customers to share their thoughts and experiences with your tours. This may take the form of online surveys, encouraging customers to leave reviews and testimonials, or monitoring social media channels for mentions of your tour business.

6. Staffing

The success of your tour business heavily relies on the competence, enthusiasm, and professionalism of your staff.

Recruiting staff

Recruiting the right staff members is the first step toward building a dedicated and capable team. When hiring and training tour guides , customer service representatives, drivers, and other roles, consider the following tips:

• Job Descriptions: Create clear and comprehensive job descriptions that outline the responsibilities and qualifications required for each role. Specify any necessary certifications, language skills, or experience needed for tour guides.
• Cultural Fit: Look for candidates who align with your company’s values and customer-centric approach. Cultural fit ensures that employees share your passion for providing exceptional service and representing your business positively.
• Industry Experience: Prioritize candidates with relevant industry experience, especially for tour guides who should possess in-depth knowledge of the destinations and activities you offer.
• Customer Service Skills: Emphasize the importance of strong customer service skills during the interview process. Your staff should be friendly, approachable, and adept at handling customer inquiries and concerns.

Training staff

Comprehensive training is essential to equip your staff with the knowledge and skills they need to excel in their roles. Provide a thorough orientation that introduces new hires to your company’s mission, values, and policies. Familiarize them with your tour offerings and the destinations they will be guiding.

For tour guides, conduct in-depth training on the itineraries, historical facts, safety protocols, and any unique aspects of each tour.

Managing staff

Effective management plays a crucial role in maintaining staff motivation, engagement, and performance. Consider the following management strategies:

• Maintain open and transparent communication with your staff.
• Conduct regular performance evaluations to provide constructive feedback, set goals, and identify areas for improvement.
• Implement a system of incentives and recognition for outstanding performance, such as utilizing Awards.com for custom trophies and awards to acknowledge and celebrate achievements.
• Organize team-building activities to foster camaraderie and collaboration among your staff.
• When issues arise, address them promptly and professionally. Provide support and resources to help your staff overcome challenges.
• Promote a healthy work-life balance.

7. Financial management

Effective financial management is crucial for the long-term sustainability and success of your tour business.

Creating a comprehensive budget is the foundation of sound financial management. A well-structured budget allows you to plan and allocate resources wisely. Consider the following steps when developing your budget:

• Revenue Projections
• Fixed and Variable Costs
• Contingency Funds
• Marketing Budget
• Investment and Expansion
• Regular Reviews

Tracking expenses

Accurate expense tracking is essential to understand where your money is going and identify areas where you can optimize costs. Prioritize record-keeping so you can maintain organized and detailed records of all financial transactions, including receipts, invoices and payroll documentation. Categorize expenses into different groups (e.g., marketing, payroll, maintenance) to easily analyze and identify spending patterns. To further streamline your financial processes, consider implementing the practice of creating a pay stub for efficient payroll management, enhancing overall record-keeping efficiency.

Staying profitable

Maintaining profitability is vital for the sustainability of your tour business. Here are some strategies to enhance profitability:

• Pricing Strategy: Review your pricing regularly to ensure it covers all costs while remaining competitive in the market.
• Upselling and Cross-Selling: Offer additional services or upgrades to customers during the booking process or on tour to increase revenue per customer.
• Cost Optimization: Continuously look for ways to optimize costs without compromising the quality of your tours.
• Repeat Business and Referrals: Focus on providing exceptional customer experiences to encourage repeat bookings and word-of-mouth referrals, which are more cost-effective than acquiring new customers.
• Analyze Profit Margins: Regularly review your profit margins for different tours and destinations.
• Financial Performance Metrics: Track key financial metrics such as gross profit, net profit, and profit margins to assess the overall health of your business.

8. Risk management

Strong risk management is critical for safeguarding your tour business from potential threats and uncertainties.

Identifying and assessing risk

The first step in risk management is to identify potential risks that could affect your tour business. Risks can arise from various sources, including external factors such as weather conditions, natural disasters, political instability, and economic fluctuations. Internal risks may involve operational issues, employee-related challenges, and financial uncertainties.

Risk mitigation

Once risks are identified and assessed, it’s essential to develop strategies to mitigate their potential impact. Risk mitigation involves taking proactive measures to reduce the likelihood of risk occurrence and minimize its consequences.

Contingency plans

Despite meticulous planning and risk mitigation, unforeseen events can still occur. Having contingency plans in place ensures that you are prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to unexpected situations.

9. Legal compliance

Adhering to laws and regulations is vital for operating a tour business ethically, responsibly, and without legal complications.

Understanding laws and regulations around tours

The tour and travel industry is subject to various laws and regulations at local, regional, and national levels. As a tour operator, you must be well-informed about these regulations to ensure compliance. Some key areas to consider include:

• Licensing and Permits
• Safety Standards and Guidelines
• Environmental Regulations
• Employment Laws
• Data Protection and Privacy
• Accessibility
• Insurance Requirements

Should you consider a legal team?

Navigating the complexities of legal compliance in the tour industry can be challenging, especially for small businesses. Hiring or consulting with a legal team or a qualified attorney specializing in the tour and travel sector can be beneficial.

If budget constraints are a concern, consider seeking legal advice through legal clinics, industry associations, or networking with other tour operators who may share insights and experiences related to legal compliance.

10. Reporting and analytics

Reporting and analytics play a crucial role in the success of your tour business.

Tracking tour performance

Tracking tour performance involves monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that provide an understanding of how your tours are performing. Some essential KPIs to track include:

• Booking and Sales Metrics
• Customer Satisfaction
• Capacity Utilization
• Customer Demographics
• Customer Retention

Pro tip: With Rezdy, you can use your tour booking software to analyze the above data with reporting and analytics .

Analyzing marketing data

Effective marketing data analysis helps you assess the performance of your marketing efforts and identify which strategies are driving the most success. Key marketing data to analyze includes:

• Use tools like Google Analytics to track website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates
• Monitor engagement metrics on social media platforms, such as likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates.
• Analyze email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to evaluate the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
• Calculate the ROI for your marketing campaigns to determine which initiatives are delivering the highest return and adjust your marketing budget accordingly.
• Conduct A/B testing to compare different marketing strategies or messaging and identify which variations are most effective.

Acting on insights

Collecting and analyzing data is only valuable if you act on the insights gained. Use the information gathered from tour performance and marketing data analysis to make informed business decisions.

11. Summary

Remember, running a tour or activity business is not only about delivering memorable experiences but also about maintaining a strong foundation of effective management and strategies. With the right combination of passion, dedication, and sound business practices, tour operators can thrive in this exciting and rewarding industry.

At Rezdy, we understand the challenges and opportunities that tour operators face in the dynamic and competitive travel industry. Our robust tour management platform is designed to streamline your operations, optimize bookings, and enhance customer experiences. With Rezdy, you can effortlessly manage your inventory, automate bookings, and gain valuable insights from our comprehensive reporting and analytics tools.

Ready to take your tour business to new heights? Sign up for a free 21-day trial today and discover how Rezdy can transform your business.

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MXP Modules

Tour management, engage guests in a seamless pre-cruise and onboard experience and increase your tour profit via better management tools, mxp tour management.

Engage guests in a seamless pre-cruise and onboard experience, create comprehensive seasonal tour programs and manage quality via feedback review.  The Tour module is a robust tour management system that enables cruiselines to smoothly manage robust tour information throughout the lifecycle of a tour.  The process starts with tools for engaging the vendor during the bidding process and for comparing the incoming bids.

The module next provides tools for managing tours throughout the precruise experience, allowing a centralized collection of information that includes images, tour minimums, cost price, retail price, and a multitude of other information about each tour. The Tour module integrates seamlessly with the itinerary module for managing daily departures of tours. 

Onboard, the tour module offers tools for an integrated guest selling experience, including mobile apps, self service kiosks, crew booking functions and digital signage.  The onboard cost settlement tools allow for smart decision making that go above and beyond what is possible with any other system on the market.

Top Features

• Manage costs from start to finish, including bidding, settlement on board, and interfacing to a financial system
• Engage guests with consistent information through the entire guest booking experience, precruise and onboard
• Manage tour programs at the office
• Centrally store a complex and robust amount of information about each tour

Your Benefits

Engage guests in a seamless pre-cruise and onboard experience, handle daily operations on board the ship with office oversight, interface to website for content and tour bookings, enable guest self-service tour bookings via kiosk or personal tablet, mobile app for bus manifest/selling tour tickets at the bus, efficiently manage quality via feedback review, e-commerce integration for operator management, tour departure verification, insurance certificates, bank accounts and destination feedback, manage seasonal cost bidding process including operator appointment.

The Marinexchange tour module has been growing and evolving for over 10 years, continually innovating and integrating the newest technologies.  With a variety of core functionality, optional functionality, mobile apps and interfaces, it’s possible to customize the module to fit your precise business need.  The tour module creates consistency from start to finish, removing redundant data entry while also creating effiencies and allowing for innovation in all parts of the tour product.

Take your software to a whole new level

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What is a Tour Manager and what do they do?

As long as artists continue recording and releasing their music, there will always be live music performance and touring - locally, domestically, and internationally.

And with touring comes the need for one of the most important jobs in the live music industry - tour management.

This article will help you clarify who a tour manager is and what they do on a daily basis.

What is a Tour Manager?

Our definition of a tour manager is:

A non gender specific person who travels city to city with an artist, author, speaker, crew, or other VIP to manage their travel, income, expenses, touring personnel, media interactions, and to help facilitate anything else necessary to execute each show or event. (For the sake of this article, we’ll assume the tour manager is working with a musical artist to execute a live show)

At the most basic level, a tour manager is simply the person who handles or oversees almost every aspect of the lives and routines of musicians and bands while they are on tour. In other words, a tour manager ‘runs the show’ while the band is on the road.

Tour managers travel with the artist to ensure that the tour operates smoothly and punctually without unnecessary hiccups and problems. Tour managers typically work as independent contractors offering their services to different artists each year, but some have been known to stick with only one artist for the entirety of their career.

What are the Specific Jobs of a Tour Manager?

The tour manager handles both administrative and organizational duties, and to make sure everyone is satisfied, may even take care of the personal issues of other crew members or artists on tour.

The job of a tour manager can involve event coordination, accounting, travel and logistics coordination, operations, merchandise sales and ticketing settlement, human resources, and sometimes tour managers can even take on the role of a personal assistant. To be a good tour manager, one needs to be detail oriented, but also able to see the full vision of what the artist is trying to create.

Because a lot of the characteristics of tour manager transfer over to artist management, there are cases where the tour manager also doubles as the band manager. Often on smaller tours, the tour manager may be acting in a double role as not only a tour manager, but also a sound engineer, a driver, a merchandise manager, or other crew position.

Some specific responsibilities of a tour manager may include:

Creating a tour budget

Advancing and preparing all the details for each show

Securing and managing of all income and expenses during the tour

Overseeing other production elements like lighting, sound, publicity, and even selling of merchandise during the tour

Booking and coordinating all ground transportation, flights, hotels

Overseeing or directly handling the transportation of all VIPs and crew

Creating a security plan for each venue and public appearance

Working closely with publicists, show promoters, venue managers, ticketing agencies, etc.

Ability to solve extreme problems. Like unexpected issues that may arise during touring - (medical, security, travel, contractual)

Leading a team of varying size to execute each event

On larger or longer tours, the duties above may be shared between two or more people.

Completely outlining the specific duties of a tour manager can be near impossible as there are countless scenarios on the road that beg the tour manager's attention.

Ultimately, the job of the tour manager is to make sure that everyone, including the artist, is okay and happy while on the road. Tour management can be both fun and stressful, but can also be very rewarding as it is crucial to the success of an artist’s touring career.

In our How to be a Tour Manager online course we teach our students that though there are so many tasks a tour manager has to accomplish, there is one thing you must do first.

You have to take care of yourself before you take care of others. Just like on a plane when you put your mask on first before helping others - same concept. Your mental health is extremely important, and denying self care on the road is a recipe for a quick death to your career.

You can start our tour management course for free by clicking here.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN OUR LIVE WEBINARS.

Welcome to Tour Management 101, a Youtube series that teaches basic and advanced level courses of managing concerts and live music events. Our show helped many music groups during the Covid-19 pandemic, and now we're here to help you. Subscribe to our channel to learn more!

Tour management 101 is a free online learning resource dedicated to teaching the next generation of the concert touring industry. Our weekly webinar series focuses both on the fundamentals of touring and the wide-ranging skill set required to be successful in the live event industry. Through group panels and one-on-one interviews with some of the most respected names in our industry, we are educating and growing a global network of students.

Hosted by a diverse group of experienced tour managers and featuring guests from across the touring spectrum, our shared goal is to strip away some of the mystery surrounding life on the road and make learning about the concert industry accessible and fun.

TOUR MANAGEMENT 101

"Thank you for this course and what you're doing. I had an incredibly rough life as a DJ tour manager due to the lack of information that was out there, so I'm hopeful for a bright future for our industry."

- ANTHONY GARCIA

"You guys are the professors I wished I had in college. I've even kept up with a notebook of important points you've all shared. Thank you again!"

- KELLY RUSSO

CATCH ALL OF OUR LESSONS FOR FREE ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Send us a messsage if you have any questions. Please allow 48 hours for a response. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

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What is toursurv?

• Toursurv is tour management software which    supports for both inbound and outbound    tour management.

• It allows tour operators to simply tour    management through comprehensive    system interfaces.

• Toursurv helps to create pre-tour plans,    costing and accurate quotations,    reservations, transport management and    to manage payments and settlements.

• It also comes with optional travel specific    financial systems.

• Toursurv will support you to increase your    sales by providing varying decision support    reports and performance indicators.

Toursurv, way to make it easy

Application to travel agencies System Features Include: -->

Toursurv Software offers Windows based applications to travel agencies.

Desktop applications for incoming tourism, inbound and organization of excursions. It supports for tour operators, suppliers, bookings, vouchers, transfers, invoicing, reports, statistics and also excursions, expenses, commissions, tickets, sales and profit and loss statements.

Manage itineraries with ease; minimize human error; Produce reports that give you the knowledge to control your business.

System Features Include

• Pre-tour plan

• Customer/Agent Management

• Transport Management

• Billing Management   (Payments, Discounts, Refunds, Overdue )

• User Management>

• MIS Reports

Welcome to Company.

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Moscow’s best free city tour

I love Moscow – this charming metropolis, its people, its history and its unique cityscape. I would like to share my passion for this city with you. It is my job to show you the most exciting corners of this fascinating metropolis. That’s why, as a travel specialist and your private tour guide Moscow in Russia, I organize a guided free city tour Moscow – so that everyone, regardless of their budget, would be able to enjoy the insider’s view of Moscow.

You get to see what only Moscow residents know and what other tourist guides keep from you. I am a licensed travel specialist in Russia and would like you to enjoy all facets of the capital of the largest country in the world, without demanding any money from you. I’ll show you the city on my free Moscow walking tour for 1.5-hours on foot.

Everything you need to know:

• My tours take place daily by arrangement, I am the only English-speaking licensed tourist guide Moscow, who offers a free city tour.
• My 1.5-hour free tours Moscow do not cost you a cent, I also offer other great paid tours as well.
• I am an experienced local, I make the tours informative, but at the same time relaxed and not off the plane.

Free Tours Moscow – Daily

My free tours Moscow city starts on Slavonic Square (Kitay-Gorod Metro Station), passes the world-famous St. Basil’s Cathedral, which was built by Ivan the Terrible on the south side of Red Square in the 16th century and where the tsars were once crowned. Then it goes across the Red Square at the Lenin Mausoleum, the luxury department store GUM and with a view of the Kremlin towards the historical museum. Of course, you will also learn more about the stories that once happened behind the thick walls of the Kremlin – from the Tsars and Napoleon to Stalin. Then we continue through the idyllic Alexander Garden.

An advance booking is required!

Practical information:

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 1.5 hours Price: Free Language: English

«First acquaintance with Moscow» – a 2.5-hour city tour in the center of Moscow

This Moscow city tour starts on the Theater Square, past Lubyanka Square and the KGB-building, then through Kitay Gorod district and Varvarka Street, past the world-famous St. Basil’s Cathedral. Then it goes across Zarjadje Park, over Red Square at the Lenin Mausoleum, the GUM-department store and towards the Historical Museum. We walk through the Alexander Garden.

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 2.5 hours Price: 17 $ Students and children: 6 $ Language: English

A 3.5-hour car/bus tour of Moscow.

This is the best tour of Moscow city as all the important sights are visited. I am your Moscow city guide who will walk you through the city explaining the charming history of the city. This tour begins with picking you up from the hotel. 3 breaks are offered for photographing.

First, we will visit the most famous riverside streets and bridges in the center of the city with the most beautiful views of the Kremlin and the Moskva River (e.g. the Kremlin embankment and the Great Stone Bridge).

The first photo break is made at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. We then pass by the district with numerous museums, Prechistinka Street and the district with numerous medical areas.

We again stop at the Novodevichy Convent, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the other bank of the Moskva River to click pictures.

Then we visit “Sparrow Hills” where you can enjoy a bird’s eye view of the city of Moscow from the observation deck. Then there are the skyscrapers of Moscow-City, the Kutuzov avenue, the New Arbat, Tverskaya Street, the world-famous Bolshoi Theater, the KGB building and Varvarka Street. Here there are ample spots to click pictures.

We then drive past the Kremlin again and finally reach Red Square. We take a short tour of Red Square and say goodbye in the Alexander Garden.

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 3.5 hours Price for a group: 170-200 $ (depending on the number of travelers) Language: English

Metro tour – daily

Palaces for ordinary people – that was what Stalin promised to the people when the construction of the Moscow Metro began between the World Wars. The communist dictator hadn’t promised too much. No other underground system in the world can boast such spectacular architecture – chandeliers, decorations, stucco, paintings on the walls – each station is individually designed. No wonder that Moscow residents love their metro. I will guide you through the bustle of one of the busiest subways in the world and show you the most beautiful stations Moscow city has.

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 2 hours Price: 21 $ Students and children: 17 $ Language: English Included in the price: Metro tickets / the guided tour

Tour of Communist Moscow – every day

After the Communist October Revolution in 1918, Moscow became the capital of the Soviet Empire and was the center of socialist orbit for more than 70 years. This left its mark on Moscow, even if the USSR disintegrated more than a quarter of a century ago. The city streets are full of remnants of the communist regime and the Cold War. This is a walking tour where I will show you the most exciting places in Soviet Moscow: from the notorious KGB headquarters, also known as Lubyanka to the Karl Marx Monument to small hidden remains from the time of hammer and sickle. You will also learn about Stalin’s Great Terror political campaign and the system of the GULAG and how the USSR, the communist Russian republic, became modern Russia.

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 2 hours Price: 21 $ Students and children: 17 $ Language: English Included in the price: the guided tour

Alternative Moscow Tour – daily

Explore the unseen Moscow with your Moscow private guide and discover a range of sights during this alternative walking tour.  Away from the main tourist spots (in the central district of Kitay-Gorod), just a short walk from Red Square and St. Basil’s Cathedral, you suddenly find yourself in one of the trendiest districts of Moscow. This place not only has trendy cafes and green squares, but here you can see the most beautiful spray works (according to Albrecht Dürer), hangout-places of the youth and hipsters, as well as learn what Moscow looked like in the 19th century. Here you will also learn exciting and even bloody stories about famous gangsters, eccentric business people and legends like the wandering preacher Rasputin, who is known in Russia either as the “holy devil” or the mad monk. To learn a little more about Moscow’s culture, this is the tour for you. On my alternative tour, you will get to know Moscow away from the tourist hotspots. This tour is of 2 hours duration and you will experience the following on the tour:

• St. John’s Hill, a quiet oasis right in the center, where time has stopped as it did in pre-Communist times
• Khokhlovka Art Center, where Russian hipsters and street artists hang out
• Samoskvorechye District where you can see beautiful streets and hear stories from old Moscow

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 2 hours Price: 21 $ Students and children: 17 $ Language: English Included in the price: the guided tour / tram ticket

Kremlin tour – daily (closed on Thursday)

With its 20 towers and high walls, the Kremlin rises imposingly over Red Square. This world-famous fortress with its area of ​​28 hectares is home to over 800 years of Russian history. Described as the eighth wonder of the world, this historic fortress complex is the principal symbol of Russia that sits on the banks of the Moscow River. Today the Kremlin still harbors numerous secrets and has palaces and cathedrals, surrounded by Kremlin Wall. The current wall was constructed between the 15 th  and 16 th  centuries, but the original wall was made of wood around the year 1147. The Kremlin Wall became an important symbol of Moscow’s importance in the Russian Empire. This top tourist destination attracts millions of people every year and there are various sights to see. With my Kremlin tour, you will see the oldest square in the city in the heart of the Kremlin, the once largest cannon in the world and the scene of numerous dramas – from Ivan the Terrible and Napoleon to Stalin. You cannot miss this unique experience.

An advance booking and prepayment for tickets are required.

Time: by arrangement, daily (closed on Thursday) Duration: 2 hours Price on request Students and children: on request Language: English Included in the price: Kremlin tickets / the guided tour

Moscow pub crawl – Friday / Saturday

Experience the real nightlife of Moscow with my Moscow Pub Crawl and enjoy 4 pubs/bars plus 4 welcome shot drinks. Move from one bar to another and get to know travelers from around the world as well as the locals. Play fun adventure games and contests in addition to getting perks in the bars. Between the bars, move from one place to another on foot. The routes are organized as such that you will walk no more than 10 minutes between the bars. Visit the most exciting events, parties, concerts, and dance in the bars. Moscow Pub Crawl is a tour that you will never forget.

This tour runs every Friday and Saturday evening at 8 PM and you need to bring along your passport or an ID card, comfortable shoes, and wear smart casual clothes.

An advance booking and a small prepayment are required!

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 4 hours Price on request Language: English Included in the price: the guided tour, 4 shot drinks

1.5-hour boat trip on the Moskva River.

Taking a boat tour in Moscow on the Moskva River is a very pleasant experience. It allows you to know the city from a totally different perspective and admire the beautiful bridges. In this 1.5-hour river trip, you will sail past many beautiful sites in Moscow, so you can take the best photos to commemorate this day. The ship makes several stops on the way. The trip starts from the Ustinskiy Bridge near Sarjadje Park and ends at the Kiev train station.

On this Boat Trip, you can see sights such as: the former Imperial Education House, Sarjadje Park, the “flowing”, “floating” bridge, the most beautiful view of the Kremlin, the Great Stone Bridge, the legendary House on the Quay, the Christ the Savior Cathedral , the monument to Peter the Great on the ship, the central sports arena Luzhniki, the Sparrow Hills, 240 meters high Lomonosov University, the numerous architecturally spectacular skyscrapers of Moscow-City, the Novodevichy Convent, the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs etc.

Time: by arrangement, daily Duration: 1.5 hours Price on request Language: English

A military tour – riding on tanks in Stupino (Moscow region)

Russian Military is one of the largest military forces in the world formed in 1992. With my Military Tour experience what it likes to be in the Russian military, shooting guns, ride the Tank T-34 and various models of German tanks from the Second World War, as well as armored personnel carriers and vehicles. You will also shoot from the AK-47 and another combat weapon.

The tour will begin with your private tour guide Moscow in a Soviet army van accompanied with some tasty snacks and tea for a tasty start. Upon arriving, you will have to put on the army safety clothing and climb the Russian armored vehicles. The tour will take you on the noisy, smoky tank, driving through mud roads. All participants will get the chance to drive the tank which is coordinated by the Russian military.

Time: by arrangement, daily Price on request Language: English

Alexander Popov

Welcome to Russia! My name is Alexander, I was born in Moscow and I'm a passionate tour guide. I want to share my passion for Russia and my hometown with you. On my website you will find useful information to make your individual trip to Russia as interesting as possible.

Gorky Park and Sparrow Hills: Green Lungs, place to relax and meet

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Your personal data (e.g. name and surname, telephone numbers, email address, website, Skype details, and information concerning your trip) indicated when filling out the online Proposal Request and hotel-booking form will be accessible only to our representative DMC in the country that interests you and will be used only for the purpose of supplying you with services that you have ordered . You will not be asked on our site to give details of your credit card, and payment will be made in accordance with the conditions that you have agreed with the relevant DMC in accordance with the commercial proposal that the latter will send you after processing your Proposal Request. Thus your personal data are accessible only to the direct executors of your order and will under no circumstances be made available to third parties .

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The world’s most exciting destinations

From the world’s most professional DMCs

DMC Moscow invites you to visit our wonderful country.

Moscow is not only the political, cultural, and business centre of modern Russia, but also one of the oldest Russian cities, with a history that goes back 1000 years and many monuments of original Russian architecture and art. The golden domes of its churches, world-famous museums and theatres, broad avenues with high-rises, and cozy, typically ‘Moscow’ streets with merchants’ houses – all make Moscow one of the most popular tourist destinations. In addition to its unique attractions, Moscow is undoubtedly attractive for its economic and business potential. It possesses a wonderful infrastructure, an extensive choice of hotels, and modern exhibition centres hosting important international exhibitions and congresses. Moscow is one of the most colourful and interesting cities in the world, being equally well suited as a location in which to relax and do business.

 The Moscow region is represented by DMC Moscow , one of the leading Destination Management Companies (DMCs) in Moscow .

125252, str. Zorge 9, Moscow

[email protected]

A dynamically developing company with considerable experience of working in this field, DMC Moscow has shown itself to be a responsible partner. Our success is built on our constant striving for perfection and our quest for new ideas and opportunities in this constantly developing and competitive field.

DMC Moscow was set up by professionals. Our main aim in founding our company was to bring together experience, knowledge, creative ideas, and creative management in the MICE industry so as to be able to offer you high-quality service which is focused entirely on the client. Organizing unique business events requires profound and comprehensive knowledge of the region, advanced technologies, a team of experienced professionals, and, of course, responsible suppliers of services. We are proud to be able to call upon reliable and professional partners who provide excellent quality of service at competitive prices. Our extensive network of contacts throughout the region gives you access to experienced and well-qualified specialists.

As a leading DMC, we offer a wide range of destination-management services to participants in and organizers of conferences, seminars, exhibitions, and incentive tours in Moscow and in popular cities in our region, offering all our clients exceptional quality of service. We are keen to share with you our knowledge and experience in organizing events – including events in the most unusual forms. During the course of any event that we organize our employees will be at your complete disposal from the moment you arrive in Moscow to the moment you leave. We will do everything to ensure that your event is organized in complete accordance with your desires and is carried out to the highest professional standard. We will put together the most attractive programme for you while keeping within your budget.

Destination-management services in Moscow:

If you are planning a business meeting, conference, seminar, corporate event, incentive or teambuilding programme, or business tour, we will make sure that your programme is organized with the minimum of fuss or effort on your part. Any event of this kind will require a range of services, which we can easily tailor them to match your desires and budget. With our considerable experience in realizing international projects, we will gladly prepare and conduct your event to the highest standard. We offer the following services:

Venues for all occasions in Moscow: We will organize inspection visits and help you draw up a detailed programme. We will organize bids competitions to find the right service provider and venue for your event. We will help you choose a venue to suit both you and your business event. You will have a choice of modern and comfortable hotel conference rooms, luxurious state rooms in palaces, and much else besides. We will find the option that works best for your business event.

Incentive programmes and teambuilding events in Moscow: Realization of original ideas and incentive programmes – fulfilment of your every desire in order to ensure that you experience nothing but positive emotions and the best of moods. Incentive programmes are devised for specific groups and are tailored to the particular client’s objectives, desires, and budget. We can organize and conduct a broad range of teambuilding events – something which is of fundamental importance in improving team spirit and fostering understanding, trust, and mutual help.

An individual approach to selecting and booking hotels in Moscow: We will help you choose and book hotel rooms in the most convenient locations and at special rates to suit your desires, budget, and the status of your delegates. The hotels with which we work are always situated in locations which are as convenient as possible for getting around the city.

Organization and holding of conferences in Moscow: The success of a dynamically developing business depends on the promotion of the goods and services which the company offers. For this purpose participation in business events is essential; conferences, in particular, are especially important for corporate image and a company’s work with its partners. We will help you organize and conduct events of whatever complexity.

Logistics, transport services, transfers in Moscow:

Transport services are essential to the success of your event. Our work in this area includes coordination of transport services for participants in corporate events, provision of business and executive-class cars, provision of coaches and minibuses, meets at airports and railway stations, group transfers, exclusive transport for evening events, VIP services, and provision of chauffeured cars (for groups of whatever size). We can also place banners and notices on buses and provide special transport for baggage.

Special events in Moscow:

Special events are an effective way to underline the importance of an event. They include opening and closing ceremonies, evening receptions, exclusive concerts and shows, and gala suppers held in the location of the client’s choice (including the most exotic locations). We can take care of catering and musical accompaniment.

Provision of high-class service staff in Moscow:

We can arrange for uniformed guides in your company’s corporate style, professional translators, designers, scriptwriters, directors, and audio-video equipment and IT solutions.

Excursion programmes in Moscow:

An individual approach to organizing events for both groups and VIP guests. We can arrange special out-of-hours visits to museums and pre- and post-conference tours. We will do everything to ensure that nothing distracts you from contemplation of our region’s unique beauty and cultural attractions.

We are confident that an event which has been professionally prepared and conducted to the highest standard will make an unforgettable impression on all involved.

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2024 Masters predictions: Nine trends from the last decade to help pick this year's green jacket winner

Augusta national is the only course to host a major every season, which is a relevant factor in a predictive model.

It's here and it's beautiful. The 88th Masters has arrived with 89 players beginning the week dreaming of slipping on the green jacket. These aspirations are still alive and well before the first tee shot is hit at Augusta National Golf Club, the annual host for the year's first major championship.

Unlike the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and The Open, the Masters returns to the same venue each year. While there are some small tweaks to the course here and there, the core of Augusta National has stood the test of time with those who have solved the riddle once before generally having the answers year after year.

It's why Phil Mickelson, without a semblance of form, finished runner-up to Jon Rahm in last year's tournament at 52 years old. It's why his final-round 65 was the best final round of his Masters career in his ... *checks notes* ... 30th appearance. It's why old-timers like Fred Couples and Tom Watson have also made early charges in their 50s. It's why you can never rule anyone out at first glance.

Course knowledge is required, but it is just one part of this equation. While the ghosts of past Masters champions pop up on the leaderboard every now and then, only those truly comfortable with all facets of their game will have the staying power to see it through until Sunday evening. A player doesn't just fall into winning the green jacket (just ask Dustin Johnson), he often trends towards it and peaks at the precise right time (you can also ask Johnson about this).

Watch all four rounds of the 2024 Masters starting Thursday with  Masters Live  as we follow the best golfers in the world through Augusta National with  Featured Groups , check in at the famed  Amen Corner  and see leaders round the turn on  holes 15 & 16 . Watch live on  CBSSports.com , the  CBS Sports App  and  Paramount+ .

Let's take a look back at the 10 most recent winners of the Masters and identify what trends exist as we attempt to whittle down the field of 89  players to pinpoint this year's champion.

1. What's your age again?

It has been 38 years since a 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus donned his sixth green jacket and captured the last of his 18 major championships. Nicklaus became the oldest winner in tournament history with the win. Over the last 10 years, the average age of the winner has been a shade under 31 even with champions like Dustin Johnson (36), Sergio Garcia (37) and Tiger Woods (43). Since Johnson's win in 2020, the last three winners have all been under the age of 30. Mickelson threatened last season with his runner-up finish, but it is safe to assume that if you're over the age of 46, you probably aren't winning.

Eliminated: Fred Couples, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, José María Olazábal

2. Maybe  don't  remember your first time

Only three players have ever won the Masters in their first attempts: Horton Smith in the first Masters, Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. While a debutant has not won in 45 years, there have been a number of close calls in recent memory with Jordan Spieth (2014), Sungjae Im (2020) and Will Zalatoris (2021) threatening. With such a large class and names like Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Åberg trending, there is a chance this streak comes to and end this year. But, until then …  

Eliminated : Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg, Akshay Bhatia, Nicolai Højgaard, Austin Eckroat, Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy, Stephan Jaeger, Jake Knapp, Nick Dunlap, Peter Malnati, Grayson Murray, Matthieu Pavon, Adam Schenk, Ryo Hisatsune, Lee Hodges, Santiago de la Fuente (a), Christo Lamprecht (a), Neal Shipley (a), Jasper Stubbs (a)

3. It's a steady climb

They say Augusta National is an acquired taste. One may not understand the nuances the first or second time around, but once there is a game plan, all that's left on the table is execution. Seven of the last 10 Masters champions had at least one top-five finish in their Masters careers before donning the green jacket with all 10 having previously collected a top-40 result.  

Eliminated:  Max Homa, Cameron Davis, Kurt Kitayama, Adrian Meronk, Erik van Rooyen

4. What have you done for me lately?

Each green jacket winner since 2014 has notched a top-15 finish on the PGA Tour or DP World Tour in a stroke-play event over the calendar year leading up to the Masters. Seven of those had already entered the winner's circle on the year -- see Rahm in 2023, Scheffler in 2022, Johnson in 2020 and Spieth in 2015 -- while eight had found a spot on the podium in the form of a top-three result. We'll use that same top-15 cutoff point for LIV Golf events as well.  

Eliminated: Rickie Fowler, Stewart Hagestad (a), Viktor Hovland, Tom Kim, Camilo Villegas, Bubba Watson, Danny Willett, Gary Woodland

5. Major-championship pedigree

There have been a number of first-time major winners who have broken through at Augusta, but none have come without some prior experience on a comparable stage. Eight of the 10 most recent Masters champions had at least a major runner-up result already to their name with all 10 having a T6 finish or better. In the year prior to winning, four of the last 10 collected a runner-up finish in a major championship while nine had a top-15 finish. 

Eliminated:  Byeong Hun An, Sam Burns, Ryan Fox, Adam Hadwin, Si Woo Kim, Taylor Moore, Joaquin Niemann, J.T. Poston, Nick Taylor, Sahith Theegala

And just like that, we have eliminated 50 players … 

6. Let's get technical 

Strokes-gained data can be a beautiful thing. In the calendar year leading up to their respective Masters coronations, all 10 champions were averaging at least +0.67 strokes gained per round with the mean of the group coming in at a whopping +2.17. Only four players in the world are currently averaging more than +2.00. 

It was not Rahm (+2.75), Scheffler (+2.50) nor Spieth (+2.38) who boasted the most impressive metrics ahead of their victories, rather it was Watson (+3.02) and Johnson (+3.91) who eclipsed the three-stroke hurdle. A couple past Masters champions and one major name will unfortunately be leaving us here.

Eliminated: Keegan Bradley, Thorbjørn Olesen, Luke List, Min Woo Lee, Sungjae Im, Sepp Straka, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka

7. Speak softly and carry a big stick

Off-the-tee numbers are the most predictive indicator of success in the world of golf; the best golfers in the world currently are the best drivers of the ball in the game. The same rings true at Augusta where the last 10 winners were averaging at least +0.60 strokes gained off the tee per round in the calendar year of their victory. Patrick Reed was the low man of this group with +0.14 strokes gained off the tee per round, which will allow a couple names to slip by. 

Eliminated: Lucas Glover, Brian Harman, Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Smith

8. Iron it out

Augusta National caters to some of the best iron players in the world (like Woods). Over the last three months, Scheffler has been the best in this category (+1.57 strokes gained approach per round), while a number of big names have struggled with their scoring clubs. The past 10 winners were averaging a minimum of +0.40 strokes gained approach per round -- a bar some historically strong approach players haven't come close to sniffing.

Eliminated:  Collin Morikawa, Emiliano Grillo, Harris English, Matt Fitzpatrick, Russell Henley, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau

Who will win the 2024 Masters, and which longshots will stun the golfing world?  Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 10 golf majors, including last year's Masters and Open Championship .

9. There needs to be a Plan B

Stuff hits the fan during major championships, and the Masters is no different. More times than not, there will be some sort of turbulence over the course of 72 holes, and a player's short game will be tested. Whether it was Scheffler's chip-in on No. 3 in the final round of 2022 or Danny Willett's up-and-down on the 71st hole in 2016, an around-the-green presence is required in some shape or form. This is where some popular names simply fall short of the +0.20 strokes gained around the green clip from the prior 10 winners. 

Eliminated:  Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Will Zalatoris, Cameron Young, Corey Conners, Adam Scott

So where does that leave us?

From a field of 89 golfers, only seven — Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Chris Kirk and Sergio Garcia — remain. I'll admit that I am very surprised by a few of these!

Scheffler, Schauffele and Matsuyama were always going to be shoo-ins; you probably don't need me telling you that. Thomas is interesting in that he will have a brand-new caddie on the bag and most of his good play came earlier in the year, similar to Kirk winning at Kapalua in the PGA Tour's season opener. Finau is finding his groove and Garcia just lost in his second playoff of the year on LIV Golf, but neither has been super reliable with the putter.

Let's just put it this way: If you gave me a fair price on Scheffler, Schauffele and Matsuyama versus the field, you'd have my attention.

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