Recruiting is where a group leader makes the promises they will spend the rest of the trip keeping. Almost every complaint that surfaces on the ground can be traced to something said, or not said, during the two weeks when people were deciding whether to come. Fill the trip honestly and the trip mostly runs itself.
The short version
- Publish one all-in price, with the single supplement stated at the same time.
- Say what is not included as plainly as what is.
- Give a decision deadline that falls a month before your real one.
- Describe the pace honestly. Overselling comfort costs you more than losing a booking.
- Recruit against a written document, never against a conversation.
What You Need to Know
One document, not a conversation
Before you speak to anyone, have a single page that states the destination, the dates, the price, what it includes, what it excludes, the payment schedule and the refund position. Every conversation then refers to that page. Groups recruited by enthusiasm rather than by document are the ones where four people remember four different prices.
Price it whole
Quote one number covering everything you are actually providing, and state separately and immediately what people will still have to pay for: meals not included, tips, optional excursions, visas, insurance. A price that grows after commitment reads as a change of terms even when it was always going to be true.
The single supplement, said out loud
Group pricing assumes two people to a room. Anyone traveling alone pays more, sometimes substantially. Publish that figure with the headline price. Discovering it later is the single most reliable way to lose a traveler who had already told everyone they were going.
Describe the trip, not the brochure
If there are three early starts, say three early starts. If a day involves four hours of walking on uneven ground, say so. People self-select accurately when given accurate information, and a traveler who arrives expecting something gentler becomes a problem for the whole group rather than only for themselves.
How It Works
Recruitment runs on a deadline you set and a deadline the supplier sets, and they are not the same. Your supplier will release held space on a date; your travelers need to have committed and paid a deposit comfortably before it. Set your published decision deadline about a month earlier than the real one, because a meaningful proportion of any group decides in the final week whatever week that is.
Deposits do two jobs. They secure the supplier, and they convert interest into commitment. A group of twenty people who have said yes is not a group of twenty; a group of twenty who have paid a deposit against written terms usually is. See managing group payments before you take the first one.
What to Do Before Your Trip
- Write the one-page summary and have somebody else read it for things it does not answer.
- Fix the room-sharing policy before anyone asks, including what happens to a solo traveler who wants a share.
- Decide the minimum viable number and what happens below it, and say so in the document.
- Ask about mobility, dietary and medical needs at the point of booking rather than later.
- Keep a written record of who was told what, especially where you made an exception.
Important Considerations
There is a real difference between organizing a trip for people you already know and advertising one to the public. Several U.S. states regulate the selling of travel, with registration requirements that vary and thresholds that are not always intuitive. This guide cannot tell you where the line falls in your state. If your recruitment is going wider than your own household, congregation, school or organization, take advice before you promote it.
Be careful, too, about what you imply regarding safety and entry. Telling people a destination is safe, or that they will not need a visa, converts a government's published position into your personal assurance. Point people at the source instead.
Tips for Group Travelers
- Publish the itinerary in outline, then hold a single question session rather than answering twenty separate messages.
- Name the two or three things the trip is genuinely not: not a beach holiday, not wheelchair accessible throughout, not suitable for a first passport applied for next month.
- Let people bring a friend. Groups recruited entirely from one circle struggle to reach the minimum.
- When you make an exception for someone, write down that it was an exception.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Announcing a price you have not been quoted. It becomes the price you owe people.
- Burying the single supplement. It always surfaces, and always at the worst moment.
- Overselling comfort. The traveler who was told it would be easy is the one who cannot enjoy it.
- Accepting verbal commitments. A yes without a deposit is a maybe.
- Recruiting without a refund position. The first withdrawal will define one for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people should I over-recruit by?
Expect some attrition between interest and deposit, and a little more between deposit and departure. Set the minimum number in the written terms so that attrition is a known event rather than a crisis.
Can I advertise on social media?
Technically yes; legally it depends where you live and how the trip is structured. Public advertising is where the seller-of-travel question stops being theoretical. Take advice first.
Should I take a deposit before the trip is contracted?
Only if you can refund it in full, and only if you have said in writing that you will. Otherwise wait.
What if two people want the same roommate?
Have a policy before it happens. See managing rooming lists.
Related Travel Tips
- Group leader resources, the section this guide belongs to.
- Setting Group Expectations
- How to Organize an International Group Trip
- Group payment plans
A trip that is described accurately fills more slowly and runs far better.
Verify Before You Travel
- State Department country information, which is what to point travelers at rather than assuring them yourself.
- U.K. FCDO foreign travel advice.
- Your supplier's written terms, for the inclusions and the refund position you are publishing.