Beverly Ylitalo’s Emergency Tour Preparation (Class of 2004)
What do you do if you get a call at 4:30 a.m. and your tour operator is asking if you can begin a tour that same day? What if you only have a few hours to prepare? Here are some key ideas as presented at the 2007 Symposium in Charleston.
Before you leave home:
*Ask the company to e-mail the tour documents to you a.s.a.p.! Print them!
*Have “blank” documents handy at all times for welcome letters, seating charts, dinner reservations, bag lists, hand-outs, etc.
*In fact, keep one small 1” binder ready with separate sections for tour notes, tour paperwork, blank documents, etc.
*Grab the tour brochure and at least one general guidebook for North America.
*Toss your laptop into your always-ready office bag.
*Toss your always-packed bathroom bag into your suitcase along with your tour clothes (which you always keep separately and ready in your closet anyway).
*Before leaving for the airport, dress professional. DO NOT wear comfy clothes if you are going to meet your group later that same day… what happens if you’re luggage is lost??? Along those same lines, always keep your tour info with you in your carry-on.
On the airplane:
*GETTING YOU ORGANIZED FIRST = A SMOOTH TOUR!!!
*Read over the tour notes and tour information.
*Fill out your ‘blank’ sheets: rooming lists, bag list, seating plan, hand-outs, etc.
*Now look at the itinerary:
-Where is the tour starting? Where is it going? How many days? Are you doing city tours or are there step-on guides? Begin to form that mental picture.
-Focus on one city at a time as you go along… one day at a time is the only way to do it. Begin thinking about today’s meet and greet, is there a welcome dinner tonight, and what tomorrow includes.
-List out suppliers to call for confirmations and make the calls the very second that you land (or before you take off if you have enough time and the time zone works). Its okay to tell a supplier that you are filling in for the regular tour director… they love to help!
*Write up daily sheets that includes rough times that you either know or estimate, where you’re going, who you need to call for that day or the next.
*And if you have time, begin looking at your guidebook for information re cities, stops you will make and sights to see, etc.
When you land:
*Go immediately to the tourist information centre at the airport to retrieve maps and brochures of main tourist attractions… these maps are for yourself! If you are spending time in the city of arrival then see if you can pick up maps for your group as well.
*Also check if they have brochures for other destinations down the road on your tour! Brochures can give you info and e-mail address and may save you internet time later on.
*Make your confirmation calls!!! If you have time, call EVERY SUPPLIER. And at the very least you should call the first 3-4 days worth of suppliers to make sure they’re ready for you. (For a normal tour I call every supplier before I leave home. I call again several days before arrival. I call a third time the day we arrive. I rarely have problems with suppliers).
*Greet your group, give them a general outline for the next day, and tuck them safely into bed.
At the hotel:
*Now, research tomorrow! How do you do a city tour of a city you’ve never been in before on a route you don’t know?
-Try to talk to the driver to get a general idea of what the ‘usual’ route is and what the normal timing is. Tell your driver you’ve never been here before! They’re generally happy to help you. Ask what the main stops are so you can research them more fully.
-Pull out that laptop, or go to the business centre, or find an internet café… research those main tourist attractions. Check the brochures, go to their websites to see what current events are happening and to look at maps of the facilities to point out “restrooms through the entrance on the right”, etc. Make notes!
-Go to the city website. Most will have a ‘history’ link (or a link to the local Convention and Visitors Bureau) and you can get a tremendous amount of history and background area here. You can use this as your info in between stops on the city tour. The city website will also usually tell you population, industry, welcome info, sometimes housing prices, restaurants, shopping, etc.
-I take pages and pages of notes and I will refer to them while I’m doing the city tour. I have a good memory, but really! In this case I don’t feel bad using notes. If anyone asks I’ll say I’m terrible with dates and I want to be accurate! Ha!
The morning of the city tour:
*Talk to the driver early if you can. Go over the route on your map and again get a feeling for the timing. Ask the driver to prompt you if there’s anything to see in between stops, for example, he could cough… or simply say, we’re approaching the statue. If you’re facing your group they’re not going to wonder if the driver’s helping you a bit.
*Take a deep breath. You can do it.
In general:
*Unless you have loads of free time once the tour starts, prepare one day at a time.
*At rest stops pick up brochures for wherever you are going next. Call ahead. Ask some questions. Ask front desk staff about nearby restaurants, banks, etc.
*Remember you can always add more info later as an addendum.
*A very wise and experienced tour director said to me one time, while I was doing a tour in just this manner:
“All you have to do is stay one step ahead of the guest.”
And I must say it worked very well.
Good advice,
Reminds me of the time I came into the tour office to debrief from a previous tour, then take a week of well deserved rest. Instead I was given a plane ticket for a flight departing in 2 hours.
I once got a call on Monday, telling me to be on a plane Wednesday headed to Europe to do a London-Paris tour. I had never been to Paris in my life! And I wasn’t even home at the time. I had to fly home, call the company and start begging for any information I could get. I had to do laundry, pack, fax confirmations for hotels, coaches, dinners, step-ons; type up my pax/baggage check list forms, and learn to speak French. I basically had 24 hours to get this done.
The London portion didn’t bother me. I’ve done tours in London a few times before plus have been there personally about 20 times. The Paris portion of the tour terrified me. But you know what? I pulled it off! Yes, it did help that I had two full days in Paris with a step-on guide but it takes more than that. Having a tour prep routine one always uses (thus the term “routine”) is a big help. I just slid into automatic pilot and did my thing. The pax never knew I was a Paris virgin. In fact, one of my pax was a veteran tour director on holiday with her husband. Her post tour survey said “Ken was okay in London but he really shined in Paris!”
So, at the end of the tour I left the night lights of Paris with a smile on my face. But I wasn’t going home. I was flying straight back to London to meet another group at 6:00 AM. Twelve hours between tours and I’m off on a 12 day UK tour!
“Organize or Die” is my mantra!