Group holidays can be the best holidays ever. You can make unforgettable memories and share stories and adventures for years to come. However, organizing group holidays are not effortless. They require some preparation and thought to make them work well, but it will all be worthwhile in the end!
Here are four key tips to make your group holiday one to remember:
1. Who’s the boss?
There’s a difference between being a boss and being bossy. While it would be great to work together as a cooperative group, reality shows that someone needs to take charge of making the plans. After all, you probably all want to travel together and stay at the same location! Even with a group leader, there’s no reason not to divide out other tasks.
Play to your strengths as a group. If someone is terrible with deadlines, for example, they’re probably not the best person to organise your travel and accommodation but they might be great at finding cool places to go once there. Get one group member to search reviews using sites such as Trip Advisor. That’ll give the whole group insights and ideas.
2. The beauty’s in the detail
Make sure that you agree the finer points both before you go on holiday and during the trip. Establish a clear budget for the trip and plan within that limit. The two greatest costs will be travel and accommodation. Avoid peak travel time such a school holidays if you don’t want to pay premium prices.
Because you’re going as a group, think about alternative accommodation for a better price structure. Self-catering or home rentals such as Airbnb can offer the perfect solution for a travelling group. Not only do they allow you to all be together, with communal areas to socialise, your budget can also be enhanced by economic trips to the local supermarket.
Another option is to camp. Camping offers groups a great opportunity to have a break together with lots of freedom. One word of caution with group accommodation: many owners and managers are not sympathetic to same sex groups, hen or stag parties, so check the fine print before you book.
3. Channels of communication
Once you have your travel booked and a place to stay, that’s it, right? No way! While you might have a few months to wait before the group trip of a lifetime, you still need to communicate. Chances are you all lead busy lives, in different jobs and different places. Group chats help you to stay on track as the holiday approaches. Did you know that in the USA, 48% of smartphone users are happy to research, plan and book their whole holiday using their phones?
4. Common ground
Finally, the travel is sorted, the accommodation is booked and you’re all chatting happily. That’s it now, surely? Not quite. Have you actually decided what you’ll do once you’re there? How will you spend the days and the nights? Perhaps, as a group, you’ll have a kitty for the times you’re all together for coffee or breakfast (or cocktails!). This saves time for both you and the bar staff.
Remember not all activities have to involve all of you. Maybe a couple of the group love to shop, while others prefer to chill at the beach. It won’t be pleasurable or fun if people feel forced to take part in things they don’t like, or if they feel deprived of the opportunity to follow their own interests. In fact, having time apart on a group trip can be healthy. When the group does join together again, you’ll even have different stories to share with each other.
