At Your Service-superb experience and learnings from holiday tours

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Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to travel abroad to a few countries on vacation, using a tour company that specializes in group international travel. These travels and the experience exposed me to a variety of cultures, food, languages, rich histories and splendid natural endowments.

Seamless Experience builds customer loyalty

After each visit, I felt wanting more of that experience despite my fairly deep dislike of preparing for travel and discomfort from living out of a suitcase for 10-15 days. I hated waking up early each morning, rushing through the morning routine and breakfast to make it in time for the tour of the day; once every 2 or 3 days, we packed up to leave for another part of the country. But by the end of each day,I was in awe of the sheer volume of sights and impressions, knowledge and experience we had gathered. In addition, we made new friends from the group that typically consisted of 25-30 people and enjoyed the camaraderie and collective experiences.

I would rate each of these trips as being really fun, rewarding and memorable, Reflecting on my experience as a Marketing professional myself, I believe a critical factor for these amazing experiences was the quality of the tour management. Each group is assigned a seasoned country-level tour manager, who also played the role of a guide for the most part.

While the styles and strengths of these tour managers varied from country to country, every one of them was extraordinary in their own right. Watching them manage 25-30 strangers throughout the course of the tour and leaving us feeling like a family by the end was truly impressive.

Building Blocks that drive outstanding Experience

As a client, the tour operation appeared to me to be run like an efficient, well-oiled machine but informal conversations with the guides often revealed the depth of coordination and adaptation required on a daily basis.There are many lessons I could draw that could potentially be applied to delivering any service. Here are the key learnings.

1. Defining scope

As with other businesses, the tour companies also offer a range of packages for us to choose from. Understanding the needs and expectations of target customers is a major factor in the development of successful offers.

Tourists primarily interested in understanding the history of the region would be offered a route and mode of exploration different from those looking to enjoy the natural beauty and experience a relaxed vacation.
Each package is not only clearly described on the scope but also provides guidance on targeted audiences.
Pricing varies by package, influenced by number of days, types of locations (city accommodations and meals are pricier), type of transportation, need for local experts to supplement the principal tour guide, etc.

2. Planning and Preparation

Providing a smooth experience for tourists requires a tremendous amount of planning and coordination, sometimes down to a 5-minute range. This attention to detail and preparing in advance for unforeseen roadblocks allows providers to respond quickly, with minimal impact to customers.

The tour company has established relationships with vendors (good quality hotels and restaurants) that meet a certain standard expected by their customers, irrespective of the country they visit.
Advance communication with vendors – details on the number of clients, any specific accommodations that certain people requested (e.g. hotel room needing a microwave, or requests for vegetarian meals, etc) are forwarded to hotels and restaurants.
Transportation between cities (by bus, train, air or boat) or during daily city tours is well coordinated and high quality. As much as possible, consistency is maintained by using the same driver, who tends to become well entrenched in the group camaraderie.

3. Recruiting and Training the providers

Customer service professionals are the face of any business, so employing the right talent in these positions results in higher customer satisfaction.

The tour guides are recruited locally and tend to have been raised and educated in the area.
They are graduates of a “Guide school” and undertake rigorous learning in history, local economy, arts and culture to supplement their individual backgrounds.
The guides are also passionate ambassadors for their countries.

4. Communication with clients

A key part of successfully launching a new product or service is timely and effective communication with customers. This is especially true when a new tour group is formed, consisting of a bunch of strangers.

Even prior to leaving home for the trip, we received timely communication from the company providing individualized information on flights, hotels and a day-by-day itinerary.
Clear expectations were set on the level of daily physical activity (e.g. how much walking is involved) during the tour, guidance provided on local conditions, how to dress for local weather conditions or cultural traditions (e.g. appropriate attire for places of worship), whether and how much to tip the tour manager, local guides, drivers, restaurant waiters, etc.

5. Service experience

After selecting and purchasing the appropriate package, all the planning and preparation, it is finally time for experiencing the service! All members of the specific tour group fly in from various locations at different times, excited yet anxious to meet the tour manager and other tour-mates.

Easing into the service – visitors are welcomed into the foreign land right at the airport and transported to the hotel, where the tour manager is fully prepared to receive every member. Hotel rooms already assigned, luggage tags ready for every individual and instructions posted for an evening orientation and dinner.
Meticulous organization – each evening during the trip, the guide would inform us of the itinerary for the following day as well as post a detailed written communique on the hotel bulletin board. It included specific times for the various meals, the places we would visit, whether we would have free time for shopping or exploring on our own, etc. – all this with an impressive level of accuracy.
Every member is provided with “whispers”, listening devices that allow us to follow the guide and hear the commentary during guided tours.A consistent thread throughout the trip that ensures a memorable experience is the tour manager/guide. They educate the group, share facts and perspectives, demonstrate how to enjoy local cuisine and the arts, and are ready to answer questions from curious visitors, even on some sensitive topics. From start to finish, the tour manager has full responsibility and accountability back to the headquarters.
Every hotel, restaurant and tour site had staff waiting to show their best work.

6. Feedback

Finally, no product or service can consistently maintain quality without customer feedback.

Post-trip surveys request detailed and honest feedback on every aspect of the trip. Aggregated across thousands of customers, it provides the company with what visitors love and what needs improvement.
Most importantly, using this feedback to make meaningful changes where needed sends the right message to customers – that they are valued and taken seriously.
Repeat customers – It is no surprise that many of the tour members had used the same company for most of their travels, some as many as 10 times or more!

In conclusion, excellence in service delivery is contingent upon keeping the customer’s needs front and center.

Thorough planning, setting high standards for staff and vendors, investing in the right tools, meaningful and timely communication strategy and passion for consistent quality and customer satisfaction are the key ingredients in a recipe for making customers coming back for more, again and again.