Comments on: Solo travellers: Why tour companies are missing out on customers http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/01/25/solo-travellers-why-tour-companies-are-missing-out-on-customers/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed Travelling beyond the gushing hyperbole Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:13:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: iain http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/01/25/solo-travellers-why-tour-companies-are-missing-out-on-customers/comment-page-1/#comment-2066 iain Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:20:11 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=504#comment-2066 I represent a tour operator and when we started out this was exactly our problem. until we set certain days with guarenteed departures. One or none, we'll go. And certainly it's far more frequently more than one than none. And in getting not only the ones and twos, but the 10s and 12s, when the phone rings, you just have to be able to say yes to customers. I represent a tour operator and when we started out this was exactly our problem. until we set certain days with guarenteed departures. One or none, we’ll go. And certainly it’s far more frequently more than one than none. And in getting not only the ones and twos, but the 10s and 12s, when the phone rings, you just have to be able to say yes to customers.

]]> By: Cheryl Probst http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/01/25/solo-travellers-why-tour-companies-are-missing-out-on-customers/comment-page-1/#comment-1954 Cheryl Probst Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:30:21 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=504#comment-1954 I once was the only passenger on a 20-seat commuter plane, a feeder airline for one of the biggies. When I asked why they'd run a plane with just one passenger, they said they were under contract to the major airline and had to run it whether they had 0 passengers or 20. (They'd had no passengers on the leg before mine.) Luckily for me they had this policy or I would have missed the international flight I was catching out of Seattle. But your idea about tour operators guaranteeing at least one departure a week, regardless of number of passengers, is a great one. I never ran into this problem when traveling before I got married, but that's mainly because I avoided tours. I took a day tour only when I couldn't get some place easily by public transportation. Many bus operators in China go when the bus is full, regardless of any scheduled departure time. If the bus fills in 5 minutes, you leave early. If it takes an hour to fill a bus, then you leave in an hour. I remember one time in South China I made a day trip to a neighboring city. I was ready to go back, but the bus wasn't full. The driver kept yelling to potential passengers they should ride with him because he had--gasp!--a foreigner. (This was in a city that didn't get too many foreigners.) He was so afraid of losing his drawing card that he even escorted me to a bathroom a half block away and waited outside, then took me back to the bus. Guess foreigners weren't that popular in that city as buses without foreigners filled quickly, and the one I was on didn't. I once was the only passenger on a 20-seat commuter plane, a feeder airline for one of the biggies. When I asked why they’d run a plane with just one passenger, they said they were under contract to the major airline and had to run it whether they had 0 passengers or 20. (They’d had no passengers on the leg before mine.) Luckily for me they had this policy or I would have missed the international flight I was catching out of Seattle.

But your idea about tour operators guaranteeing at least one departure a week, regardless of number of passengers, is a great one. I never ran into this problem when traveling before I got married, but that’s mainly because I avoided tours. I took a day tour only when I couldn’t get some place easily by public transportation.

Many bus operators in China go when the bus is full, regardless of any scheduled departure time. If the bus fills in 5 minutes, you leave early. If it takes an hour to fill a bus, then you leave in an hour. I remember one time in South China I made a day trip to a neighboring city. I was ready to go back, but the bus wasn’t full. The driver kept yelling to potential passengers they should ride with him because he had–gasp!–a foreigner. (This was in a city that didn’t get too many foreigners.) He was so afraid of losing his drawing card that he even escorted me to a bathroom a half block away and waited outside, then took me back to the bus. Guess foreigners weren’t that popular in that city as buses without foreigners filled quickly, and the one I was on didn’t.

]]> By: mytimetotravel http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/01/25/solo-travellers-why-tour-companies-are-missing-out-on-customers/comment-page-1/#comment-1951 mytimetotravel Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:55:54 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=504#comment-1951 At the very least you'd think they could post some kind of sign up sheet. But as a solo traveler I know all too well that we're not popular! At the very least you’d think they could post some kind of sign up sheet. But as a solo traveler I know all too well that we’re not popular!

]]> By: Andy Jarosz http://www.grumpytraveller.com/2010/01/25/solo-travellers-why-tour-companies-are-missing-out-on-customers/comment-page-1/#comment-1946 Andy Jarosz Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:11:56 +0000 http://www.grumpytraveller.com/?p=504#comment-1946 Sounds dangerously like common sense to me David. As a traveller (solo or not) I will be far more inclined to book a 'guaranteed departure' than to sit and hope that a tour I book isn't pulled at the last minute. We took a hiking trip in Laos where the company immediately guaranteed the trip for the next day, even though we were two persons (would have done for one). Ok, we paid a 2 person price but we really wanted to do the tour and were prepared to pay the premium. So did we do? We went to the nearby backpackers' cafe and persuaded others to join us. Result: 8 people on tour. We got 40% refund, while tour company made a tidy sum through incentivising us to go and sell their trip. Simple business sense. Sounds dangerously like common sense to me David. As a traveller (solo or not) I will be far more inclined to book a ‘guaranteed departure’ than to sit and hope that a tour I book isn’t pulled at the last minute.
We took a hiking trip in Laos where the company immediately guaranteed the trip for the next day, even though we were two persons (would have done for one). Ok, we paid a 2 person price but we really wanted to do the tour and were prepared to pay the premium. So did we do? We went to the nearby backpackers’ cafe and persuaded others to join us. Result: 8 people on tour. We got 40% refund, while tour company made a tidy sum through incentivising us to go and sell their trip. Simple business sense.

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