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How to craft a brilliant tour itinerary that your guests will rave about

The best tour itineraries go beyond basic logistics and give guests a true sense of what to expect from their experience. 

If you’re unsure what this might look like, we’re here to help.

In this guide, you’ll find a step-by-step breakdown of how to create an excellent tour itinerary, as well as real-world examples of tour operators who nailed the assignment.

What is a tour itinerary?

A well-crafted tour itinerary provides your guests with clear expectations, ensuring that they make the most of their time during the tour.

At its simplest, it is a detailed plan outlining the events, activities, and locations included in a tour. It serves as a roadmap for the entire trip, providing a step-by-step guide for visitors.

Tour itineraries typically include information such as:

• Dates and times
• Destinations/stops
• Activities and events
• Accommodations and transportation (if included)

8 steps to create a tour itinerary

Whether your tour features historical landmarks, culinary experiences, or adventure activities, these are the steps to craft an itinerary that your guests rave about .

1. Define the tour objectives and theme

The first step in creating a tour itinerary is to outline the purpose of the experience. 

Are you educating your guests or entertaining them? 

Is your tour an outdoor adventure meant to thrill visitors, or a cultural immersion meant to inspire?

Next, you’ll want to conduct market research to answer the following questions:

• Who are your competitors?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are the unique selling points of my tour?

The theme of your tour will guide the entire itinerary. It’ll ensure the experience remains coherent and is tailored to your specific audience. For example, if you’re running a historical walking tour in London, objectives might include providing in-depth insights into key historical periods and attracting history enthusiasts.

2. Research and select the destinations/stops of your tour

Identify and choose the specific locations and/or attractions to be included in the tour. Of course, this will depend on the nature of your tour. A multi-day tour operator will need to research multiple destinations, while someone who runs a walking tour will focus on specific sites within a particular city.

Don’t forget to consider factors like accessibility, popularity, and the overall flow of the itinerary. The destinations/stops on your tour should align with the overall theme defined in step one.

In our historical tour example, stops might include London’s most famous sites like the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace.

3. Determine the tour duration and dates

Now it’s time to decide the length of the tour and the specific dates it will take place. 

Consider the time needed to cover selected destinations/stops and the preferences of your target audience. You’ll also want to think about seasonal factors that might affect the tour, including weather and peak visitor months.

When you present guests with an itinerary, one of the first things they’ll look for is the tour duration and dates that it takes place. This allows them to plan ahead and commit to the experience.

Let’s say the historical walking tour in London lasts three hours and happens every Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the summer, taking advantage of the warm weather and daylight.

4. Plan a daily itinerary

Next, we’ll get to the nitty-gritty details of the tour. Every itinerary should include a day-by-day or hour-by-hour breakdown of activities, sightseeing, meals, and free time. 

As you’re planning, make sure to allocate specific time slots for each activity and factor in travel time between destinations/stops. It’s always nice to add in some leisure time for guests to explore a destination/stop on their own.

A detailed itinerary keeps the tour organized and sets the right expectations for your guests.

For example, the London itinerary might look like:

• 10 a.m.: Meeting point at X spot.
• 10:10 a.m.: Walking tour starts
• 11 a.m.: Tower of London
• 11:30 a.m.: Coffee break
• Noon: Buckingham Palace
• 1 p.m. End of tour

5. Arrange accommodations for multi-day tours

If you’re running a multi-day tour, you’ll also need to select suitable accommodations for overnight stays. It’s a good idea to not only research hotels in each destination, but visit them ahead of time to ensure they meet expectations.

Always consider factors like comfort, proximity to attractions, and budget. For a historically-themed trip around the U.K., for instance, you’d want to book centrally located hotels with historical significance, offering a blend of comfort and cultural immersion.

6. Plan transportation

Determine how the group will travel between each destination/stop. Choose the transportation method that makes the most sense for your tour, considering factors like weather, tour duration, and comfort. 

Efficient transportation ensures a smooth and timely flow of the tour. When your transportation is teed up beforehand, it will minimize disruptions during the tour.

For a multi-day tour across the U.K., you’d likely use a combination of high-speed trains and comfortable coaches. A walking tour, on the other hand, would get around by foot. However, if there’s a portion of the tour that requires taking public transportation, make sure to specify that in your itinerary.

7. Explain the meals and dining experiences included

Specify where and what participants will eat throughout the tour. Plan meals, considering local cuisines and popular eateries.

Sharing a meal not only makes a tour more fun but also gives the group space to connect. For tours that involve exploring a new destination, giving guests a taste of the local cuisine will make the experience even more memorable. 

The walking tour in London, for example, might make a pit stop at one of the oldest cafes in the city to enhance the tour’s narrative.

8. Communicate clearly

Communicate the tour itinerary clearly to participants before and during the tour. Promote the itinerary on your social channels to reel participants in, and send them the itinerary via email once they sign up. Clear communication will help minimize confusion and enhance guests’ sense of security.

For example, sending a detailed map of your walking tour and the stops you’ll make will give guests a concrete idea of what to expect.

5 examples of exceptional tour itineraries 

Let’s take a look at how operators put these practices to work.

1. London walking tour

This real-life London walking tour gives guests a comprehensive view of the full experience. The highlights are listed at the top of the page, ensuring guests learn about the best aspects of the tour first. Then the operator lists every single site that will be visited. Under the section “Tour Includes,” guests learn that the tour includes a “skip the line ticket” for the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey.

The operator then goes into full detail about the tour in paragraph form. Guests who read through the itinerary will know exactly what to expect — from gaining first entry into Westminster Abbey to a visit to the Crown Jewels.

2. Kayak, Bike & Brew

Kayak, Bike & Brew offers a fun four-hour tour in Traverse City, Michigan. During the tour, guests will pedal and paddle to three breweries, all within walking distance of the river. A tour guide also takes guests through downtown Traverse City before finalizing the experience at a lounge for refreshments and games.

In the itinerary above, the operator breaks down the tour by hour. Guests are given a 30-minute timeframe to check in, which tells them when to show up for the tour. Then they’re given a solid idea of the time it’ll take to reach each brewery and how long they’ll have there.

Since this tour involves biking and kayaking, guests can get a sense of how long they’ll be doing each activity by looking at the itinerary. They can then decide whether the tour seems too strenuous for them.

The more detailed the itinerary, the better you’ll be able to attract the right guests for your experience.

3. Wynwood Graffiti Golf Cart Tour

This Miami tour operator sets itself apart from competitors by including a map with the tour itinerary. The tour involves taking guests around the artistic Wynwood neighborhood and introducing them to the famous street murals.

The itinerary itself explains where the tour starts; specific points of interest included in the journey; and how much time will be spent in each. The map, however, brings an additional layer of information to the itinerary. It gives guests a clear idea of the route they’ll be taking, allowing them to visualize the tour before booking. This additional information can give guests extra confidence to finalize a booking.

4. G Adventures Antarctica Tour

G Adventures runs multi-day group tours around the world. Here is a great example of a multi-day tour itinerary, which involves more detailed descriptions than the other examples on this list.

The itinerary for this Antarctica trip lays out all the logistics that guests would be interested in knowing before booking:

• Destinations

Transportation

• Accommodation

The operator breaks down each day of the 11-day experience, ensuring guests know exactly what to expect before booking. Again, the map provides a wonderful visual representation of the journey guests will embark on if they book.

5. Full-Day Tour in Rio de Janeiro

If you look at the itinerary for this full-day tour in Rio de Janeiro, you might find that it’s just as detailed as the multi-day tour to Antarctica. That’s because the operator does an excellent job setting the stage for the experience. The itinerary explains each stop in detail, as well as specific points of interest that will be included on the way.

The itinerary also explains what is and isn’t included; for example, the admission ticket for the Maracanã soccer stadium is something guests will need to purchase on their own.

Another key point to note is that the operator informs guests exactly how much time will be spent at each stop. This gives guests an idea of how the tour will play out in real time.

An example tour itinerary template

Creating a tour itinerary from scratch can feel like a daunting task, especially if you’ve never created one before. Starting with a template can make the process a whole lot easier.

A well-designed template can serve as a foundational guide, providing the structure needed for you to organize all the tour details. 

You can find several design-forward templates on Canva, or head over to JotForm for even simpler templates . You can tailor the template to suit the specific needs and theme of your tour.

Here’s an example of a template for a multi-day tour:

Tour Overview

• Tour Leader:
• Emergency Contacts:

Daily Itinerary

Day 1: City Arrival

• Morning: Arrival and check-in
• Afternoon: Guided city tour
• Evening: Welcome dinner

Day 2: Historical Exploration

• Morning: Visit [Landmark 1]
• Afternoon: Lunch at [Local eatery]
• Evening: Cultural event

Accommodations

• Address, Contact
• Departure: [Departure Point]
• In-destination Travel: [Transport Mode]
• Return: [Return Point]

Notes and Reminders

• Weather Considerations:
• What to Pack:
• Important Reminders:

10 Itinerary planning best practices 

Consider the following tips when creating your tour itinerary.

• Understand your audience: Tailor your itinerary to the interests and preferences of your target audience. A personalized itinerary makes the experience more memorable, leading to better reviews and repeat business.
• Balance the activities: Mix sightseeing, cultural experiences, and leisure time for a well-rounded itinerary. Of course, this will depend on the type of tour you’re providing. However, diversifying the stops on your walking tour is just as important as the variety of activities in a multi-day tour.
• Consider travel time: Factor in travel durations between destinations/activities and communicate that to your guests. Realistic travel times ensure a relaxed and enjoyable pace.
• Build in flexibility: Allow for free time and optional activities. This can lead to spontaneous discoveries and give participants some autonomy over the experience.
• Engaging with locals: Interacting with local communities and businesses can make the tour feel more authentic. Plus, it gives you and your guests a chance to contribute positively to the places you visit.
• Prioritize the highlights: Identify the must-see attractions/activities and allocate ample time for each of them. Your itinerary should mention the highlights that guests are expected to come across to add a layer of excitement before they get there.
• Seamless transitions: Plan smooth transitions between activities and locations to keep the tour flowing smoothly.
• Communication is key: Make your guests aware of the itinerary before and during your tour. Every time you reach a stop, let them know how long you’ll be there and what the next stop will be.
• Be prepared for the weather: Consider seasonal weather and pack accordingly. If it’s going to be a very sunny day, remind guests to wear light clothing and wear sunscreen for a more comfortable tour experience.
• Collect feedback: Gather feedback about the itinerary after the tour. Ask your guests what were their favorite stops, whether or not they felt rushed, and any recommendations they have to improve the experience.

5 common mistakes in crafting tour itineraries 

We know that building a tour itinerary isn’t always easy. We’ve looked into the top mistakes operators make when they’re building itineraries, with the idea of helping you avoid them as you’re working on yours.

Overpacking the schedule

An overpacked schedule leaves little room for flexibility. This can result in a rushed and stressful experience for visitors. Your itinerary should always have some breathing room for unexpected delays, spontaneous explorations, or simply enjoying the moment.

Carefully consider the time it takes to commute between one place and another. If you’re rushing, guests may feel stressed and might miss out on the essence of each destination/stop.

Ignoring audience preferences

There’s nothing worse than noticing that your guests are disconnected and disengaged from your tour. To avoid this, craft an itinerary that considers the interests and preferences of your target audience. Then pay close attention to guests during the tour. They may find certain activities uninteresting, which means you can move through those quicker than others.

This also involves listening to participant feedback. The continuous improvement of your tours relies on understanding the needs and preferences of your audience.

Underestimating physical demands

Failing to consider the physical demands of activities can strain your guests. If a guest signs up for a two-hour-long walking tour, and the tour ends up lasting twice as long, they’ll likely feel a bit thrown off. And tired! With this in mind, don’t forget to remind your guests about what to wear (i.e. comfortable walking shoes) or what to bring (i.e. sunscreen) to avoid discomfort.

Neglecting breaks and leisure time

A group of exhausted and unhappy customers won’t be able to enjoy the highlights of your tour — they’ll likely be focused on the next break or looking for a place to sit. Failing to include breaks and leisure time can lead to guest fatigue. Give your guests free time to relax, refresh, and appreciate their surroundings.

Omitting crucial details

Unclear communication about meeting points, schedules, or special requirements can leave your guests frustrated and confused. Your guests might miss out on key experiences due to misinformation.

In sum, these are some strategies and examples you can use to create tour itineraries that convert customers at first sight.

Writer Carla Vianna

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How to Create a Brilliant Tour Itinerary

By Breanna Lawlor

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Do you enjoy puzzles? Sure, they can take hours to complete, and there’s no set method to approach them, but isn’t it so satisfying to plunk in that last piece and admire your handiwork?

Designing a tour itinerary is a lot like completing a puzzle. It might take a little longer than you thought when you initially set out, and there’s no one way to design a tour. Many possible variations can get you to your destination and delight guests along the way.

Just for fun, imagine what would happen if you marketed a tour without a tour itinerary? It’s hard to picture guests feeling confident that they’d receive enough value without having an idea of what to expect.

Understandably, a tour itinerary acts as a trip plan for your guests planning a vacation and wanting to feel prepared. So, we’ll look at what you need to include in the different types of tour itineraries in tourism and how to display them in an easy-to-digest way for your prospective guests.

What is a tour itinerary?

A tour itinerary acts as a roadmap for your future guests. It tells them what they’ll be doing and seeing should they opt to book your tour. Plus, it outlines arrival time(s), frequency and duration for each tour.

Before you begin laying the groundwork for your tour, see what some of your competitors are offering. Grab a few brochures to explore details, highlights and overall tour structure.

For guests, part of the draw of booking with a tour operator is having a pre-planned itinerary. This means travellers can simply show up and enjoy the tour.

Picture yourself in a potential guest’s shoes. They’re looking at different tour options, trying to decide what activity and where to book. A detailed tour itinerary simplifies the booking experience for prospective visitors and can be a powerful marketing tactic in motivating these visitors to book your tour.

So, right in your tour introduction, describe the experience to travelers as if they were on the phone or standing in front of you. To sound approachable and lighthearted, try speaking your tour itinerary description aloud. There are many components you’ll need to factor into your itinerary and we’ll dive into those next.

Components of itinerary in tourism

Let’s say you’re evaluating whether to offer one type of tour or a range of options, try to imagine what guests will be curious about. It’s important to determine how much you can fit into your tour’s duration without pushing the timeframe.

Your guests are seeking experiences that will immerse them in the local culture and foods. As a tour guide, this is an amazing opportunity to showcase off-the-beaten-path locations and experiences designed to provide guests with an authentic experience.

In your tour description, included details that customers might ask about so they can self-screen instead of booking a tour that isn’t quite right for them. When working on drafting up an outline for your tour itinerary, make a note of what you want to lead with. For example:

• Is this tour suitable for kids?
• What type of weather can guests expect while on tour?
• Is there a certain type of experience or skill required to enjoy this tour?
• Will guests be able to take photographs on tour?
• Is a lot of walking involved on this tour?
• Do tours run frequently or are they only offered at a certain time?

A tour itinerary will look different depending on whether you offer hourly, single-day and multi-day experiences. Here are some basic steps to follow when looking at components of a tour itinerary:

1. Start by researching ideas for your tour

Deciding on what to offer is a challenge. Before you decide on your tour name and start marketing, ensure you explore a handful of ideas. You’ll want to see how seasonality affects your future plans, discover the type of equipment you’ll need. Factor in variables like weather and guest numbers before committing to a specific tour type.

2. Evaluate the competition

You might have a brilliant tour plan in mind, but is it realistic? When creating a tour from scratch it’s wise to understand your competition and whether your ideas are realistic. So while the possibilities are endless, building sustainable tour business needs to look at the competition in your area.

3. Look into partnering with vendors or attractions

When evaluating opportunities to share the workload, are there fellow experience providers that your tour business might align with?

Sure, some might look like competition at first glance, but what if there’s a way to benefit from offering experiences in the same region? Consider exploring partnerships that offer complimentary activities, meals and chances to visit unique landmarks that might save you doing some of the work.

4. Decide on the mode of transportation

As you fine-tune the plan for your tours, you’ll need to figure out how travellers will move around. Your transportation needs will be based on guest count and whether you’re planning to visit uneven terrain while sightseeing on tour.

5. Find out where to accommodate guests

One of the biggest challenges of multi-day tours is in coordinating the logistics. Accommodation, meals and transportation will all need to factor in your group size.

Since longer tours typically come with a higher price tag than hourly or single-day experiences, guests expect almost everything to be taken care of for them. Fortunately, with larger groups, you’ll be privy to lower rates for blocks of hotel rooms and the ability to book at early-bird rates.

So, while might make more sense to seek out different types of lodging, like entire homes instead of a hotel, accommodations will need to align with the type of experience you’re offering guests. If you’re offering a high-price tag tour, guests may be pretty surprised if they’re offered a more rustic experience.

6. Plan the route

Part of the fun of designing a tour is trying it out yourself to see if you’re enjoying the experience. There’s a saying I remember from 11th-grade math that runs along the lines of failing to prepare is preparing to fail. If you’re pouring energy into perfecting a tour itinerary on paper, you need to give it a dry run to see if your expectations match reality.

7. Walk it out

So, consider doing a walk-through or inviting a few friends to join for the added benefit of another perspective. This will help fine-tune the details and assist with getting the timing down. And, as you grow more familiar with your tour, you might discover better ways to approach the route or plan out points of interest.  

For some National and Provincial Parks, you’ll also need to obtain a permit in advance just to visit certain sites. In Canada, you’ll want to research the Parks Canada website and here for information on permits in the USA , Based on your location, you’ll want to coordinate with your closest Tourism office.

Example of a tour itinerary description

Creating memorable experiences for your guests starts with how to market your offer. When describing a tour, you want guests to develop an emotional connection to the experience.

Let’s say you’re planning to offer a 2-hour paddleboard sunset cruise in the summer months. Your introduction could describe it as something along the lines of:

“Imagine gliding across the pacific ocean with unparalleled views of the scenic coastline, finishing with the warm glow of the sunset in a protected area of the harbour. You’ll have a whale of a good time. We hope to “seal you” you soon for our most popular 2-hour summer sunset paddle tour.”

In just a few sentences, guests can imagine themselves immersed in the experience. You’re highlighting the possibility of seeing ocean wildlife while simultaneously describing the serenity of this tour.

To further support travelers reading the full itinerary, aim to make your copy and tour descriptions easy to scan. To do so, add in plenty of bullet points, bold and photos to highlight components of the tour in a visual way. 

Common tour intinerary questions

• When will the tour(s) depart and return?
• What is the frequency of your tour? 
• Where will the central meeting point be? 
• Is accommodation be included in the tour?
• Do you offer transportation to and from the tour?
• Will extras be available on site or for purchase? 

Then, in the next section, repeat important information like meeting locations and tour frequency along with whether pricing differs depending on the time or date of booking. Are guests required to book in advance or book private tours if they book four or more spots? Address all of the questions in your tour description and make it easy for guests to find out if yours is the right type of tour for them.

3 different types of itineraries in tourism

Imagine you’re evaluating whether to offer an hourly or full, single-day tour. To deliver on a promise, explore how much you can fit into your tour’s duration without pushing the timeframe. 

• Hourly tours can run anywhere from 1 – 4 hours, based on what you’re going to include in the tour
• Plan for an activity that doesn’t make guests feel rushed by including enough time to put on extra gear or listen to a safety briefing pre-tour
• While on a walking tour, make a point to visit few landmarks, while also allowing guests “free time” to take photos and understand the culture
• As a bonus, you’ll be able to stay on schedule and still accommodate time for your guests to take photos

2. Single Day Tour

• A single day tour might last anywhere from 4 to 8 hours
• Curate a schedule that accounts for buffer time
• Account for ample time for guests to take photos
• Clearly describe if/when any meals are included
• Structure sightseeing for when places are less busy
• Describe meeting locations and tour frequency

3. Multi-day Tours

• Determine accommodation options for groups 
• Describe the type of transportation plus pick-up/drop-off locations
• Source suppliers for meals and restaurants
• Plan out transportation to and from each new location
• Factor in a few different activities to entertain different guests

Whether you’re offering short adventures or multi-day tours , make a point to test out your tour. This will allow you to see if your timing is accurate and if you need to make any changes. As a result, you’ll be able to make adjustments that help to elevate the experience for all of your guests. 

Final thoughts 

Designing a tour itinerary isn’t just about fancy words and shouting from the rooftops; it’s about designing a tour that your guests want to book. 

Travelers seek out activities and experiences that align with their expectations. So, if you’re hoping to create a tour itinerary that is attractive, you need to play into their interests and what you know works.

So many factors go into whether people decide to book; the images you choose, the layout of your website, your marketing tactics and the type of tour experience you offer. 

Knowing this, if you can prepare travelers and exceed their expectations, you’ll have guests raving about their trips — inspiring more guests to book with you. 

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11 Free Travel Itinerary Templates for Your Next Trip in Google Docs, Excel, & Word

Content Partnership Specialist

April 8, 2024

There are a lot of things that go into planning a trip.

From scheduling flights, booking hotels and car rentals, planning activities, and ensuring all of them fit within your timeline and budget too!

Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or simply someone looking to create an organized travel schedule for your upcoming trip, then you should consider using an itinerary template. 

Itinerary templates help you organize your activities, manage your time , calculate your expenses, give you a breakdown of all your important travel information before a trip, and help you make the most out of your business trip or vacation. 

Head over to the sections below to find out what makes a good itinerary template, and discover 11 free templates you can use to help you plan your next trip! 🏝️

What is an Itinerary Template?

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An itinerary is a document that outlines all of the details of your trip, from your flight and hotel reservations to your planned activities and budget, to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

That said, trip planners should turn to itinerary templates to give you ready-to-use and organized fill-in-the-blank pages that you can use for every type of trip. 

Itinerary templates can help business and leisure travelers:

• Save time, plan more effectively, and provide an organized format for all the important details of their trip
• Have a digital planner to keep track of all the details they need to consider when planning their travel, such as dates and locations, transportation and accommodations, and activities
• Get quick access to all of the necessary details in one place
• Help manage last-minute changes more effectively

Think of these free itinerary templates as your personal travel agent assistant. They’re there to assist you with planning the most important parts of your trip, so you spend more time enjoying the moment than worrying about what’s next and how you’re getting there.

Moreover, creating a detailed travel itinerary is beneficial if you’re visiting a new city or country you’ve never been to before. 

So what should a travel itinerary look like? Let’s take a look!

There are several types of itinerary templates for different occasions. The most commonly used and sought templates are for business trips, vacations, event planning, and global and domestic travels.

And while there are many types of itinerary templates out there, the best ones offer the following basic elements: 

• Have clear and concise language
• Organized and easy-to-read format
• Customizable and easy to edit
• Easily accessible and sharable 

And if you need to shift your plans around due to unexpected changes, a solid travel itinerary template should offer the flexibility to let you make changes without compromising the flow of your trip. It also shouldn’t require you to start your travel itinerary from scratch.

Ultimately, these templates should help you create a personalized travel itinerary, save time, and stay organized to help you become a better planner.

Speaking of which—here are 11 hand-picked travel itinerary templates that can help you with that! Each one offers a unique format and features. Check them one by one to see which templates suit your needs the best.

11 Travel Itinerary Templates for Your Next Trip

Traveling for work? 

This Business Travel Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you get all your important travel details and work schedules, all in one place. 

Easily notate your travel dates, hotel information, flight number, and other important information in an organized and easy-to-follow format in ClickUp Docs . If you have multiple travel plans or want to keep your past and future travel itinerary docs in one place, then simply add nested pages under one Doc to keep everything neatly organized and accessible.

And because ClickUp Docs allow you to have full control of sharing permissions and privacy, you can keep your pages private to protect your personal information or securely share them with selected people via a link.

Best of all, ClickUp is available on the mobile app , so you can take your itinerary template wherever you go and access it any time of the day.

Use this free travel itinerary template to streamline your business travel planning process and establish a consistent standard itinerary that you can use again and again.

Planning a road trip or exploring a new city?

Whatever type of vacation you’re planning for, this Vacation Planning Travel Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you create a visual roadmap of your planned activities.

With this free travel itinerary template, you’ll be able to plan your destinations, use ClickUp Custom Fields to add important details such as hotel addresses, type of activity, hours of operation, travel time, accommodations, reservations, and so on to ensure you’re on the right track to hit all the spots you have planned to visit on your trip!

Additionally, this template allows you to visualize your road trip itinerary in Map view, as shown above, and other views in ClickUp, such as List, Embed Board, and Doc view. Each custom view offers a unique look at your travel itinerary to help you visualize and organize your plans in the best way that works for you. 

Use these vacation planning templates to give you the structure and organization you need to plan your next trip and have a stress-free getaway!

Streamline your travel planning with ClickUp’s Trip Planner Template ! Say goodbye to the chaos of scattered details and hello to a centralized hub for all your trip essentials. From flights to accommodations, activities to budgets, this template has you covered. Save time by organizing everything in one place and ensure nothing slips through the cracks.

With customizable features like custom statuses, fields, and views, you can tailor the template to suit your specific needs. Collaborate effortlessly with friends and family to create the ultimate travel experience. Whether you’re jetting off for a quick getaway or planning a work trip, this template provides the tools you need for a successful trip.

Set your budget, research destinations, create itineraries, and finalize details all within ClickUp’s intuitive platform. Track progress, assign tasks, and monitor productivity with ease. From start to finish, ClickUp’s Trip Planner Template empowers you to plan your dream trip efficiently and effectively.

Whether you’re born with natural event planning skills or perhaps someone who’s looking to get better at it, this Event Planning Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you plan your next events with ease!

This event planning itinerary template includes three highly visual ClickUp Views that can be customized for any need, from organizing and scheduling event dates on a List and Board to drag-and-drop planning on a Calendar.

Each view provides pre-built Custom Fields, which allow you and your team to add important details, such as progress percentage bars, payment status, due dates, budget status, and more. You can also create Custom Task Statuses to help identify the stage each task is, keeping everyone in the loop on where each task stands at all times. 

You can download the app on your mobile device to access your tasks regardless of your event’s location, and use this itinerary template to help you become a pro at planning events and start managing all of your business operations, teams, and event planning —all in one place. 

Sometimes, it’s best to take things day by day, especially when your workload and to-do lists are getting out of hand. 

Seize the day and stay productive (and motivated) by turning to the 24 Hours Itinerary Template in ClickUp to guide you when creating your daily schedule!

This free itinerary template includes pre-built Custom Fields and Custom Task Statuses to help you easily plan and visualize your daily tasks. And because those features are fully customizable, you can edit and add whatever fields and statuses work best for your workflow.

Use this template to assist you with daily planning , so you easily view all of your to-dos, stay focused on what’s on your plate each day, and make the most of every day!

Meetings are a great way to sync with people in real time.

However, without a proper agenda, you might forget to discuss important matters, lose control of the meeting flow, and veer off track, leaving the attendees with more questions than answers or thinking, “this could’ve been an email.” 😅

Don’t let that happen to you! 

Whether you’re hosting a face-to-face or virtual meeting, having a prepared agenda beforehand keeps your meetings productive and helps make the most of your attendee’s time— the free Agenda Template by ClickUp can help you prep for your next meeting.

This template provides you with sections for your meeting details, participants, and so much more. And because this template is available ClickUp Docs, you can easily format the page to support any type of meeting , embed links to add more details to your agenda, and easily share it with your team before the meeting so they can come prepared with insights or questions. 

Use this itinerary template to help you plan and keep your next meetings productive! 

Planning a conference and need a conference agenda template ?

This Conference Itinerary Template by ClickUp can help you create, visualize, and manage your events all in one centralized place.

This template offers pre-built views, such as Box, Calendar, and List view, and Custom Fields and Custom Task Statuses to allow you to create your ideal itinerary for your event. Moreover, you can add custom tags to your tasks to add another layer of organization to your itinerary and add new Custom Fields to keep your tasks as detailed as possible as you plan your live or virtual conference events .

And if you need help getting started, no problem. It comes with a Getting Started Guide to help you get familiarized with the template and serve as a guide to help you plan your next event !

A meeting agenda is a must, especially for board meetings. 

The Board Meeting Agenda Template in ClickUp offers pre-built Custom Fields to help board members and leadership create a high-level and organized meeting agenda, and run productive meetings. You may also add single or multiple assignees to each task and subtask to clearly note who’s responsible for completing the task or presenting the topics and check them off the list as each task or topic has been discussed to easily track and note what is yet to be completed.

Use this itinerary template to help you create an organized meeting agenda , keep everyone in the loop ahead of the meeting, and promote open discussion among all participants, which can lead to stronger decisions and better outcomes.

If you’re an Excel user, then this template is for you.

Microsoft Excel offers a handy Vacation Itinerary template that you can use to organize all of your trip details. Whether you want to start a road trip itinerary with friends or a personalized itinerary of your full trip, this trip itinerary template includes entries for flight information, lodging, emergency contacts, activities, and so on. 

Once you’ve filled out the template with the details of your trip, simply save it on your computer or print it to take a physical copy of your itinerary with you or leave a copy for your friends and family while you’re away on your vacation.

If you like keeping things simple when planning your trips, then this travel itinerary template will work for what you need.

This template allows you to add and edit your travel details, such as destinations, transportation, lodging, and what you need to pack for your trip, in organized tables in Google Docs (where you can also connect to Google Sheets). 

This is one of the many customizable templates that’s free to download. Save it on your computer or print a copy to take with you!

Keep your business trips as stress-free as possible by creating a detailed flight itinerary, meeting schedule, and more all on one page. Use Microsoft Word’s Business Trip Itinerary template to keep track of important dates, departure and arrival times, destination addresses, phone numbers, travel time, and other notes about each item on your itinerary. 

Start Planning Your Next Trip with Travel Itinerary Templates

When it comes to planning trips, having an itinerary is key.

But we get it. Making a detailed itinerary can be quite time-consuming. That’s why using an itinerary template can be such a great tool! Stay organized and use the templates we provided above as a starting point for creating your own customized itinerary for your upcoming trips and events.

And if you’re a fan of customizations, then you’ll click well with ClickUp. 

It offers a fully customizable platform with hundreds of features and templates to give you the power to create a personalized experience, connect all your notes and work together, and build a workflow and itineraries that work for you.

Get access to ClickUp’s customizable templates for free today, and start getting excited about planning your next event! 

Bon voyage! 👋

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How to Plan a Trip: A Detailed Travel Planning Guide

Last updated on November 30th, 2023

Looking for the best tips on how to plan a trip? Our step by step travel planning guide goes through our exact process of planning our trips, including our travel itinerary template, so you can plan your next trip easier!

It’s no secret that we love planning trips! We love researching for hours upon hours, digging into everything a city has to offer, learning tons, picking spots we want to check out, and crafting the perfect itinerary. 

We are definitely itinerary-based travelers vs spontaneous travelers (although we’re trying to leave more time for spontaneity during our trips!) and we’ve found that putting in the work to plan a trip beforehand can dramatically change the outcome of a trip. 

There’s no wasting time wondering “where should we eat?” or driving all around town from spot to spot because we didn’t realize how far things were. Instead, we show up with a plan and get to enjoy where we are. Granted, things don’t always go according to plan, but we definitely feel like it sets us up for success!

We originally created this blog to help eliminate some of your headaches when you plan a trip. It can be daunting to figure out how to fit an entire city, state, country, etc into X days. 

Our travel guides in particular are perfect for those who want a solid list of things to do, places to eat, etc. already organized into a well thought out itinerary. Our goal is to do all of the research for you so you can plan your perfect trip without spending hours and days scouring the web.

However, we haven’t been to every city in the world, so we may not always have a travel guide for you. So we wanted to create a travel planning guide, with our step by step list of how to plan a trip, including our travel itinerary template , so you can plan an epic trip and make the most of your time in any destination!

Looking for more travel planning tips? Check out these posts:

• How We Afford to Travel: Our Top Travel Budgeting Tips (+ Budget template!)
• Our Favorite Travel Credit Cards
• Fly for Less: Tips for Finding Cheap Flights

Step 1: Choose your destination

Step 2: make a travel budget, step 3: track and book flights, step 4: book your accommodations, step 5: book your transportation, step 6: research, research, research, step 7: google maps, step 8: make your itinerary (with our travel itinerary template), step 9: book any tours, activities, and reservations, step 10: have a pet find a sitter, step 11: prepare for your trip, step 12: pack for your trip, step 13: have a blast .

The first decision when you plan a trip is often the hardest: where should you go?! If you’re like us, we want to visit as many new places as we possibly can, but we also love visiting places that are special to us. Trying to make the decision of where to spend our precious vacation time and limited travel budget sometimes feels impossible!

While we don’t have all of the answers of how to decide where to go, here are a few things to consider.

Type of trip

What kind of trip are you looking for? Do you want to be in a big city? Hang out at the beach? Go for tons of hikes? Or all of the above? Our first task when figuring out where to go is to think about the activities and vibe we are looking for during our next trip.

If you’re having a hard time deciding, some of our favorite destinations are:

• The Dolomites: The Dolomites are full of adorable small towns, hikes, and epic scenery! It’s absolutely gorgeous and we hear it’s cheaper than the Swiss Alps.
• Matera, Italy: The smaller town, less tourists and crowds, unique cave dwellings, and crazy history made Matera one of favorite spots in Italy!
• Vancouver, BC: We used to visit Vancouver all the time when we lived in Seattle. The city is beautiful and there are so many outdoor activities just minutes from downtown.
• Scotland: We visited Edinburgh and the Isle of Skye and think they are some of the most underrated destinations. Both were jawdroppingly beautiful and have tons to see and do!
• Seattle : Seattle is our favorite city in the US! We lived here for three years and loved it so much. There are so many things to do, including hikes, lakes, beaches, city activities, and delicious food!
• Hawaii: It’s no secret that Hawaii is one of our favorite places in the world! We have been to all four major islands, some more than once, and each one is amazing!
• US National Parks: Want to see some of the best nature in the US? Visit a National Park ! Some of our favorites have been Yosemite , Zion , Grand Teton , Yellowstone , Big Bend , Olympic , and North Cascades .

Is there a certain time of year that is easier for you to travel for work or other reasons? For us, it’s the summer and winter, which can influence where we go. If we don’t want to be cold in the winter, we’ll use that time to go somewhere tropical, and on the flip side, if we want a break from the heat in the summer, we would head to somewhere a bit cooler (or below the Equator).

Peak Season vs. Shoulder Season

Some destinations have very clear peak seasons. If crowds are not your thing, try looking for destinations that will be having their shoulder season (the months between the busy season) during the month you want to travel. The weather may not be as perfect during “shoulder season, but you can save a ton of money (and headaches!) by traveling during the off-peak times.

Flight Deals

We will share some of our tips for finding flight deals in Step 3, but one thing to consider when deciding where to visit is to see where you can get a decent flight deal. We have sometimes made last minute trip decisions and visited somewhere we didn’t plan to visit so soon because we got a good flight deal. 

Specific Attractions or Events

Is there a specific thing you want to see or do in a destination? For example, do you want to attend a music festival in a specific city? See the cherry blossoms in the spring in DC? Want to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park?

Sometimes planning a trip around a specific attraction or event can make the decision a bit easier since you have a limited time to take part in that activity.

After we have an idea of where we want to go, our next step is to make a travel budget. We try to think of every expense we will have on that trip, from flights, lodging, a rental car, dog sitter, food, activities, gas, and more. This helps us get an idea of how much we will spend and to see if we can realistically afford the place we want to visit. It also keeps our wallet in check when actually on that trip!

We have a travel budget template that we use to not only plan out individual trips, but our trips for the entire year. This helps us see how much we want to spend on trips vs. how much we will be saving to travel.

To see how we afford to travel + our tips to save money to travel and while traveling, check out this blog post !

Once we have a good idea of where we want to go and how much we want to spend, we start trying to find cheap flights! We have a few favorite tools we use to find flight deals, which we’re sharing below.

To get a more detailed look into how we find affordable flights, including a tip we used for our Italy trip to save us over $1,000, read our Fly for Less: Tips for Finding Cheap Flights blog post!

Google Flights

We love Google Flights ! This free tool lets you plug in where you will depart from and where you want to go and see lots of flight options from tons of different airlines. You can then track specific flights that work well for your schedule or airline preference. You’ll be notified anytime the flight goes down or up in price, which can help you have a better idea of when it’s time to pull the trigger.

If you’re still stuck in Step 1 and unsure where to go, their explore destinations tool is very helpful to see what destinations are cheapest to fly to from your home airport on specific dates!

If you’re feeling more open on when and where you want to travel and just want a great deal, our favorite paid tool is FareDrop , which allows you to pick the departure airports you want to be alerted about, which destinations you want to travel to, and which months you want to travel.

FareDrop costs $47.88/year (if you use our link you’ll get 2 months free!), which seems a bit pricey, but we get tons of deals weekly! We have yet to pull the trigger on them, but hopefully soon!

Another tool we have used a lot in the past is Hopper . Hopper is a tool that helps predict flight costs and lets you know when the right time to book is. Nothing is worse than when you buy a flight and then the next week it has gotten a lot cheaper!

Scott’s Cheap Flights

Scott’s Cheap Flights is both a free and paid tool ($49/year) that will alert you about deals and mistake fares (when an airline accidentally publishes the wrong fare). Similar to FareDrop, you choose your home airport (and neighboring airports) and get deals from those airports. Or you can see deals worldwide! We only use the free tool of Scott’s Cheap Flights and we get pretty great deals! If you pay for their Premium version you supposedly get even better ones. 🙂

Skyscanner is another very popular tool for finding cheap flights. We have seen flights cheaper on Skyscanner than most other websites. Once you find a cheap flight, you book it through one of their travel partners. The only downside for us is that we typically cannot get that price with our credit card point s , which we would rather use to book travel (since it’s free!).

By far our favorite way to book flights is with our credit card points ! We have saved thousands of dollars by using credit card points and the best part is that we earn these while making our usual transactions, like the grocery store, bills, or coffee. The points add up fast depending on which card you have, so it’s not too hard to get free flights!

We currently have 4 travel credit cards : Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express Platinum, Capital One Venture Card, and the Alaska Airlines Card and each one has its pros and cons.

For more details on our favorite travel credit cards, the best benefits, and how to pick the right one for you, check out Our Favorite Travel Credit Cards blog .

After figuring out flights, it’s now time to find a place to stay! Once we have a general idea of the dates we plan to travel, we start looking for Airbnbs and other accommodations, saving any spots that catch our eye, and then as soon as our flights are booked, we book our lodging. Here are a few sites we love for finding accommodations!

We are huge Airbnb fans! We probably stay in Airbnbs 95% of the time when we travel. We love getting to stay in more local areas, having more space, being able to cook, and it’s usually cheaper than a hotel!

Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor is our go-to site for hotel reviews! It has helped us make the decision of where to stay (or where not to stay) many times. 

Booking.com

Booking.com is our favorite website to book hotels. Their prices are usually some of the best out there! Another really cool thing about Booking.com is that they have vacation rentals (like Airbnb) as well. So if you want a one stop shop to browse hotels and rentals, they’ve gotcha covered!

Depending on where you’re visiting, you may need to book additional transportation. 

For rental cars, we typically book through rentalcars.com . They have a price match guarantee, so if you find a better price somewhere else, they’ll match it!

We also have used Costco to book rental cars before. Their prices tend to be the best out there, but you do have to be a member or have access to a member’s account. It’s okay if the name on the car is different than the member’s name, so if you have a family member with a Costco membership, ask them if you can use it! 

Note : our travel credit cards give us rental car insurance around the world, so we do not opt into the additional insurance when renting a car. Make sure to check in advance to see if you’re covered! Also, make sure to book an automatic car in Europe if you don’t know how to drive a manual. 🙂

For public transportation , like trains, subways, and buses, purchasing in advance varies depending on where you’re going. During our Italy trip, we booked most of our trains and buses from city to city in advance to take advantage of a lower price. But in most US cities, like NYC, you just get your tickets at the station before boarding your mode of transportation. 

When looking for trains, subways, and buses , we typically start our search with Google Maps to see the routes and find out which company runs that route. Then we go to that company’s website to see fares, schedules, and to see how to purchase tickets. 

Our next step when we plan a trip is to research like crazy! We spend days and even weeks reading blogs, watching vlogs, and scouring the internet for as much information as we can about a destination, including where to eat, things to do, and any helpful tips! As we research, we create a Google Doc and write down the spots we find by category (food, coffee, landmark, activities, etc).

This part can be a bit overwhelming because there is tons of information out there and it can be hard to figure out what to prioritize for your own trip. We like finding a mix of popular spots with thousands of reviews, as well as more local spots with maybe less reviews overall, but very positive ones. And if we see a recommendation mentioned on multiple blogs and websites, that spot usually goes higher up on our “must-do” list. 

There are a handful of tools that we use every single time we plan a trip, each for slightly different reasons. 

Our first step when finding things to do is almost always to do a quick Google search. We like to search for things like “best things to do in ____,” “unique things to see in ____,” “where to eat in ____,” and “X days in _____” to find blog posts (like the ones we write!) for different destinations, which always give us tons of ideas!

Pinterest is an amazing resource for travel planning. It’s a massive search engine and a great way to quickly find tons of blogs about a destination you’re going to and to see what real people recommend. We typically create new boards for a country or region and then fill it up when we start to dream about a trip we want to take.

Once it comes time to actually plan it, we will head to that board and open all of the blogs we saved, write down common things people recommend and then research some of the lesser known options.

If you’re not already following us on Pinterest, come hang out with us here . We love to share pins from all over the world!

Tripadvisor, Yelp, and Google Reviews

Okay, these are definitely the most obvious, but they are high on our list when researching different cities! We know that some people are leery of review sites, but we personally love hearing from regular people about their experiences at a restaurant, attraction, etc.

We think that if you look at a wide variety of reviews for a place, the good and the bad, you can usually feel pretty confident (or not confident) in making it a stop on your trip. Tripadvisor also has forums where people can ask questions and others can answer and these can be really helpful to read, especially if you have questions that others have already asked.

One thing we have noticed is that Yelp is big in the US for restaurants, but Tripadvisor and Google Reviews are much bigger abroad. For our Mexico City trip, we relied heavily on Google Reviews, as the other two sites hardly had any reviews for restaurants. So make sure to look at all three sites to get a better idea of what a restaurant or attraction is like.

YouTube Vlogs

YouTube is our new favorite way to research for trips. It’s like reading blogs, but actually getting to see the experiences! Some of our favorite travel vloggers to watch are: Kara and Nate , The Endless Adventure , and Mark Wiens for awesome food videos! We watch travel vlogs every night and always mark down good spots to check out whenever we go to those destinations in the future.

If you want to follow along on our adventures, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here !

AllTrails and Hiking Websites

We love hiking during our trips and one of the best resources we have found for trails is AllTrails . What we love about AllTrails is that it has trail information, such as miles and elevation gain, as well as hiker reviews, for trails all over the world!

We have used AllTrails for hikes all around the US, as well as in Italy and Canada, and it has always helped us gain a better understanding of what to expect on the trail, as well allowed us to follow our progress on the trail map.

There is a free version, but we recommend paying for the AllTrails Pro app ($30/year) to have guaranteed offline map access, off-route notifications, and family and friend notifications.

Beyond AllTrails, we love finding local hiking websites. When we lived in Washington, we used the Washington Trails Association website for every hike. Similar to AllTrails, it has reviews, photos, and hike information, but it is typically more detailed.

Instagram 

Instagram has opened our eyes to sooo many places in this world! The popularity of the app is both a good thing and a bad thing, as some places are becoming Instagram famous and are definitely being visited too much and/or disrespected, but it is also showing us how beautiful some lesser known places are.

Similar to Pinterest, you can bookmark posts on Instagram and even organize them into different collections. We use this feature to save spots that look cool to visit in the future. However, we love Instagram more for the ability to see places in real time. 

When we know we are going to visit a place, we will look up the locations on Instagram (both posts and stories) to see what it currently looks like, crowds, and to try to find cool photo spots. We did this a ton in Washington to plan our hikes and to see if there is still snow, what the hike looks like in different weather conditions, etc. It’s also helpful to find out if a specific spot is under construction *cough* Big Ben *cough*. 

Don’t follow us on Instagram yet? Head on over to our Instagram page to see even more adventures!

Family and Friends

If you have friends or family members that have visited the destination or live in the destination you’re heading to, ask them what their favorite spots are! These recommendations can often be the best, especially if you know and trust that person’s taste.

One of the best food recommendations we ever got was from one of our best friends. She told us we had to go to La Romana for gelato while in Rome, which wasn’t originally on our list, and it ended up being our favorite gelato during our entire two weeks in Italy! We owe her a scoop (or two) of gelato for that recommendation!

After we make a big list of all of the restaurants, landmarks, activities, and tours that catch our eye while researching, our next step when we plan a trip is to look at Google Maps to see where everything is in relation to each other.

We try to structure our days in a way that we don’t have to travel all over town, but instead stick to a general area so we can maximize the time we have to explore. We suggest making a map on Google My Maps so you can pin all of the locations and then start to group together the things that make sense to do together. This will help you big time with Step 8!

So you’ve done your research, written down some spots, and have seen where they all are on a map…now what? Our next step when we plan a trip is to start organizing all of our must-do and must-eat places into an itinerary.

Our friend Callie created the most detailed, helpful travel itinerary template in Google Sheets that has helped us SO much with our last few trips. We told her we were going to have to share it on our blog because it was very useful and would help so many people, so a BIG thank you to Callie for creating this!

We like creating an itinerary because typically our trips are short and we want to maximize the time we have in every destination. We realize not everyone likes to have as structured of a trip, so feel free to modify the template to fit your needs better! We always recommend being a bit flexible in case the weather is bad one day, you are exhausted and need more rest, or things just don’t go according to plan (which happens often when traveling)!

With this travel itinerary template you can list out the activities for your day in order, write down addresses, add notes (such as: arrive before X time to avoid a line, how to get somewhere, note that it’s cash only, etc), add helpful links, keep track of costs, have a rough estimate of timing for each stop, etc.

It’s also great for collaborating with others! We have used it for our couples trip to Arizona to make comments back and forth and decide what we want to do. 

You can download our travel itinerary template here . Note: To use the sheet, please go to “File” and then “Make a Copy” to create your own version! We included an example as well so you can see how we would fill it out.

Once you have a good idea of your itinerary, start locking down any tours, activities, and meal reservations for a time slot that works best for you!

Tours + Activities

When we were in Italy, we booked our tours and entrances to museums in advance to save a little bit of money. While we typically had to commit to a timeframe, it helped us structure our days better and ensure we had a tour to go on. 

For attractions where you can get early admittance (like the Vatican) or they get busy during specific times, booking ahead of time can also help you beat the crowds.

Not sure where to find tours? We’d recommend looking on Tripadvisor and Airbnb Experiences !

Want to save some money on a tour or experience? Book on Tripadvisor and use our code APLUSK10 for 10% off!

Reservations

If during your research you find that a reservation is heavily recommended for a restaurant, set a reminder on your phone for a month or so beforehand to give them a call and secure a table. When you have limited time to explore on a vacation, the last thing you want to do is wait in line for a restaurant, especially if you’re hangry. 🙂

One big thing to consider when traveling are your pets! We travel full time with our pup Kona, but there are some times where she cannot go with us on a hike, to a park, or if we are flying to a destination. For any flying trips, Kona will stay with Kathryn’s parents in Austin, but for road trips, National Parks, and other domestic destinations, here is a detailed guide to how we travel with Kona, and where she is if she is not with us. Note: if traveling during holidays or peak season, try to book a sitter far in advance!

Depending on your trip and where you’re going, there are a few extra things to consider looking into before you travel.

Book luggage storage

The only downside about staying in an Airbnb vs. a hotel is that sometimes you’ll arrive before check in or have time to explore after check out and have nowhere to put your bags. We have used Luggage Hero or Bagbnb to find safe places to leave our bags while we explore before or after checking out.  

Get travel insurance

We highly recommend buying travel insurance for any international trip. We recommend using SafetyWing , which is travel medical insurance that will cover you outside of your home country for however long you need it. We have purchased their Nomad Insurance plan for international trips, which not only gives us travel medical insurance, but also provides coverage for lost baggage and travel delays. We hope to never have to use it, but it gives us great peace of mind to have it!

Look into driving rules

In Italy, we had to get an International Driving Permit. You can get this from AAA for only $20. We aren’t sure how many countries have this rule, so definitely check the road rules beforehand to avoid getting a ticket or having issues getting your rental car.

Find out if you need a Visa

Depending on where you are visiting, you may need to get a Visa to enter. This website shares the Visa requirements for US citizens for both business and personal trips for every country! We suggest checking this right after booking your trip to see what the requirements are and how to obtain one.

Check vaccine requirements

Some countries require that you have certain vaccinations before your arrival. You can search the destination you are visiting and see if it requires you to get a vaccination on the CDC’s website . We suggest checking a couple months in advance, as different vaccines have different timeframe requirements to get them.

Get local currency

If you’re traveling to another country, make sure you look into the local currency. We typically will order some foreign currency from our bank before our trip (try to do this at least a week before you leave, as it takes a few days) just to make sure we have some on us when we land.

After we land, we will try to find somewhere to get additional currency during the trip. Make sure to research where the best place is to get this currency. In Italy, for example, the best place to get Euros was from bank ATMs—the ones in actual banks, NOT the ones just on the street in the big cities, as those will charge you massive fees. 

You may also need coins for restrooms in some countries, so plan to have coins, as well as bills, handy for your trip.

Also, let your bank know you’re traveling abroad to avoid them thinking there is fraud with your card.

Learn the local culture and etiquette

It’s important to understand the culture in a different country or region, especially if something that is considered inoffensive in your home country is considered offensive elsewhere. 

Tipping is another important thing to look into. In the US, tipping 20% is pretty standard, but in Europe, tipping is not common at all. 

Figure out your internet plan

If traveling abroad, we highly recommend getting an an eSIM card with Airalo ! This is a SIM that you can download to your phone. It saves the hassle of having to get a physical SIM in every country you visit! You can get an eSIM for a specific country or for an entire region, making it extra easy to use if you plan to hop between countries. But before you get an eSIM, make sure you truly need one! Our Verizon plans give us 2 GB of data everyday in Mexico and Canada, so we do not need an eSIM for those destinations.

We also suggest downloading offline Google Maps so you can use maps without eating up data.

Download Google Translate

Google Translate has been a lifesaver when traveling internationally! We used the conversation feature to communicate back and forth with our Airbnb host in Italy and it not only was so much fun, but it allowed for us to converse even with a huge language barrier!

Let someone know your plans

Make sure a family member or friend knows your plans just in case something were to happen. We always send our parents our flight info, as well as our itinerary, just so they are aware of what we’ll be up to during our trip.

Do you pack in advance or are you a last minute packer? We used to start packing days in advance, but lately we procrastinate big time! Regardless of when you pack, figuring out what to bring on your trip, while also not forgetting anything important, is hard! 

Check out our top travel items and packing list to see which items we cannot travel without and to download our packing list, which includes common items and some easy to miss items, that you won’t want to forget!

Our most important packing tip: Don’t forget your passport and make sure you have an adapter if traveling abroad! We love this one !

After all of your hard work, it’s time to enjoy the trip! We hope that you found this travel planning guide helpful and that it’ll make it easier to plan a trip in the future! 

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2 thoughts on “ how to plan a trip: a detailed travel planning guide ”.

Love your enthusiasm. Many carefully thought out ideas. When you post a photo on your blog, it covers up what you wrote. For instance I can only read one Credit card, Chase, the other three are covered by the happy photo of you two. Your three how to plan a trip guides cover up what ever your conclusion/close suggestions? Hope you can fix this as you seem to be very thorough…. I don’t have this problem with my other sites I read regularly. Just thought I would mention.

Also, you should always have a photo copy of the your passports and front and back of credit cards with your parents In case of problems… You can ge it all replaced many hours /days quicker than without…

I am so sorry you’re having issues reading our site. Everything looks normal on our end, so that’s very odd and we’d love to figure out what went wrong. What internet browser and type of device are you using? We will look into this to make sure no one else has issues like this.

And thats a great tip about passports and credit cards!

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How to Write a Travel Itinerary (Template and Tips)

Being able to write a good itinerary is a powerful tool in the travel industry. A travel itinerary isn’t just a list of things to do. It’s a stop-by-stop break down of how a traveler should spend their time.

Whether you’re a travel agent, blogger, content writer, or anything in between, itineraries are fundamental.

Creating effective itineraries is also a valuable skill if you’re a traveler. If you can craft a compelling trip plan, you’re in for a holiday that will show you and your loved ones an amazing time.

Why take our advice? We’re highly experienced in the itinerary game. 🙂 The Travel Tractions content team has crafted over 500,000 words worth of travel itineraries in the last 3 months alone.

We know our stuff, and we’re here to share it with you. The following is a detailed guide on how to make a travel itinerary.

Travel Itinerary Template

An itinerary will pretty much always be broken down into days (unless it’s a 24-hour itinerary). Each day is further broken down into individual stops , which are typically the recommended points of interest and attractions.

The days and stops are the meat of the itinerary, but most itineraries will be supplemented with additional information to further help the reader.

Have a look at how we added a practical packing list in this 3 day London itinerary .

We recommend structuring your vacation itinerary in a similar way to the following:

Introduction

Every good blog post needs an introduction. For your itinerary, this will be a brief overview of the destination and why it’s an attractive place to visit. Sell the itinerary here. Give the reader a good reason to stay engaged and continue reading.

Brief Overview

Offer a bullet-pointed breakdown of the itinerary, outlining the stops. This allows the reader to understand if it’s right for them before reading in full.

Day 1, etc.

This is where you lay out the stops for each day. Give some insightful and interesting information about each stop.

The aim here is to get them excited about what you’re suggesting / offering. Don’t overwhelm them with information, just whet their appetite.

Make each stop a heading, and include useful information such as opening hours, cost, and which kind of traveler is best catered for here. You can add must-visit food stops as well, or simply leave that choice up to the reader.

Check out how we helped our readers organize a 7-day trip to Bali .

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Other Useful Information

In this section, offer some extra information that will help the user get the most out of their experience. Some things you can add include:

• Tell the reader a bit about how to get around, transport options, and things to be prepared for.
• Discuss the best places to stay and suggest a few options for accommodation that you know are great.
• Make some restaurant recommendations and mention any other foodie stops that haven’t made it into your itinerary stops.
• Include a packing list if you feel it’s an important aspect (or write a separate packing list post and take advantage of some internal linking).

This section exists to help close the itinerary in a satisfying way. Offer a brief summary and some final thoughts. Reaffirm the reasons why the destination is attractive, and why your itinerary is the best on offer.

Important Considerations for Writing an Itinerary

So, now you’ve got the outline for a successful itinerary. But you’ll need to fill this skeleton with high-quality content in order to produce something valuable. Taking into account the following considerations and tips will help you do so.

Decide the Length of the Itinerary

Before writing anything, you’ll need to decide the length of your itinerary. Are you offering an itinerary for three days? five days? one week?

The best option will largely depend on the size of the destination and how much it offers in terms of things to do. For example, most travelers will probably spend at least a week in Bali but perhaps just two or three days in Amsterdam.

This can generally be determined with some logical thinking or past experience. But a bit of keyword research can really help uncover what your audience is truly looking for.

If you already have an idea of what you’d like the reader to see and do, you can base the length of the trip on the time it’ll take them to see it all.

Decide on the Stops & Attractions

Once you’ve decided on a number of days, you’ll need to figure out how the reader should fill their time.

Ask yourself questions like:

• What are the most popular landmarks, attractions, and points of interest?
• What will offer the most memorable experience?
• Are there any unheard of spots that will enrich the experience and make it unique?

Deciding on the stops can be done through a combination of experience, prior knowledge, and research.

Looking for expertly-written, SEO content? Click here to view our affordable content writing packages

What’s Achievable?

How much can the reader realistically fit in the time allotted? We know it’s easy to get excited about all the amazing things that a travel destination has to offer. But it’s important to keep it realistic.

The last thing you want is to over-promise on what can be achieved during a trip, only to leave the reader rushing from one attraction to the next without time to appreciate each one. They could even end up abandoning the itinerary altogether.

Plan Out Logical Routes

It’s very important that you consider the geography of the destination when structuring an itinerary. You need to plan out logical routes between stops in order to minimize travel and maximize efficiency. If two or more attractions are close to one another geographically, it only makes sense to visit them at the same time.

Use your knowledge of the area in combination with Google Maps to plot out a route for each day’s itinerary.

Offer Insider Tips

Try to offer unique insights and ideas, insider tips, and some off-the-beaten-track gems.

The reader wants to know that they’re in reliable and experienced hands. Unique and valuable guidance will also help your itinerary stand out against those offering more generic advice.

You can provide these at any point throughout the itinerary. Wherever they fit best.

Be Specific and Unambiguous

Itineraries provide insightful guidance to those who want to be guided. To those who want their trip to be planned for them.

Therefore, it is your job to guide them fully . Don’t offer too much in the way of flexibility. Display conviction in your chosen stops. Show confidence that if they follow your itinerary to a T, they’ll have a great time.

Include Captivating Images

High-quality images transport the reader to the destination before they’ve left their seats. They’re one of the strongest mediums for generating excitement and anticipation for an upcoming trip. They also help break up long blocks of text.

Including images frequently is a great way to keep your reader’s attention and enhance their experience.

You can use images from your own trip, or curate some top-notch stock images .

Implement SEO

Data-focused, strategic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) underpins all of our content. And if your itinerary is being written for the web, it should underpin yours too. Good SEO can help ensure that your itinerary is seen by as many people as possible. And if you’re in the travel business, getting your travel material seen should be a top priority.

Final Thoughts

If you were wondering how to write an itinerary, you landed in the right place. We hope this trip itinerary template helps you craft well-rounded, engaging, and realistic itineraries that leave readers delighted.

More to explorer

ChatGPT vs Jasper AI | The Pros & Cons of Each AI Writing Tool

9 Common SEO Mistakes You Should Avoid + How to Fix Them

Storytelling in Digital Marketing for Travel Websites

Book a call with an digital strategist.

Tour Management: A Guide for Independent Artists to Plan and Execute Successful Tours

James Hanserton | December 22, 2023 December 25, 2023 | Music Business

As an independent artist, managing your own tour can feel like a daunting task. But don’t fret! I’m here to break down the basics of tour management, making your journey from the studio to the stage a smooth one.

In this article, we’ll dive into the nitty-gritty of planning and executing successful tours. From budgeting to booking venues, and even handling the unexpected hiccups that inevitably come up on the road, we’ve got you covered.

So, if you’re ready to take your music on the road and connect with fans in a whole new way, read on! This guide is packed with practical tips and insights that’ll help you master the art of tour management.

The Benefits of Touring for Independent Artists

As we delve deeper into the art of tour management, it’s crucial to highlight the core benefits that touring offers to independent artists. Understanding these advantages can inspire and prepare you for the challenging yet rewarding journey ahead.

Increased Exposure and Fan Engagement

The first and perhaps most obvious benefit is increased exposure . On a tour, you’re visiting numerous different cities, each with their own unique communities and music scenes. This means you’re not only reaching a wider audience but also tapping into diverse markets that might not have been accessible through online platforms alone.

Along with broadened exposure comes the opportunity for increased fan engagement . There’s power in the tactile, first-hand experiences that live performances offer. You’re not just a digital image on a screen, but a living, breathing artist expressing emotion, connecting to the audience in a visceral way. This real-life interaction can foster stronger connections between artists and fans, creating loyal fanbases that are vital for independent artists.

Revenue Generation

Financial stability can be a struggle for independent artists, and a well-orchestrated tour can provide a much-needed income stream. Earnings come from various avenues:

• Ticket sales
• Merchandise sales
• Sponsorship or partnership deals

The key is that it’s a more direct way of revenue generation. When fans attend your concerts, they’re more likely to buy your merchandise. They’re investing in you, your music, and your journey, which can lead to more consistent revenue rather than something more sporadic like online streaming royalties.

Networking Opportunities

Finally, touring facilitates ripe networking opportunities. As you travel and perform, you’ll meet venue owners, promoters, other musicians, and even fans who work within your industry. These connections can prove invaluable for future collaborations, gig swappings, and overall industry recognition. Always remember: people are more likely to remember and recommend someone they’ve met and liked personally. Networking is much more than a business strategy, it’s about building relationships and community within the music industry.

This is why it’s important to have proper tour management. It enables you to focus on these benefits—increased exposure, revenue generation, networking—and not allow the daunting aspects of tours to overshadow these gains.

Pre-Planning: Setting Tour Goals and Objectives

Preparation is the key to a successful tour. As an independent artist, you’ve got the freedom to make your tour align with your unique objectives and goals. The early stages of planning are crucial. Don’t rush this part. Take your time to properly establish your tour’s direction.

Define Your Tour Objectives

The first step is to define your tour objectives. Ask yourself what you want to achieve with this tour. Three common objectives for most independent artists are revenue generation, fan engagement, and exposure. Knowing your objectives will guide you in making informed decisions as you plan your tour itinerary and set your performance dates.

Determine Your Target Audience and Market

Next, you’ll need to determine your target audience and market. Who listens to your music? Who’s going to come to your shows? Understanding your audience is crucial to maximize the impact of your performances and to select suitable tour locations. Additionally, it’ll help you plan your marketing strategy, ensuring you’ll reach the people most likely to attend your gigs.

Not sure who your audience is? Extract data from your social media platforms and streaming services. This can provide insights about your listeners’ demographics, geographic locations, and musical preferences.

Research Potential Tour Routes and Venues

Lastly, research potential tour routes and venues. This step will depend largely on your objectives, target audience, and of course, your budget. Look for venues that cater is to your genre of music and are located in areas where you have a strong fan base.

Consider teaming up with local bands or artists who share a similar style. This synergy can increase your fan base and it often leads to exciting cross-promotion opportunities. Use digital platforms like Google Maps to visualize your tour route and to assess the distance between venues. This can help you to minimize travel costs and maximize your exposure.

Creating a Tour Budget

Crafting an accurate and practical tour budget is a must for all independent artists. Irrespective of your tour size and scope, understanding your expected costs and potential income plays a crucial role in your tour’s success. A well-planned budget provides the financial blueprint to accomplish your goals without incurring debt. Navigating financial elements may feel overwhelming given all the variables, but breaking it down into manageable categories can simplify the task.

Estimate Your Expenses

Your first task is to estimate your expenses. Costs can be wide-ranging and might differ significantly depending on tour specifics. Essential expenses include:

• Travel: fuel, flights, accommodation, and meals
• Venue fees: renting, sound, and light equipment
• Marketing: posters, online ads, and promotions
• Miscellaneous: emergency funds for surprises on the road

Be realistic and add buffers where necessary. Expect the unexpected and remember that costs can exceed initial estimates.

Accurate expense estimation also requires prior research about potential tour routes and venues, which you can accomplish through online resources, networking with other musicians, or possibly teaming up with local bands to minimize costs.

Identify Potential Revenue Streams

Subsequent to estimating expenses, it’s time to identify the potential revenue streams you can tap into. Start by assessing your primary income source – ticket sales. Analyze past shows to predict possible earnings, asking questions like, “What was the average turnout?”, “What price did the audience seem comfortable paying?”.

Next, explore other revenue generators:

• Merchandise: T-shirts, posters, vinyl, etc.
• VIP upgrades: Meet and greets, backstage passes
• Online platforms: Live streaming, crowdfunding

Remember, the goal is not just to cover your trip costs but also to generate significant revenue where you can engage more with your fans and increase your visibility.

Allocate Budget to Different Tour Costs

Lastly, divide your budget among the various tour costs . Try to keep expenses as low as possible while also boosting likely income sources. If you’ve been utilizing insight from social media channels and streaming platforms, you already have a pretty good idea not only of who your audience is but also what they might be willing to spend on extra experiences or merchandising. Use this data to prioritize your budget allocations, striking a balance between necessary costs and strategic investments.

Budgeting is not about restrictions, but about making informed decisions. With a detailed tour budget in place, you’ll be well equipped to make the most out of your tour, achieving your goals, and pushing your music career forward.

Booking Tour Dates and Venues

The next essential step in your tour management journey as an independent artist concerns booking your tour dates and venues. As an essential cog in the wheel of tour planning, effective venue booking ensures a well-organized tour that aligns with your pre-set tour objectives.

Reach Out to Booking Agents and Promoters

The initial process of venue booking involves establishing contact with potential booking agents, promoters, and venue managers. These stakeholders play pivotal roles in securing venues, dates, and drawing in the right crowd.

• Establish relationships : It’s beneficial to foster relationships with agents and promoters that share your artistic vision and align with your tour goals.
• Reputation checks : Don’t simply settle for the first agent or promoter you stumble upon; it’s vital to check their reputation, past gigs they’ve worked on, and connections in your target markets.
• Personalize the approach : The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work here. When reaching out, make it personal. Show them you’ve done your research and how they tie into your tour objectives.

Submitting Your Tour Package

Once you’ve established contact with potential agents and promoters, you’ll need to submit a comprehensive tour package. This showcases what you bring to the table as an independent artist and includes:

• EPK (Electronic Press Kit) : This digital portfolio should include your music tracks, high-quality photographs, previous press coverage or reviews, and a bio.
• Marketing Materials : These show how you intend to promote your tour. It could include flyers, postcards, posters, and social media campaigns.
• Technical Rider : This list presents what you’ll need technically. The list might include sound, lighting requirements, and stage layout.

Submitting a well-structured and comprehensive tour package can enhance your credibility and increase chances of securing your desired dates and venues.

Negotiating Contracts and Fees

After you’ve submitted your package, you’ll likely enter a negotiation phase. This critical juncture defines the terms of your tour including the fees, payment details, and other contract terms.

When negotiating:

• Be realistic : Understand your worth but don’t overestimate it. It’s crucial to balance your aspirations with the realities of the market.
• Think Holistically : Keep in mind that contract negotiations are not just about performance fees. Consider merchandising opportunities, catering, accommodation, and transportation provisions.
• Legal Advice : Ensure you understand all the terms in the contract. A lawyer or experienced manager would be helpful here to prevent unfavorable terms slipping in.

Remember, effective negotiation forms the backbone of a successful tour . A mutual agreement that respects both parties’ interests will cultivate relationships that may pave the way for future gigs and collaborations. As an independent artist managing your tour, attention to these details can make or break the success of your endeavour.

Promoting Your Tour

When I’ve finally secured my tour dates and contracts, the work doesn’t stop there. Next, I need to create awareness about the tour. Promotion plays a significant role in tour management, ensuring that tickets are sold for each concert.

Utilizing Social Media and Online Platforms

Perhaps, traditional forms of marketing may not be as effective as they once were. As I deal with a digital world, I’ve found social media to be a greater ally in promoting my tours. My audience is more likely online than anywhere else. I use platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and even Pinterest to reach out to fans. I usually post about upcoming performances, backstage events, rehearsal snippets, and band member interviews to hype my shows.

Additionally, I’ve embraced the power of email marketing. It’s a more personal way of reaching out to my fans. At every show, I create a fan email list and distribute newsletters about my music, future tours, and behind-the-scenes snippets.

Engaging with Local Media and Press Outlets

But the digital world isn’t the only place to promote my tours. I’ve found local newspapers and radio stations valuable in engaging my potential audience. I contact these mediums ahead of time, offering exclusive interviews about my music and upcoming tour. They usually appreciate community-based stories. Aligning with a local cause on some concert stops maximizes media engagement, and it can create a deeper connection with my audience.

Collaborating with Other Artists and Influencers

Finally, there’s the power of collaboration. Not only has it propelled my music but it has also broadened my fan base. I reach out to fellow musicians for possible partnerships – be it on-stage appearances or musical collaborations. I also identify social media influencers who resonate with my music and fan base. Their engagement with my tour amplifies its visibility.

Whether it’s engaging on social media, leveraging local press, or collaborating with other artists, each angle provides a unique pathway to promote my tour. It’s essential to combine these strategies, tailoring them to fit my music, my tour, and most importantly my fans. The aim? To guarantee a successful tour with sold-out concerts. It’s all about finding the balance and adapting to new opportunities as they present themselves.

Organization and Logistics

** ## Organization and Logistics ** Navigating the eventful landscape of tour management requires strategic organization and keen attention to logistics. As an independent artist, you’ll bear the brunt of these daunting tasks, a crucial detail often glossed over in stardom’s allure. Yet, the whirlwind adventure of touring life rests largely on these less-glamorous aspects of your music career.

In light of this, let’s delve into three significant areas:

Transportation and Travel Arrangements

For starters, wrapping your head around transportation and travel arrangements is paramount. Let’s face it: it’s not enough to simply know where you’re going, you need a rock-solid plan on getting there.

This can take the form of private vehicle bookings, airline reservations, and even coordinating public transport use in certain cities. It’s pivotal to note that you must factor in time for rest, soundchecks, rehearsals, and, of course, sightseeing – you’re travelling after all!

Key Takeaway : Proper transportation organization safeguards against unexpected hitches and offers a seamless experience moving from point A to point B.

Accommodation and Tour Bus Rental

Next up is accommodation arrangements and – when it makes sense – tour bus rentals. This step requires zooming in on your tour schedule and budget, which will shape your decisions.

Remember, it’s not just about where you’ll lay your head at night – hotel bookings, Airbnb rentals, couch surfing, etc. – but also about the travel between gigs. For example, a tour bus can double as both a mode of transport and a place to rest, making it a worthy investment for some circuits.

Key Takeaway : Prioritizing accommodation and transit rental decisions based on tour demands and budget constraints ensures comfort and efficiency on the road.

Equipment and Merchandise Management

Lastly, you’ll need a foolproof system for managing equipment and merchandise. This includes musical gear, stage props, along with branded merchandise such as T-shirts, CDs, vinyl, posters, and more.

As an independent artist, you’re likely to be juggling multiple roles. Thus, it’s vital to have an inventory system in place to track what’s been sold, damaged, or needs replenishing. Some artists even designate specific crew members for this responsibility to ensure this critical aspect doesn’t get neglected.

Key Takeaway : An effective merchandise management system boosts tour profits and prevents lost or damaged equipment.

On-Tour Management

Once you’ve meticulously planned and executed every preparation for your tour, you’ll step into the most exciting and challenging part: the actual tour. In this stage, effective management is crucial to ensure a smooth run of shows. You’re responsible for managing finances, dealing with unforeseen challenges, and maintaining your and your team’s health and well-being.

Managing Finances and Expenses

Sound financial management during your tour is of utmost importance. It’s not enough to simply settle your bills as they come up. Keep track of all expenses and collections to ensure you’re staying within your budget. The easiest way to manage this is by having a tour accountant or someone reliable —could be band members or management staff— taking charge of the money. Daily tour expenditures include food, accommodation, travel, and incidental expenses.

Here is an example of a simplified daily tour expenses breakdown:

Selling merchandise is a great way to offset these costs. Make sure the gains are properly accounted for and managed.

Dealing with Unexpected Challenges

On tour, there’s bound to be instances that don’t go according to plan. It could be van breakdowns, venue cancellations, bad weather, or even illness. Handling these issues professionally and calmly can make a huge difference in ensuring the show goes on.

Delay in show-stopping gear arriving? Have backups ready. Booked venue canceled last minute? Leverage relationships with booking agents and other contacts to find alternatives.

Preparedness is key. But remember, it’s not possible to predict all mishaps. Hence it’s important to keep a cool head, be quick on your feet, and act decisively and collaboratively.

Maintaining Health and Well-being

The physical strain of touring can be exhaustive as you’re always on the move. You’re performing one night, packing up the next morning, driving for hours to get to the next city, setting up, and doing it all over again. It’s crucial to take care of your and your team’s health and well-being on tour.

Proper diet, decent sleep, and adequate hydration mustn’t be neglected. Recharge your batteries with some downtime whenever you can. Avoid long stretches of shows without breaks. Manage stress by means of exercise, meditation, or any other activity that gives relaxation.

Post-Tour Follow Up

Following a tour, it’s important not to forget about your fans and the professionals you’ve met along the way. Post-tour follow-ups allow artists to build lasting relationships, and set the foundation for future tours. This is the crucial moment to analyze, build, and plan.

Analyzing Tour Performance and Fan Engagement

After the tour ends, it’s time to review how everything went. This includes looking at how many tickets were sold, which cities had the biggest fan turnout, and where merchandise sales were highest. You’ll want to look at your social media engagement during the tour period as well – noting any spikes in follower growth, likes, shares, and comments. Analyzing these metrics will allow you to understand which aspects of your tour worked best, and which ones need improvement for future tours.

Important : Track and monitor all relevant data from ticket sales to online engagement. Ensure you’re using a reliable analytics tool for this process.

Building Relationships with Fans and Industry Professionals

An independent artist’s greatest asset is their fan base. Therefore, interacting and engaging with fans after a tour is crucial in maintaining loyalty and keeping them excited for future music and events. Responding to comments on social media, creating post-tour fan content such as behind-the-scenes vlogs, or sending a personally addressed thank-you email can significantly foster these relationships.

With industry professionals like venue owners and booking agents, a simple thank you can go a long way. You’ll be remembered for your professionalism and might secure your spot on their stage for future shows. Let them know how much you appreciated their support.

Remember, networking is instrumental, so maintain those newly established links and continue to reach out. Become part of the music community and grow with it.

Planning for Future Tours

Based on tour performance analysis and the relationships built, it’s now time to start thinking about your next tour. Keep the variables of success in mind when considering where and when to tour next, which booking agents to approach, and what kind of support to bring on the road.

This is arguably one of the most important aspects of post-tour follow-up because your next steps directly influence your future success. Consider challenges faced and lessons learned during the previous tour. Remember to explore new potential cities and venues based on fanbase growth and engagement data.

Remember: Don’t rush this process. Proper planning and foresight will ensure an even more successful tour next time.

Taking these essential steps in the post-tour period will solidify the longevity of your tour life as an independent artist. This reflection time provides valuable insight, and the connections made become a vibrant part of your artist journey. Don’t underestimate the power of thorough analysis, consistent engagement, and well-informed planning for future tours.

Why is post-tour follow-up crucial for independent artists?

Post-tour follow-up allows artists to analyze tour performance and fan engagement. It provides insights into what worked well and what needs improvement for future tours.

How can analyzing ticket sales and fan turnout benefit an artist?

Analyzing ticket sales and fan turnout provides data about the market’s response. It helps in understanding the fan base better, which can be instrumental in planning future tours.

Why is fan engagement on social media important?

Fan engagement on social media maintains relationships with fans and boosts their loyalty. It gives artists a platform to interact with fans on a personal level, thereby deepening their connection.

How can artists build relationships with industry professionals?

Expressing gratitude and maintaining regular contact with industry professionals can secure future opportunities. These relationships may lead to more exposure, bookings, or collaborations.

What should be included when planning for future tours?

Planning for future tours includes analyzing and considering past tour performance, building relationships with fans and industry insiders, and exploring potential cities and venues. Proper planning and foresight are crucial for tour success.

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10-Step Guide for Planning a Trip

Home | Travel | 10-Step Guide for Planning a Trip

When traveling abroad, get a policy from one of the  best travel insurance companies . Y ou can get a  5% discount   on Heymondo , the only insurance that pays medical bills upfront for you, HERE!

Planning a trip can be stressful if you’re not sure where to start or you’re afraid you’ll forget something important.

I have to admit that I love travel planning , but part of that is because I use a detailed checklist and the most helpful websites. So, if you don’t know how to organize a trip and you want to avoid feeling overwhelmed, I’ll help you out with this guide. Below, I’ll share the steps I typically follow as well as the best apps and websites to book your flights, tours, and accommodation so you can travel cheaply .

Guide to planning a trip in 10 easy steps

These are the steps that I always follow when I’m planning a trip , although I might skip one or two depending on the type of trip and where I’m going:

• Search for flights
• Apply for a visa
• Book the accommodation
• Set up your transportation
• Decide which attractions to visit
• Book a tour
• Get travel insurance
• Apply for a commission-free credit card
• Buy a SIM card
• Pack your suitcase

Remember that, depending on the destination and your reason for traveling, you may not need to do all these steps. So, rather than worrying about checking off a long to-do list, enjoy the process of planning your trip itinerary . For me, making a travel plan is almost as much fun as traveling itself!

Things to do before planning a vacation

Before I give you a detailed look at my checklist for planning a trip , I want to point out that choosing your destination is the real starting point. Not only is deciding where to go an important part of any travel plan , but it’s also a good idea to learn some crucial information about it. For example, you should research things like the best time to visit and what the weather will be like when you go.

Once you’ve chosen a destination and you have a solid timeline for when you’ll visit, you can begin the trip planning process. If you want some travel inspiration, here are some beautiful places to go, as well as some information about them:

Best Countries in Central America

Best countries to visit in Africa

Best countries in South America

Best Caribbean Islands

1. Search for flights, the first step to planning a trip

Once you’ve chosen your destination and travel dates, one of the first things to do to organize your trip is to look for flights. This is usually one of the most tedious steps, but you can make it much easier by reading our guide on how to find cheap flights .

We always use Kiwi and Skyscanner since they make it super easy to find the best prices on flights. Moreover, if you’re not sure where you want to travel but you want to take a cheap trip, you can choose the “Anywhere” option and see the best deals, listed from the lowest price from your selected airport.

Kiwi and Skyscanner also show you the cheapest dates to travel, which is extremely useful if you have flexibility in your trip plan calendar . Don’t forget to activate flight alerts to receive notifications when a ticket price changes. That way, you can jump on the best deal before it runs out.

While I hope you don’t have to use it, AirHelp is a handy website to turn to if your flight is canceled or delayed. This company handles the claims process for you, although they will take a commission fee from your compensation. You can learn more about how to get compensate for delayed flights  in our guide, where I show you how to get up to $600 in compensation .

2. Apply for a visa, a must-do when planning a trip abroad

Step number two of planning a trip is to check what type of documentation you’ll need to enter the country you’re traveling to. Even if you already have the proper paperwork, double-check that it won’t expire before or during your trip.

For example, if you’re planning a vacation to Europe, you should be fine with a valid passport, and travel insurance for Europe . The same applies if you’re visiting Australia, New Zealand, and most countries in South America. But be aware that most countries in Asia and Africa require a visa.

For those cases, I highly recommend going to the iVISA website to check what kind of documentation you need for your destination. We’ve used iVISA several times without any problems and consider it to be one of the best travel planning websites .

3. Book the accommodation, an important step in any trip plan

Another crucial part of organizing a trip is booking your accommodation. There are lots of trip planning apps to help with this, although we almost always use Booking . Here, you can find hotels, villas, apartments, and other types of lodging to suit any budget, which is why we consider it to be one of the best options.

The main advantage of using Booking.com to plan our travels is that we can pay right on the website, and cancellations are usually free until 24 hours before the trip. Also, if you use the website frequently, you can upgrade to the Genius plan, which offers the best deals and discounts. So, if you want to find cheap hotels anywhere in the world, even if you’re planning a multi-city trip , I highly recommend Booking.com .

4. Set up your transportation, an essential part of any travel plan

The next step in this trip planning checklist is to think about transportation once you get to your destination. You can either use public transportation or rent a car.

We prefer renting a vehicle because it grants us more freedom to explore places that might be off the beaten path. That said, some cities and countries have very good public transportation systems, so it’s up to you. When creating your travel itinerary , think about the destination and what you want to do during your trip. That should help you decide whether or not to rent a car.

If you decide to go with a rental, I recommend going through DiscoverCars . Without a doubt, this is the best option for renting a car, especially if you’re not used to organizing road trips . A nice thing about DiscoverCars is that it shows you a comparison of different rental websites, so you’re guaranteed to find the cheapest rental cars .

Of course, if your planned travel route is more like a cross-country trip, take a look at Motorhome Republic , which offers the best prices and conditions for motorhomes. We’ve used this app several times to plan trips around Iceland and the United States, and it’s always been a positive experience.

Again, many cities and countries have great public transit networks, so if you plan on getting around by bus or train, you can get low ticket prices on Omio . Simply enter your destination, and the website will compare bus and train tickets from different companies to find the best deal for you. You can even search for the cheapest or fastest route. Flixbus is often listed on Omio since its prices are some of the lowest and they operate all over the world. We’ve used Flixbus on several trips around Europe, but you can also use Flixbus in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, and more.

Public transportation or renting a car, tips for planning a trip

Finally, you may be planning your vacation to an island destination like the Canary Islands, where ferry transport is more common. In that case, I recommend getting your tickets through Direct Ferries , which offers excellent ticket prices for all kinds of time slots. We’ve used this site for our trips to the Canary Islands and Indonesia.

To sum up, organizing your transportation can be a bit stressful, but these travel planning tips and websites will streamline the process for you .

5. Decide which attractions to visit, the most fun part of planning a trip

Among all the steps for planning a trip , choosing which attractions to visit is one the most enjoyable. Step number five in this travel planning checklist is looking at which attractions and activities (free and paid) are available at your destination.

If you’re going to see a show or a concert, Hellotickets can be useful in reserving tickets in advance. That said, if you’re visiting a city that has lots of things to do and offers attraction passes or cards, I recommend getting one. This way, you can access several top attractions while getting the maximum savings. So, if you’re visiting a popular city, check if it offers the Sightseeing Pass , the City PASS , or the Go City pass.

Depending on the destination, some of these cards may also include certain tours or tickets for the sightseeing bus . So again, I highly recommend this option, especially if you’re planning a vacation in a metropolitan city.

Regardless of where you’re going, I suggest making a list of all the tourist attractions you want to visit to better organize your trip . Remember, it’s usually better to focus on seeing things that really interest you, rather than trying to cram as many attractions as possible into your itinerary or planner .

6. Book a tour, a key step in many tourist plans

The next thing to do when planning for a trip is to book any tours you’re going to take at your destination. A tour or excursion can help you discover little-known places and learn more history about the city you’re visiting.

While not every destination calls for a detailed tour plan , some places are known for incredible excursions, like seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland, or taking a walking tour through New York.

When we’re creating a travel itinerary and we know we want to take a tour, there are two websites we use. First, Civitatis offers interesting excursions and some free tours around the world, while GetYourGuide has an extensive list of tours in practically any destination.

Using these online trip planner websites is super easy since all you have to do is enter your destination and hit the search button. You can filter the results by category, price, duration, and more, so they’re two of the best trip planning apps out there.

You don’t want to skip this step, especially if you’re not sure how to plan a trip or you’re visiting a place for the first time. Booking a tour or two will help you make the most of your trip, and since a guide will lead you, it’ll be an informative and entertaining experience.

7. Get travel insurance, something you can’t forget when planning a trip

Another must-do when you’re travel planning is to get travel insurance coverage.

No one likes to think about it, but unforeseen events can and do happen while traveling, and in those moments, having travel insurance makes all the difference. The worst-case scenario would be getting sick or hurt while abroad and not having any of your extra medical expenses covered.

Currently, we have annual multi-trip insurance with Heymondo , which is the best travel insurance on the market with the best coverage-to-price ratio. You can even get a travel discount with Heymondo just for being our reader.

5% OFF your travel insurance

In addition to medical assistance for injury or illness, Heymondo covers baggage loss or delay, medical quarantine expenses, and more. You’ll also have Heymondo’s 24/7 chat, which is available to help you should you run into an emergency while abroad.

I can’t recommend travel insurance enough, and while it’s probably the least enjoyable part of planning a trip , it’s the most important. This is particularly true in countries like the U.S. or Japan, where medical treatment is very expensive. Plus, if you opt for trip cancellation insurance , you’ll be covered if an unforeseen event prevents you from traveling.

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8. Get a no foreign transaction fee credit card, another important part of your trip plan

Another important thing to remember when planning your itinerary is to get a travel credit card . If you’re going abroad, you’ll want a card with no foreign transaction fees , so you can make payments or ATM withdrawals without the pesky currency exchange fees. Fortunately, you can take advantage of some great options on the market.

We use the Revolut debit card, which you can get for free and use at ATMs and stores around the world. With Revolut, you can withdraw up to $1,200 a month from foreign ATMs without fees, as well as exchange up to $1,000 a month.

We also carry a Wise credit card with us, which comes in handy when we need to withdraw more money and want to avoid extra fees. With Wise, you can spend money in over 50 currencies.

For more information about the Revolut card and the Wise card , I recommend reading our full reviews of each .

9. Buy an international SIM card, a must-do when you plan to travel

One of the most common concerns we hear about how to plan a trip is related to mobile data. We’ve looked at all the possible options for getting Internet for travel , and have found Holafly to be the best solution.

The Holafly eSIM card, which you can get here , is a prepaid digital SIM card that you can use to get Internet while abroad. It’s cheap, quick to arrive in your email inbox, and allows you to keep your number on WhatsApp and other mobile apps.

All you have to do is select the country you’re planning a trip to and choose the best international SIM card for the number of days you’ll be there. Depending on the destination, you can find cards for five to 90 days. After selecting your eSIM, you’ll receive the digital card via email, and you can scan the QR code to activate it. This means you can even buy it when you’re already abroad, so it’s the most convenient option.

There’s no doubt that the Holafly eSIM card is the best mobile data option, but you can learn more about it in our full review.

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If your phone does not support eSIM cards , you can also opt for a physical SIM from SimOptions , which is another very good option.

10. Pack your suitcase, the last step when planning a trip

Now that you’ve done all the tedious steps to plan your itinerary , all that’s left to do is pack your suitcase. If you’re traveling for the first time or you need new luggage, you’ll have no problems finding backpacks and suitcases on Amazon .

For longer trips, we’ve been using this large suitcase (30 inches) for years, and it still holds up. When we’re planning a trip for the weekend or the short term, we use this small suitcase (21 inches) and this carry-on bag .

If you’re curious about how we plan for a backpacking trip , we follow the steps above and depend on this backpack (80L), which is ideal for longer trips. If you’re taking a backpacking trip and want some tips, check out our guide on how to prepare a backpack for long-term travel.

Whether you’re packing a suitcase or a backpack, remember to check the temperatures at your destination so you can bring the appropriate clothing and footwear. Also, don’t forget your toiletries and a small first aid kit since even getting ibuprofen while abroad can be difficult. Other essentials you can’t forget while planning your trip include your passport, wallet, phone charger, and power bank.

These days, you can keep most documents on your phone, but I still recommend bringing along physical copies of your boarding pass, reservations, and insurance policy just in case.

Finally, if you find yourself in a scenario where you don’t have a place to keep your suitcase and you don’t want to drag it around the city with you, you can opt for a luggage storage service. We’ve used Nannybag and Bounce a few times and it made all the difference in how enjoyable our trip was. I also recommend keeping Apple Airtags in your luggage so you can locate it in case it gets lost or stolen.

Bonus step: Pack your photography gear, an essential part of our tour planning

One of the best parts of traveling is seeing amazing landscapes and architecture, which brings me to my bonus travel planning tip . If you love photography as much as we do, don’t forget to bring your camera and other gear with you. We always pack the essentials, especially for our photo tours , and we always keep our equipment well protected.

If you don’t have travel photography gear , you have two options. You can buy what you need on Amazon or B&H Photo , or you can rent the equipment from LensRentals , which I recommend if you’re only going to use it for that trip.

You can get all the details on where to rent camera gear in the U.S. in our guide. I think renting the equipment is a great idea if you’re not a dedicated photographer and don’t plan on using it too much. Plus, you save 15% in LensRentals with our code ATLAS15.

Other tips when planning for a trip

Now you have all the top tips for planning a trip from start to finish. Before I say goodbye, I want to recommend some trip planning apps that can make organizing your trip even easier.

Maps.me has become a must-have travel app for us, even on our weekend getaways. This online travel planner app gives us maps of places all over the world, which we can access even when we lose Internet connection.

Another great tool is TravelSpend , which makes planning a trip with friends super easy since you can organize the travel expenses and determine who pays what.

Of course, travel planning is a process that takes time and effort, but if you follow the advice in this guide and use the websites I mentioned, it’ll be much easier. If you have any questions or want to share your trip planning experiences or tips, leave me a comment below. I’d be happy to hear from you!

Until then, good luck, and have fun planning the trip of your dreams!

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Tourism Planning

Tourism Planning: The written account of projected future course of action or scheme aimed at achieving or targeting specific goals or objectives within a specific time period is called a Plan.  A Tourism plan explains in detail what needs to be done, when to be done, how to be done, and by whom to be done. It often includes best case, expected case, and worst case scenarios or situations. 

A plan is usually a map or list of steps with timing and available resources, used to achieve an objective to do something.  It is commonly understood as a temporary set of projected actions through which one believes that the goals or targets would be achieved.  

Plans can be formal or informal:

Structured and formal plans, utilised by numerous people, are more likely to occur in projects, diplomacy, careers, economic development, military campaigns, combat, sports, games, agriculture, technology, tourism, IT, Telecommunication etc. or in the conduct of other businesses. 

In most cases, the absence of a well-laid plan can have high effects: for example, a nonrobust project plan can cost the organization long time and high cost. 

The persons to fulfill their various quests do informal or adhoc planning. But, what most importantly matters is the extensiveness, time interval, and preciousness of the plans. Though, all these planning categories are not self-governing and dependent on each other. 

For example, there is an intimate connection between short-range and long-range plans and tactical (strategic) & functional (operational) planning classifications.

For businesses, sector planning’s (such as IT, telecommunication, services, banking, tourism, agriculture etc.) and military purposes formal plans used to a greater level. They are conceptualized, thought as abstract ideas, are likely to be written down, drawn up or otherwise stored in a form that is accessible to multiple people across time and space. This allows more reliable collaboration in the execution of the plan.

Tourism Planning and the Need for Tourism Planning  

Planning is one of the most important project management and time management techniques or methods. It involves preparing or forming of a sequence of action steps to achieve some specific desired goals.  If you do it effectively and efficiently, you can reduce much of the necessary time and effort used in achieving the goal. 

A plan is like a map or a blueprint which would fetch you results slowly & steady according to a time frame.  Whenever, you are following any plan, you are able to know how much you have neared to your assignment objectives or how much distant you are from your goals. 

Why is planning important?

• To set direction and priorities for the workforce in the organisation:

The strategy is the chief requirement of the organization, in order to achieve the targets.  The strategies give the route and primacies (priorities) for your organization. It describes your organization’s perspective and gives an order to the activities that will make the perspective into reality. 

Read more on World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA)

The plan will assist the team in achieving goals and also give them familiarity about the tasks.  The plainly defined and appropriate strategy will give priority initiatives that will drive  the maximum success.

• To get everyone on the same room or the same box:

An organisation has different departments, but a single goal. That’s, why different departments work in a way that add to the goals of the organization. 

Hence, a strategy is required, so that all actions move in one direction. Then only, the various departments such as marketing, administration, sales, operations etc. can move together to accomplish the anticipated goals of the organisation. Tourism Planning

• To simplify decision-making process within the organisation:

Whenever, there are targets, there are different solutions. The team also may have new philosophies or probable solutions. Therefore, you need a definite plan, so there are no inhibiting factors. 

• To drive alignment:

Many a times, inspite of the best labour, you reach nowhere. The reason is that the efforts or labour is done in areas, which are of no use.  Hence, the effort should coincide with the priorities or primacies.  The plan serves as a vehicle for answering the enquiry, that “How well we can use all the resources such as material, man, machine etc. to upsurge our tactical (strategic) success?

• To communicate the message to everyone:

The countless managers in the top level management know how to make an effective plan/strategy, at which position their organisation is, what they need to do and where they need to be there  Many a time, the strategies are not written down and the various aspects in the plan are not linked systematically. 

Then, only few members of your team can work towards your goals. Therefore, it’s very important that your team, staff, customers, suppliers and other stakeholder’s know your plan of action and strategy base, this will lead to better probability of success and more efforts pouring in. Tourism Planning

Also read Contribution of Tour Guiding in Sustainability

Once, you ascertain your goal, you are in a good position to make a solid proof plan in which role of each team member is defined.  There are very less managers, who have understanding of situations and actually comprehend to make the greatest use of their part in smoothing policy (Eagles, McCool, Haynes, Philips, & United Nations Environment Programme, 2002). 

Techniques of Plan formulation 

It involves a number of steps: 

• Collection of information (data):

The most noteworthy phase of economic planning is the gathering of the economic data.  The data not only contains economic defining variables, but also descriptive variables such as demographical, topographical, and political data.  The economic planning also contains non-quantitative variables.  And surely in order to collect appropriate data the planner should have intra-disciplinary as well as inter-disciplinary knowledge. 

• Deciding the nature and duration of the plan:

After the collection of data in context to the economy.  Now the next step is deciding the nature and period (time duration) of the plan. Now, the planner has to decide the planning levels i.e. micro or macro basis, functional (practical) or structural (operational),centralised (central) or decentralised (distributed), long or medium or short term etc. The medium term plan generally comprises 5 years and is enough time periods to apply its drivers, strategies and approaches.

Also read Goals and objective of sustainable tourism development

• Setting up of the objectives:

The third step after setting the nature and time period of the plan is setting the goals or objectives or aim of the plan.  And, surely these objectives will have to be realized in a fixed time schedule. Generally, most of the objectives related to economy of the country are related to advanced progress rate of GNP, reduction in joblessness, eradication of local discrepancies, removal of illiteracy, growth of farming and manufacturing areas, etc.  

After, the planner has analysed the ground situation and given the objectives.  Now, the planner has to establish these objectives depending on the eminence/Significance to the individuals and the economy in totality.

• Determination of growth rate:

While framing the plan, the planner has to determine the growth rate i.e. at what rate the economy will grow through this time interval. Whatever plan, the planner and policy makers decide at least, it should maintain the per capita income level of the country. The plan should be such that the per capita income do not decreases or affect the progress of the country negatively.

And, such a thing is possible, if the growth rate of GNP or growth rate of the country and growth rate or progress of the population is same. But this growth rate is least recommended.  Rather, the planner will choose for that growth rate which is better than the population rate.  “For example, if India wants to maintain its present per capita income while population is growing at the rate of 8% p.a., then the obligatory GNP growth rate should not be less than 8%.  If we want to grow GNP by 8%, NI should grow @ 16%. 

If the capital output ratio (COR) is 1:3, then we will have to invest 16% of GNP.  While defining the growth rate, the planner must keep in view the growth rate of other adjoining or developing countries like Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bangladesh, etc.” Tourism Planning

• Full utilisation of financial resources of the plan:  

The utilization of resources including the fiscal resources should be in a way that the predetermined objectives are realized. The various resources used in a plan of a country are human resources, natural resources, technology, worthy governance, entrepreneurial skills, financial resources etc. Therefore, from these resources or sources advantages or profits can be achieved.

Read more Local Community Involvement in Tourism Development

Broadly it can be categorized into renewable or renewal resources. Advantages of resource application may be augmented prosperity or needs, appropriate operation of a system, or boosted welfare. With the resource allocation, resource management is also crucial in a plan. The various resources have three basic attributes- “utility, limited availability, and potential for depletion or consumption.”

In order to accomplish the planning requirements, outside (external) resources are also used, when internal (inside) resources fall short. The outside resources generally comprises of foreign relief and support, foreign grants, foreign direct investment, and foreign borrowings from various International Financial Institutions (IFI’s) and rich countries.

The role of government is important and cannot be ignored. They plan and take various roles depending upon the environment of the country. When, a country is developed, their role more becomes as a facilitator, while in case of developing or poor countries, they have to actively participate in it. They have to implement plans as well as pour on their resources. 

Whenever, the plans have been made by the government, they are sent to the necessary departments with goals, necessary steps and outlays. Thereafter, the concerned ministries or departments see the feasibility of the sent projects and give recommendations about the feasibility (viability) of various schemes and projects of the plan. Here, the government organisations are asked of their keeping in mind the sectorial distribution and extent of the plan. There are also some projects where partnership occurs between governmental and private sectors. Here, the government may play role of a catalyst or facilitator and there may be some revenue sharing understandings. 

• Formation of economic policies:

In planning, plans are fine. The role of planners is fine. But, most importantly the plans should be able to give the desired results. The results should have more positive effects than the negative effects. Here, economic programmes, policies or strategies play a substantial role. As, they act as a gasoline to the locomotive of economic development. Also, the plans implemented should be based on ground or current scenario, rather than being picked from other countries, environments or sectors.

• Plan execution:  

The final phase of planning is plan operation. And, for actual implementation of plan, following conditions cannot be ignored: 

• The regime should be steady, truthful, genuine and productive.
• The organisational (administrative) system should be well-organized,
• i.e. free of nepotism, dishonesty, enticement, red tapism.
• Upkeep of law and order inside the nation.
• There should be equivalent level of involvement of both private and public sectors in economic growth.
• Keep a check on convenience and electronic up keep of government records, monetary proclamations and cost statements. Tourism Planning
• The opposition should be Watchful and productive. (Wagner, Frick, & Schupp, 2007)
• Different countries use planning models/techniques dependent upon the nature of the economy. 
• The availability of the data, the volume to use and manage such techniques and models. 

Read more Tourism Policy formulation Bodies in India

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Itinerary Template for a Trip: Free Downloadable Examples & More Resources

• Updated: 04/04/2024

If you are looking for a free, easy, and detailed itinerary template for a trip that you can download and conveniently add your own travel details—then you are in the right place. 

Find the sample trip itinerary template I created and tweaked over years of travel to include the most relevant information in one easy-to-scan document and in four different file formats. 

Additionally, I share alternative template ideas  that include my top picks for itinerary-building apps  and other online places where you can find more free or affordable trip itinerary designs  and layouts. So, go to the file format that works best for you, scan my quick tips for editing, and get your trip details organized in a downloadable, easy-to-edit, and very sharable document. 

Table Of Contents

Itinerary template for a trip in 4 file formats.

Find my travel itinerary template in the four different file formats below. Choose the one you like to work in best. Then find more recommendations here .

• Microsoft Word trip itinerary template
• Microsoft Excel trip itinerary template
• Google Sheets trip itinerary template
• Canva trip itinerary template

About This Template: 7 Main Components

There are seven main components to this template. I have included each because it contains the information I reference most while traveling, organized in a way that helps me figure out when my trip schedule is overloaded or lacks the right amount of buffer time between activities or transit.

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The 7 trip itinerary template components include:

• Header. For a destination image and title. Replace this image with your own.
• High-level trip summary: An at-a-glance summary of essential trip information—the number of travelers, dates of travel, flights (or other transit), and location(s) of the trip.
• Travel day column. Know which day of your trip an activity is happening. 
• Day of the week column. Know the day of the week and date to ensure lodging, tour, and transfers are booked correctly.
• Activities column. A place to capture details for all activities and lodging. Hyperlink text to websites for additional information.
• Location(s) column. In this space, recap the destinations for each day, link to lodging websites, and include important notes such as included meals or overnight flights.
• Lodging contact info sheet. A second tab or sheet for additional lodging information is included in all template files except for Microsoft Word 

Since the detail on this template prints small, consider saving it to a PDF file , allowing you to zoom in as needed and easily share it with others.

Additionally, reference your itinerary offline when you save a PDF version of this itinerary to your phone to an app like iBooks (Apple users) or Google Play Books (Android users). Having an offline itinerary comes in handy in travel situations when you have limited or zero cellular or wi-fi connection. 

Microsoft Word Template

Click on the image below to download a free version of this trip itinerary template containing actual details from a visit to Iceland in Microsoft Word. 

6 Editing Tips (Word Template)

As Microsoft Word is the most universally used software program, it is the trip itinerary template file I share first. Here are six essential editing tips when using the Microsoft Word version of this template.

Header area editing (Word template)

• To change out the image at the top of the itinerary, right-click on the image and select Change Picture. Select from a stock photo or upload your own image. I am a Canva user and found this image there, added a text overlay, and saved it using the dimensions 2000x458px.
• However, you can upload any size image file you would like. If your uploaded image is not the correct size, click on it and drag its diagonal corner to resize and fit the page. If you find it too tricky to insert a new image, delete the existing one and type your preferred itinerary title. It might not look as pretty without a picture, but the template will still convey all essential information.

Main itinerary body editing (Word template)

I created this itinerary using a table in Microsoft Word, hiding vertical gridlines to achieve a cleaner look. 

• To edit text , select and delete existing text. Then, type text as you normally would in Word documents.
• To add a table row , select a row by dragging your mouse to highlight it, then right-click and choose Insert to add a row above or below. Repeat the process to delete a row . Find one additional blank row at the bottom of the template.
• To add or change hyperlinks , select the word(s) you would like to link (or unlink) to a website, right-click, select Hyperlink, and from the sub-menu, select Edit or Remove Hyperlink.
• To add back vertical gridlines , select the entire table, right-click, and select Borders and Shading to adjust the design with the gridline configuration you like best.

Microsoft Excel Template

Click on the image below to download a free version of this trip itinerary template containing actual details from a visit to Iceland in Microsoft Excel. 

9 Editing Tips (Excel Template)

As Microsoft Excel is more specialized software, I share nine file-specific tips, knowing that the traveler who prefers to download this file type is likely already familiar and comfortable editing in Excel.

Header area editing (Excel template)

To change out the header image at the top of the itinerary, right-click on the image and select Change Picture. Select from a stock photo or upload your own image. I am a Canva user and found this image there, saving it using the dimensions 2000x458px. Once uploaded, I added the semi-transparency in Excel.

However, you can upload any size image file you would like. If your uploaded image is not the correct size, click on it and drag its diagonal corner to resize and fit the page . If you find it too tricky to insert a new image, delete the existing one. It might not look as pretty without a picture, but the template will still convey all essential information.

• Though—if you upload a new image and want to keep the semi-transparency , double-click on your picture to get to the Picture Format menu. Find the Transparency icon in the header menu and adjust it to your preference. 
• To change the header text , click on the text in the Text Box and edit all elements.

Main itinerary body editing (Excel template)

• To insert bullet points , copy these from an existing cell in the document. I created and copied the bullet points from a Word document and pasted them into Excel. 
• All cells are set to wrap text and are oriented to align left and at the top of the cell. If this changes or the format structure is lost, right-click on any cell and select Format Cells to reset the cell structure to your preference. 
• To start a new line of text in a cell when using a Mac, press the Option+Return buttons on your keyboard. Using a PC, press the Alt+Enter buttons or get more tips from Microsoft Help .
• To insert hyperlinks , select the cell you would like to hyperlink, and from the main menu, select Insert. From that submenu, choose Link. Microsoft Excel—from what I can tell (please correct me in the comments if you know how to bypass this)—does not allow users to link individual text within a cell. Google Sheets does, and it is one of the reasons I prefer using that format type. 

Lodging contact tab editing (Excel template)

Note a second tab in this Excel template for lodging details—set to print landscape (horizontally). Edit all elements in the same way as the main itinerary.

Google Sheets Template

Click on the image below to download a free version of this trip itinerary template containing actual details from a visit to Iceland in Google Sheets. This image links to a read-only document. 

To copy it, click File from the main menu and select Copy . Doing this will create a copy of the document on your Google Drive. You will want to be logged into Google when you do this.

7 Editing Tips (Google Sheets Template)

Google Sheets is my preferred file type to create, edit, and share new trip itineraries. I find its slimmed-down menu is easier to use than Excel. Plus, I appreciate the ability to highlight and hyperlink specific text using Sheets vs. having to link an entire cell (in Excel).

Additionally, I find this file type easier to share as not everyone uses Microsoft documents. And I find it convenient since I already use Google Drive to manage my business documents and keep my travel information organized . Here are seven things to know when editing this template.

Header area editing (Google Sheets template)

To change out the header image at the top of the itinerary, right-click on the image and select Change Picture. Select from a stock photo or upload your own image. I am a Canva user and found this image there, added a text overlay, and saved it using the dime nsions 2000x458px.

However, you can upload any size image file you would like. If your uploaded image is not the correct size, click on it and drag its diagonal corner to resize and fit the page . If you find it too tricky to insert a new image, delete the existing one and type your preferred itinerary title. It might not look as pretty without a picture, but the template will still convey all essential information.

Main itinerary body editing (Google Sheets template)

• All cells are set to wrap text and are oriented to align left and at the top of the cell. If this changes or the format structure is lost, select a cell and choose Format from the main menu.  From the drop-down menu, select Wrapping or Alignment to adjust to your preference. 
• To start a new line of text within Google Sheets when using a Mac, press the Command (or Control or Option)+Return buttons on your keyboard. Using a PC, press the Alt (or Control) +Enter buttons. 
• To insert hyperlinks , select the specific text you would like to hyperlink, and from the iconographic menu, just below the main menu, select the three vertical dots at the far right for more editing items. Select the Link icon to insert and link to your preferred URL. Or choose Insert from the main menu, then select Link. 

Lodging contact tab editing (Google Sheets template)

Note a second tab in this Google Sheets template for lodging details—set to print landscape (horizontally). Edit all elements in the same way as the main itinerary.

Canva Template

Click on the image below to access and edit a free version of this trip itinerary template in Canva. 

Although Canva is an excellent and intuitive design software usable by non-professionals, it requires prior knowledge and experience to use it comfortably. I do not recommend downloading and editing this file type unless you are already comfortable creating and editing in Canva.

If you are, have fun! You have full editing capability to change any element of this two-page trip itinerary template, which includes a second page for lodging contact information. 

Tips for duplicating the template: Click the above image, then click the “Create with Canva” button in the upper right-hand corner. When you do this, it should take you to your Canva account and let you copy, and then edit a duplicate version of the template.

2 Recommended Online Itinerary Builders

If you prefer using an app or an online itinerary builder to create your itineraries, TripIt and Wanderlog are the top two options. I have used TripIt before and found it handy—though short on the functionality I prefer. Despite easy integration with travel booking uploads, the program was less flexible than I would have liked, still requiring some manual uploading and editing. 

I have not used Wanderlog, though I have repeatedly seen it recommended highly by frequent travelers and travel professionals. To see which is right for you, scan through this Reddit thread of users comparing notes on each.

4 More Places to Find Travel Itinerary Templates

In addition to the free templates I share, are four more places to find free or affordable trip itinerary templates.

• Microsoft Excel, Word, and Google Sheets free templates

Find multiple travel itinerary templates on Jotform .  Edit them using its web-based a PDF editor. Then, download your edited form after you create an account. You get five complimentary form downloads with a free membership . 

Find multiple trip itinerary templates on Canva .  There are several free options. To edit and download them, create a free account on Canva if you do not already have one. Some templates are restricted to paid Pro Canva users only.

Microsoft Excel, Word, and Google Sheets

Microsoft Excel, Word, and Google Sheets offer free templates. These software programs offer several free travel itinerary templates. To access these complimentary templates, choose File, then select Create New from Template or New from template gallery from the main menus. Search for templates related to trips or travel to find one that fits your needs.

Several shops on Etsy sell downloadable trip itinerary templates for a low price, often $5 or under. Some designs are beautiful. Several come packaged with multiple detailed pages that could be perfect for your needs or be superfluous. Search digital download options here to see what fits your preferences best.

Related Reading

If you are searching for more travel planning assistance to help you save time and money, stay organized, and achieve better results, check out the related articles below.

• How to Plan a Trip Quickly: 9 Best Places to Find Inspiring Trip Itineraries
• 49 Things You Need to Do to Plan Your Best Trip (Free Travel Research & Planning Checklist)
• Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools
• Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning
• How to Save Time & Money with Google Flights Price Tracker
• 5 Proven Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Travel Research
• Pack Faster & Better with This Universal Printable Packing List
• 25 Expert Packing Tips to Help You Travel Better
• Pre-Trip: A Practical Checklist to Close the House & Pack

Additional Trip Planning Resources

To further help you with travel planning, I share my go-to resources for every trip below. 

Google Flights. My first research stop for affordable flights for every trip. Learn why here . 

Google Hotels . Use its “ Where to stay ” button to discover the best neighborhoods to base your visit.

Booking.com. For hotel and rental bookings, I appreciate its flexible cancellation, candid user reviews, discounts, loyalty program, and easy-to-use interface.

Viator , Get Your Guide , & Airbnb Experiences . Quickly find and book highly-rated tours and activities on these sites.

Google Travel Things to Do & Google Maps . Find more things to do in your destination on Google Travel, then record where you want to visit on a custom Google Maps list. 

AllTrails . Love to hike? Me too. I religiously use AllTrails to discover hiking and biking trails and download its offline maps to manage my hikes.

Guide Along . 5-star self-guided audio tours that are GPS-compatible for US road trips and national parks. We loved the Glacier National Park tour .

Insure My Trip. I never travel internationally without trip insurance. Learn why here . My preferred place to shop and compare policies is InsureMyTrip.com . 

Plus, check out the 15 travel apps I use on trips, my preferred guidebooks , and my free customizable travel itinerary template , downloadable in four file formats.

About the author:  Janice Moskoff is a travel writer and blogger who loves hiking, exploring the world, and reading. She writes to inspire travel-loving families, adult friends, and couples on her blog,  Gather and Go Travel . Check out  her bio , learn how she became  a blogger , and discover how to  work with her . Sign up for her monthly  Discovery Newsletter  to get her latest travel recommendations and  how-to’s .

Love to travel? Sign up for m y monthly Gather & Go Travel Discovery Newsletter and get a free trip budget calculator .

Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products and companies I use. And the income goes to keeping the site community-supported and ads minimal.

From An Expert: InsureMyTrip.com is My #1 Pick for Trip Insurance

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2 responses.

Hi Nicole, thanks for messaging about this. Happy to troubleshoot. I am sorry you having issues. Since you would like to use this template I’ll take an educated guess that you are familiar with Canva and already have an account? When you click the “Create with Canva” link in the upper right hand corner it should take you to your account and let you edit a version of this template. I’ll check in with you via email as well to see if this is happening. If not, I’ll email you a direct link and dig in to adjust settings. Or feel free to email me directly at (janice at gatherandgotravel dot com.). Thank you!

Hi! I was hoping to use your Canva template but it linked to a preview that wouldn’t open the template. I also couldn’t find it by searching.. Is it available anywhere?

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Welcome to Gather and Go Travel , a blog inspiring families, adult friends, and couples to explore US and international destinations and to get outdoors. I am Janice, an experienced traveler to over 50 countries and a travel writer, book lover, and blogger. Learn more about me , read our story , and how to work with me .

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34 free travel itinerary templates (word, excel & pdf).

Free travel itinerary templates:  Your itinerary refers to your journey’s more detailed plan. Usually, highlights some places to be visited and the travel plan. By having itinerary templates, you will benefit from having the travel arrangement in one location for easier referencing and retrieval. 

Your travel plan is usually placed in the front of the folder full of your tickets, brochures, and confirmation receipts – this is also a good source to get information on the road. 

Although the information includes the travel plan for yourself or other people might contain different items, the basic structure was usually still retained. You can use your best itinerary templates.

Table of Contents

Benefits of Using an Itinerary Template

Traveling is an adventure! But planning for it can sometimes be stressful. That’s where a  travel itinerary template  can be your best friend.

• All-In-One Location:  Say Goodbye to Chaos!

Do you have flight details in your email, hotel bookings on an app, and excursion times on a sticky note? Stop the madness! An itinerary template puts all these details in one simple place. Just open it up, and you’ll know what’s happening next.

• Easy to Use:  No Tech Skills Needed!

You don’t have to be a computer genius to use an itinerary template. Most of it comes with clear fields for you to fill in. Just type your flight time here your hotel name there, and you’re done! It’s like filling out a fun quiz.

• Be Organized:  Know What Comes After What

The best part about being organized is knowing what’s next. You see your trip like a story when you put your plans in an itinerary template. First, this happens, then that. You can enjoy the trip more when you know what’s coming up.

• Shareable:  Keep Everyone in the Loop

Traveling with family or friends? Send them the itinerary template! That way, everyone knows the plan. If someone asks, “What time is dinner?” tell them to check the itinerary!

• Free:  More Money for Fun Stuff!

The best things in life are free. Well, most travel itinerary templates are free, too! That means you can save cash for fun stuff like snacks, souvenirs, or an extra special adventure!

• Time-Saving:  Quick Changes Made Easy

Plans change. Maybe it rains, and you can’t go to the beach. With an itinerary template, it’s super easy to swap things around. Just a few clicks, and you have a new plan!

• Keeps You On Track:  No More Missing Out

Need to catch a flight or need to remember a dinner reservation? With an itinerary, you’ll get reminders. It’s like having a helpful friend who says, “Hey, time to go!”

• Peace of Mind:  Worry Less, Enjoy More!

When you’re organized, you feel calmer. That means you can enjoy your trip more and less worrying about it.

Are you ready to try an  itinerary template ? Trust us, it will make your next trip so much easier! ????

Essential Elements in a Travel Itinerary

So you’re convinced that a travel itinerary template is a good idea. Great! But what should you include in it? Don’t fret; here’s a list of the  key things to put in your travel plan .

• Title and Dates: What’s the Trip For?

Start with a striking title that sums up your trip. Are you going on a “Summer Adventure in Hawaii” or a “Weekend Getaway in Paris”? Include the dates so you always know the timeframe.

• Names: Who’s Going?

If you’re traveling with other people, write down everyone’s name. It’s an easy way for everyone to know they’re looking at the right plan.

• Departure and Arrival: Take-Off and Landing

Include details about when and where you’re starting and ending your journey. Include times, places, and how you’re getting there. Plane? Train? Automobile?

• Transport Info: All Aboard!

Note any flight numbers, train cars, or other key details. It’s also smart to list any reservations and helpful phone numbers in case of delays.

• Lodging: Home Away From Home

Where are you staying? Include the name, address, and check-in/check-out times for each place you sleep.

• Activities: The Fun Stuff!

What’s a trip without cool stuff to do? List all the tours, visits, or shows you plan to attend. Add times and places so you remember.

• Meetings: Can’t-Miss Appointments

Are you mixing a little business with pleasure? Include any meetings or important appointments you have. Who, what, where, and when—it all goes here.

• Meals: Yummy in My Tummy

Planning to eat at that must-try café? Put it in the itinerary.

• Free Time: Do What You Want

It’s your trip, after all! Include some blocks of free time for spontaneous fun.

• Emergency Contacts: Just in Case

Include some emergency contacts, like local hospitals or a trusted friend back home.

• Checklist: Remember!

Add a small list at the end for any last-minute things you need to do or bring. Passport? Snacks? It goes here.

That’s your  travel itinerary essentials  covered! With everything in your template, you’re ready for an awesome, stress-free trip! ????

Tips for Crafting a Useful Travel Itinerary

It isn’t just about jotting down names and places. Here are some tips.

Be Realistic: Time Matters!

Always consider how much time each activity will take. Keep your day manageable. You want time to enjoy the places you visit!

Group Activities by Location: Smart Mapping

Put things that are close to each other on the same day. This way, you spend less time moving and more time doing.

Always Have a Plan B: Be Flexible

Sometimes, things go differently than planned. Maybe it rains, or a place is closed. Have a backup plan, so you’re never stuck with nothing to do.

Check Opening Hours: No Unwanted Surprises

Imagine showing up at a museum you’re excited to visit, only to find it’s closed on Tuesdays. Check opening times in advance to avoid this.

Share It: Keep Everyone in the Loop

If you’re traveling with others, ensure everyone has a copy of the itinerary. You could even make a shared online version.

Local Customs and Laws: When in Rome.

Check for any local customs, rules, or laws you should know about, like dress codes at religious sites.

Remember Time Zones: Sync Up!

If you’re crossing time zones, adjust all your times so you’re always on local time.

Add Some Breathing Room: Take It Easy

Don’t schedule something every minute of every day. You’ll need some downtime to relax and soak it all in.

Include All Confirmation Numbers: Quick Access

For flights, hotels, and activities that require booking, include all confirmation numbers for quick and easy access.

Double-Check All Details: Be Sure, Be Safe

Before you finalize your itinerary, double-check all times, dates, and reservations.

Print and Digital: Best of Both Worlds

Have both a printed copy and a digital copy available. Technology can fail, and you might only sometimes have Wi-Fi.

Keep it Handy: Easy Access.

Put your itinerary somewhere easy to get to. Save it on your phone or put it in a pocket in your bag.

Free Travel Itinerary Templates

Free Travel Itinerary Templates 01

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Free Travel Itinerary Templates 04

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Free Travel Itinerary Templates 14

Free Travel Itinerary Templates 15

Travel Itinerary Template Word

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Free Travel Itinerary Templates 08

Free Travel Itinerary Templates 09

Free Travel Itinerary Templates 10

Free Travel Itinerary Templates 11

Free Travel Itinerary Templates 12

Easy to Use

One of the best things about using a Word template is its simplicity. You don’t have to be a computer wizard to figure it out!

Customizable

Word lets you change fonts and colors and even add pictures. Make your template  truly your own .

You can open a Word document on almost any device. It’s super  easy to share  with family or travel buddies, too.

Pre-made Templates

Word offers a variety of  ready-to-use templates . Just plug in your details, and you’re good to go!

Checklist Features

You can add  checkboxes  next to each activity or place. It feels so good to check them off as you go!

Safe and Secure

You can easily  lock the document  to keep your travel plans private.

Great for Printing

Word documents  print beautifully . It is a great option if you like having a paper copy of your plans.

How to Use It

• Open Word and choose a blank document or a pre-made template.
• Fill in your travel details like flights, hotels, and fun stuff to do.
• Add any  extra notes  or  checklists .
• Save it, print it, or share it via email.

Tips for Using Word Templates

• Spell-check : Always run a spell-check to avoid any errors.
• Save Often : Keep up your hard work. Save your doc often!
• Backup : Email a copy to yourself or save it in the cloud.

Using a Word template for your travel itinerary is a smart way to keep all your plans in one place. Give it a try for your next trip!

Free Travel Itinerary Templates Excel

Do you like spreadsheets?  Excel templates  offer even more ways to stay organized. You can sort your plans, filter them, and find what you need fast!

If you’ve been using regular Word documents or even pen and paper for your travel plans, it’s time to  upgrade to Excel ! Here’s why and how:

Easy to Edit: Change On-the-Go

Excel allows you to add or remove items quickly. If your plans change, delete a row or add a new one!

Sort and Filter: Find What You Need

Say you want to see all your flight details at once. Excel lets you sort and filter to find what you’re looking for in a snap.

Color Codes: Make It Pretty and Practical

Blue for sightseeing and red for meals. It makes it easier to understand your day at a glance.

Formulas: Count the Hours

You can use simple Excel formulas to add how much time each day’s activities will take.

Shareable: Easy to Send

Excel files are easily shared by email or cloud services like Google Drive. You can also password-protect it if it has sensitive data.

Collaborative: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Everyone can add their activities or notes in the same Excel sheet if you’re traveling with others. It’s a team itinerary!

Tabs for Days: One File, Many Uses

You can use different tabs for different parts of your trip. One tab for flights, another for hotels, and so on.

Links and Notes: Extra Info

You can add links to websites or notes with additional information in Excel.

Offline Access: Always Available

Once downloaded, Excel files are available even without internet access, making them reliable and handy.

Templates Galore: Start with a Bang

It is lots of pre-made Excel itinerary templates available online. It can give you a head start and create planning even quicker.

Itinerary Templates Excel

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Stable and Consistent

One of the biggest perks of using a PDF is that it looks the  same  on every device. No surprises!

Easy to Share

PDF files are  super easy to send  in an email or message. They can be opened on almost any gadget.

No Accidental Changes

Once you save it, it stays that way. You can’t accidentally mess up your plans!

Universal Acceptance

Almost all businesses can open and read PDFs. Most people can easily check your plans if you need to show them.

Password Protection

PDFs can be  locked  with a password. Your plans stay  safe and private .

Fantastic for Printing

If you like paper copies, PDFs print out  just how they look on screen .

• Make your plans in any software that can be saved as a PDF.
• Double-check all your details and  spelling .
• Save or ‘print’ your plans as a PDF file.
• Share or print your  snazzy  new PDF itinerary!

Tips for Using PDF Templates

• Read-Only : Remember, most PDFs can’t be easily changed. Make sure all your info is correct before you save it.
• Compatibility : Always ensure the people you share the PDF with can open it.
• Document Size : PDFs with lots of pictures can get big. Keep an eye on the file size if you need to email it.

A PDF travel itinerary template is  rock-solid  for keeping your travel plans organized and easily accessible. It’s a popular option, especially if you want a file that stays how you made it.

Common Mistakes in Using Travel Itinerary Templates

Skipping the Details : One of the most common errors is  filling in all the blanks . It can lead to confusion during your trip.

Ignoring Time Zones : Many must remember to account for time zone changes. It can mess up your plans.

Overstuffing the Itinerary : It’s tempting to pack your day full of activities. But this leaves  no room for rest or unexpected events .

Forgetting to Share : If you’re traveling with others,  forgetting to share  the itinerary can make things hard for everyone.

Not Checking Operation Hours : Imagine going to a museum only to find it’s closed. Always  check the working hours  of places you want to visit.

Skipping Backup Plans : Weather changes. Plans fall through. Having  no Plan B  can ruin your day.

Bad Formatting : If your itinerary is hard to read, it’s almost useless. Make sure you use  clear and easy-to-read formats .

Not Updating : Sometimes plans change.  Only updating your template  can make sure you get all the things.

Ignoring Local Customs and Laws : Failing to account for local customs or laws can be embarrassing and sometimes problematic. Always do your  basic homework .

Not Double-Checking : A small mistake in flight numbers or hotel booking IDs can be a big hassle. Always  double-check your details .

Avoiding these common mistakes can make your itinerary a powerful tool for a smooth and enjoyable trip!

Traveling is more fun when you’re organized. Using a  travel itinerary template  can help a lot! So why wait? Download a free template today!

Additional Resources

Want to know more? Click the links below for free templates and helpful travel apps.

• Free Itinerary Templates
• Best Travel Apps

Happy traveling! ????

What Is a Travel Itinerary Template?

A travel itinerary template is like a  map for your trip . It shows where you need to go, what you’ll do, and when you’ll do it.

Where Can I Find Free Travel Itinerary Templates?

You can find free templates online, in apps, Excel, or Word. Some travel websites also offer them for  free .

Should My Template Be Detailed or Broad?

That depends on you! Some folks like a  minute-by-minute plan , while others want just the  big events  listed. Choose what works for you.

Can I Use the Same Template for Different Trips?

Yes, you can! Just  change the details  to fit your new trip.

What Should I Include in My Template?

Include key info like  flights, hotels, and activities . Remember  small but important details  like transport from the airport to the hotel.

Do I Need to Print My Itinerary?

Only sometimes. You could keep it on your phone. But a printed copy is good, just in case your phone  runs out of juice .

How Many Copies Should I Make?

It’s a good idea to have  more than one copy . Leave one with a friend or family member back home, keep one with you, and maybe have a  digital copy .

Can I Add Last-Minute Changes?

Yes, you can. Just  update all your copies  so you’re not working off old info.

What Do I Do If My Plans Change Mid-Trip?

No problem! Just  update your template . You can do it with a printed copy or update the digital one on your device.

Is It OK to Leave Free Time in My Plan?

Absolutely! It’s your trip, after all. Free time lets you  explore  or  rest  as you feel like it.

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About the author.

Working with Tour Planning

Welcome to a (hopefully) gentle introduction to HERE Tour Planning. Tour Planning is an incredibly powerful API, and as such, requires a good deal of... wait for it... planning. In this post I'll introduce you to the API and it's components, go over the items you'll need to be able to use it, and share a simple example.

Do note that Tour Planning is not currently part of our freemium plan, so to use it, you'll need to contact us. You may also request a timed evaluation.

So what exactly is tour planning? At a high level, tour planning helps you manage a set of one more more vehicles (also called a fleet) that need to do certain jobs. These jobs may have restrictions on what time they can be done as well as what order. You can imagine a package delivery company having this problem every day. They have ten vehicles. Each vehicle has a cost for it's operation. They have one hundred deliveries to make, many with specific times. How would you create a plan such that all packages are delivered, on time, at the cheapest price, and even account for traffic? This is where the tour planning API will help. The API can even consider changes to an existing plan. Lost a vehicle due to a breakdown? You can modify an existing plan to get new results.

As mentioned above, making use of this API requires quite a bit of planning ahead of time. Some of the information you'll need for a typical API call includes:

• The makeup of your fleet, which includes the cost of vehicle operation, the times the vehicle is available, as well as where the vehicle starts it's shift and where it needs to be when done. Your fleet will be specified both as a set of vehicle types as well as the total number of each type.
• Next, you will need to define the jobs that must be accomplished. This includes the type of job (like making a delivery or picking up an item), locations, how much time is available at that location, what times the job can be accomplished, what order the jobs must be made in, and how important a job is compared to another.

The tour planning developer guide contains full documentation for making requests and is further supported by an API guide as well.

Before getting started, one of the most important things to know is that tour planning supports both synchronous and asynchronous API calls. As you can imagine, the complexity of the work necessary to solve a tour planning problem can be quite high. In order to maintain the performance of the API itself, synchronous calls will have limits on jobs and fleet sizes. Luckily, you'll get a clear error from the response if you go over those limits. (At the time this post was written, the documentation for synchronous requests specifies a limit of 250 jobs and 35 vehicle types.)

For asynchronous calls , the API will return an identifier that lets you then poll for the status at an interval of your choosing. When the work is done, you can then download the solution.

After determining what kind of call you will need to make, you begin by defining the problem. As described above, the problem consists of two portions.

The first is the plan, which is a formal list of jobs that need to be done. Jobs will consist of the following properties:

• duration (how much time is spent at the location)
• demand (a free form value that lets you define custom capacities for your fleet, like the ability to hold a certain number of people or pieces of hardware)

Along with these properties, you can additionally specify times for makling a step as well as your own specific skills and tags associated with the job. Jobs are also associated with a few specific types - deliveries, pickups, and an instance of doing both. Finally, you can name jobs which makes it easier to work with the response.

The next aspect of the problem is the fleet. Again, don't overthink this - your fleet of vehicles could be a fleet of one. A fleet is a set of vehicle types where each type consists of:

• An identifier
• The cost to use the vehicle
• Time shifts the vehicle is available.
• Size capacity
• As well as whether or not the type is a car or truck.

Additional properties are also supported. As with jobs, you can include metadata to make it easier to work with the result data, but do not send private and identifying type information like license plate numbers. Finally you'll have an amount for each type.

This is quite a bit to consider, but the documentation has a specific page just for discussing the problem , and again, the API reference will go deeper into the properties and required values.

Once the problem is submitted and sent to the API, you then get to work with your solution. Solutions consist of:

• Statistics covering cost, distance travelled, duration, and a break down of times spent doing driving, serving jobs, and so forth.
• A list of "tours" which represent a vehicle type, stops that need to be made, and specific statistics about that tour.
• You also, potentially, get a list of jobs that could not be completed.

As with the problem definition, there's a great documentation that goes into detail about the solution.

All in all, the problem definition is where you'll spend the bulk of your time. Once it's defined, and once you have a proper understanding of the result, it's pretty trivial to make a call. Here's an example of a synchronous call in a simple Node.js script. It only has one car so it's incredibly trivial, but its illustrative of the "shape" of how you would use the API.

As you can see, nearly all of the code is the definition of the problem. Of course, in a real application you would do more with the solution than just dump it out to the console. Here's how the result looks:

Yep, that's a lot of data for a simple job. As your problem grows into more real world scenarios, you can expect the size of the result to grow accordingly.

We hope this introduction gets you excited about the power of this API. We're definitely understand how complex this API is and we're currently making updates to the documentation to make things a bit easier to use. For a more academic look at the problem, you can read Wikipedia's detailed entry on what's called the "vehicle routing problem" . (Warning - expect some high level math!)

Raymond Camden

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Schedule Templates

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4+ Free Tour schedule templates

When you want to design a tour schedule, consider about use of our presented tour schedule templates to make a best one. We can define a schedule as a document or a list of planned activities or things to be done with time and dates. Schedules are most excellent tools to carry out a particular job or work with best. Whether you are going to lead a project or planning a tour, you should prepare a schedule to follow. Majority of peoples use tour schedules to plan family and professional tours. A tour schedule instruct you to be prepare for a tour without going out of track and one should use a tour schedule template to generate. We do hope that you will like these free tour schedule templates at this page.

A well prepared tour schedule gives an idea to accomplish various things and jobs related to a planned tour without forgetting any single one. It also helps a lot to meet with planning of a tour in a planned manner to avoid any trouble during the tour. You can visit desired places during your tour with assistance of a perfect tour schedule. If you want to create a tour schedule with a professional appearance including complete amount of details, you are advised to use below listed tour schedule templates.

Going to plan a tour with family or friends? If yes, then you are strongly recommended to get help from tour schedule template to make the outing stress and full with fun. It provides you enough space to note down important tour details like air ticket reservation, bag packing, places to visit, time of departure and arrival, hotel room reservation and many more. This excel based tour schedule template is also useful for scheduling of business tours and trips conveniently. Just download it once in your computer and you will be able to use it for several times but remember to edit every time before use

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Itinerary Templates

Plane Ticket Template

Use our free Plane Ticket Template to create customized domestic or international plane tickets fast. Download, print, or send as PDFs in a single click.

Vacation Itinerary Template

Try this sample Vacation Itinerary Template from Jotform. This sample is designed to suit any kind of vacations but feels free to modify it. It has basic information such as the destination and date and time of arrival.

Flight Itinerary Template

Build your flight itinerary anywhere and easily! Use this Flight Itinerary PDF template built under the Jotform PDF editor and you bring your flight itinerary in your computer of mobile device!

Business Travel Itinerary Template

Planning a business trip? Help employees and executives keep track of travel arrangements and appointments with Jotform’s Business Itinerary PDF Template. Using Jotform’s PDF Editor, you can edit this sample.

Daily Itinerary Template

A Daily Itinerary Template is a document that will help you organize your daily tasks by planning it ahead of time. This will definitely help you establish a habit and a plan to achieve your goal. This document can be used by students to prioritize the things that they need to do for a school like study habits and reviewing for upcoming exams. For adults, a daily itinerary is useful to prevent procrastination. It can also be used in travel activities in order to maximize vacation time.This Daily Itinerary Template shows the activities that you will follow for 7 days. Each day shows the time, activity description, and status. This template is utilizing the Configurable List widget where they can add activity information dynamically as needed. This PDF template can be edited easily via the PDF Editor where you can insert images, change font format, or change the theme color.

Itinerary Planner Template

Create personalized schedules for your next trip with this free Itinerary Planner PDF Template. Download, share, and print custom itineraries in seconds!

Travel Itinerary Template

A travel itinerary document composed of two pages providing the travel location, dates and contact details with the travel, accommodation and activities schedule with all necessary details included.

Bachelorette Itinerary Template

Instantly create PDFs itineraries for a bachelorette party. Easy to customize for any theme. Download, print, and share in just one click. No coding required!

Birthday Itinerary

If you are organizing a huge birthday party, this Birthday Itinerary would help you inform your guests about the party schedule with all location, date and time information included. All submission data will be automatically generated as a pdf document with this design, that would allow you to send personalized itinerary for all your guests. You can fully change the template and create your own birthday itinerary, change the document alignment, background, fonts, colors and add more fields by simply dragging and dropping elements.

Event Itinerary Template

Create a downloadable, printable PDF event itinerary with our free Event Itinerary Template. Easy drag-and-drop customization. Send out itineraries via autoresponder!

Trip Itinerary Template

This sample itinerary template contains the duration of the trip, destination, time and activities for each day. The PDF template only shows 3 days but you can use the PDF Editor to duplicate these elements and add more days.

Road Trip Itinerary

Conference Itinerary Template

Organize a professional corporate or educational conference by using this Conference Itinerary Template. This simple PDF template is easy to use and can be customized based on your event.

Meeting Itinerary Template

Impress your colleagues by showing your organizational skills with the help of this Meeting Itinerary Template. This template is easy to use and can be edited conveniently via the PDF Editor.

Wedding Itinerary Template

You’ll have the option to change any graphic element, list additional activities, include venue information, and even add photos of the happy couple.

Cruise Itinerary Template

Inform your passengers of the arrival and destination of the cruise by using this Cruise Itinerary Template. This document displays the destination, departure time, and arrival time.

Travel Itirenary

Camping Trip Itinerary Template

Create your Camping Itinerary straight out from Jotform with the use of this Camping Trip Itinerary Template! Stop figuring out how to start your camping itinerary document. Use this Camping Trip Itinerary PDF Template instead!

Formal Itinerary Template

Save time, money, and effort by using this Formal Itinerary Template in order to manage your event. This is one of the key elements in order to have a successful formal event.

Music Tour Itinerary Template

Produce your Music Tour Itinerary documents using this Music Tour Itinerary PDF template by Jotform! Create your music tour schedule easily and publish a document by providing the information for your itinerary to your delegates.

School Itinerary

Organizing a school event can be a daunting task. Use this School Itinerary template in order to plan a fruitful and memorable school event. This is a simple PDF but can be very engaging.

Employee Handbook Template

Create an employee handbook for your company. Get a head start with this ready-made template. Free and easy to customize. Share to sign in seconds.

About Itinerary Templates

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step — or one carefully thought-out itinerary. Whether you’re a travel agent, event coordinator, wedding planner, or someone organizing an annual family road trip , you can instantly create schedules for any upcoming occasion with Jotform’s Itinerary PDF Templates.

Using our drag-and-drop PDF Editor , you can reorganize the itinerary template layout and include additional activity fields to help you plan every moment. When users fill out your customized itinerary form, their information will automatically be saved as PDFs that can easily be printed or sent electronically to everyone on the guest list. Once downloaded, these mobile-friendly PDF itineraries can quickly be accessed on phones, so even when internet isn’t available, everything can still go according to plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) what are the subtypes of itinerary templates.

There are itinerary templates for events, vacations, conferences — you name it! You can use travel itineraries — which include information about flights, hotels, tickets, vacation packages, and more — as well as business itineraries for conference schedules or meetings. Plus, you can fully personalize your itinerary for any trip you’re planning, whether that’s a road trip, a bachelor party, or an all-inclusive cruise.

2) What is the purpose of using an itinerary template?

The purpose of an itinerary template is to provide a structured plan for a trip or event. It outlines all the details of the event, including activities, schedules, budgets, to-do lists, and more. An itinerary template can help you organize and streamline the planning process both more productive and enjoyable, whether you’re putting on a conference or a small event for friends.

3) What are the benefits of using an itinerary template?

An itinerary template helps with time management and organization. It helps you lay out the details of an engagement in advance, saving you time and hassle once the event actually happens. Itinerary templates are also great for communicating details with others, as you can send them out to everyone involved to communicate logistics. Lastly, itinerary templates are useful when budgeting for expenses because you can estimate and track costs in one place.

4) How do I create an itinerary template?

You can create an itinerary by heading over to Jotform’s PDF templates library. We have you covered with multiple itinerary templates to choose from — no matter your needs. Simply pick the template that works best for you, click Use Template, and customize it in our PDF Editor. When you’re finished, you can share it via email or link or embed it in your website in seconds.

5) What information should be included in an itinerary template?

Generally, an itinerary template should include the major elements of the event or trip. For example, if you’re making a flight itinerary, make sure to include flight numbers, boarding times, terminals, and confirmation numbers.

If you’re making a conference itinerary, list the conference name, date, start time, location, sessions, and other details. Include a day-by-day or hour-by-hour breakdown of the schedule, depending on the length of your event.

The best way to construct an itinerary is to step back and think about all the information you would need to know as a traveler or attendee. This could include everything from budget and accommodation to meals and contact information, so take time to flesh out all the details.

6) Can I customize an itinerary template to suit my specific needs?

The beauty of the itinerary template is that you can adjust it to meet your requirements seamlessly. With Jotform’s intuitive drag-and-drop PDF Editor, you can rearrange sections, add new form fields, adjust fonts and colors, drop in your own logo, and much more. When you’re done, you can share it through email or a link with anyone who needs it. Plus, our mobile-friendly PDF itineraries work great on any phone, tablet, or computer, so your users can access them even if they’re traveling without a great internet connection.

7) Where can I find free itinerary templates online?

You can find free itinerary templates with a quick Google search. But, while there are many options to choose from, not all free itinerary templates are created equal. If you have to download a template as a Word document or PDF, editing them can get tricky, depending on which operating system or tools you use.

Jotform’s itinerary templates are completely free to use and easy to edit. Just choose the one you want to use, customize it in our PDF Editor, and you’re ready to go. You can create and share a robust itinerary in minutes.

8) How do I add accommodations and transportation details to an itinerary template?

You can add accommodation and transportation details to your itinerary template by replacing the text from the sections in one of our templates or by adding new sections to your itinerary.

You can include handy charts, color-block your sections, or create a snappy form design to make sure your users can absorb the information at a glance. To make your accommodation and transportation details even more organized, consider using standard formatting, bullet points, charts, and clear headings to enhance readability.

9) Can I share my itinerary template with others?

Yes! An itinerary wouldn’t be very useful if no one could see it except you — which is why Jotform has made this part as easy as possible. When you’re finished customizing your template, navigate to the Share button in the upper right corner of the PDF Editor. From there, you can create a link to share your document or invite users by email. You also have the option to grant private or company access, adjust permissions, and more.

10) Is it possible to create an itinerary template for multiple destinations?

Yes, you can create an itinerary template that covers multiple destinations for an event or trip! For example, if you’re organizing a company retreat with multiple destinations (think Chicago to New York or Paris to Berlin), you can create schedules for each location in the same itinerary. Put your stops on different pages or create separate charts with their activities. This way, you won’t have to send multiple documents to attendees.

11) Can I integrate a map or GPS coordinates into an itinerary template?

You can add a map as an image in your itinerary template to help guide attendees. You can also include information like the name and GPS coordinates of the destination in the template to make sure your attendees know where they’re headed.

12) How can an itinerary template help me stay organized during my trip?

An itinerary template can help you stay organized during your trip by eliminating unknown factors that may cost you time and money. For instance, if you book a bus to your day trip destination in advance, you won’t have to run around trying to find a way there the day of. An itinerary also helps you keep all the details about your day in one place so you won’t have to dig through your email searching for tickets or schedules.

One of the biggest perks of an itinerary is that it helps you manage your budget. Planning your budget in advance helps you estimate how much you’re going to spend and when, which also helps you add contingency funds should any surprises pop up.

And speaking of surprises — believe it or not, an itinerary can actually help with flexibility as well! Any trip will throw unexpected changes at you, but having your plans in one place will make it easier to rearrange specific activities or incorporate more time into your schedule with ease.

13) Are there any best practices for using an itinerary template?

There are several best practices that will help you get the most out of your itinerary template. The first one is to customize the template to your needs — adding all the details specific to your event will help you cover all your bases. Keep the information concise, so attendees don’t feel overwhelmed by too much text on the page.

It’s best to use a digital format such as a PDF for your itinerary, since paper itineraries are easy to lose or destroy. Be sure to share your document with all your attendees, so no one’s in the dark — and be sure to update it if any last-minute changes pop up!

14) How can I optimize my itinerary template to maximize my time during the trip?

Every itinerary will be different, depending on what each person enjoys. If you’re someone who likes to account for every minute of a trip, you can make a really robust itinerary. On the other hand, if you prefer to have some wiggle room, you can schedule one or two activities and leave the rest of your time to mosey around town.

In general, you can optimize your itinerary by prioritizing a couple must-see destinations and grouping activities together based on location. For example, if you’re headed to Barcelona and you’re most excited to see the Sagrada Familia, then you should plan a day in that part of town — and if a restaurant you wanted to try happens to be nearby, you can group those activities together.

It’s also wise to research transportation options in advance, because getting from one place to another often takes up the most time on trips. Be mindful of how long it’s going to take you to get somewhere — you might find it’s better to snag a cab than brave the train.

Lastly, plan in some buffer time and go with the flow! Nothing will ever go perfectly on a trip, but remember that it’s just as much about the journey as it is about the destination.

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Sightseeing Bus Tours Business Plan

Start your own sightseeing bus tours business plan

Double Decker Tours of Washington

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

The Company

Double Decker Tours of Washington, LLC (DDTOW), located in the city of Washington, DC is a new sightseeing company in its formative stages.  It is being organized to take advantage of a specific gap in the local sightseeing tour market.  The gap exists in high quality, reasonably priced sightseeing tours in the nation’s capital away from the city center, indicating that a new entrant tour company could be expected to capture a significant portion of the current sightseeing tour market.

The Company’s Mission

Double Decker Tours of Washington’s mission is to provide safe, reliable and fun sightseeing tours to the visitors of Washington, DC using London-style double-decker buses.  Nine of the buses will be open top for sunny warm and beautiful days and three will be closed for cold and inclement weather.

Product and Services

DDTOW will provide daily sightseeing tours and charter services in Washington, DC.  We will survey the White House, Capitol Building, Supreme Court, Senate Office Buildings, House Office Buildings, Museums, Library of Congress, etc., as well as Adams Morgan, the U Street Corridor, Catholic University and many other sites that make up the city. 

Marketing and Sales Strategy

DDTOW will develop a message that touring with us is fun and we will project that message over the airwaves and in print.  We will kick off our message using Comcast Cable System in the Washington area as well as hosting parties for certain tour association decision makers and the media.  We plan a pre-opening marketing budget of $80,000.  As we profit, we will spend about 1% of gross revenues on advertisement and marketing.  We will also distribute survey cards to assess what we are doing right and identify what we are doing wrong.

The Competition

Our main competitors in the Washington sightseeing market are:

• Tourmobile:  Tourmobile is based at East Potomac Park and is authorized by the National Park Service to conduct sightseeing tours along the National Mall and in Arlington National Cemetary.  Tourmobile uses a shuttle service employing 85-passenger trams along the Mall and 120-passenger trams in Arlington.  They have been in business for over 25 years.  Tourmobile was started in 1969 as a subsidiary of Universal Studios to provide interpretive services along the National Mall.  In 1981 Tom Mack bought the company making Tourmobile, Inc. a locally owned Washington DC company.  Tourmobile has over 42 vehicles and serves upwards of 2 million riders annually.
• Historic Tours of America:  HTA operates in Washington as the Old Town Trolley and DC Ducks.  HTA is a national company with outlets across the country.  HTA, like Tourmobile, uses a shuttle system for its passengers and they use 35- to 60-passenger trolleys.
• Grayline:  Grayline International is a global company with offices and tours around the world.  Grayline contracts out its services to local bus lines and runs multiple tours.  Grayline runs the Lil Red Trolley as its service in Washington.
• Zohery Tours:  Zohery Tours is a local company that runs 15-passenger vans and 45-passenger coach buses.  Zohery tours are about 3 hours in length.

Target Market

In recent Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation figures, it showed that 17.6 million people came to visit Washington, DC, spending over $10 billion dollars; $4 billion of that on sightseeing and tourism related activities.  Although overnight leisure travel increased significantly while day-trip volume was down, the good news was that average trip expenditures increased to levels of $480 per day per trip. Many of the trips that were made to the city centered around visiting historical places and museums (36%) and  shopping (24%).  In leisure travel, 36% of visitors were solo travelers as compared to 80% of business travelers and 23% of leisure travelers came with children as compared to 6% of business travelers.  Also many of our visitors to the city have income of over $75K, were married, had no children, were in the 35-54 age group, and had an advanced degree.  Visits from foreign tourists fell three years ago by 19% and by 14% two years ago, but over 1 million foreign tourists came to Washington, making it 8th in US destinations by foreign visitors.

Michael Frank Coleman* will serve as member manager. He has extensive experience in the Washington sightseeing industry, working for Tourmobile and conducting walking tours around town.  Mr. Coleman has a knack for recognizing opportunities and developing staff members to take advantage of those situations.  Mr. Coleman will assemble a staff of experienced tour professionals to oversee operations and market our services.   

Paul F. Williams* has over 30 years of entrepreneurial experience in international and private sector business development and will act as DDTOW’s business development manager. 

*Confidential and proprietary resume data has been omitted from this sample plan.  

Tickets sales and boarding of the buses will take place at the MCI Center at 601 F Street in Northwest Washington.  This site gives us great foot traffic in the heart of the entertainment district as well as ample parking and public transportation access.  The buses will be stored and serviced by Peter Pan Bus Service in Tuxedo, Maryland thereby reducing staff cost and insuring top notch services for our customers.  A small office located on Third Street in Northeast Washington will serve as administrative offices.

Our research and projections indicate that the demand for sightseeing tours in and around Washington is sufficient to provide Double Decker Tours of Washington, LLC with revenues of over $14 million dollars in its first full year of operations, utilizing 15 used London-style double-decker tour buses and selected routes throughout the city.  These sales figures are based on capturing 453,000 customers out of a potential customer base of 22 million people.  Second year revenues are expected  to exceed $17 million serving over 500,000 customers with additional advertising and expanded tours.  The DDTOW plan has the potential for a more rapid growth due in part to new memorial and other venues that are opening in Washington in the near future.  In short, the demands for tours in DDTOW’s target market during the coming year will be more than enough to support DDTOW’s anticipated market share.  These sales levels will produce net profits of $13 million dollars in the first operational year and $15 million in year two.  Net profits in year one will be over 60% of sales and will maintain that level in year two.  The company’s long term plan is part of the due diligence package.  The first few months of formative operation will burn cash (see the Start-up table later in this document) until revenue can commence.  This is due to the organizational and regulatory obligations of a new tour operator but aggressive marketing and promotion will readily make up for the slow start.  

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After our service starts, we will keep a close eye on sales and profit.  If we are on target at the end of year two,  we will look to expand into a new market.

Risk Evaluation

With any new venture, there is risk involved.  The success of our project hinges on the strength of acceptance of our new tours and buses.  After year one, we expect a lot of competition in the form of the established tour operators banding together against us.

Ideally, DDTOW would like to expand into the Baltimore, Richmond, Atlanta and Miami markets over the next ten years.  At that time, we will entertain the possibility of a buy-out by a larger Sightseeing/Tour operator or seek to sell to a new owner.

Funds Sought and Utilization

DDTOW is seeking financing of $800,000, in the form of a five-year loan.  Most of the planned start-up costs are apportioned to the following areas in approximately declining value:

• Purchasing twelve 70-passenger London-style double-decker sightseeing buses, nine of which are open top for beautiful days and nights and three closed top for cold or inclement weather.
• Provisions of a sufficient cash reserve to assure timely payment of operating costs of the buses for the first three months.
• Costs associated with recruiting, training, and paying operational crews.
• Marketing, advertising, and public relations costs, including the cost of setting up a website capable of offering tour information and making online sales and reservations, and related Internet marketing, as well as conventional print and broadcast advertising, and public relations activities.
• Administrative and legal costs incurred in setting up the business and the tour operations.
• A reserve to cover overall operating costs, aside from bus operating costs, over at least the first three months of operations.

The following chart illustrates the highlights of our business plan over the first three years. 

1.1 Objectives

Double Decker Tours of Washington will have as it primary objectives the following elements:

• To establish and operate a new tour company aiming specifically at touring the monuments, memorials, museums, and government buildings of the capital city as well as touring the historic neighborhoods away from the city center.
• To implement an organizational and marketing strategy that will, beginning in the first months of operation, achieve an average load per bus of 65-85 percent depending on season and increasing thereafter to 75-100 percent, thereby maximizing revenues and return on investment while reducing risk.
• To achieve revenues of about $14 million by our first full year of tour operations, exceeding $20 million by our third year.  Also to expand into newer markets in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.
• To achieve net operating profits of 60-70 percent within the first 12 months of tour operations and steady growth enabling rational expansion of the company thereafter.
• To achieve the following results starting with twelve 70-passenger London-style doubledecker buses obtained through purchase to serve the touring public in Washington and incrementally expanding the fleet as demand grows.
• To gear operations, and present a professional, serious, growth-oriented image from the outset, that will set the stage for a reasoned, planned expansion, mirroring growth rates projected for the first years of operations.
• As an element critical to achieving DDTOW’s other key objectives, to identify and develop strategic alliances through the DC Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation and other Washington associations and tourism groups. 

1.2 Keys to Success

In descending order of importance, the five critical keys to success for Double Decker Tours of Washington are:

• Employing an experienced, highly professional management team that combines vision; realism; financial ability; solid knowledge of the Washington tour/sightseeing market; familiarity with, and belief in, the utilization and benefits of the latest computer informational technologies; realization of the crucial importance of an organization personnel to its success; and a total commitment to the overall mission and goals of Double Decker Tours of Washington.
• Intelligent, progressive, and aggressive marketing that identifies the company as a different kind of player, one that is sharper and smarter, with a higher level of professionalism and operational standard than is the norm in the Washington region.  Concentration on safety, with highly trained, dedicated, and professional personnel, caring for the customer and the customer’s needs and straightforward, understandable fare pricing will form key pillars of the marketing strategy.
• Identification, through careful market research, of unserved or under-served routes in the city that may be of interest to our customers and enable high load factors and profitable operations.
• Use of a fleet of London-style doubledecker buses that offer an unobstructed view of the city from the top deck and offers a high level of comfort, safety, and fuel and operational efficiency.
• Use of information technology to reduce staffing and other operational cost; expand the potential market base; readily capture sales opportunities; and enhance customer convenience and satisfaction.

1.3 Mission

Double Decker Tours of Washington, LLC has a mission to provide safe, professional, reasonably priced sightseeing services to our customers.  We intend to fill a niche in the Washington sightseeing market that is unmet at this time, to sites in the city that are not currently shown, as well as highlight the sites that are known to millions of visitors.  We will operate and maintain the best fleet of buses available and we will never skimp on safety or customer service.  We will always have and promote fun tours so that when the customer leaves us, they will remember the good time they had and recommend us to a friend or relative.  We will provide friendly and courteous service from the time we meet to the time they leave.  

With a combination of clean buses, friendly and informative and helpful driver guides along with outstanding customer service, DDTOW intends to lead the other companies and make our standards their ambition.

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

Double Decker Tours of Washington is a new company that will provide daily sightseeing tours in Washington DC.  Its sales and boarding point will be located at the MCI Center in Northwest Washington, and administrative offices on Third Street in Northeast Washington.  The operation will focus on:

• Providing regular sightseeing tours of the nation’s capital to include monuments, memorials and other sites of interest.
• Provide charter service for special groups.
• Provide tours of other historical and interesting venues away from the city center.

2.1 Company Ownership

Double Decker Tours of Washington will be created as a closely held private District of Columbia Limited Liability Company based in Washington, DC. It will be owned by its founder and principle investors. 

2.2 Company Locations and Facilities

2.2.1 hours of operation.

DDTOW will be open seven days a week.  Tour service will begin at 8:30 am during the spring and summer months and 9:00 am during the winter.  Our evening tour service will begin at 6:30 pm during the winter months and 7:30 pm during spring and summer.  We will be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

2.3 Start-up Summary

Most of the planned start-up costs are apportioned to the following areas:

• Purchasing twelve 70-passenger London-style double-decker sightseeing buses, nine of which are open top for beautiful days and nights and three closed top for cold or inclement weather.  We budgeted $225,000 for the buses, and it will cost us an additional $100,000 for the paint job.
• In addition to the twelve buses, our other long-term assets will include the audio-visual system that will be installed on the buses, for which we budget $80,450.
• Provisions of a sufficient cash reserve to assure timely payment of operating cost of the buses for the first three months.
• Costs associated with recruiting, training and paying operational crews.
• A reserve to cover overall operating costs, aside from bus operating costs, over at least the first three months of operations. 

  Start-up capital will be financed through investment and long-term loans.  Start-up details are located in the table listed below.

Double Decker Tours of Washington will provide double-decker bus sightseeing tours throughout Washington and close-in memorials.  We will survey the national monuments, White House, US Capitol, and the many government buildings along the way during a 2-1/2 to 3 hour  tour.  DDTOW will run 12 converted London-style double-decker buses, giving our tour customers an unobstructed photo opportunity of the many beautiful sites in Washington. 

To make us different from the rest of the companies that operate here, we will aggressively advertise our services and stress and strive for the best service, tours and customer service in the industry.  To accomplish this, we will present surveys to our customers after every tour and we will evaluate our services at our weekly meetings to expand what we are doing right and correct what we are doing wrong.  Each night, our buses will be cleaned and serviced to prevent breakdowns and each day, before tours begin, we will inspect ourselves to make sure that we are presentable to our customers.  To expand our services to the widest amount of people, in the future, we will install a multilingual audiovisual system aboard each bus that will explain the tour in Spanish, French, Japanese and German, as our driver guide narrates in English.

3.1 Service Description

Double Decker Tours will be a full service tour and sightseeing company which will also provide charters for special occasions.  DDTOW’s knowledge of the nation’s capital, it’s rich history, and it’s local entertainment and cultural areas will ensure we provide our customers with a well narrated tour.  Our competitive rates and our focus on customer satisfaction will position DDTOW as a tour company that will be able to weather the economic climate that is facing Washington today and help garner repeat business. 

Our tours will consist of surveying the White House, Capitol, Senate Office Buildings, House Office Buildings, Library of Congress, Supreme  Court, Botanical Garden, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Museums, Washington Monument, Holocaust Museum, Hains Point, Jefferson Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Kennedy Center, Georgetown, Iwo Jima Memorial, Embassy Row, National Cathedral, Ford’s Theatre, FBI Headquarters, Union Station, Japanese-American Memorial and many other sites throughout the city.

3.2 Competitive Comparison

The Washington DC tourism and convention market before September 11, 2001 was robust and  hosted more than 18 million visitors annually.  Since that time, the industry has seen a reduction in the number of visitors because many of the sites that were open now have been closed or access restricted.  Although this may present a deterrent to many people, Washington has many visitors that still come for business and pleasure, so that while depressed, the market is growing and will climb back to previous levels in the future.  In the Washington metro area, over 4 million people make this their home so Double Decker Tours will have many customers to choose from.  DDTOW will tailor its tours to take advantage of areas that are still open.

3.3 Sales Literature

Brochures to feature our tours and services will be produced locally and distributed to hotels, information service kiosks and the Washington Visitor Center.  Direct mail, advertisements and sales promotion literature will be utilized as needed.

3.4 Special Interest Tours

Double Decker Tours of Washington will concentrate on the local sightseeing and tour services, but we will also develop special interest tours for Black History Month, Veteran’s Day, Cherry Blossom Festival and others to showcase the diverse cultural aspect of the city.  We will employ multilingual narrators to cater to our foreign visitors. 

In the future, DDTOW will add buses to our fleet so that we may offer a shuttle service narrative tour in the same way that Tourmobile does today.  We intend to expand into the Annapolis and Baltimore markets.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

In recent 2002 WCTC figures, overnight leisure travel increased significantly, while day-trip volume was down, but the good thing was that average trip expenditures increased to 2000 levels of $480 per day per trip.  Many of trips that were made to the city centered around visiting historical places and museums (36%) and  shopping (24%).  In leisure travel, 36% of visitors were solo travelers as compared to 80% of business travelers and 23% of leisure travelers came with children as compared to 6% of business travelers.  Also many of our visitors to the city have income of over $75 thousand, were married, had no children and were in the 35-54 age group.

Our potential customers are people who want a unique tour experience at a reasonable price.  These will include people who come to the city for the day, leisure travelers, honeymooners, budget-conscious travelers, business travelers, families, students and seniors.

4.1 Market Segmentation

• Sightseeing, R&R, Honeymoon, Special Interest: Our most important customers will be the people who visit Washington for sightseeing, rest and relaxation, on their honeymoon or are here for a convention or other special interest.   We will develop special pricing to encourage honeymooners to spend some time with us and we will highlight their recent marriage during the tour.  Because we support our service people, we will offer discounts to active duty and retired military personnel during Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day holidays.
• High-income:  For these travelers price is not an option, so by pricing ourselves in the middle of the market, we will be able to attract these customers.
• Budget conscious travelers, families, students and seniors:  This group of travelers will find our prices competitive and the tour unsurpassed by the existing tour companies.

Overall, we split our potential market into the DC visitors and Washington area residents. The table below summarizes our market analysis projections.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

Double Decker Tours is located in Washington, DC, our nation’s capital.  The monuments, memorials, theatres, museums and other points of interest make this one of the most visitor intense cities in the country.  Each year over 18 million visitors come here and with the opening of the new convention center, an additional 3-4 million are expected.  Also in the next year, many new sites will be opened such as the World War II Memorial Museum, City Museum, US Capitol Visitor Center, Martin Luther King Memorial and American Indian Museum bringing many new visitors and potential customers to the city. 

All who come for a day trip or who are here for business or pleasure and stay overnight will be in our target market.  We will develop our marketing message to attract these customers and our company policy and aim will be to develop repeat business through word-of-mouth advertising and paid advertisement in the local media.  Our proposed location at the MCI Center will also help in attracting customers since it will be in the heart of the entertainment district with plenty of parking and access to Metro.

4.2.1 Market Opportunities

In addition to 4 million residents, the Washington area also welcomes around 18 million visitors annually.  As indicated above, both of these groups represent DDTOW’s potential customers.  Market research shows that our potential customers spend over 45 weeks per year in a work setting and when they come to Washington, they have between 3 to 7 days to experience our fair city.  Many take sightseeing tours to get an informative layout of the monuments and other points of interest.  This allows them to familiarize themselves with the historic monuments of the nation’s capital in a relaxing and informative way.

4.3 Service Business Analysis

The US travel and tourism industry is the third largest retail industry generating revenues of over $100 billion dollars a year.  The industry is separated into two main categories, business and leisure travel.  Each constitutes about 45% to total revenues.  The remainder of revenues are generated from combined business/leisure travel.  The market is further divided into domestic and international travel.  Domestic travel accounts for more than 70% of generated revenues.  Business travel can be divided into two categories, the medium and large corporate account and the small independent businessman.  Leisure travel is classified according to the types of trips they take, age, and income.

The four primary leisure travel groups are:

• Adventure, Special interest, R&R, Honeymoon and Sightseeing
• High-income Travelers
• Budget-conscious Travelers
• Families, Students and Seniors

4.3.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

There are many companies in Washington providing sightseeing, tours and charter services.  Most of them have one or two things in common, they use coach buses (45 passengers), Trolleys (35-40 passengers) or Tram (85-120 passengers) and the two largest, Tourmobile and Old Town Trolley, use a shuttle system where they stop at certain points in the city so the passenger can get off and explore the site.  Double Decker Tours may do this in the future, but our focus at this time will be to provide clean buses and  informative tours from a single pick-up and drop-off point.  During the warm spring, summer, and fall nights we will conduct a three-hour tour where we will make three stops so that our customers can explore the Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt memorials.

4.3.2 Main Competitors

Our main competitors in the Washington sightseeing industry are:

• Tourmobile :  Tourmobile is based at East Potomac Park and is authorized by the National Park Service to conduct sightseeing tours along the National Mall and in Arlington National Cemetary.  Tourmobile uses a shuttle service employing 85-passenger trams along the Mall and 120-passenger trams in Arlington.  They have been in business for over 25 years.  Tourmobile was started in 1969 as a subsidiary of Universal Studios to provide interpretive services along the National Mall.  In 1981 Tom Mack bought the company making Tourmobile, Inc. a locally-owned, Washington, DC company.  Tourmobile has over 42 vehicles and serves upwards of 2 million riders annually.
• Historic Tours of America :  HTA operates in Washington as the Old Town Trolley and DC Ducks.  HTA is a national company with outlets across the country.  HTA, like Tourmobile, uses a shuttle system for its passengers and they use 35- to 60-passenger trolleys.
• Grayline :  Grayline International is a global company with offices and tours around the world.  Grayline contracts out its services to local bus lines and runs multiple tours.  Grayline runs the Lil Red Trolley as its service in Washington.
• Zohery Tours :  Zohery Tours is a local company that runs 15-passenger vans and 45-passenger coach buses.  Zohery tours are about 3 hours in length.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

DDTOW will focus it’s efforts, initially, on tours in and around the city of Washington.  Being the nation’s capital, its rich history attracts visitors from across the country and around the world.  Estimates from the Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation concludes that over 18 million visitors come to the city spending over $10 billion dollars.  Most of the money is spent on lodging and food but a considerable portion is spent for touring and sightseeing.  By tapping into 2% of the potential market or 453,000 customers,  Double Decker Tours is posed to make over $14 million dollars in sales during it’s first full year of operations.  We intend to advertise heavily in the region to attract customers and hold unique events to help boost sales.

Another method we will utilize to capture sales will be a Welcome Aboard photograph.  How this works is that as our customers are boarding the bus for a tour, we will take a photograph of them and when they return, we will have a digital photo board with their picture on it.  If they would like their photo, we will print it and frame it with one of our DDTOW frames, and we will let them e-mail their photo to anyone in the world from our e-mail server.

5.1 Competitive Edge

DDTOW’s competitive edge is recognizing a niche market that is unfulfilled at the moment.  That market consists of introducing to the Washington sightseeing public the other city away from the monuments and memorials of the Federal City.  Groups such as CulturalTourismDC, HeritageDC, DowntownDC and the mayor’s office are spending millions of dollars to entice visitors to the scenic and entertainment sections of Washington.  DDTOW can take advantage of this promotion by introducing a fleet of London-style double-decker buses and specialized tours in the areas that are being highlighted.  Tourmobile, because of their charter with the National Park Service, cannot operate off the National Mall and Old Town Trolley, being a national service, has established their routes and at this time are not interested in exploring areas that may not be profitable to them.  We, on the other hand, with aggressive marketing and promotion in conjunction with the above groups can capitalize on that new and emerging market as well as provide regular tour around the monument and memorial that most tourist want to see.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

Double Decker Tours adheres to the theory that the goal of business is to create and keep customers happy.  Our marketing strategy will reflect this goal as we build our reputation in the Washington sightseeing/tour market.  Many of DDTOW’s potential customers spend over 55 weeks per year in a work setting and when they come to Washington, they have between 3 to 7 days to experience our fair city.  Many take sightseeing tours to get an informative layout of the monuments and other points of interest. 

DDTOW will promote the capital city of monuments, memorial and historical sites plus we will provide them with a view of the other city.  Our tours will take them to the neighborhoods that they might have seen in the movies, our entertainment districts, and other prominent sites that will pique their interest.  At the end of the tour, our goal is have each and every customer leave the bus with an ear-to-ear grin.  That way when the customer goes home, they will tell their friends about our service and the beauty of Washington.  We will also follow up our tours with survey forms so that we can get feedback from our customers so that we may improve.

5.2.1 Pricing Scheme

Much of Double Decker Tours’ pricing is determined by our competition.  The price of sightseeing in Washington ranges from $15 to $40.  By setting our price at the level of $30, we will appeal to the budget conscious traveler as well as those that price is not an option.  With a potential market of over 22 million people per year, we are basing our first year figures on servicing 453,000 or 2% of the potential visitors.

5.2.2 Promotion Scheme

The overall concept and design of Double Decker Tours of Washington sets the stage for its promotion.  Marketing and promotion will stress the unique buses, the fun you can have with us and quality of tours that will set it apart from the rest.  Strong public relations combined with well-placed, well-designed, distinctive advertising appealing directly to people who are our prospective customers will help get the word out.

5.2.3 Marketing Scheme

Customers will be reached through traditional marketing communication methods.  Research suggests that our target market customers, and travelers in general, are Internet savvy, so before traveling to Washington, many will access the Web for sightseeing information and may make reservations or purchases via that medium.  Besides, the Internet will serve as an effective means of communication and distribution of information about our services.  DDTOW will target our customers initially at our kiosks and bus stops as we board our passengers, giving them brochures and other literature that they may share with their family and friends, but we will also look at cable television, radio and other inexpensive media to get our message out.

5.2.3.1 Marketing Effort

The marketing effort will employ a mix of vehicles to convey our message and presence.

• Print media — local newspapers, free weeklies
• Broadcast media — local programming and special interest shows
• Hotel guides — concierge relations, Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation brochures
• Misc. — Yellow Pages, charity events

The marketing effort will be split into three phases using the media vehicle described above:

1) Opening — An advanced notice (press packet) sent out to all media and printed announcement ads in key places, rack brochures, direct mail/giveaways.  Budget – $80,000

2) Ongoing — A flexible campaign (using above media), assessed regularly for effectiveness.  Budget – $12,000 per month in the first year

3) Point of sale — A well trained staff can enhance the customer’s overall experience.  Word-of-mouth referral is very important in building a customer base.

5.2.4 Futuristic Plans and Strategic Opportunities

DDTOW, upon successful operation of two years, will begin to develop strategies and plans geared towards opening new offices and sightseeing services in Baltimore, Annapolis, Miami and eventually Atlanta, expanding as the need and resources allow.

5.3 Sales Strategy

Double Decker Tours will aggressively sell the benefits of touring with us by implementing the following action items:

In our first months of operations we will:

• Begin a major advertisement campaign to let the Washington area sightseeing public know that there is a new tour in town.
• We will host a party for the concierges of all the major hotels in Washington and present them with an incentives offer for referrals to DDTOW.
• We will join the DC Chamber of Commerce, Washington Convention and Tourism Corporation and Washington Board of Trade and cohost a meet and greet party for the local business, media and government officials and invite decision makers from the area.
• We will buy inexpensive media time throughout the year on local radio, in the print media, on television and cable television outlets to promote our tours and the fun that you can have traveling with Double Decker Tours.

In the future we will:

• During the school year we will offer discount tours to area schools and during the summer we will offer discount tours to area colleges and universities for their incoming freshmen and their families.
• Develop special tours such as ‘Lovers Only’ tours at Valentine Day.
• Host Fraternity and Sorority night tours.
• Develop ‘Movie Scene’ tours.
• Host Family Reunion special tours.
• Develop Veterans tour specials.
• Host a once a year Stone Cold Family Picnic tour.
• Add to our product line a picture-taking ability so that before customers go on one of our tours, we will take pictures of the group and have a framed portrait waiting for their return, as well as the ability to send the picture via e-mail to anywhere in the world.

Our commitment is to maximize the pleasure of our customers so that their time with us will be one of the most memorable parts of their trip to Washington.  As we grow and profit, Double Decker Tours intends to spend from 5% to 10% of gross revenues on advertising thereby raising DDTOW’s image in the regional tour and sightseeing market.

5.3.1 Sales Forecast

The sales forecast is based on DDTOW capturing a 2% share of the over 18 million visitors that visit Washington along with the approximately 4 million people that live in the metro area.  That means that DDTOW would have to service 453,000 customers during the 2004-2005 year, 543,600 during the 2005-2006 year and 652,300 during the 2006-2007 year.  These figures are based on running an average of 24 tours per day divided between 12 buses during the summer and  8 to 18 tour per day during the winter months.  During the summer months in Washington, with the amount of advertising  and aggressive marketing that we plan to do, DDTOW will be able to meet the goals that we have set for ourselves. 

Another service that DDTOW will offer our customers will be a digital photograph of their group.  As the groups prepare to board our buses, we will take photographs of them.  After they finish the tour and return to the MCI Center, we will have a framed photo of them already mounted along with a digital copy that they can e-mail through our Internet station to anyone in the world.  We will charge only $10 dollars for this and we forecast only about 1 in 15 will take advantage of this option.  This is an option that none of our competitors are using at the moment.

The table below summarizes our sales forecast.  We have chosen to treat only fuel and photo processing and Internet connections as our direct costs of sales, while some of our other projected expenses related to the service delivery, such as drivers’ salaries, are reflected in our Profit & Loss projections later in this document.

5.4 Milestones

Double Decker Tours of Washington’s important milestones are detailed in the following table.  DDTOW believes that it is important for a company to set goals because this helps determine the company’s strategy and tactics, and maintain company focus.  The milestones are seen as progress points and will be used to measure DDTOW’s success in reaching it’s goals.

What the table doesn’t show is the commitment behind it. Our business plan includes complete provisions for plan-vs.-actual analysis, and we will hold monthly follow-up meetings to discuss the variance and course corrections.

Web Plan Summary

DDTOW will establish a presence on the World Wide Web, linking it to the Washington Visitor Center Web site, to promote our tours, accept electronic mail to answer queries and take reservations.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

Mike Coleman and Paul Williams will serve as member managers, however, DDTOW is a small company and its administrative staff will share in management duties and decision making.  This will make it important for each member of the team to be capable in all aspects of the business.  Prerequisites for all administrative employees will be cash handling, personnel management, computer skills and sightseeing/tour experience. 

We will train our staff to become competent in these areas and we will embark on a continuous training program for all employees.  Our operations staff will consist of experienced driver/guides, many of whom have already worked in the local market and we will contract out to certain narrators for special projects.  DDTOW will contract the maintenance of the buses to Peter Pan in Tuxedo, Maryland, which services Old Town Trolley and Grayline’s Lil Red Trolley, so that the fleet will be well maintained at all times.

7.1 Personnel Plan

DDTOW will begin operating with 22 full time positions.  The positions are as follows:

• Member Manager – Michael F. Coleman
• Member Business Development – Paul F. Williams
• Marketing / Sales Associates (4)
• Courtesy Captains (4)
• Driver/guides (12)

Member Manager and owner, Michael F. Coleman, age 50, has knowledge of the local sightseeing and touring industry in the Washington area.  Mike has gained his sightseeing and tour experience from working for Tourmobile and conducting walking tours in the city over the past two year.  From that experience, he has gain an unique perspective of what it would take to start and run a successful tour and sightseeing company.  Mike has also been involved in scheduling, guiding and many administrative functions needed for running a business. 

Before starting Double Decker Tours of Washington, LLC, Mike sold health care products under the Equinox label until the company went out of business in November 1999.  From that experience, Mike learned how to motivate a sales force, help design new sales strategies and develop creative ways to market the products.

Before that, Mike was a software and database consultant to different companies throughout the Washington area working for such firms as Computer Sciences Corporation, Computer and Applied Sciences, Inc., General Services, Inc., the General Services Administration and PATA USA.  In this capacity, Mike was responsible for scheduling, customer service, writing numerous reports and billing of services. 

Mike also worked as a member of the board for the H Street Northeast Merchants and Professional Association.  Working on the board with numerous business people gave Mike an insight into the day-to-day operations of small businesses and gave him a chance to meet other business people through the associations membership in the Greater Washington Board of Trade.  Mike, as a member of the board, also worked on the H Street Festival Committee in 1999, which re-introduced the H Street Festival back to Washington after a long hiatus. 

Mike also wrote and independently published a book called the Fitness Diary, which allowed fitness enthusiasts to document their workouts.  The Fitness Diary was well received by bodybuilders and those that just wanted to look good.

Member Business Development, Paul F. Williams, has over 30 years of entrepreneurial experience in computer and information technology, export promotion, international business development, private sector development, technology transfer and management and technical assistance domestically and in Africa.  Mr. Williams is founder and president of THE INFORMATION PROCESSING COMPANY, INC. (TIPCO, INC.), an international trade and business development firm.  His company consults with governmental and private sector organizations, businesses and individuals on issues involving domestic and international trade and business development. 

Mr. Williams was the counselor and instructor in International Business Development/Export-Import; past Counselor/Director of Cities In Schools Youth Entrepreneurial Empowerment Project; creator and coordinator of the Volunteer Consultant Corp at Howard University Small Business Development Center; Chairperson, International Trade Committee of the Black Presidents’ Roundtable Association (BPRA); Chairperson, International Trade Committee of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce and many other accomplishments.  Mr. Williams will develop strategies for increasing business for DDTOW.

Marketing/Sales Associates:  The individuals selected for these positions will have extensive experience in the local tourism and sightseeing industry.  They will have a proven track record in generating sales.  Their responsibilities in this position will be to develop marketing and sales materials and campaigns as well as supervising sales personnel as we grow.

Courtesy Captains:  The individuals selected for these positions will have customer service experience as they will be our face to the public.  They will hand out literature about the company and our tours, help customers board the buses and answer questions or complaint that come up.  The Captains will also take photographs of our customers as they board the buses for later sales.

Driver/Guides:  The individuals selected will be required to have a Commercial Drivers License and Tour Guide License.  Drivers will have local knowledge of the city and they will be responsible for the safety of the buses and passengers and will present informative, humorous tours to our customers.

7.2 Compensation and Incentive Plan

Compensation and incentives for employees and managers of Double Decker Tours of Washington, LLC is as follows:

Courtesy Captains and Driver/Guides will receive overtime pay (currently estimated at 20%) in addition to their regular salary.  Also all employees will be covered under a health, dental, and vision plan after three months of employment.  Plans for a profit sharing or 401(k) plan will be available for employees.

At Double Decker Tours of Washington, we believe in an incentive based entrepreneurial approach to management.  To have the employee want to work and make money, we will institute programs that will benefit the employee as well as the company.  For example, when we sell photographs of our passengers, the Courtesy Captains will make a commission on the photos sold during their shift.  How this will benefit them is that a receipt will be processed with the CC name on it so that when a purchase has been transacted, that CC is credited with the sale, thus the commission.  At this point, we will assess what commission will be paid.  For the drivers, we will allow them to compete for tips as well as overtime pay.  But we will also keep tabs on their attendance and appearance.  At the end of the month, those drivers that have the best attendance record and appearance will be allowed to compete for the monthly bonus.

7.3 Advisory Committee

Mr. Coleman is in the process of assembling a group of established businessman as his board of advisors so that he may learn from them the lessons they have learned before encountering them himself.

7.4 Professional Support

• Stitcher, Mosley & Company, PA of Lanham-Seabrook Maryland has been tapped to be our accountants.
• DH Lloyd and Associates have been contacted about our insurance needs.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

Double Decker Tours of Washington’s financial plan is detailed in the following sections.  Preliminary estimates suggest a substantial profit after our first two quarters of operations.  Income estimates are based on garnering 2% of the tourist/sightseeing business in Washington with a growth rate of 20% for the next three years and a growth of 10% after that.

All our financial projections present a conservative but realistic depiction of DDTOW’s financial position based on loans and financing of $800,000.

8.1 Important Assumptions

DDTOW, LLC assumes the following:

• Market growth projections for sightseeing will be down because of war fears that permeate the city but with over 4 million residents in the area and over 20 million visitors per year, DDTOW, LLC will be able to experience a 20% growth rate over the next three years.
• Local economic conditions will remain viable and favorable to the tourism industry for the next five years.
• International conditions will change from a war footing to peace thus increasing tourism to the city.

8.2 Break-even Analysis

The break-even analysis is based on an average monthly fixed cost of approximately $121,200. By placing our ticket price between Tourmobile’s price and Old town Trolley’s, we needed only4,000 riders per month to break even. On a thirty-day basis that comes to about 134 riders per day or 12 riders per bus per day. During the fall, spring and summer months, we will more than surpass that number of riders.

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

Our projected profit and loss is shown on the following table, with sales increasing from more than $14 million the first year to more than $21 million the third, and profits varying substantially for the start-up phase of this business. We show a profit in the first year on 2% of 22 million visitors to the city or 453,000 customers which equals 1,286 customers per day or making two tours per day for 12 buses.

As with the break-even analysis, we are projecting very conservatively regarding cost of sales and gross margin. Our cost of sales should be much lower, and gross margin higher, than in this projection. We prefer to project conservatively so that we make sure we have enough cash.

The detailed monthly projections are included in the appendices.

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

Cash flow projections are critical to our success. Our analysis shows strong cash generation over the projected period. Some of our assumptions for the cash flow table below are as follows:

• We start repaying on the $800,000 five-year long-term loan at the very beginning of our operations. The first few months will be critical to our survival as we need to make sure that our cash balance remains strong.
• We do not plan any additional long-term asset purchases, except for those summarized in the start-up table earlier in this document, for the first year. During the second and third year we budget $100,000 for each year for additional long-term asset, which may include some additional or replacement buses.
• We assume collecting the District of Columbia’s sales tax (5.75%) off the ticket sales. These sales taxes will be paid out quarterly. For all additional purchases (i.e., operational expenses and capital assets) we assume prices inclusive of applicable sales taxes.

The monthly cash is shown in the illustration below, with one bar representing the cash flow per month, and the other the monthly cash balance. The annual cash flow figures are included here and the more important detailed monthly numbers are included in the appendices.

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The balance sheet in the following table shows managed but sufficient growth of net worth, and a sufficiently healthy financial position. The monthly estimates are included in the appendices.

8.6 Business Ratios

We expect to maintain healthy ratios for profitability, risk, and return. The following table outlines some of the more important ratios from the Sightseeing tour company industry. The final column, Industry Profile, details specific ratios based on the industry as it is classified by the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) code, 4725.9902.

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