An experience or a vacation itinerary helps your guests in planning their trip and making the most out of their vacation. Not every guest researches about the place they are visiting. Further, being the property owner, you know the region better than anyone else. Consider it an opportunity to better serve your guests and help them enjoy the region.
Your itinerary should be insightful, and it should add value to your guest’s idea of a vacation. It should be informative, helpful, and fun at the same time. Further, you can have one general itinerary which is suitable for all kinds of guests while several other smaller itineraries suitable for specific guests. For example, if your guests are a family, then you cannot recommend the same bars and pubs which may be more enjoyable for younger twenty-somethings or older retirees. So customization is important too.
Let us look at ways of creating the experience itineraries that add value.
Contents
The Most Important Aspects of a Vacation Itinerary
Below are some points that should be considered in both general and customized itineraries. You can think of these as a rule of thumb or industry best practices.
1. Pick Out the Most Important Spots Nearby
These are the spots that no guest should miss. The Crown Jewels of the destination, most important sights, highly recommended restaurants offering local delicacies, or even places of famous historic events.
If you own a property in South Dakota, you cannot miss the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore from your vacation itinerary. Ensure that you do not miss important locations that your guests might regret missing, such as Crazy Horse Memorial, Spearfish Canyon, and Deadwood, among others.
Make sure you choose all top spots of South Dakota within a 1 to 2-hour drive from your property. The more well-researched your itinerary is, the more helpful it is for your guests.
2. Transport Information & Tie-ups
You need to make it as easy as possible for your guests to get around. You can offer them suggestions for local public transport or assist by providing a list of local taxicab services.
Further, give your guests options and inform them about the charges. Try to get the lowest possible fares. You can even keep a brochure of bus schedules and other public transport modes. These days, you can find such information online, so keep your vacation itinerary up to date with websites or phone numbers.
3. Take Care of the Small Details
If you are suggesting an outdoor adventure such as a national park, make sure you advise your guests to wear sturdy shoes. You can also include items such as flashlights, mosquito repellent, and some winter wear if it tends to get cold at night. Your guests might not have all such things with them. You can suggest local vendors or outlets to them where to buy them or keep a small selection on hand.
There can be places that require a particular dress code, such as religious shrines. Inform your guests if you are aware of restrictions. You might host international guests who are not aware of local customs. Make their experience as hassle-free as possible.
Remember, these small touches can lead to great reviews. Not only that, you need to make your guests feel welcome. They have come to relax and do not wish to use their free time in planning an outing. If you take care of these things you will help them in having a wonderful time.
4. Do not Just Make A List – Describe the Experiences
Simply mentioning the places will not do your guests any good. You need to describe the places. Suppose you are situated in Chicago. Do not simply mention taking a food tour. Describe how these food tours will take your guests to undisclosed spots, where they can get the best pizza of their lives.
Not only is this specific, but it also gives a clear idea of what the guests can expect. When you give such ideas, even those who never thought of taking a food tour can get tempted. You ought to give the guests some ideas they can explore. If they ask you for further information, be prepared to tell them!
5. Keep More Information Handy
Even though you want to make a descriptive vacation itinerary, it is not advisable to write more than 1-2 sentences about an experience. Your guests might want to know a little more about certain places. For example, if you mention that they should check out the Victorian houses in Cape May, your guests might ask a little bit about history. So have such links ready.
6. Make your inquisitive guests feel welcome to ask you questions.
Your guests might not be sure what they want from the vacation so by giving them more information, you provide a value-add that helps them decide. Be sure to specify an approximate travel time. You do not want your guests to just rush from one place to another. You can even suggest how long will it take to cover all the sites.
Some guests might be there only for a weekend, you cannot suggest to them a 10-day vacation itinerary. While on the other hand, some guests might be there for a longer period, so you need to have enough locations on your itinerary to keep them engaged.
It may help to suggest the amount of time they may want to spend at each location to get a complete experience. This way, they can pick the attractions they want to visit in the limited time they have.
Creating Customized Vacation Itinerary for Specific Guests
Although the aforementioned aspects are important in any vacation itinerary, you can even create some itineraries specifically to your guest. These cater to different categories of guests. Some examples of customized itineraries are:
1. Romantic Getaways for Couples
This itinerary could include restaurants offering candlelight dinners, moonlit boat rides, couples beaches, and other such getaways. You might find that your rental attracts honeymooners. This itinerary will come in handy for them. Make their honeymoon last forever in their memory.
2. Nightlife Specific Vacation Itinerary
Many college students and young adults like to enjoy the nightlife. So have a specific itinerary showing bar-hopping, pub-crawling, casinos, concerts, and other such venues. If your area is frequented by students, make sure to include budget-friendly eateries on your vacation itinerary.
3. Family-Friendly Vacation Itinerary
If your guests are families with children, then make sure to include kid-friendly locations. You can include dinosaur museums, amusement parks, beaches, adventure places, national parks, and so on. Make sure the parks have kid-friendly hikes and activities. In this case, do not include places such as casinos or pubs.
4. Elderly Friendly Vacation Itinerary
You might be tempted to think that any itinerary is good for adults. However, the elderly have special needs. If your property is located in Florida, then the elderly is one of the largest chunks of your target audience. They would not want to go bar-hopping. They may wish to relax on a beach.
Make sure all the places have accessibility options. They want to enjoy their retirement. Help them with suggestions that take into consideration possible mobility requirements and locations that require less travel.
You might create different categories, as well, such as that based on the nature of activities. This might include an adventure vacation itinerary or that with museums, historic sites, and art galleries. There can be nature specific itineraries including botanical gardens, arboretums, national parks. So it depends on the type of experience you want to give your guests.
Wrapping It Up
As you can see from the above suggestions, building a vacation itinerary is not an easy task. A lot of thought goes into it. You must customize the itineraries based on your guest or the purpose of their vacation. However, some of the basic points remain the same in all cases.
Imagine missing out on topmost destinations of your region. Be sure to highlight tourist hotpots as well as lesser-known favorite spots. If your guest has enough time, you can offer them customized itineraries. Also, it is best not to judge the book by the cover. Your guest might fall in the elderly category and still enjoy the roller coasters. So enquire what kind of experience they want to have and then offer the customized itineraries.
We hope this guide for creating a clear and specific vacation itinerary will help you in creating a better experience for your guests and get you better reviews. Do not forget to list your property on our platform Rental Trader to get better bookings. All you have to do is simply log in and follow the instructions. If you need any further information, fill out the webform below, or feel free to call us to the number provided on the contact page.
