Arival, the leading media outlet for the tours and experiences industry, recently revealed that their most widely read article of 2024 was a piece on tour guide training, topping the list by a wide margin. This highlights just how vital guides are to the success of any tour, and how hungry operators are for insights and strategies to support them. At Fieldbook, our own survey of Fieldnotes subscribers revealed a similar trend: reviewing tours and gathering feedback is the primary way operators learn and improve (you can contribute to our ongoing survey here).
This comes as no surprise to us. Guides are the heart of every great tour experience. They are the custodians of the journey and play the most important role in creating memorable moments for guests. One essential resource they depend on to make this possible is the Guide Itinerary, which helps them stay organised and consistently deliver seamless experiences throughout the trip.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the guide itinerary: what it is, what makes it effective, and how it can elevate your tours. To gain deeper insight, I spoke with Charlie Leon, a seasoned guide with hundreds of trips under his belt, who shared his expert advice and practical tips on what makes a guide itinerary truly invaluable in the field.
What is a Guide Itinerary?
A guide itinerary is an essential resource for running a well-organised tour. It’s a comprehensive document that provides guides with everything they need to deliver a seamless and enjoyable experience for guests.
Often referred to as Tour Leader Notes, Trip Notes, Tour Dossier, or Guide Run-Sheet, the purpose remains the same: it’s the guide’s go-to resource for executing a successful trip. It guides the guide, so to speak.
How It’s Used
- Before the Tour: Guides use the itinerary to familiarise themselves with the schedule, review updates or adjustments, and learn about the group of guests they’ll be hosting.
- During the Tour: It serves as a practical reference for logistics, guest preferences, and daily schedules, ensuring no part of the experience is overlooked.
- After the Tour: The itinerary becomes a tool for capturing feedback and insights from the guide. Notes on what worked, what didn’t, and suggestions for improvement can be added, ensuring continuous refinement for future trips.
Historically, these itineraries were paper-based, but many operators are embracing digital formats. In addition to the environmental benefits, digital itineraries offer significant advantages: they allow real-time updates, ensuring guides always have the latest information. For tours in remote areas where connectivity is limited, digital itineraries should include offline access to ensure guides are never caught unprepared.
Whether printed or digital, the guide itinerary remains an essential tool for consistently delivering an exceptional tour experience.
What Makes a Great Guide Itinerary?
A great guide itinerary is one that any guide—whether experienced or leading the tour for the first time—can rely on to confidently deliver the tour as intended. It should be comprehensive, easy to navigate, and continuously improved to incorporate valuable insights and practical tips that only come from running the tour on the ground.
For smaller operators aiming to grow, creating a standardised guide itinerary is a crucial step in scaling operations. Initially, a single person (often the owner) may manage the tour using a few notes or relying on their personal experience. However, as the business grows and more guides take the lead, a well-structured guide itinerary becomes essential. It empowers the team by providing clear direction and enables operators to delegate responsibilities without sacrificing the quality or consistency of the guest experience.
Key Features:
- Comprehensive: A guide itinerary should consolidate all essential details in one place, removing the need for guides to dig through emails or search online. This includes everything from guest details to step-by-step procedures. By having all the necessary information readily available, guides can rely on the itinerary without added stress.
- Easy to Navigate: Having all the information is only part of the equation; it also needs to be organised in a way that’s practical during a tour. A well-structured itinerary ensures guides can quickly find what they need, without flipping through endless pages. This is especially important when guides need to reference details on the go.
- Consistent Across Tours: A consistent layout across all itineraries helps guides become familiar with the structure of the document. Whether they’re leading a new tour or revisiting an old one, they’ll know exactly where to look for the information they need, saving time and reducing uncertainty.
- Adapts and Improves: A good guide itinerary is a living document that gets better with every tour. After each trip, it should be reviewed and updated with insights and feedback from guides and guests. This iterative process ensures each version is an improvement, continually refining the guest experience. It also serves as a way to capture and pass on the unique knowledge and lessons from different guides, ensuring these insights are preserved and shared effectively.
Fieldstory Insights: Lisa Marshall from GirlsTrek
In a recent Fieldstory interview, Lisa Marshall, Operations Manager at GirlsTrek, shared valuable insights on refining guide itineraries: “After running a trip for the first time, we spend a lot of time reflecting and learning from the experience. Every trip is followed by a detailed post-trip review, where we gather feedback from both guides and clients. This feedback is carefully assessed and used to refine the itinerary. With each iteration, we make small tweaks to improve the experience until it reaches a point of consistency where changes are rarely needed”
What to Include in a Guide Itinerary?
Here’s a comprehensive list of essential elements to include in a guide itinerary:
| Section | Details |
|---|---|
| General Trip Information | Destinations, themes, duration, and key highlights or objectives. |
| Packing List | A copy of the list shared pre-trip with guests. This helps guides reference what guests were advised to bring and use it for their own needs during the trip. |
| Changes from Past Trips | Any adjustments or unique considerations for a particular departure, such as changes to the route, new suppliers, or any modifications compared to past trips. |
| Weather Contingencies | Alternative plans for unexpected conditions, such as rainy-day activities or backup routes. |
| Pre-Tour Checklist | Tasks to complete before the trip, such as confirming bookings, reviewing guest details, preparing equipment, and shopping for supplies or food. |
| Guide-Specific Daily Tasks | A breakdown of tasks mapped into the day with timing. For example, preparing a snack station at 6 AM, fuelling vehicles, or cleaning tasks at the end of the day. |
| Detailed Itinerary | Day-by-day breakdown with distances, timings, activities, and special notes. |
| Guest Details | Arrival and departure information, dietary preferences, medical needs, and special requests. |
| Supplier and Reservation Info | Contact details and confirmation numbers for accommodations, transport, and activities. |
| Health and Safety | Emergency protocols for medical issues, evacuation procedures, organisational support numbers, and local emergency contacts grouped together for easier reference. |
| Budget Overview | Key budget details, including meal allowances, fuel costs, or other expenses guides may need to track. |
| Risk Assessments | Identified risks and contingency plans or mitigation strategies. |
| Local Insights and Tips | Cultural considerations, local customs, or must-know destination information. |
| Guide Feedback | Space for guides to record observations and suggestions to improve itineraries post-tour. |
Of course, the level of detail will depend on the trip’s length and complexity, as well as the guide’s familiarity with the route. Longer trips or those with new guides may require more detail, while shorter or familiar tours may need a streamlined version.
4 Expert Tips for Creating Exceptional Guide Itineraries
I asked Charlie Leon, a seasoned guide with hundreds of tours under his belt, if he had any tips for creating better guide itineraries. Here’s the advice he shared:
Tip 1: Set the Tone with a Daily Overview
Help the guide set expectations and maybe a theme for the day. I.e. “Today we’ll be on the coast so it’s all about the history of fishing in the region. Be aware that there will be a long transfer and we have to wait for the ferry.” Helping the guide set expectations for the day for their guests and highlight the positives and trade-offs will give them the confidence to present the day’s positives and negatives as the well-planned product their customers paid for.
Tip 2: Share Cultural Moments
Include moments in the itinerary to share cultural or historical details with guests. These days, some cultural information can even link to videos of guides giving cultural talks, allowing guides to learn from each other and build a richer shared knowledge base. Charlie explains: “A great guide itinerary doesn’t just tell you what’s happening—it empowers guides to deliver a better experience. One way to do this is by highlighting moments to share cultural information. For example, if you’re visiting a landmark, include a quick note about its historical significance or a local story. These details turn a good tour into a memorable one. If possible, link to a separate document where guides can dive deeper into cultural insights in advance.”
Tip 3: Build a Collaborative Guide Appendix
Create an appendix for guides to write notes to each other. This keeps notes up to date between edits of the official guide itinerary, and allows all guides to have a voice in future edits and versions of the itinerary. This section might include road closures, recommended extra stops or a special moment where a guide can add something to really elevate the experience, alternate plans, or internal procedures.Keeping these details separate ensures the main itinerary remains clear and guest-focused, while still providing access to valuable internal insights. “I recommend adding an appendix specifically for guide notes. This section can include things like route changes, alternative plans, or internal procedures that don’t belong in the main itinerary. Keeping these details separate ensures the primary itinerary stays clear and guest-focused while guides still have access to the extra information they need.”
Tip 4: Plan for the Unexpected
Include contingency plans for unexpected situations, like delays, weather disruptions, or guest requests. As Charlie puts it: “Even with the best planning, things don’t always go as expected. Include a section in the itinerary for contingency plans—what to do if there’s a delay, bad weather, or a guest request that changes the schedule. Having this guidance in the document helps guides feel confident and prepared to adapt on the fly.”
Guide Itinerary Example
Let’s take Fieldbook’s Guide Itinerary Template as an example of how a well-designed template can simplify and enhance the process of creating guide itineraries. Built to help tour operators deliver exceptional guest experiences, this template ensures guides have all the critical information they need, presented in a clear and intuitive format. Each section is carefully structured to support guides on the ground and improve operational efficiency, helping tours run smoothly and seamlessly.
We’re currently creating a downloadable Guide Itinerary Template to help tour operators get started. Whether you’re building your first guide itinerary or refining an existing one, this template will serve as a practical starting point. It will be featured in future posts, so stay tuned for updates.
Conclusion
A thoughtfully crafted guide itinerary is a cornerstone of successful tour operations. It equips guides with the tools they need to deliver seamless, memorable experiences while keeping operations efficient and stress-free. By incorporating best practices—like proactive communication, adaptability, and continuous refinement—you can ensure every tour not only meets but exceeds guest expectations.
