Group Tours Offer Low-Risk Travel

True or false - Group tours are mostly bus trips for seniors. False!

Young professionals, families and seniors are among those buying comprehensive, specialized tour packages that are stylish, educational, exotic and even trendy.

The immediate benefits? There is a minimum of planning and a maximum of experience organized by people who know how to make the most of travel. Group tours offer a low-risk travel solution that has a high probability of success.

Although not all-inclusive, most group tours do include the costs of transportation, accommodation and sight-seeing. Groups go anywhere from the Great Wall of China, the outback of Australia, the 24-hour sun of Scandinavia to the markets of Asia Minor. Catalogues for some tour companies can be weighty publications chock full of many hundreds of incredible trips you never thought possible.

So what do you need to consider? Your travel agent will have information on specific tour companies and what they offer. Try starting with the Five-W basics.

Who? What kind of company is the tour operator and who will lead the tour? Tour companies have varying reputations when it comes to the product and service they supply. Be discerning and do some research into the company with which you want to travel.

Check with your travel agent, the better business bureau, and friends who have previously taken these tours to ensure the company delivers what it promises. You"ll want to know that the person designated to lead the tour is truly qualified to guide and lecture on the themes of the trip.

What? What are you actually buying in your tour package? Most include air, hotel, transfers, some meals and some admission prices. Tour companies make their money on volume deals with the hotels and other suppliers they use in your chosen destination so there should be some cost savings associated with group travel. Assess whether you are going to get value for money for the trip, separate from the spending money you"ll need to take with you.

Another consideration is the size of the group. Smaller groups are more intimate and easier to manage than large groups.

Where? Your preferred destination will dictate which company you will travel with. If you want to tour ancient civilizations or visit a politically unstable country, you will likely travel with a different company than if you want to do an adventure tour in Costa Rica. Remember, too, that there is little flexibility to change your mind on group tours. The schedule is pretty much set, so pick the destination that will hold your interest for the duration of the trip.

When? Timing is elementary, but necessary to good planning. Ski trips (unless you"re heading to South America) take place during the northern hemisphere"s winter months. European summer tours have to battle overcrowding. Garden tours start in the spring. Southeast Asia gets monsoons from November through April, depending on where you are relative to the equator.

Why? Be certain a group tour is really what you want. The advantage is you"ll meet new friends and be able to concentrate on your experience rather than the travel details. Group tours, with the right questions answered, can provide the ideal travel options for many travelers.

Our travel consultants are experts at helping business and vacation travelers plan their trips.