6) Guides and tour personnel
There’s a wide range of guides and tour directors in the travel industry, from garden-variety escorts who manage trip logistics to highly educated and specialized local experts. On budget tours, expect to work with the former. These tour directors, though competent and well trained, are likely to be contractors who take groups out to a variety of destinations. They probably aren’t full-time employees of the tour companies, and they may not have deep knowledge on the places you’re visiting.
7) Customization
Since value tour companies specialize in selling popular travel packages over and over, you can probably count on their trips running smoothly. What you may not be able to count on, though, is the ability to customize your trip or make significant changes to a prepackaged itinerary. Some low-cost operators offer only scheduled departures and don’t customize at all. Those that do have the ability to customize group itineraries may include extra charges for the service.
8) Exclusivity
Since low-cost tourism is a volume business, companies that operate in this space count on every tour going out at or near full capacity. This can limit the amount of exclusivity they can offer your group. If you have only 20 travelers on a trip, for example, the tour operator might combine your group with another group — or even a handful of individual travelers — to fill the trip. Private trips for smaller groups may be more expensive or simply not available.
9) Special Touches
Many times, it’s the little extras that can make an experience memorable: a welcome reception, a VIP tour or a special meet-and-greet. Value tour operators don’t avoid these extras altogether — any tour should have one or two special surprises — but they’re likely to be modest. If you choose to take your travelers on a budget trip, you should prepare to arrange your own special touches for the group and perhaps set aside a small budget to pay for them.
10) Comps and Commissions
Depending on how you structure your travel program, you may count on complimentary trips for yourself as a group leader, or perhaps you receive commissions from tour companies in order to raise money for your organization. When working with budget travel brands, you’ll probably have access to comps and commissions, but the terms are likely to be less generous than those offered by higher-end companies. Value companies are likely to give only a single comp for the entire group instead of the one-for-10 or one-for-12 comp programs others employ.