How to Create Bespoke Travel Itineraries for Your Clients

While travel is pretty much a universal desire, most people have very different needs for travelling. Despite this being common knowledge, most travel agents don’t leverage their experience and know-how to produce customized travel experiences for their clients.

The reason for this is mostly laziness and expectation management. Most travellers don’t know what they want themselves, so it’s rather easy to create a one-size-fits-all itinerary with major tourist hot spots. This ensures that the risk of a bad experience is minimized and the client is content.

Of course, if that’s the approach you’re using as a travel agent, then why does the client even need your services? The internet has made all kinds of information publicly available. People can log onto forums and discuss unique locations, best practices, and popular destinations whenever they want.

It is becoming increasingly important for travel agents to distinguish themselves and prove that they provide a valuable service. The best way to do this is by designing a bespoke travel itinerary for each client. The best travel agents already know how crucial this is and recognize that it isn’t a walk in the park.

If you hope to truly become successful as a travel agent, then you need to learn how to develop these bespoke travel itineraries. Here’s how you can get started!

Ask Lots of Questions

The entire point of a bespoke travel itinerary is that it is tailor-made to the needs of each client. You can’t make a plan without knowing more about the people for whom you’re designing the itinerary. This is why you have to be very inquisitive when interacting with the client.

Ask them about what they like to do, what they want to do, and what they really don’t want to do. Find out if they’re more the adventurous type or more the easy-going type. Knowing the answers to all these questions will help you design an itinerary that reflects what the clients will enjoy doing.

Once you know the clients’ needs and desires, you can plan the minute details to create a customized travel experience.

Push the Envelope

Travelling is all about new experiences and doing things that you would normally be too afraid to do. This is why it is essential that you add elements in the bespoke travel itinerary that encourage your clients to be more open to experiences.

This should obviously be done with prior consultation with your clients. In our experience, most people are hesitant to try new things, especially if they’re in complete contrast with what they normally do.

You should have in-depth knowledge about the location they’re visiting and recommend activities accordingly. You should also be aware of any unique opportunities available during their travels, such as festivals.

You should be persuasive and encourage your clients to engage with the opportunities that travel presents. Don’t just tell them; show them promotional videos, testimonials, anything that excites them and makes them willing to try.

Strike a Balance

Of course, travel needs balance. Anyone who has ever travelled knows that a vacation can easily devolve into one of the most stressful situations of your life if you’re not careful. This is why balance is key.

When planning an itinerary, make sure there is plenty of downtimes when the clients can rest and recharge their batteries. Activities are fun, and most people would love to do everything humanly possible while they’re visiting a different country.

However, it is important to recognize limitations. There’s no point in stuffing multiple activities in one day if the clients aren’t going to enjoy any of them due to exhaustion. It is also important to note that just because something is low effort doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.

You can make a reservation for a karaoke night at a casual dining restaurant. This is just an illustration of how even something as simple as dinner can be made more fun and engaging. The end goal is to ensure that the client wants to do these things, so keep this in mind as well.

Some people are full of energy and hate sitting idly. You would want to tip the balance a bit more towards activities and plan less downtime for such clients. Conversely, you can plan trips to museums or just a rest day at the beach for people who like to relax more.

Plan Flexibly

This point is all about the two most important aspects of travelling. Planning and flexibility. Planning is an obvious shout here. You’re in charge of your clients’ experiences; as such, everything must be planned for in advance. Nobody likes surprises while travelling.

The client should know largely what to expect from their travel experience. Of course, flexibility matters as well. Things can always change at the last minute. Maybe your clients want an extra day at a certain location, or perhaps their flight got delayed, and they can’t leave.

You should be in constant communication with your clients to ensure that any changes to the plan can be managed appropriately. You can even utilize cloud technology by having their itinerary available online.

This allows them to keep up with everything and make changes on the fly. It also allows for changes to be made on the fly and is more conducive to dynamic planning.

Final Word

In the end, you must remember the whole point of a bespoke travel itinerary – to create a unique travel experience for each traveller and maximize the value they get from their travels. By focusing so heavily on the individual, you transform your reputation as a travel agent.