pick-up list/rooming list for passengers: · web viewa word of warning – do check the guide’s...

Module 6The tour operator business

Component 3: Manage staff and tour operations BUS 212

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TOURIST GUIDES

Qualifications – A Tourist Guide can make or break your company. When Tourist Guides apply for work with your company, invite them to meet you at your office for a cup of coffee. Ask them to bring along a copy of their qualifications along with any letters of recommendation from pax or companies they have previously worked for. Going onto the Gauteng Guides website (or any other mass marketing means) might seem a solution, but seeing a picture of a person and accepting their ‘proficiency’ from what you read on the website, could create a huge problem for you, so much so that you might have to replace the guide and/or you will receive a ‘money back’ demand once the group have returned to their own country. It is also important for you to ensure that they have a PDP (a copy of their PDP should be kept on file in the office) if the guide is expected to driver-guide

A word of warning – do check the guide’s qualification –if he/she is not qualified for any area you intend them to guide – you, as the operator stand a very good chance of being fined and so does the individual guide.

The most important factor is that the guide will not only promote the country, but also be a true representative of your company. During peak seasons, it is advisable to use new guides for the shorter day tours and transfers, giving them an opportunity to build a reputation. Make use of your existing experienced guides for the longer tours where possible. Remember, everyone had to start somewhere.

It is important that you, as the company owner specify what you expect from the guide – from guiding techniques to dress code. The guide is your ‘face’ to the tourist and first impressions, definitely count. A neat, tidy and well-presented guide is important however, you do not need a beauty queen or the handsome hunk of the season – they do not always make the best guides and ‘peoples’ person which you require them to be, for they are too self-absorbed! Naturally the guide needs the knowledge aspect as well, but ALL knowledge and no personality makes for a poor guide.

Draw up a contract for your guides. They should have good itineraries for an overland tour, weeks in advance and not the day before the pax arrive! Ensure that you brief your guide before the tour – there might be areas you want to clarify and the guide might want to ask questions after perusing the itinerary. Remember, a well prepared guide is a good guide and the onus is on you, as the Tour Operator.

Many times operators expect the guide to check on reservations etc. This is NOT the guide’s duty – however, if you expect them to do checking of arrangements, PLEASE ensure that you cost in an amount for their telephone expenses as well as any other expenses you expect them to incur!


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When booking a coach from a coach company, ensure that the guide can get back to his/her car – this is very important. If a guide has to meet the coach at their depot, collect the pax from the airport and transfer them to a hotel and this is where the service ends, how does the guide get back to the depot to collect his/her car if the coach is continuing on another service? You, as the tour operator must ensure that the guide is not stranded.

It is highly recommended that a welcome letter accompanies the itinerary and vouchers in the wallet, which the guide might be required to hand to the pax in a meet and greet or even at the beginning of a tour.

When handing over documents to a guide, ensure the following is included:

Pick-up list/rooming list for your passengers Expense sheets Welcome letters Evaluation sheets General information sheet Contact numbers which may not appear on itinerary Your after hours number

PICK-UP LIST/ROOMING LIST FOR PASSENGERS:

This list is very important for the smooth picking up of tourists. If the tour consists of only 6 pax to

the Kruger Park in a Combi, the list will differ in comparison to a group consisting of 40 pax. The

difference will be that the 6 pax might not be at the same hotel and there will be more than one

pick-up point and time of pick-up. Make sure they are not to be picked up at the same time from

different hotels. The group of 40 pax will be picked up from the same hotel. If your passengers arrive

by flight, make sure you have the correct flight details and the contact number at the airport, so that

you can contact the airport to check on flight arrivals.

The pick-up list should also have the details of the drop-off points, time and date. If there are 6 pax

returning from the Kruger Park, they will not be automatically dropped at the same hotels where

they were picked up; these details can change. If your guide knows this before departure it can assist

him/her in planning the return route from the Kruger Park. When the group of 40 pax return, they

will most likely return to the same hotel or airport.

When your tour departs from the airport, provide the Tourist Guide with a paging board (‘idiot’

board). It is NOT the Tourist Guide’s duty to provide one. This paging board should be made up from


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a computerized printout with the names of the group or individuals which could be attached to a

clipboard.

The following should be on the Passenger List for a small individual group of 6 pax:

The date of the tour

Pick-up point of each passenger

Time of pick-up for each passenger

Contact number of pax if not staying at the pick-up hotel

The name of the tour

Drop-off hotels

Time of drop-off

The following should be on the passenger list for a large group:

The date of the tour

Group name

Pick-up point for group

Time of pick-up

Hotel name for pick-up and address of hotel

Telephone number of the hotel

The name of the tour leader

The date and place of drop-off

PICK-UP LIST FOR 6 PAX

POTLUCK TOURS PO BOX 17 Pot ‘O Gold 1717 Tel: +27 11 171 7171

Tour: 3 Days and 2 Nights – Kruger National Park.Date of tour: 18-19 December 2018

PICK-UP DETAILS

Names of Passengers Departure Point Pick-up Time


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Mr and Mrs L BeanCell: 089 777 8888

Ivory Towers 07h00

Mr and Mrs G RaffeCell: 089 667 5555

Hilltops Lodge 07h15

Mr and Mrs. G LeftCell: 089 222 0000

River Lodge 07h45

DROP-OFF DETAILS (a different group)

Names of Passengers Drop-off Point Time

Mr and Mrs W Wallaby Ivory Towers 18h00

Mr and Mrs P Wee City Lodge 18h30

Mr and Mrs B First Lanseria International 19h30

PICK-UP LIST FOR 35 PAX

POTLUCK TOURS PO BOX 17 Pot ‘O Gold 1717 Tel: +27 11 171 7171Name of tour: Mapangubwe National Park Tour

Date of tour: 11-16 December 2018

Group name: Funtime Group

Departure Point: River Lodge

Hotel telephone number: Tel. 010 333-7777

Tour Leader: Dandy Lion

Drop-off details: Lanseria International Airport – 16 December 2008 at 18H30 for flight SA056 to London.

EXPENSE SHEET

The Expense Sheet has to be included in the file of the Tourist Guide. This will be his/her record-

keeping list of all expenses involved while on tour. The Expense Sheet can be made up in various

formats, and it will depend on you what you need to be reflected on the Expense Sheet.

The size of the tour will determine what kind of an Expense Sheet you will need. If you are doing a

tour with a coach you will not have to pay for fuel, but you will have a column for porterage. If you

have a Combi, you will have to show the fuel, but no porterage.


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You will have to calculate the exact amount of cash you need to include for the Guide. Make a list of

the cheques with their numbers and what each should be used for.

In some cases you will pay the cash into your Tourist Guide’s account and he/she will use their own

credit card – you must allow extra for bank charges as you cannot expect the guide to foot the bank

charges for YOUR tour! You will do this when it is a long tour and a large sum of cash is involved.

When your Guide collects his/her file for the tour, let each one sign for the cash amount received

and let them count the money in front of you. This will eliminate unpleasant situations with

misplaced cash.

The following items should be shown on the Expense Sheet:

To whom payment is made.

Description of payment.

Cash total column.

Cheque total column.

Fuel column.

Accommodation column.

Meals column.

Entrance fees column.

Extras column.

Cheque number column.

Voucher number and amount column.

The above is only an example, but this way you can see immediately how much fuel your vehicle has

used, how much was paid in cash and how much by means of cheques.

To make life easy for yourself, I suggest you do the following when a tour returns. You write down all

the cheques that were used on your cheque forms with the amounts on your cheque list forms. At

the same time staple the receipts/invoices appropriate to the cheque list forms. This way you will

not have to look for cheques at the end of the month. You do the same with the cash used. You

make out your petty cash slips and add the receipts to it. If you have your own Combi fleet you will

very soon see if they are using too much fuel. When you use the expense sheet and compare it with

previous tours. You will also pick up if your Guide is misusing cash funds.


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EXPENSE SHEET

Name of Group:...................................................................... Date of Tour:................................................................................................

Name of Tourist Guide:........................................................... Number of pax:................................................................................................

Date Number of slips

Paid to Attraction Fuel Other. Cash amounts

Total

Total

Cash received:..............................................................Amount returned:......................................................................................

Cash used.....................................................................Signature of Guide:......................................................................................


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WELCOME LETTER

This serves as a personal touch by introducing your company to your clients. The wording for this

letter is entirely your choice and the example letter is just that

WELCOME LETTER

POTLUCK TOURS PO BOX 17 Pot ‘O Gold 1717 Tel: +27 11 171 7171Dear Mr Flamingo,

On behalf of Potluck Tours, it is our pleasure to welcome you to South Africa. We trust you will have an unforgettable tour with us.

Please note that the accommodation is on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis, starting with dinner on the first night.

I would appreciate it if you could take five minutes to complete our questionnaire and return it to your Guide after the tour.

I would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to escort you on your tour in South Africa. Please do not hesitate to contact us if there is anything we can do to make your time with us more memorable.

We wish you a safe and enjoyable journey.

Kind regards.

Potty PotgieterReservations


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EVALUATION FORM/SHEET

The evaluation is very important to include in the Tourist Guide’s file and even more important to be

completed by the tourists on tour. The questionnaire’s purpose will be to indicate if there are any

problems on your tours. If your entire tourist group on a specific tour complained about your Tourist

Guide, you know there is a problem. If only one person has a complaint about the Tourist Guide, you

can presume that it is only a personality clash. It is a method of improving your services by ‘picking

up’ any shortfalls you might have overlooked or not thought of.

The questionnaires should be handed out with an envelope or alternatively presented in a way

where it can be sealed for privacy purposes. If this is not done and a ‘bad’ report is documented on

the guide for instance, the tourist might be hesitant to hand it to the guide and/or the guide might

be tempted to dispose of the specific evaluation form. This evaluation form should be filed and can

be used to do your follow-up on the tour. You can use the addresses on the questionnaires for your

data basis on the clients you had on tour and in future send them brochures or a Christmas card. If

there were problems on the tour, you should address them and give your tourists feedback on your

actions about the problem or problems if there were any.

The questionnaires will give you a good idea if the tourist routes and programs are to the satisfaction

of the tourists. With the addresses you get on the questionnaires you will be able to send the clients

a thank you letter. If you had a group that was booked through an agent or operator, never

correspond with the group as individuals – the Agent may misconstrue this. You send all

correspondence directly to the Agent or Operator.

As you know by now, to work with the public is by no means easy. It can be a real pleasure or a real

headache.

The following scenarios are examples of occurrences which were successfully handled with the help

of the evaluation form.

You have a tour with 6 pax and 5 persons who are very happy with the tour but one person is not.

This one person also filled in the questionnaire as a happy person, but when he/she returns to their

native country he/she complains to the booking agent that the tour was badly organized and no

value for money. The booking agent then contacts you and demands a refund. If you can then show

the booking agent the questionnaires, the complaint holds no water.

You have 6 pax on tour and 1 person is not happy and indicates it on the question naire. This person

had a personality clash with the Guide and is generally an unhappy person, whilst the others were

happy with the tour, he returns to the booking agents, demanding money back. The evaluation form


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helps in an instance like this as you can prove that 5 out of 6 people were very happy on the same

tour. Always keep these evaluation forms on file in the group file.

QUESTIONNAIRE

POTLUCK TOURS PO BOX 17 Pot ‘O Gold 1717 Tel: +27 11 171 7171To assist us with our service, we would highly appreciate your participation in completing the following questionnaire:

Name: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Postal address: ……………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

E-mail address: ……………………………………………………………………………………..

Please indicate your opinion on the following:

Accommodation:...................................... Poor Fair Good

Tourist guide knowledge………………………… Poor Fair Good

Driving ability of driver:........................... Poor Fair Good

Cleanliness of vehicle:............................. Poor Fair Good

Guide in general:..................................... Poor Fair Good

Tour in general:....................................... Poor Fair Good

Name of Tourist Guide: ……………………………………………………………………………….

Remarks: …………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………


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Signature: …………………………………………………………………………………………… Date:………………………..


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THANK YOU LETTER

POTLUCK TOURS PO BOX 17 Pot ‘O Gold 1717 Tel: +27 11 171 7171Dear Butch,

We trust you had a safe journey back home and that this letter finds you in good health.

Thank you for allowing Potluck Tours to show you the beauty of South Africa. We realize that you had a selection of Tour Operators when planning your vacation, and therefore appreciate you choosing us.

Looking forward to seeing you on your next visit to South Africa.

Best wishes.

Potty PotgieterManager

GUIDE’S ROOMING LIST

The rooming list for the guide will look slightly different to the one you have sent to the various

hotels. The rooming lists to your guides will give them as much information as possible on the

tourists and their special requirements.

The following points should be on the rooming list:

The name of the group.

The names of the passengers.

The number of double and single rooms with names.

Which passengers with showers and baths.

Location of rooms, close to the lift or not.

Mountain or sea-view rooms.


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The ages of the passengers.

The various diets, if any - such as for diabetics.

Any important medical cases.

If you have a large group of 40 senior citizen pax for a 18 day overland tour, your information will be

much more detailed than a small individual group of 7 pax for a 3 days and 2 nights Kruger Park tour.

The more information you can get on the passengers, the better.

ROOMING LIST (to be handed to guide)

Name of the Group: Funtime Group.

Names of passengers:

Mr and Mrs I Kanot..............Park view........Bath…………. Close to liftMr and Mrs C Crawlie...........Sea view.........Bath and showerMr and Mrs B Gramde..........Mountain view ShowerMr and Mrs C Rhodes...........Sea view.........Shower......Close to liftMr and Mrs F Calix...............Sea view.........Bath and showerMr and Mrs D Spie...............Sea view.........ShowerMrs Y Knott..........................Sea view.........ShowerMr K Lotus...........................Park view........Bath..........Ground floorMr V Velt..............................Sea View.........BathMrs K Spell...........................No preference.Shower

3 x Double Rooms, 3 x Twin Rooms and 4 x Single Rooms.

The age of the group is between 40 and 60 years of age.

Special meals:

Mr and Mrs Y Knott: Vegetarians.Mr B Gramde: Diabetes.

Mr and Mrs. I Kanot: No red meat

Important medical cases: No special medical cases.


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GENERAL INFORMATION SHEET

The general information sheet will have all the other information your Tourist Guide will need for

the tour. Include as much information as possible on this sheet.

The following should be on this information sheet:

Special arrangements regarding sight seeing.

List of places to be paid for in cash.

List of places to be paid for with cheques.

List of the vouchers with numbers.

Hotel names and reservation numbers.

Telephone numbers of the hotels.

Addresses of the hotels.

Meals to be purchased for pax.

Optional extras offered.

Name of the Coach Company and telephone number.

Name of the coach driver and telephone number.

Lost property list.

Drop-off instructions.

Tour report.

List for general comments.

Maps of all routes. ALSO

Any medical problems the guide needs to be aware of.

PAYMENT TO YOUR GUIDES

When it comes to the payment of your guides, you should follow general guidelines regarding the

scale. Pay them well, they deserve it and they will be loyal to your company. Remember, these

guides are freelance, and as such do not have any perks such as pension schemes, medical aid

schemes etc. They are not always kept busy during the month and depend on the income for their

stop orders and payments. Once your Tourist Guide has returned the touring file to you with all the

receipts and all the expenses added up, pay his/her directly after the tour; don’t delay payment. If

you have a Tourist Guide employed full time, payment will be accepted at the end of the month.

When you employ new Tourist Guides, get their tax numbers and full names and addresses and

deduct the required amount of tax from their salaries. At the end of the financial year they will ask

for the IRP 5 forms and these have to be submitted by your auditors. If you don’t want to deduct any


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tax from them, please consult your auditors about this. Unfortunately the days of working freelance

and not paying tax are over. The standard rate of deduction from a freelance worker is 25%.

The Tourist Guides are entitled to cancellation fees should a tour be cancelled within 30 days of

departure. A good idea is to have a small contract drawn up between you and the guides working for

you. This can avoid unpleasantness. State in this contract what your cancellation fees are and what

your Guide salary policy is.

The following is a guideline regarding what you could be paying your guide in the case of

cancellations:

34 to 25 Days prior: 15% of tour salary due.



6 Days and less: 100% of tour salary due.

Phone around to other Operators and ask them for their Guide rates and decide what you would like

to pay. The rates are per day. The following is a guideline:

Overland tour:.................R1 000.00 – R1 500.00

Full day local:..................R 850.00 – R1 000.00

Half-day local:.................R 550.00 – R 650.00

Transfer Airport:.............R 500.00 – R 600.00

Transfer Sun City:............R 700.00 – R 850.00

OVERLAND TOUR: An overland tour will be when the guide sleeps away from home, e.g. 3 days and

2 nights on a Kruger Park tour i.e. 3 x R700.00 = R2 100.00. On an overland tour the meals and

accommodation are included for the guide. The lunch allowance will be between approximately

R50.00 and the dinner allowance R95.00 to R120-00 (depending where they are overnighting,

especially if you expect the guide to pay for her/his own meal but still accompany the pax to dinner –

you cannot expect the guide to order a salad for dinner whilst the pax are ordering huge steaks etc.

Breakfast is usually included in the accommodation rate. If a tourist guide ends a tour in Durban and

has to drive back on his/her own without tourists, pay them an overland rate with meal allowance.

FULL DAY LOCAL: This will be for a full day like a Sun City Tour or a full day Pretoria City Tour with a

Premier Diamond Mine Tour. The tours usually last between 8 and 10 hours. Provide lunch money

for the guide, if lunch is not included.


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HALF-DAY LOCAL: A half-day tour will be in the morning from around 08.00 – 13.00 or in the

afternoon from 14.00 – 18.00; it depends on the tour. This will be like a Gold Reef City Tour or a

Soweto Tour. Lunch is usually not included.

AIRPORT TRANSFER: This can be at any time of the day and the guide has to pick up clients from the

airport or transfer them from the hotel to the airport.

SUN CITY TRANSFER: This transfer will be to collect or take clients to Sun City. If the guide takes

them to Sun City he/she has to assist the clients with check-in and explain to them about Sun City;

and can take 2½ hours there, check in of approximately 40 to 50 minutes plus 2 ½ hours back to the

depot which makes a total of almost 6 hours – so you cannot pay the guide for a normal transfer.

Loyalty to your Guides. You can only expect loyalty from your guides if you are loyal to them. Here is

an example: If your guide is on a Kruger Park Tour and his/her tourists ask for a suggestion about day

tours and he/she gives them a few ideas and they book the tours with you, let the same guide do the

work and you can give him/her a commission. Don’t give this work to another guide. If you look after

them, they will refer business to you while on tour for your company! When it comes to

commissions from purchases by the pax (whether diamonds or curios’), do not cheat the guide –

allow them to earn their percentage. If you are working on an incentive, the gratuities are usually

costed into the tour – MAKE SURE you give this to the guide – they are not fools and know that there

should be a gratuity and when it is not paid out to them, they feel cheated and may not be as loyal

to you as you would like in any future business.


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