Why Would You Book Small Group Tours

If you've ever considered booking a small group tour; one of the main advantages is the fact that you eliminate the stress of organising your holiday so all you have to do is enjoy yourself. Unfortunately, organised tours are often thought of as groups with as many of 40 to 50 people on them. Luckily, there is a growing market for smaller group tours designed to take only 5 to 12 people plus your guide.

One of the biggest advantages with smaller groups is that your guide can really get to know you and you can really get to know your guide. That might not seem important as generally, when we book a holiday, the purpose is to see a specific location. When the guide knows more about you and understands your likes and past travel experiences, they can tailor the trip to meet individual needs, something that wouldn't happen with the rigid itinerary of a larger group.

From our experience, larger group tours tend to be more regimented, this is a necessity as more people take more time to get things done and, in order to stay on schedule, the guides have to guide and organise the itinerary very differently. Smaller groups will also have a schedule but offer more flexibility when it comes to the options that make your holiday unique and special. With smaller groups, they can be far more relaxed and personable. The guide is able to learn everyone's name, know where they are from, how long they are holidaying, and where they have already been. This information allows the guide to change the emphasis of the tour to what their clients are really interested in. The longer you are with the same guide, they more they can learn about you and do their best to make your holiday that much more special.

Other advantages that can be seen from guiding small group tours include the camaraderie between the clients. One reason for people not to take a group tour is that they don't want to end up with people they don't get on with. In practice, this actually rarely happens. Usually, every holiday maker is like-minded in some way as they all have similar holiday goals in mind; to enjoy themselves. As a result, organised small group tours regularly allow clients to make lifelong friends.

Another great feature of a small group tour is that you get a different view from everyone in the group. Even when groups visit the same place time after time, each person sees the environment through their eyes and brings a different perspective based on their own unique experiences in life. Traveling with other people consequently gives you added experiences you wouldn't have had while traveling by yourself or with your usual companion(s).

Lastly, one of the often overlooked aspect of a small group tour is the side effect from the trust and rapport generated within a small group that's got to know each other well. One effect of this is that group members will often participate in activities that they would never have done otherwise, just because of the encouragement and security of taking part as a group. Call it peer pressure call it encouragement to step outside your comfort zone, either way, in a group environment, you will almost certainly do and experience more than you would on your own.

So, if an organised tour within a small group has so many advantages, how do you ensure that you pick the right tour company to go with? The best way to choose the small organised group tour for you is to carefully look around for a tour company that has good referrals from its customers and/or good ratings on websites like TripAdvisor. Next, ask plenty of questions to make sure the tour company is able to give you exactly what you are looking for. After all, it's your holiday.