FIT vs. Small Group Trips: Can you use the same software for both?

Planning for one traveler is a LOT different than planning for a group. Can you do both?

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Planning travel is an exhilarating and fulfilling endeavor, yet it can feel like a complex puzzle without the right tools and support to guide you, especially when you're tackling two different kinds of travel planning: FIT vs. Small Group Travel.

So, what essentials do you need to craft successful journeys for your clients?

Karin Jones, a seasoned safari veteran and creator of a new video series, has nearly 4 decades of experience in the travel industry. She explained to the Women Travel Leaders community that it depends on which type of trips you plan.

FIT vs Groups

FIT is an industry acronym for "Fully Independent Travel", which basically means a trip that is tailored to the customer and usually not guided by the agent. The dates and the itinerary are completely negotiable.

Group Trips are often guided experiences with set departure dates, where travelers join with either people they already know or friends they haven't met yet. While there might be some variations per person, the core itinerary is the same for all guests.

While both FIT planners and small group trip planners face their own unique challenges, their approaches to planning are distinctly different:

“The operational models are so different that sometimes I wonder if they should even lie in the same business unit. It’s like comparing artisan crafting to industrial manufacturing - same industry, totally different approaches.” - Karin Jones

That’s because unlike creating unique FIT itineraries, organizing a group trip means you need to:

• Hit enough numbers to even make the trip happen

• Figure out if you cancel or push forward

• Negotiate with suppliers who are waiting to see if you'll commit

• Market to a demographic, not individual travelers (like targeting solo female travelers)

To be successful, small group trip planners need to market themselves to a specific demographic that is large enough to gather enough people for that itinerary and those dates.

If you're stuck on the marketing part and you're selling retreats, we highly recommend the Wanderlust Entrepreneur Blueprint program. We also partner with Wanderlust to create low cost retreat focused plans to get started.

Much like FIT, selling group trips rely on referrals and customer loyalty, but your marketing list often needs to be much larger (or to a very targeted niche). Once you've nailed your marketing, then challenges arise when administrative tasks begin to consume too much time, creating bottlenecks that cost money and risk reducing your profitability.

When organizing FITs you’re not concerned with filling quotas or managing group dynamics. The focus is on hyper-personalized planning for individual clients. Each trip is essentially a custom design and logistics are built from scratch to meet the client’s needs.

Of course, if you are creating private group trips (sometimes called affinity trips) - then it's a whole other game again, since you have one buyer you need to sell to, and then you need to manage however many people they are bringing. Whether that's a  multi-generational family, a school group or a corporate retreat, stay tuned for our next blog on the best way to organize private group trips.

Jones clarifies that neither approach is superior to the other. She explains:

“It’s about recognizing that these are fundamentally different ways of creating travel experiences. Each requires its own magic sauce to work…”

So where does that magic sauce come from?

If you’re a small group trip planner, having any competitive advantage can make all the difference, and that includes having the right group travel management software.

Let’s be honest–you didn’t start this business to spend hours on boring admin work. You want to create amazing, unforgettable experiences for your travelers, again and again! They shouldn't feel cookie-cutter to your travelers but they should be easy to template and recreate for you and your small team.

Without the right software, you’re stuck:

• Dealing with endless spreadsheets
• Crawling through data to figure out who got the extra add-ons, who canceled, who has an expired passport, etc
• Wasting hours chasing clients to sign waivers or make payments

The right software changes all of that.

A great group travel management tool should:

• Boost your sales: Use smart pricing strategies like early bird discounts or VIP pricing to handle fluctuating participant numbers and fill your trips faster. (YouLi even offers personalized pricing options and easy itinerary add-ons)
• Save you time: Automate tasks like sending invoices, collecting deposits, and reminding clients about payments, so you can focus on what really matters–planning incredible trips and giving your customers services to match. (Enable AutoPay to allow your travelers to enroll in automatic payments)
• Manage Room Inventory: Whether you sell by occupancy, room type or specific rooms, have one venue the whole trip or bounce between many; the right software helps you manage inventory and minimize your stress.

If you only run FITs, look for software that allows you to tailor your trip to individuals - we recommend Travefy - and we also partner with them - so you can embed your Travefy itineraries in your YouLi Trip Pages when one of your FIT itineraries becomes the basis for a group departure - or you need the full features of a Traveler Guest Portal to complement your unique itineraries.

If you run both group trips and FITs, or you’re transitioning to group travel, YouLi is a great place to start. That’s because our software offers:

• A compassionate team that supports many businesses just like you to tune the software to your needs! You get a personalized 1:1 onboarding session when you upgrade to PRO!
• Specialized tools that speak to the complexities of group travel, like dynamic pricing, room inventory management, and automated reminders.
• Support for private trip variations so you can maintain flexibility with basic functionality for FITs/private groups while easily promoting and filling your set departure group trips. You can see YouLi clients who sell both private groups (or FIT) and set group departures here:
  • Pristine Trails (US)
  • Adventure Out Loud (Australia)
• Room to scale your business if you are experienced in selling FIT and want to branch into group trips… all on one platform

If you currently run FITs and are considering small group trips, you can get started with YouLi for just $20/month on our LITE plan.

Already running small group trips but drowning in administrative tasks? Then you’ll want to take advantage of YouLi’s advanced features, like white label domains and booking add-ons, with YouLi’s Plus plan. Jump onto an upcoming group demo to learn more.

Wherever you are on your group travel journey - we have a plan (aka the magic sauce)  for you!

Schedule a private demo if you're exploring our Grow and Enterprise plans, designed for teams with a focus on growth.