Itinerary

BY- S M MUJAHIDUL ALAM
DEPUTY MANAGER
BANGLADESH PARJATAN CORPORATION
FORMER HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT
TRAVEL AND TOURISM, NHTTI

1. INTRODUCTION Itineraries may be defined as the travel undertaken by a passenger from the point of origin of a journey to the final destination and including all places visited in between. Planning itineraries for your customers and providing information to assist them in making their choice will be part of your everyday responsibilities when working in a travel agency.

2. Itinerary   Itinerary is a certain route along with tour / travel and its detail description. An itinerary further more detail information's about distance, destination, photo stop, rest stop, mode of transportation and restaurant, etc. Itinerary can be made out for a guide / tour manager with all necessary technical information's or for a passenger as an outline of their day-to-day program.

3. Itinerary Contents Date Time Destination Distance Route Transport Attractions Services Facilities

4. Additional Terms of Itinerary  Number of tourist in the group  Nationality  Language  Is there a tour leader?  Special interests or requests  What services are included in the tour[ porterage , meal, admission charge, ticket, voucher, parking charge]  Method of payment  What services tourist must pay for[drinks, photo permit, telephone bill]  When and where you are meet the driver and vehicle?  When and where you are to meet the tourists?

5. How to Prepare an Itinerary General instructions Identify the number of days you'll have on the ground. Include air travel days so everyone's flight arrivals and departures can be included, and travelers know where to go on the first day. Include the names, addresses, and phone and fax numbers of hotels or private homes as well as the time difference. Research connecting options in advance. Pay particular attention to potential delays related to airport check-in, travel to and from airports or train stations, car rental, distances between attractions, time differences, unfamiliar roads, and even local traffic conditions at various times during the day. Give a copy to someone at home who is not traveling with you (but is most definitely waiting for that postcard).

6. IDENTIFYING AND MEETING THE NEED find out where the client wants to go find out the way in which he/she wants to travel find out the order in which he/she wants to go to certain locations plan the routing to avoid unnecessary return visits to the same place repeatedly check geographical limitations on the selected routing make sure that proper connections exist to complete the itinerary make sure that the passenger is authorized to travel to the various locations on the itinerary (visa requirements, eic .) check that the proposed itinerary will get the passenger to the destination at the time he / she wants to be there check the lowest fares available compare the routing and fare with alternatives

7. How Does a Trip Itinerary Work? Travel Agency When customers work with travel agencies to plan and reserve a vacation package, they work with an agent to develop a master schedule that will become the trip itinerary. Travel agents can help customer’s book flights, hotel rooms, rental cars and entertainment activities. The customer receives a receipt with information about each aspect of the vacation, and then each portion is added to the master itinerary, which lists all of the travel and vacation arrangements.

8. How Does a Trip Itinerary Work? Daily Organization Most travel agencies will typically separate a part of the trip itinerary for each day of the planned vacation. On travel days the itinerary will list the airline, the times of each connecting flight and the status of the ticket purchase. Trip Itineraries will also explain where a customer is staying on each night of the trip, detailing the hotel's name, address and amenities. If the customer has also purchased tours or cruises through the travel agency for a specific day of the vacation, this ticket information will also show up on the main trip itinerary.

9. How Does a Trip Itinerary Work? Personal Additions After customers receive the master trip itinerary for their upcoming vacation, they will usually make personal additions to the plans. If the travel agency sends the trip itinerary electronically, the customer can usually print the schedule and write directly on the itinerary. For example, customers might make note of where they plan to eat each meal during the vacation onto the trip itinerary. Also, if they have plans to visit family or friends during the trip, these details may be manually added to the itinerary.

10. CORRECT TIMINGS When planning itineraries it is vital that you 'get your timings right'. This is particularly true in the case of international travel. The world moves in orbit around the sun, it is possible for it to be night time in one part of the world while it is day time in another. It will be morning time in an eastern located country while it is still night time of the day before in a western located one. In locations to the east of GMT the time will be ahead of the time at GMT and in locations to the west of GMT the time will be behind the time at GMT.

11. FOLLOW-UP Having identified the client's needs, planned the itinerary, recorded the client's need and made proposals and recommendations you must now follow-up with the client to make sure that you have satisfied the need. This can be done by:   telephone /Mobile e-mail client visit

12. Abbreviations used in Itinerary TYPE OF INFORMATION MEANING ABBREVATION Departure city Arrival city Departure time Arrival time Flight number Aircraft type Day of operation Number of stops From To Departs Arrive Flight Equipment Frequency Stops FM To DEP ARR FLT EQP FRQ ST

13. PLANNING A TOUR ITINERARY

14. STEP 1:  Research other tours in the marketplace Careful planning is required when developing an itinerary for your tour. A helpful exercise is to take a tour which will be similar to the tour you wish to develop and obtain copies of other tour brochures for comparison. This will help you develop ideas for your tour, give you an idea of what is already in the marketplace, give you detailed information on terms and conditions and provide possible ideas for brochure design and content.

15. STEP 2: Name your tour

16. STEP 3: Map out the duration, frequency and departure details When will your tour depart?    When will your tour return?     How often will the tour operate?     Where will the central departure point be?     Will you offer accommodation pick up?

17. STEP 4: List the major locations and tour highlights Where will your tour travel to? What are the main locations and highlights that visitors are going to experience?

18. STEP 5: Research tour content and draft commentary List the main topics you wish to include in your commentary, such as flora, fauna, history, culture, as well as the main points to consider with each of these topics and the resources you will use to find the information.

19. STEP 6: List any 3rd party activities, attractions, entrance fees and inclusions List any activities offered by other companies or entrance fees and determine if they will be included in your tour price or offered as extras. 

20. Step 7: Organise suppliers for meals What meals will you provide during your tour - morning and afternoon tea, lunch or dinner? You may wish to provide meals yourself or make arrangements for a restaurant, roadhouse, hotel or farm to provide them for you. Should you choose to prepare your own meals, you will need to ensure you have adequate food handling knowledge, food supplies and cooking facilities. You may also need to seek food handling approval from your local council and meet health department regulations.

21. Step 8: Perfect your timing It is crucially important to map out your tour itinerary accurately to ensure that you arrive on time for activity and meal stops and return to your original destination at a reasonable time. Prepare a table that shows start, stop and duration times for each location, attraction or activity. 

22. Step 9 : Test drive your itinerary It is very important to several 'dry runs' of your itinerary to ensure you get the timing right. It is also a very good idea to invite people who have some knowledge of the industry and are prepared to give you constructive comments, to do a tour.