Tour Operator vs. Do It Yourself

Last updated: Apr 15th, 2019

So, you’re looking to book a school trip but you’re unsure whether it’s better to do it yourself or book through a tour operator? Well, if money is your biggest concern then yes, doing all of the planning and organising yourself is probably your best bet. But organising everything yourself can be extremely stressful, time consuming and can just become messy.

To help you decide, we’ve put together some reasons as to why you should book through a tour operator…

Although booking everything separately including your flights, accommodation and excursions may be cheaper, a tour operator may already have struck deals with certain airlines, hoteliers etc. This means that you will probably get much better deal with an all-in-one package.

________________________________________________________________________________________   By booking with professional tour operators you are guaranteed to have everything covered. Every step of your journey will be planned, from transfers to entrance fees, food to entertainment, the entirety of your trip will be arranged.

All of our tour packages are sold with government-backed ATOL and ABTA protection. This means that if any part of your trip e.g. airline, rail company, hotel chain etc. goes bust, you and your money will be protected. Also, as school tour operators, we are also a part of the STF (School Travel Forum) meaning that all of our trips adhere to strict health and safety rules and we are proud holders of LOtC (Learning Outside the Classroom) meaning you can be confident in the quality of the educational experiences that we provide.

________________________________________________________________________________________ Package holidays remove a lot of the stress from the organising and planning of trips. By using a tour operator you can relax knowing every aspect of your trip will be planned and organised by one of our expert team members.

_____________________________________________________________________________________       Tour Managers are added in extras that can be organised with your tour operator. A Tour Manager will act as your own personal guide, organising extra activities and dealing with any requests, issues and emergencies that may arise.

Although you may think that DIY-ing a trip will give you more freedom, booking through a tour operator can give you just as much flexibility. Bespoke packages mean that the trip will be completely tailored to your needs from flight times to excursions, the options are endless.

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We carry out a lot of the paperwork such as risk assessments and audits on the accommodation and excursions we provide to ensure that they are safe and suitable for your group.

________________________________________________________________________________________        Our teams have visited many of the destinations that we offer, or have been working with them for a long time, so they know exactly how they operate to ensure you get the most out of your trip.

The most important reason to book with a tour operator like ourselves is because we are extremely passionate about what we do. We know how the trips work and so do our suppliers so you are guaranteed a fantastic and memorable tour!

Still not convinced?

Take a look at some our DIY converters have had to say…

  • Mr Chris Davis, East Grinstead Concert Band, The Rhineland

    “Having organised our previous Tour ourselves, Rayburn Tours made things so much easier for us taking much off the work (and stress!) off.  The Tour was very well organised with everyone enjoying themselves, all of whom have asked when the next one is!”

  • Mr Stephen Turner, ISCA Voices, Paris

    “For a choir tour, a major decision is whether you use a tour company or arrange everything yourself. Such was the comprehensive nature of the whole package offered by Rayburn – venues, transport, accommodation, insurance etc. that the decision to use a tour company was fully justified.”