Itinerary

1. ITINERARY
You will learn how to gather, select and arrange information for inclusion
in the tour program.

2. Tour program or Itinerary
 Is a written travel schedule made by a travel
agency for their client or tourist.
 It must contain the following information:
 What is the title of the program?
 Who are the tourists?
 Where are they going and staying?
 When are they arriving and departing?
 How many and how are they going there are
already incorporated in the 4 Wh questions

3. Sample tour program
 Title of tour program: Bohol countryside
tour
 Name of tourist: Mr. Juan dela Cruz and
Party
 Number of tourists:2
 Name of Hotel: Bohol Beach Club,
Panglao Isand, Bohol
 Number of room/s required: 1

4. Sample tour program
 Type of occupancy: ____Single
 __/__Double
 _____Twin
 ____Quadruple(four
in a room)
 Type of Room Required: Standard
 Arrival Date, time and flight no.: Feb 26,
2015, 10:45 Flight No. XX122

5. Sample tour program
Departure Date, time
and flight no.: Feb 28,
2015, 11:45 Flight No.
XX123
Country of Origin:
Philippines

6. Sample tour program
Tour Activities
Tour activities
Date and time
• Feb 26,
2015(Thursday) 10:45
• Feb 27, 2015 ( Friday)
• Feb 28,
2015(Saturday) 10:00
Activities
• Upon arrival atTagbilaran Airport, we will travel
for about 30 minutes to Loboc River where we
will have buffet lunch of local cuisine while
cruising the river and serenade music. After
lunch, we will proceed to the Chocolate hills, a
thousand limestone hills that look like scoops of
chocolate ice cream in summer.We will pass by
the manmade forest along the way.Then, we
will visit the sanctuary of tarsiers, one of the
smallest primates in the world.We will have
some fresh coconut juice before proceeding to
historical sites such as Blood compact shrine and
Baclayon Church and Museum. We will stop by a
souvenir shop and then we will go to Bohol Bee
Farm for sumptuos treat of healthy organic
dinner and Malunggay Ice cream, before we
bring you back to your hotel.
• You will have the following free day at the beach
• We will pick you up at 10AM. We will visit the
factory of peanut kisses, Bohol’s famous local
delicacy before we proceed to the airport

7. •Meal service
•Additional
service, if any
•Travel agency and
contact details
•Breakfast only;
other meals on
are on pax
account
•Transfers; tour
guide
•Bohol travel
mobile no.
(xxx)xxx-xxxx

8. Par account
Refers to the bill or
expense items that the
tourist must pay directly to
the supplier such as the
hotel, restaurant, or
transport company.

9. Program title
 You can be creative with the
program title if the travel agency
assigns you to name the tour.
 Get the interest of the tourists
but at the same time capture
what the tour is all about in a
nutshell.

10. Name of the tourist
 Written as in the example: “One name” and
Party
 If you have the chance to go on a package
tour to Hong Kong or similar place, you will
notice that the travel agency
representative at the airport is carrying a
signboard indicating one name “and
party”.
 It is best if the tour guide can remember all
the names, it is oftentimes a difficult thing
to do especially with foreign names

11. Name of the tourist
 The trick is to remember at least one name
to refer to the group and the number of
group members
 Tour guide must have the complete list of
the names of all the members of the tour
group for checking purposes and strive to
call their names when possible in order to
serve them better.

12. Where are they going
 Where are they going is the heart of the tour
program.This is the reason for traveling.
 Person assigned to prepare and write the tour
program must describe the schedule and point
of interest in a manner that will excite the
tourist.
 Place where the tourist will stay is usually the
tourists choice
 Tour guide must know the place to double check
reservation and bring the tourists to where they
are supposed to go in a timely manner.

13. Arrival, departure,
transfers and meal service
are all part of the logistical
arrangements for the tour.
Tour guide must pay
attention to these details
very carefully.

14. Gathering and selecting
information for the itinerary.
Upon knowing the time allotted
for a tour for example,
enumerate the tourist
attractions in the area that can
be visited within this timeframe
through an actual site visit or
familiarization tour.

15. Gathering and selecting
information for the itinerary.
 Plan how you will gather information
about these attractions such as through
their website and brochures; the tourism
office and interviews with key informants,
such as local officials and cooperative
tourists who have visited the attractions
and are willing to share their insights about
them.Then set out to gather data.

16.  After gathering the information,
select the part for inclusion in the
tour itinerary.
 Use this set of criteria called “5-
way test” in choosing the
information for the tour itinerary

17. 5-way test
1.Is the information
accurate?
2.Does the information
address the 4Wh-
questions: who, what,
where and when?

18. 5-way test
3. Is the information
relevant or directly
connected to any of
the places that are
included in the tour
schedule?

19. 5-way test
4. Is it easy to
understand?
5. Is it interesting?

20. Paraphrasing techniques
 Some of the data you gather will be
difficult for tourists to understand.
 Example of this type of data is
technical data.
 Use the method called
paraphrasing to clarify or make it
more understandable to general
audiences.

21. Paraphrasing
Restating information
in your own words.
Do not use words
with more than two
syllables.

22. Example of technical
information
 Tarsiers are arboreal and nocturnal.
They are the only extant entirely
carnivorous primates, primarily
insectivorous.Their dentition has
not changed much, except in size,
in the past 45 million years.The
Philippine tarsier is endemic to the
country (Encyclopedia of life n.d.)

23. Paraphrased information:
 Tarsiers live on branches of lower tress
and are more active at night, hunting for
food.They only eat meat, mainly insects.
They are the only all-meat-eating
primates alive.Their teeth and mouth
have not changed much, except in size,
in the past 45 million years.The
Philippine tarsier can only be found in the
country and nowhere else in the world.

24. ARRANGING
ITINERARY
In previous lesson, you learned how to collect and select information for
inclusion in the tour itinerary. In this lesson, you will learn how to arrange
this information in a logical manner.

25. Logical Arrangement of a
Tour and Its Importance
To arrange a tour logically
means finding sound reasons
and criteria to arrange the
tour schedule based on the
location of attractions and the
flow of the tour story.

26. Look at the following map:
D. Ancestral
House of a
National Artist
C. Museum
B. City hall
E. Local
Handicraft
showroom
A. Church

27. How can you “logically”
arrange the tour
itinerary for this city if
you want to go to all
points, from A to E?

28. One way to do the tour is to
start at point A and then
move on to B,C,D, and lastly
E. Another way is D-C-B-A-
E.
However you can not go to
D-B-E-C-A.Why?

29. This route require the
tourist to pass by the city
hall and church are at
least twice.
It would be a waste of
time, energy and
resources, so avoid
arrangements like this as
much as possible.

30. Another consideration is
the logical flow of a story.
If you want to focus on
the life of the national
artist, you can start the
tour at the ancestral
house.

31. Then you can proceed
with the samples of work
displayed at the museum
and how he contributed
to the development of
the church and local
economy.

32. But if you want to focus
on the influence of
religion on the lives of the
local people, you can go
from A to E.

33. Note:
Logical arrangement of tour
itinerary follows the flow of an
interesting story in an efficient
and time-saving manner.
Efficiency means achieving
the best results using the least
time and resources.

34. In planning a tour the
following elements must be
considered:
 Time and distance
 Flow of the story
 Profile of the guests
 Weather
 Cost

35. Time and Distance
A. Time to move within the attraction –
How long will it take for the tourists to
move within and gain appreciation of a
particular tourist attraction? For example:
how long does it take for an average
person to have a tour inside Baclayon
Church Museum in Bohol?

36. Time and Distance
B.Time to move from one attraction to
the next – How long will it take the tour
group to move from one attraction to the
next? For example: how long does it take
to move from the Baclayon Church
Musuem to the jump-off point for the
Loboc River Cruise?

37. Time and Distance
C. Time to start and end of the tour –What
time does the tour start and finish? Is
meal served before, during or after the
tour? In arranging the Bohol Countryside
tour, one particular consideration is the
time of the day when the tour starts,
because lunch at Loboc River Cruise is
one of the tour’s main attractions and it
only accommodates guests from
10:00am to 2:00pm

38. 2. Flow of the story
A. Interpretation – does not only
refer to translation from one
language to another.
- Refers to the provision of meaning
and explanation to tourists to help
them gain better appreciation and
understanding of a particular
attraction.

39. 2. Flow of the story
- A tour guide helps tourists
understand the meaning of the
things within the tourist
attraction. For example: without a
guides interpretation church ruins
would be just a pile of stones for
non-believers.This is the
difference between guided tour
and a non-guided tour.

40. 2. Flow of the story
B. Keeping the guest’s interest and
attention- tour guiding is like
storytelling.
-There are five parts of the story:
characters, setting, plot, conflict
and resolution

41. 2. Flow of the story
- In tour guiding:
- setting includes the general
information about the country and the
city, its people and culture, and how
these relate to the tourists background.
- Plot is the itinerary
- Characters can be famous people like
celebrities and heroes, but they can
also be tour guide and the guests
depending on how the tour guide will
tell the story.

42. 2. Flow of the story
- Conflicts are interesting addition to tour
commentaries; these can include intriguing
facts or challenges in the local community
faces. But at the end, commentary must
offer a resolution to the conflicts presented,
such as how tourists can contribute to the
local economy by buying locally made
souvenirs.
Note that unforgettable commentaries and
tourists experiences stem from the
ingenious arrangement of the tour
commentary.Tour guides must therefore
prepare commentaries that provide
meaning and unfold like a story as the
group reaches each tourist attraction.

43. 3. Profile of the Guests
Know your tour group – how
old are they? Can they climb
stairs? Are they women who
love shopping? Are there
children in the group? How
will their profile affect the
itinerary?

44. 4. Weather
Know the weather on the tour
day - it pays to check the daily
weather forecast about one
week before a tour.
 It can greatly affect the
arrangements of a tour

45. 4. Weather
 Example: while it is sunny all year
round in Bohol, sometimes it
showers in the afternoon. Hence,
visiting Chocolate Hills is usually first
in the itinerary, as it requires a hike
to the top of an open-air hill where
the viewpoint is located.
 the tour guide or tour planner can
either prepare plan B for inclement
weather conditions or prepare an
all-weather itinerary.

46. 5. Cost
Tourism is business –
itineraries should match the
budget of the tourists and the
costs of going to particular
tourist attractions.
- moreover, the travel agency
must make a modest profit
from the tour without making
the tourists feel ripped off.

47. PREPARING TOUR
COMMENTARIES
A tour becomes a lot more meaningful to a tourist with the help of tour
guide because of the commentary that a tour guide provides. In this
lesson you will learn to arrange information for a tour commentary.

48. Tour commentary:
 Also known as “guidespeak”
 Refers to what tour guides say in
front of the guests when describing
an attraction.
 It includes general information about
the country as well as local tales,
events and personalities related to
the attraction.

49. Steps in preparing a tour
commentary:
1. Know your guests interests and
expectations
2. Know the itinerary
3. Look for reliable sources of
information about the attractions
included in the itinerary and gather
information from these sources.

50. Steps in preparing a tour
commentary:
4.Write your tour commentary
based on the information you
gathered
5. Practice and revise your
commentary as you see fit.

51. Steps in preparing a tour
commentary:
For easy to recall, use the acronym GIS-
JOE, which stands for:
 Know your Guests, Itinerary, and
Sources of information (GIS)
 Then Jot it down and Execute (JOE)

52. Type of Commentary
There are four types of
Commentary:
Required
Informative
Requested
Optional

53. Type of Commentary
1. Required – is memorized script usually
provided by a company for its guides.
- Deviations from the required
commentary are highly discouraged, if
not prohibited by the company.
Example: is the spiel delivered by guides
in a theme park attraction.

54. Type of Commentary
2. Informative – sometimes referred to as
interpretation, an informative commentary
highlights the guide’s role as an educator.
-Through an informative commentary, the
tour guide explains to the visitors the
meaning and relevance of the things and
symbols in the environment in a language
that the visitors could easily understand
and relate to.

55. Type of Commentary
3. Requested – when requested or asked,
tour guide shall provide commentary to
address particular needs and inquiries of
the tourists.
-although this type of commentary can be
called for on an ad hoc basis, tour guides
must still come prepared.
- In this regard, it is important for tour guides
to know their assigned city or location very
well.

56. Type of Commentary
4. Optional – highlight the guide’s engaging
and entertaining traits.
- Like s requested commentary, an optional
commentary allows for the tour guide’s
deeper involvement in a conversation and
analysis.
- - in this way, the tourists can have a better
appreciation of the tour and the attraction

57. Parts of commentary
 Commentary usually has five parts:
1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Reaction
4. Reminders
5. Closing

58. 1. Introduction
 Greet the tour participants,
introduce yourself( and the driver)
and get to know the members of
the group.
 Provide an overview of the tour
schedule and what to expect during
the tour.
 Provide general information about
the country and the city as well.

59. 2. Body
 Upon arriving at a particular
tourists attraction, describe the
attraction and its relevance, what
to see or do there, how long the
group will stay there and the time
everybody is expected to be back at
a specific meeting point.
 Do this for all other attractions.

60. 3. Reaction
 Give the tour participants a chance
to ask questions before setting
them free.
 Allow for question and answer
during the tour.
 Encourage tour participants to
voice out their reactions after the
tour.

61. 3. Reaction
 Do not argue with the participants,
but do try to address their
concerns.
 When receiving a question or
remark, confirm it first by
paraphrasing before responding
and then ask again if the concern is
properly addressed.

62. 3. Reaction
 Do a recap after delivering the body
of the commentary and calling for
reactions.
 A recap is a brief summary of what
has been discussed.

63. 4. Reminders
 Make sure that the tour participants
take care of themselves and their
belongings and respect each
other’s time and space.
 Always remind them to be on time
and protect themselves from
various elements in the
environment that may harm them.

64. 5. Closing
 End the tour by thanking the tour
participants for joining the tour and
whenever possible, ask them to join
the tour again with their friends and
other tours that the company offers.
 Some companies request guests to fill
out a feedback sheet at this point,
while others provide simple tokens of
gratitude like local items or group
photos

65. Steps in Preparing Tour
Commentaries
 Putting information together for tour
commentaries entails the same
methods for arranging the tour
schedule in a logical manner.

66. Steps in Preparing Tour
Commentaries
 Steps:
1. Get a map of the tourist site and plot
the location of all the tourist
attractions that the tour group is
going to visit
2. Plot locations of toilets, food stores,
souvenir shops, security office and
clinics.

67. Steps in Preparing Tour
Commentaries
Steps:
3. Identify a starting point and
a meet-up point at the end
of the tour.

68. Steps in Preparing Tour
Commentaries
 Steps:
4.Think of a logical arrangement for
visiting the tourist attractions such that
you will visit the closest one to the
starting point first and then work your
way through until you reach the meet-
up point making sure that no effort and
time are wasted because of
crisscrossing paths and backtracking.

69. Reviewing and editing tour
commentaries
 Use the following steps in reviewing
and editing tour commentaries:
1. Is the grammar correct?
2. Does the commentary follow the
same flow as the itinerary?
3. Are the words and sentences used
interesting and compelling?