Every booking is a new itinerary
Your self-guided Cotswold Way holiday runs for seven nights with a different inn each night. A couple book starting on a Wednesday in June. Another customer books the same route starting the following Monday, with an extra rest day in Broadway. A family wants the short version. Each booking needs seven or eight inn reservations, a luggage transfer each morning, maps and route notes, and a welcome pack with contacts.
The office builds each one in a spreadsheet, emails every inn, and sends the luggage company a weekly list of bags to move. In June, one inn is full on the night you need, so the itinerary shifts. The luggage list still shows the old inn, and a couple arrive at their evening accommodation to find their bags are at the pub down the road.
Flexible start dates multiply the admin
Guided tours have fixed departures. Self-guided holidays have a start date per booking and often custom rest days, so the operational work is per customer, not per departure. The information needed each day (which bags go from where to where) is scattered across bookings.
- Each booking's night-by-night plan is built by hand.
- Inn availability is checked by email or phone per night.
- Changes to one night ripple through the rest of the plan.
- The luggage company's daily list is assembled manually from all bookings.
- Customer documents are edited by hand for each itinerary.
One wrong line spoils a day of the holiday
Self-guided customers are on their own, so small mistakes land hard. A bag at the wrong inn, a booking the inn never received, or route notes for the wrong direction of walking can spoil a day. The customer rings your emergency number, and someone sorts it out with the luggage driver.
In the office, peak season means dozens of overlapping itineraries, and one person spending most of each day building plans and checking lists.
A stage planner built for self-guided holidays
We build a planner that turns a booking into a stage-by-stage plan and supplier instructions.
- Each route is set up as a sequence of stages, with preferred and alternative inns for each overnight stop and the luggage transfer between them.
- When a booking is made with a start date, rest days and room needs, the planner creates the night-by-night plan and the list of inn requests.
- Requests go to inns by email or through their booking systems where available. Replies are matched and recorded, and a declined night suggests the alternative inn and updates the plan.
- Luggage transfers are generated from the confirmed plan, so each morning the luggage company receives one list of every bag to collect and deliver that day, by inn.
- Customer documents are generated from the plan: the inns, route notes for each stage in the right order, maps and contacts.
- Changes to any night update the luggage list, documents and supplier requests together, and only the affected suppliers are told.
| Part of the holiday | Created from |
|---|---|
| Night-by-night plan | Start date, route stages and rest days |
| Inn bookings | Plan, with alternatives if declined |
| Luggage company's daily list | All confirmed plans for that day |
| Customer route notes | Stages in walking order |
| Change notices | Only suppliers affected by the change |
Peak season with the planner
A new booking arrives for a Wednesday start with a rest day. The planner builds the plan, sends the inn requests, and within a day or two most are confirmed. One inn declines, the planner offers the alternative, and the office approves it. The customer pack is produced from the confirmed plan.
Each evening, the luggage company receives tomorrow's list: every bag, from which inn to which inn, with the customer names. When a customer adds a night, the list and the documents update and the two inns concerned are told.
The office can see every customer on the route on any given day, which helps when an inn calls with a problem or the weather closes a path.
Does self-guided admin feel endless?
- Every self-guided booking is planned by hand in a spreadsheet.
- Inn requests and confirmations are tracked by email.
- The luggage company's list is assembled manually.
- Bags have gone to the wrong inn after a change.
- Customer route notes are edited by hand for each booking.