How to Plan a Group Trip With Your Survey Data

Use your community’s responses to offer their dream trip 

Once you’ve qualified as a Trova Host and your survey is done (hopefully with at least 100 qualified responses), it’s time to move on to the fun part: planning your trip! And great news, because you surveyed, you’ll be able to cater to your community with the exact group travel experience that they want. All you have to do is look at the data they’ve provided and you can’t go wrong. It’s like finding the answer key right before a big test!

Of course, there’s a little more to the art of interpreting information, so this article will take you through the process step-by-step as you discover how your community wants to travel and point you toward the best-suited itinerary.

Key Takeaways

• All the data from your survey can be found in the Audience Tab in the portal, organized by top destinations, budget, preferred time of year to travel, age, and gender.
• Use your audience’s median budget to narrow down potential itinerary options. If your demographic skews younger (18-21), choose itineraries below their stated budget to increase the chances of confirming.
• The destination is important but it’s not everything. Make sure the itinerary matches their budget preferred activities, and the time of year they’re able to travel.
• Trova’s itineraries are professionally curated and are not designed to support customizations. To personalize the experience for your community, consider leading a workshop or class!

Planning a group trip

No matter how many blog posts you read on "how to plan a group trip," the stress is real. Even with Google at your fingertips, group travel planning is time-consuming, and there's a lot of pressure to ensure everyone has a great time. Instead of trying to channel your inner travel agent, TrovaTrip provides you with the tools and support to plan and manage group trips. Your survey data provides a tangible glimpse into your Traveler interests and budgets, equipping you with the intel to plan an epic group excursion. So, let's turn apprehension into action and get started.

Audience tab

It all starts in the portal's Audience tab, where you’ll find all the juicy details your community has provided about the trip of their dreams. The responses are broken down into key categories to keep things nice and simple, including:

• Qualified Survey Responses (folks 18+ years old with a budget of at least $2,000)
• Top Destinations
• Median Budget
• Preferred Travel Time
• Age & Gender

With that in mind, let’s take a look at each of these components and how they make group travel planning easy for Trova Hosts...

Start with money

You’ll kick off the trip planning process by figuring out the budget, which will help you start zeroing in on a pool of realistic possible destinations. By looking at the median budget, we can establish a price point that fits the largest percentage of your audience. This step ensures that the trip stays affordable for Travelers while allowing Hosts to hit income goals when adding their margin.

In case you're wondering why it’s best to look at the median instead of the overall average, it’s because taking every response into account can skew results. The median is derived from options in the middle of your data so outliers can be ignored, and you can focus on the heart of your community.

💡Trova Tip: If your respondents are on the younger side, say 18-21, we recommend aiming below the median budget, as the youngs can sometimes overestimate what they’re willing to spend. Taking that at face value can result in a trip that doesn’t confirm. With older Travelers, like those in their late 20s and up, you can stick with the official median.

Location, location, location

Once your budget is set, it’s time to look at destinations to see what will work. This step is all about striking a balance between where your audience wants to go and what they’re willing to spend. In the Audience tab, you’ll see a ranked list of their top choices. In an ideal world, the top destination will be a perfect fit, but sometimes one further down the list will be a better fit in terms of budget, time of year, or activities (more on those last 2 in a second).

And don’t worry if you can’t offer your community the top destination. As you host more trips, you may find that budgets change and people who weren’t ready to commit at first are now suffering from acute cases of FOMO. For now, narrow down your destinations, then check out the Trova itineraries available for each. 

Dig into the details

Budget and location are the cornerstones of planning a group trip that jives with your community. But making a final decision comes down to the little things like activities, timing, and demographics. Not every itinerary is perfect for every community. For example, a bourbon trail in Kentucky will have an ever-so-slightly different vibe than an all-women’s retreat to Bali. And that beautiful Greek adventure might not be so warm in December.

Just remember, a trip to the 3rd most popular destination that’s a good fit when you factor in all the data points (budget, time of year, preferred activities, etc.) is infinitely more appealing than a trip to the most popular destination that doesn’t offer anything else your community likes. Sure, the big picture stuff is important, but paying attention to the details is how you can truly make your community feel like they’ve been heard.

If it ain’t broke…

Once you know where you’re going, how much it will cost, and what you’re going to do there, you may feel tempted to put in a few requests to make the trip extra special. While that’s totally understandable, it’s important to remember that TrovaTrip’s itineraries have been designed by travel experts working hand-in-hand with the local Operators who oversee your on-the-ground experience. That means the Guides are trained, the activities have been vetted, and the flow of each trip has been optimized so that no part ever feels awkward or rushed. After all, these tried and true experiences are how we’re able to offer group trips at scale for you and your community!

Because of all this meticulous planning and vetting, TrovaTrip’s itineraries are not set up to support customizations. To personalize the experience for your community, consider leading a workshop or class! In many itineraries, you’ll see rooms and times set aside for you and your community to connect more deeply through your area of expertise, whether it be yoga or travel blogging.

Make the call

There you have it: all the steps on how to plan a perfect group trip! Sure, there’s a lot to consider, but with so many ready-made options from TrovaTrip, this part of the process is really more about choosing than planning. The heavy lifting is done, and all that's left is to let your community’s voice guide you to the right itinerary…then invite them to experience it together!