We've been doing so since 2004!

If you have a core group of corporate colleagues, friends or family that you spend a lot of time with, you may want to consider taking a group vacation. With careful planning, patience, and a lot of communication between all parties, we can put together a group vacation that will be filled with good memories of fun times had by all – and your friendship will still be intact after the vacation is over. We will be that preverbal “hand to hold” when things could go wrong or simply lower the anxieties felt by new travellers in general.

If you decide to take a group vacation, first get the parties together to discuss some of the parameters of the trip – such as time of year, and type of trip (cruise, resort, bus tour, etc) you will be taking. We then suggest appointing a leader, either by having someone volunteer, or by voting. This person and TonyTours will become the main point of contact for everyone involved in the trip – from participants to vendors (hotels, restaurant reservations, etc.). This will probably be a big undertaking, so if you volunteer, or are “volunteered by vote,” then make sure you have an idea of what you are getting into before you accept.

Next, take the time to come up with a budget and even set up an account that participants can deposit money into in order to make it easier for us to make reservations with – we say this because it is not fair for the person doing the planning to assume all financial responsibility as well. By having a deposit account, it will be easier to keep up with who has deposited.

As you will find, once you set up an “initial budget,” which includes all of the incidentals you have previously decided upon (lodging, travel expenses, food, excursions etc), the destination is the next step. You may find that if you try to pick the destination first, before coming up with a workable budget, that the destination is either too expensive, or, that you could actually afford a more exotic trip. Thus, precious planning time could be wasted. When picking your destination, come up with three ideas that everyone would enjoy and then take a vote – majority rules. This also gives any potential participant the ability to back out if they are unhappy with the package before you get to far in the planning process – which could cause major problems like incurring cancellation fees.

Group Cruises are the perfect solution to any large corporate or family gathering. Get all of your meals, lodging and activities in one place while visiting exciting destinations! Group Cruises can offer great experiences. Traveling with others who share a common goal can create some of the best memories a person could ask for. From your first conversation with one of our group travel coordinators, you will find that we offer your group the solutions you need to insure a fun and easy trip that will keep your group focused on their travel, not the details. We escort you to ensure that there are no anxieties for your group from the departure airport, back to the departure airport. Many great, positive memories are forgotten quickly through an incident that could have easily been cared for by the escort.

Now, onto accommodations and travel expenses. Depending on where you decide to go will depend on what’s available. Your budget will have a lot to do with where you will be staying, just make sure you communicate all of the available accommodation options to the trip participants before booking the space. Also, many times, you can get a discount when you book a group, so be sure to ask about that as well as cancellation policies before we move forward with booking airfare or accommodations.

As you can see, having a pre-planned budget before getting too far into the planning process will make planning the rest of the trip a lot easier. Please note that travel groups must be 10 or more and 16 for cruises.

Our 2011 Travel Itinerary Includes:

• New Year’s Eve - St. Andrews NB
• March – Punta Cana, DR
• April – Cherry Blossom Festival
• April – Guardalavaca, Cuba
• June – July 1st on the Hill, Ottawa
• October – Bridgetown Barbados
• November – Thanksgiving in New York

Some places we recommend since we have travelled there in the past are as follows:

• Major Canadian Destinations: Vancouver, Victoria, Banff/Lake Louise, Calgary, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax, Charlottetown, St. Johns.
• Major US Cites: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Orlando, Tampa/Clearwater, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Atlantic City, New York, Boston
• Cozumel Mexico
• Ocho Rios, Jamaica
• Varadaro, Cuba
• Guardalavaca, Cuba
• Puerto Plata, DR
• Punta Cana, DR
• Hamilton, Bermuda
• Nassau
• Freeport
• Turks and Caicos
• Grand Cayman
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Madrid/Costa de Sol, Spain
• London, England
• Carnival Cruise Lines
• Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines

Link here to our web site www.tonytours.globaltravel.com or contact us for more information.