Group size really matters for the quality of your tour : Private tours only include your group of Family & Friends, your guide(s) and/or a driver (2-7 people). They offer the most personalized and intimate experience! Small group tours are usually composed of (8-15 people) and provide a bit more personal experience than standard group tours. Standard Group Tours are normally big sized groups of (16-35 people) and more. 

Group demographics : Is the group tour aimed at those in their 20s or towards older people or retirees? If you are a single traveler in your 50s and whilst you like to meet people of all ages when you are away, you might have to grudgingly accept that you are likely to find more common ground with those of a similar vintage.  It goes without saying that on Group tours you have no control over this. For the sake of reaching a minimum numbers of travelers, and to guarantee departure for a certain trip, tour operators might accept people of all ages to join the mix.  With private tours, on the other hand, the initiator personally decides for which age group the trip is intended. It is evident that he/she will be more likely to look for compatible fellow travelers that belong to the same age group and/or generation. 

The Holy Bible of Travel on the Internet : for many people, planning a trip to an exotic location can be confusing. Not only have you likely not been to the location before, but you also might have a lot of questions! What is the local culture like? What are some do’s and don't s of being a guest in this country? What activities and sites are a must-see? Or on the other side of things, what should I be sure to avoid? Even with the help of the internet, sites like TripAdvisor can lead you astray. It’s difficult to discern what information to trust and which information to throw out. In the age of the internet, we have all come to know that not everything you read can be trusted. Everything must be taken with a grain of salt! And in the end, there’s nothing that can truly replace the advice of an expert who’s gained their experience and knowledge firsthand. So where are the experts and how do you get their help? This is where becoming part of a tour group can help. You’ll need to decide, though, whether a private tour or a group tour is best for you. The decision will likely take a number of factors into consideration. To help you out, we’ve assembled the pros and cons of both private versus group tours. Hopefully after reading this post you will be able to know what option will help you accomplish your travel dreams! What’s right for one person or group won’t always be what’s best for another.

Premade or Customized for travelers? : For many travelers, Private Tours afford unique vacation opportunities that can be customized to reflect personal needs and wants. You don’t have to depend on pre-planned itineraries. Private tours are designed around what travelers want to get out of their vacations. Often a private tour company has itineraries premade, but this is just the starting point. The itinerary can be changed in order to suit your desires to the best of their ability. Everything from accommodations, to meals, to activities - like cooking classes and private guided tours - are taken care of. Your wish is their command! Do you love exploring a new country through the world of local cuisine? Add a cooking class. Interested in biking or cycling around your new destination, seeing it on two wheels? Add a cycling day. Has a certain national park caught your eye? Add a guided hike to see the best parts of what nature has to offer, while feeling safe and without getting lost. Are you wanting to learn more about local embroidery or other handcrafted goods? Add a workshop… that’s the beauty of being able to personalize your travel experience.

Fixed Itineraries with no room for Individualization : Itineraries for Group Tours are commonly set well in advance and are not available to be altered by vacationers. This helps keep the cost down of the tour, but is at the expense of your personal wants or needs. If you have other ideas on what you’d be interested in for your trip, there’s no room for individualization. The company only offers what has been previously set in stone. A Private Tour, on the other hand, gives you unparalleled flexibility for your itinerary. Some things can be changed on site, at the last minute, in consultation with your tour guide. With you and your chosen traveling companions as the sole clients, it’s all about you. If there are things you would rather skip or would hate to miss, it’s as easy as telling your tour representative. This is really one of the best pros of choosing to travel with a Private Tour! You get all of the perks of traveling independently, where you have full control over what you do and where you go, but without any of the stress. You can have the trip you have always wanted with the peace of mind that comes with having everything taken care of for you.

Total freedom and flexibility : On a Group tour, there will be a schedule with set stops and meal breaks that everyone has to follow. But with a Private tour, you can do as you please! Stop at the places you want to see and skip over any you’d rather not. You can also be flexible, so if you happen upon something that looks interesting and you want to explore, you can! 

Fixed departure / arrival dates : When you sign up for a Group tour you normally aren’t allowed much leeway in terms of the tour you take. These types of tours rely on prefixed departure- and return dates with little to no flexibility. With Private tours you'll get to pick your own travel dates and these are mostly flexible and in-line with your availability. It's up to you to set up the private tour and guide to fit your schedule. With a private tour, you can set the date which is most convenient to you. The dates of your tour can be according to what works best for your personal calendar or weather preferences. Do you have specific dates that you need to work around? No problem! Starting and ending your tour is totally dependent on what you prefer. You can also choose to stay in one destination longer, and at another one shorter. You don’t have to depend on going along with the group. If there is a certain city that you have been dying to spend more time in, you got it! If you want to add in extra days to relax along the way, no worries! Customization is all for your benefit. Additionally, you can make your vacation as short as you want, or extend it as long as you want and you can afford. Rather than working with a set amount of days, you tour is however as long as you would like it to be, allowing for time and budget restraints.

You will be treading the same well-worn path as others and there may be little opportunity to veer off the tourist trail :

Explore at your own PACE - Time allocation for each activity : Make no mistake; tour groups can move slowly.  Much like a convoy of trucks, they are only as fast as the slowest member. That can be frustrating when you just want to get a move on. However, it can work the opposite way. Maybe you want to slowly absorb what you are seeing and the group is racing ahead? It can be frustrating to arrive at a place that you have long wanted to visit, only to be told that you have half an hour to take a look at it. The schedules that must be followed on Group tours come with time limits at each stop. You’ll get an hour or so to explore before you have to be back on your bus by a certain time. With Private tours, this doesn’t apply as you’ll have your own private car and driver, so you can spend as little or as much time as you like at each stop. If you like to spend hours sampling local dishes at local restaurants - you can! Or maybe you want to pack as many stops as you can into the time you have - go for it! Private tours give you complete control over your time and how you allocate it for each individual activity.

Should I go on a trip with strangers or enjoy a Vacation with Family & Friends? : On Group Tours you will obviously sacrifice privacy and the opportunity to be alone. If you value your own space, you may struggle with group travel. Examine the schedule. If it is a packed one, then opportunities for solitude and reflection will be limited.  Traveling with strangers is always a bit of a gamble. Sometimes you can make lifelong friends, and sometimes they may just get on your nerves. But the beauty of travel lies in the unpredictable, and if your new roommate does your head in, it will at least make for a good story in the long run. Another pro to taking a Private tour is that you know your fellow travelers. Because the tours are private, you get to decide who joins in on the tour. This may mean just your immediate family, your extended family, or your invited friends. You don’t have to worry about vacationing with strangers if you don’t want to. This affords you the PRIVACY that you might come to want during a get-away trip. The comfort factor increases greatly when your time abroad is spent with those you love! A private tour might specifically be the best option when it comes to special celebratory trips. Some examples are honeymoon trips, wedding anniversaries, birthdays or to celebrate retirement! These kind of lifetime achievements are obviously more enjoyable when spent with your loved ones! You can let go of all pressure to get to know new people or stress from being around people you don’t know.

You cannot choose your own accommodation : With most big tour groups you have no control over the choice of hotel.  Also, many tour operators don’t reveal where you will be staying until just prior to departure. You might stay in ‘city center’ hotels that are 20+miles away from the main attractions. Sometimes, for budgetary reasons (or because of current hotel contracts) big tour operators will accommodate you far away from the city center. A certain hotel might be located next to a dangerous highway or it's positioned in an unsafe or seedy neighborhood. There are very few possibilities to enjoy a late night dinner in nearby local restaurants, that are accessible ( within walking distance ) from your hotel. If you're eager to walk late night in the historic city center, you often have to make use of expensive taxi rides or shuttle service provided by the hotel where you're staying. Also, be aware that with Group Tours, after 6pm, there won't be any services at your disposal from tour leader assistants anymore. Your tour leader and the bus driver mostly work from 09:00am until 18:00pm only. You will have to sort out dinner & night excursion arrangements by yourself (it will be your own responsibility to make dining reservations and to organize local transport). There's a good chance that the hotel where you are staying also has a significant number of rooms (200+). When you face a specific problem in your hotel room (eg. the toilet doesn't flush or the water pressure from the shower nozzle is too low) the receptionist can often not assist you immediately to solve these issues; in big hotels they mostly work on shifts; at the same time they also have to take care of sometimes more than 500 hotel guests. Getting no immediate attention for your accommodation problems can often lead to a lot of frustration with tourists that stay in this kind of hotel and have got here with super big tour groups.

The benefits of Boutique Hotels or Small Luxury Hotels : Many boutique hotels are trending as travelers are seeking authentic experiences of living where they’re visiting. Lack of a lengthy corporate structure and guidelines allow boutique hotels to offer a personalized experience. Owners can change interiors or upgrade amenities when they see fit. Good boutique hotels also know how to take advantage of the surrounding area. This includes locally sourcing food from nearby providers, as well as other items like flowers, furniture, etc. A boutique hotel can offer anywhere between 5 to 15 rooms to its guests. This allows them to enjoy a more cozy experience that lacks the vastness of a chain hotel. Travelers on a Private tour are looking for a unique, one-of-a-kind stay. They most likely benefit most from a stay at a boutique hotel or a Small Luxury Hotel (SLH). Some boutique hotels may even be located in renovated homes or innovative, modern buildings. They can feature trendy artwork, bands, music, or other unique amenities, too. A central, convenient location in the vicinity of attractive local restaurants and the historic city center, as well as a super friendly personal service (this type of hotel usually accommodates no more than 30 guests) are typical features that characterize a stay at this type of hotels. 

Simply satisfy your hunger or to indulge in regional cuisine? : With group tours, the traveler has no say in what will be eaten or which restaurants will actually be visited. All meals (usually 1 single dish, a buffet or a set menu) are reserved in advance. The choice of restaurants is entirely determined by the tour operator, according to a (usually) very busy travel schedule. Chinese restaurants specifically cater to serve masses of tourists in a very short time. Often one has not more than 25 minutes to enjoy a meal; then quickly go to the toilet; then continue your journey by bus for another 250 or 300 km (5 hours driving). Once you arrive at the hotel, your final destination for this travel day, there is a long queue of tourists waiting at the check-in counter. Your local tour guide will do everything he can to get you to the table for dinner as quickly as possible, so that he/she can finish his/her day job on time (around 18:00 pm) and take a rest for the next day of travel. Everything is rushed and the quality of the meals can sometimes be questionable. Not suitable for those who are known to have a sensitive digestion. With a private tour, the traveler determines in advance, in consultation with a travel planner, where to eat; what type of meals should be included in advance and what time is allotted to enjoy each individual meal. The meal plan is flexible and can also be changed at the last minute. The traveler also has a say in the budget that is allocated to spend on meals during each trip. The choices you can make are virtually unlimited: you can opt for a one-pan dish, an all-you-can eat buffet, international or regional dishes and "couleur locale" street food, or even fine dining in a Michelin star restaurant might be an option if you desire to splurge on certain occasions. To the extent possible, the travel consultant will also take into account special requests from certain travelers: vegetarians; gluten tolerance; diabetics etc... On request, special food tours are also organized where you can taste regional specialties. 

Exclusive local knowledge : You may not be able to get under the skin of a country on a Group Tour. There is nothing like navigating around a country to allow you to get to know it. Also private travel forces you to talk to locals more than you would on a group tour. Reflecting on places we have been to on a group tour, we feel that whilst the tour leader feeds us lots of information, our understanding of the country and its people remains relatively superficial. Having a private tour guide all to yourself means you get an insight into the real culture of the place,  and local guides or tour leaders on a Private tour will be more than happy to share their local expertise with you! They’ll take you to the best local restaurants and hidden attractions that you may not have been able to discover otherwise! This gives you a truly unique and authentic experience. 

All-inclusive > Special assistance needed? > YES please : Private tours are also useful for those who need some extra assistance. This might include older relatives, those with small children, or travelers with mobility or medical concerns. If there is something that’s making you hesitate on traveling abroad, there is a good chance that a private tour can accommodate you! From years of experience with clients with a variety of needs, private tour groups are often well versed in working around the needs of their clients. Service is individualized and the experience of the customer comes first.

You will have to share a ride with fellow travelers  : Unlike private tours, you will not be given a personal guide in Group tours, as the appointed group tour leader will have to take care of everyone. Also, if you’re not keen on meeting strangers, group tours are definitely out of the question. You will also have to share transportation with fellow travelers as well. Just imagine when you have to wait for other travelers to board the bus, when you actually really want to get going already. So if you’re looking for a private day tour with a comfortable ride, don’t expect them from group tours. 

Fixed OR flexible transportation? : Another con to Group travel is fixed transportation. This usually means a large tour bus that makes pre-planned stops and may even lead to you missing out on certain locations and sites. It’s just not practical or possible for tour buses to fit or drive in the same roads as a mid- to large size vehicle. Some historic sites may not have room to accommodate large buses. Consider what the roads and sites will be like where you’re traveling. Will the size of your tour vehicle limit what you can access? It will definitely matter. With a Private tour group, you can rely more on private transportation to get you around. While large tour groups may end up on large buses and other services, small private tour groups often get around by private car / minibus / high-speed trains / inter-European flights etc... Smaller sized vehicles are great at offering travelers more flexibility. While a large tour bus has difficulties fitting down smaller streets or roads, your private transportation should have no problem. The small nature of your group makes it easy to see more intimate places and little known corners of the world. Your personal driver and guide will take you where you would like to go, to what you would personally like to see! There will not be any limitations because of your tour group or vehicle size. 

Tourist-rich experiences : Group tours heavily rely on tourist-rich activities and sightseeing; you may not find yourself fully immersed in the culture of a region by taking part in a large group tour. And as you make your way along the tour route, you will find it’s difficult to have individual questions answered or explained in depth. Your experiences will be largely dictated by the needs of the group. For travelers in search of a more “authentic” adventure opt for a Private tour instead.

Just ticking of your bucket list or immerse yourself and delve deep into the roots of local culture? : What grade are you expecting? The concept of the Bucket List has achieved rapid and widespread recognition. The Bucket List is used to communicate specific suggestions of desirable tourism experiences. Ultimately, the Bucket List discourse serves to prescribe culturally specific ideas of what constitute ‘good’ tourism experiences and is imposed on individuals or participants of Group tours who are prompted to desire a constantly renewing range of tourism experiences. Travelers who organize a Private tour for their friends and/or family are more likely to immerse themselves more deeply in very specific once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences. They are also somewhat guided by the so-called bucket list phenomenon to make easier choices in the number of experiences they want to participate in during their trip; the actual time they want to allocate for each of these. However, its exploration is not as superficial as with group travel: significantly more time is spent visiting museums (culture); to discover local fauna & flora (nature); to participate in exciting activities (adventure); to relax and recharge batteries for the sake of a general well-being (leisure); to pamper oneself with, among other things, shopping in outlets (pleasure); to discover unique- and exclusive travel experiences in each travel destination (feature). " We travel to learn " remains their motto... 

Budget Constraints? : As for the cons to Private tours, such tours do traditionally cost more money. However, because you are planning the vacation you want, you aren’t wasting money on things you don’t want to do or see. If you don’t want to stay in a luxury resort, for example, you don’t have to. If you aren’t interested in a guided tour of a specific site or city, you don’t have to. That’s more money for you to take part in the range of activities that you do want! Since you work with our representative to plan the exact vacation you want, you know exactly what you are getting and exactly what you are paying for. The power is in your hands to create the experience you’re dreaming of. Overall this works together to make a more meaningful vacation for you, to remember for a lifetime!

Weighing the Pros and Cons...

At the end of the day, your trip is up to you! Your decision should be based on what will work best for you and whoever you are traveling with. Consider all of the different factors mentioned here above. Weigh the pros and cons of each. Think about what your travel goals are. What is most important to you as you travel?

Sometimes the choice is more dependent on your location. Look into the logistics of where you are going to be traveling and what you would like to see. Do some research and see what you discover!

If you are interested in discussing a Tailor-Made Tour, GET IN TOUCH TODAY to share your travel dreams with one of our Asian / European experts.