Before you can lead travelers on their faith-based tour and help them to experience the divine in a destination, they need to buy into your tour.
As you know, tourism is an extremely competitive industry. Defining the right information to include in a religious tour description, and writing it compellingly, could mean the difference between securing signups or being passed over for another organizer.
You want to make enough information available to convince potential clients of your adeptness and ability to lead them on a life-changing tour. Without the necessary information upfront, they may not be motivated to take on a deeply personal religious or faith journey with you.
Here are some tips you can use to ensure that you cover the bases when writing your faith tour descriptions.
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Important Information To Include In A Religious Tour Description
Provide A Tour Overview
This overview should provide potential clients with an easy-to-read summary of the faith tour on offer. It need only be a paragraph or two and can include bullet points which reflect the main points of the tour.
Here, information to include in a religious tour description is things like the number of days and cost of the trip, where will participants be visiting, and what will they experience.
Highlight what makes your tour or region different from the competition. Emphasize the religious or spiritual aspects that you feel are the things which travelers will enjoy the most or want to see in the itinerary.
Also, if your destination has a recognized image that people associate with religion, spirituality, or faith, use it to create the association, and connect them with your tour.
Outline The Itinerary
As with any tour, your participants are going to look at the itinerary before making any decisions. For many people, this is a once in a lifetime trip. Therefore they want to know it will resonate with them and meet their expectations.
In this section, provide a bit more detail on the sites and locations the group will be visiting daily. Naturally, the itinerary should include activities which speak to the overall religious theme of your tour, as well as some fun ones to lighten the mood as well.
Travel has seen a shift from passive observer to active, mindful, participant. Part of the information to include in a religious tour description should, therefore, mention the local people they will meet, be it a holy man or faith group, and encounters they will have on their journey, such as sitting down with a family from the community for a meal.
Include The Finer Details
Although fellowship with other religious tourists is part of the experience, group size does affect the personal nature of a trip. Therefore, it is advisable to let potential clients know what the maximum group size will be.
For example, travelers who are 50 years and above might prefer to join a smaller and more intimate group, while young members are happy to mix with a larger one.
Also, use this opportunity to reassure participants of the quality of your guide, and mention why this person is qualified to lead them on their journey.
Share Information On The Accommodation
The accommodation sets the mood for the overall experience, so be sure that this information to include in a religious tour description appears. Some travelers may want to stay in simple, no-fuss accommodation such as a hostel, while others might enjoy luxury or something suitable for a family.
Overall this will depend on the nature of your tour and target clientele.
Set Meal And Food Expectations
Many religions have dietary restrictions and/or rituals surrounding mealtimes. Be considerate of these things, and plan the food, places where travelers will eat, and the timing of activities accordingly.
Let them know that these have been considered, either by including information in the itinerary, or making a note in the finer details.
Packing Tips And Gear Rental
Although this should be included in an information pack prior to embarking on the tour, it is advisable to briefly outline any relevant dress code at a particular religious site in your tour description. This way, travelers will know right from the start what they are expected to wear or cover-up when they visit a destination.
Mention Optional Extras
Other information to include in a religious tour description is the optional extras. For example, there may be an activity that you didn't include as a main highlight in your itinerary, but feel is still meaningful for tour participants to see.
Highlight these sorts of things in this section so that travelers have the opportunity to enjoy the fullest experience.
Offer Any Extensions?
In some cases, you might be able to build a second destination into the faith tour, for example, continue onto another nearby city. Highlight this fact to potential clients so that they have the option to enjoy more of the journey with you should they want to.
Exclusions
As with any tour, it is best to explicitly outline exclusions, especially important things that clients might not pick up on automatically. For example, say whether or not a service is included to run bags ahead to overnight spots on a walking excursion.
Travel And Safety Tips
Include a section to give clients general travel and safety tips they should note. This could cover things like visa regulations, or political stability in an area.
Final Thoughts
The world is filled with holy sites which are important to people of different religions. Whether visiting Buddhist temples in Nepal or undertaking a pilgrimage in Jordan, this sort of trip helps travelers to take in a site's history and find meaning in the experience.
More often than not, attendees are going to want to spend time contemplating and sightseeing to develop a personal connection with the place. When deciding which information to include in a religious tour description, be sure to take this into consideration and develop the write-up and itinerary accordingly.
Remember to promote your tour as a life-changing experience rather than a trip to a religious site or event.
