Tours are short-duration activities like scuba dives, wreck dive tours, or reef excursions that typically last a few hours. Whether you're offering guided dives, snorkeling experiences, or specialty tours, proper configuration ensures smooth operations and clear communication with customers.
Watch our quick tutorial to learn how to create and manage activities 👇🏻
You can create a course by navigating to Settings > Activity Management > Activities > New Activity > Tour.
Understanding Tour Setup
Creating a successful tour involves careful consideration of multiple elements that work together to create a complete experience for your customers. Let's walk through each component of tour creation to ensure you're maximizing the platform's capabilities.
Basic Information
The first step in creating a tour is providing essential information that helps customers understand and choose your experience. This foundation sets expectations and showcases what makes your tour special.
Tour Title and Description
Your tour's title and description are often the first things potential customers see. Take time to craft these elements thoughtfully:
Create a clear, engaging title (maximum 50 characters) that immediately conveys the type of experience you're offering.
For example, "Morning Reef Discovery Dive" or "Sunset Wreck Adventure" tells customers what to expect.
Use the optional subtitle (maximum 100 characters) to highlight key features or special aspects of your tour. This is your chance to add compelling details like "Perfect for underwater photography" or "Suitable for all certification levels."
Write a comprehensive description (maximum 2000 characters) that paints a complete picture of the experience. Include:
What customers will see and do
Skill level requirements
Expected conditions
Special features or highlights
Equipment provisions
Any prerequisites or restrictions
Managing Tour Capacity
Effective capacity management is crucial for both safety and customer satisfaction. The platform offers sophisticated tools to help you manage bookings across different channels while maintaining appropriate group sizes.
Understanding Capacity Types
The platform uses two types of capacity management to help you coordinate bookings effectively:
Total Capacity
This represents the maximum number of participants you can safely and comfortably accommodate on your tour. When setting total capacity, consider:
Safety requirements and local regulations
Available equipment and resources
Staff-to-customer ratios
Transportation limitations
Comfort and experience quality
Buddy Booking Capacity
This number represents how many spots you want to make available through the Buddy platform. It's particularly useful if you:
Accept bookings through multiple channels
Want to reserve spots for walk-in customers
Need flexibility for special arrangements
Manage group bookings separately
Note that the customers won't be able to overbook however, you can if need be.
Customer Type Configuration
Different customer types help you manage various experience levels and requirements effectively. The platform allows you to:
Define Eligible Customer Types
Select which customer categories can book your tour:
Certified divers at different levels
Discovery divers for try-dives
Snorkelers and observers
Youth participants with specific requirements
Set Type-Specific Limits
For each customer type, you can establish:
Maximum number of participants
Certification requirements
Age restrictions
Supervision ratios
Special requirements or prerequisites
Pricing Structure
Creating an effective pricing structure helps maximize bookings while ensuring profitability. The platform offers flexible pricing options to accommodate different customer types and service levels.
Base Pricing
Set your foundational pricing structure:
Establish rates for each customer type
Configure prices excluding platform fees and taxes
An estimated price (inclusive of fees and taxes) a customer will pay is displayed in the Estimated Pricing column
Set different rates based on certification levels
Create pricing tiers for special categories
Add-on Integration
Enhance your basic tour with optional services:
Equipment rental packages
Photography services
Special equipment options
Premium experiences or services
Location and Meeting Instructions
Clear location information and detailed instructions help ensure customers arrive prepared and on time. This section is crucial for smooth tour operations.
Location Setup
Choose and configure your tour's meeting point:
Select from your predefined locations
Provide exact meeting coordinates
Include landmark references
Specify parking information
Detailed Instructions
Help customers prepare for their experience with comprehensive guidance:
Specific arrival time requirements
What to bring and wear
Required documentation
Local considerations
Emergency contact information
Activity Location
Specify the location where you are going to conduct the activity. This is a mandatory field as the tax is calculated for an activity based on the location where the activity will take place.
You can add a new location right from the dropdown while creating the activity. The newly created location will become available for all other activities you create in future.
Note that this field is for internal usage and is not displayed to the customers.
Bookability
Setting up a booking cut-off ensures you have time to prepare and finalize logistics in advance. Once this cut-off time is reached, online bookings will close automatically, and your activity will display as “Call to book” instead.
You can select from the following options:
12 hours
1 (default), 2, 3, 5, 7, 14 days
1, 2 and 3 months
Example: With 1 day selected as the bookability option, if an activity date and time is April 20, 2024 at 9 AM, then bookings can be made no later than 9 AM on April 19, 2025.
Waivers & Medical Forms
The waiver and medical forms step allows you to add customer forms for activities. Note that this will override the links you have set up in the policy settings.
This is an optional step. If you leave the form links empty, the system will default to the links available in the Settings > Policy section.
Important:
You will be able to update the waiver and medical form links of an already published activity which has bookings.
The existing customers will NOT receive a new waiver link. You need to reach out to the customers to get the updated waiver signed.
The newly updated links will be applicable for the upcoming bookings.
Visual Presentation
Strong visual content helps sell your tour and set appropriate expectations. The platform allows you to showcase your experience effectively through images.
Image Requirements
Upload high-quality images that represent your tour:
Maximum 10 images per tour
Supported formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP
Professional quality photos
Representative of actual experience
Image Selection Guidelines
Choose images that:
Show actual dive sites
Demonstrate typical conditions
Highlight special features
Showcase safety measures
Include equipment when relevant
Schedule Management
Effective schedule management helps you maximize bookings while maintaining operational efficiency. The platform offers flexible scheduling options to match your business needs.
Schedule Types
One-time Tours
Perfect for special events or seasonal offerings:
Set specific dates and times
Configure unique capacity settings
Establish special pricing if needed
Set appropriate booking deadlines
Recurring Tours
Create regular schedules for ongoing operations:
Daily, weekly, or custom patterns
Multiple time slots per day
Seasonal variations
Holiday adjustments
Time Slot Management
Configure your tour timing effectively:
Set appropriate start times
Define tour duration
Account for preparation time
Consider local conditions
Coordinate with other tours
Use the options available in the Duration section to create availabilities with different durations.
Select time or day range and enter the time slot or number of days for the tour
Create one or multiple time slot per day
Use the options available in the Dates section to create recurring availabilities.
Create a one time activity or recurring every week or biweekly
More details about the scheduling can be found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Tour Creation and Setup
Q: How detailed should my tour description be?
A: Your tour description should paint a complete picture of the experience while remaining concise and engaging. Include:
A compelling overview of what customers will see and do
Clear skill level requirements and prerequisites
Specific equipment requirements and what's provided
Expected conditions and physical requirements
Duration and timing details
Any special features or unique aspects of your tour This information helps customers make informed decisions and arrives prepared.
Q: How do I create variations of the same tour?
A: Instead of modifying a single tour, create separate tours for different scenarios. This approach gives you more flexibility and clearer analytics. Consider creating distinct tours for:
Different experience levels (beginner vs. advanced)
Various dive sites with unique requirements
Seasonal variations with different conditions
Special equipment or certification needs Each variation can have its own capacity, pricing, and requirements while maintaining consistent branding.
Q: How can I update waiver link for activity that already has bookings?
A: You can navigate to Settings > Activities > Select desired activity > Edit Activity Listing > Go to the step - Waivers & Medial Forms to update.
Note that existing bookings will not receive an updated waiver link. You need to contact them to get the updated waiver signed. The update link is applicable to upcoming bookings.
Q: How can I update a published activity?
A: You can update a published activity by navigating to Settings > Activities > Select the desired activity from Tours/Courses/Trips > Edit Activity Listing on the top right corner.
Note that certain parameters such as pricing or removing a customer/accommodation/add-on cannot be done once the activity is published. Refer to this section above for further details.
Q: How do I handle price changes for published activities?
A: You cannot update pricing of a published activity. If you really need to update the pricing it is recommended that the current activity is unpublished and a new activity is created. Refer to this section above for further details.
Capacity and Customer Types
Q: How do I determine the optimal capacity for my tour?
A: Setting appropriate capacity requires balancing several factors:
Safety requirements and local regulations
Available equipment and resources
Staff availability and certification requirements
Transportation limitations
Quality of experience considerations Start conservative and adjust based on operational experience. Remember, you can always increase capacity later if demand and resources allow.
Q: What's the difference between total and Buddy booking capacity?
A: Total capacity is your maximum participants, while Buddy booking capacity is how many can book through the platform. This helps manage bookings across different channels.
Note that the customer cannot book if the Buddy capacity is sold out however, you can still take the booking and manage your operations accordingly.
Q: How should I handle mixed-level groups?
A: While creating an activity you can select multiple customer types. If the desired customer type is not available you can pause the activity creation to go to customer type settings and add the required types.
Scheduling and Availability
Q: What's the best way to manage seasonal variations?
A: The option to add multiple date ranges in the availability creation flow allows you to create availabilities spanning months with gaps in between. More details and examples are available here.
Q: How do I handle weather-dependent tours?
A: Set appropriate booking cut-off times for such tours. Make sure you cancel availabilities by navigating to Calendar > Click on desired availability > View & Edit Activity Details > Settings > Cancel.
Note that you will need to rebook any existing bookings before you can cancel an availability.
Pricing and Add-ons
Q: Should I include equipment rental in the base price?
A: The decision to include or separate equipment rental depends on your business model:
Including equipment:
Simplifies the booking process
Appeals to occasional divers
Creates all-inclusive packages
Reduces administrative work
Separate equipment rental:
Provides pricing flexibility
Accommodates equipped divers
Allows for equipment upgrades
Creates additional revenue opportunities
Consider your target market and operational efficiency when making this decision.