Preparing a Ten-Day Vietnam Circuit for Series Departures

One itinerary can carry a series of departures. Different dates do not automatically get the same rooms, rates or guides, though. Before the programme goes into a brochure, decide what must stay the same on every departure and what may change from one date to the next.

This is a planning example built on a published sample route, not a report of departures that ran. Suppliers, dates, availability and prices are confirmed in a quotation.

One base version of the route

The base is Vietnam Heritage Route: nine nights and ten days, south to north. Each stop gets its nights for a reason. Two in Ho Chi Minh City give the arrival day room to settle and a full day for the Cu Chi Tunnels and the city. Two in Hoi An, in one property, spare the group a repack in the middle of the trip. Hue gets one night, reached by road from Hoi An over the Hai Van Pass. Two in Hanoi steady the schedule before the overnight junk on Ha Long Bay, and a last night back in Hanoi serves the departures.

Two domestic flights carry the long distances: Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang, and Hue to Hanoi. Flight and transfer days still use time, so do not promise full sightseeing at both ends of a travel day. Hue shows why. The group arrives by road and flies north the next morning. With one night there, the number of monuments follows the arrival time, rest and opening hours, not a list.

Set the standard, then check suppliers by date

Separate what the product promises from who supplies it. The agency can set hotel location, room category, guide language, meals and group-size limits as the product standard. Named suppliers and their availability are then checked for each date.

The sample route shows what a standard looks like:

If substitutes are allowed, write the criteria down. A hotel with the same stars may not have the same location, coach access or facilities. A different boat can change the cruise route and the activities on board.

Guiding by region

Decide early whether one guide carries the full route, as in the sample, or regional guides hand over at planned points. The sample has one licensed Vietnamese national guide per group of up to eighteen guests for the whole route, with a local guide for the Ha Long Bay embarkation and cruise programme. Spanish and English are its working languages, with others on request.

Either way, fix the guiding days and the language for the south, the centre and the north, and who meets each flight. At a handover, agree how the group's needs pass to the next guide: rooming notes, diets, mobility. A coordination contact helps, but it is not round-the-clock help or a guide on hand at all times.

Price each date and each group

A series quotation should state the passenger basis, rooming, currency, tax and inclusions, how long it is valid, and the confirmation deadlines. A rate for one date does not carry to every season. Season can change the route as well as the rate. The central coast takes its heaviest rain from September into December, and Ha Long Bay is windiest from November through March, when rough-sea advisories can affect smaller vessels. In December and January, group cabins on the better junks and boutique rooms in Hoi An tighten faster than in the rest of the year.

Write down the status of every room and ticket, for every departure: a request, an option with a deadline, or a confirmed booking. Payment and cancellation follow the actual agreement for each booking.

Keep marketing needs separate

If the agency wants a photographer on a departure, treat it as a special request with its own scope: working days, deliverables, consent from the people photographed, and usage rights. Photos taken on a trip are not automatically free to use. The photos on this page illustrate the destinations; they are not pictures of a series.

To cost the route for a set of departure dates, send a trade brief with the dates, expected group sizes, rooming and guide language. How we work with travel agencies explains registration and net rates.