AGTO MATTERS

Roadma ps and ti med tickets

The government’s much publicised r oadmap that has been instrumental in helping us navigate a way out of lockdown has now been mostly (at the time of writing) discarded in favour of caution and commonsense. But as Wendy Hartley-Scarff, chief executive of the Association of Group Travel Organisers (AGTO), says, bouncing back better may take a little while yet.

Whenever I heard the government talking about a roadmap I was reminded about those wonderful Ordnance Survey, Bartholomew or Michelin maps that I remember studying carefully before setting out on a car journey.

I also remember the challenge of folding them back up again!

Although online mapping is easy to use, perhaps the printed map, either in a foldout style or in an atlas, is still your preferred choice. But of course, in using the description ‘roadmap’ (one word), the government isn’t extolling the virtues of contour lines, places of interest and trigonometry points (and hill walkers will nod approvingly at that last reference). In lockdown parlance, roadmap means any plan or guide to show how something is arranged or can be accomplished. I saw one commentator defining it as a strategic plan that defines a goal or desired outcome and includes the major steps or milestones needed to reach it. Indeed, you can’t beat a good milestone to measure your journey.

Which neatly brings me to the journey that we’re all making. I’ve been really pleased to see a number of familiarisation trips taking place, giving GTOs the opportunity to get out and about again, visiting parts of the country they might not be familiar with, and finding inspiration and ideas to take back to offer their groups. One of the benefits of AGTO membership is being able to read about the experiences of fellow GTOs, either on social media or in the reports that appear in the quarterly AGTO Magazine.

In the next issue, as an example, we’ll be featuring reports from a fam trip to Coventry UK City of Culture organised by Harry Shaw Group Travel, and a look at the Cotswolds on a trip organised by West Midlandsbased Dunwood Travel, both fams taking place in June.

The journey then seems to be progressing well, and you’ll be marking off your own milestones as you move from lockdown to being a free spirit once again. But being a free spirit might not be as easy as it should be.

Many visitor attractions require you to pick a time for your visit. These timed tickets help the attraction manage the flow of visitors, an important element of ensuring you have an enjoyable visitor experience. In pre-lockdown times you, or more likely the coach operator, would have had a good idea how long a journey would take, with toilet stops and likely traffic conditions all generally known and factored in to the planning.

But now, understanding what traffic might be like can be less predictable.

Travel and commuter habits have changed. A quiet road could mean arriving at your destination too early.

Unexpected heavy traffic could mean arriving late, and the frowns of overzealous gate staff.

The good news is that many visitor attractions are on top of this. Gone are the 10, 15 or 20-minute timed slots, to be replaced by 30-minute or hourly slots. That takes the pressure off you as a GTO should you find yourself running late, or early, but it still helps the attraction to manage visitor flows. It’s a win-win for everyone.

As we hopefully all get to enjoy a late summer break, perhaps it’s time for a new road map – one showing approximate journey times for coaches. But let’s not forget the milestones!