How to Plan a Tour

Planning Time: It is good to begin planning your tour 6 months to one year in advance. Although arrangements can be made in a shorter time period, this leeway will give you more options for hotels, dates and flights.

Choosing your travel dates: When choosing your travel dates it is important that you are aware of what seasons affect your tour price. Generally, seasons are as follows:-

  • Shoulder Season: March-May and September-November
  • Peak Season: June-September
  • Low Season: November-March
  • Jewish holidays are considered peak season and seasons will vary slightly each year.

Group Sizes: A minimum of 20 tour members is recommended for a group. However, we can price tours for groups of any sizes.

    • Decide on a realistic minimum and maximum number of participants you anticipate for your tour. Tour price is based upon the number of estimated tour members.
    • Smaller groups can be arranged to join with another church group to be cost effective. Regional groups, covering several churches, can be arranged.

Airlines: Several carriers are considered for your tour. The airline used for your tour depends on what type of flight plan is important to you (i.e. non-stop from US). *Please note, all airfare is subject to change.

      • Deposits of $100 per seat are required by airlines to guarantee rates and seats needed for each tour group. The deposit is fully refundable after the travel takes place, and specific dates are given by the airlines to reduce the number of seats reserved, or to cancel reservations without penalty of deposit.

Hotel Accommodations: Your tour price will vary according to the types of accommodations you choose for your tour. The location of your hotel will vary the price. Hotels that are close to major sites or those with special views are more costly.

Customize Your Itinerary: For sample itineraries, please contact our office.

    • It is impossible to see everything in 7 or 8 days of touring. You must decide on what sites you feel are most important for your group. Consider how many days you would like for your complete tour package (allow 2 or 3 days for travel), the number of sightseeing days, and if you would like to offer a free day to your participants.
    • Consider whether or not you would like to add a special lunch, a farewell dinner, baptism, or adventure activities.

Complimentary Tour Hosts: Complimentary tours can be built into the final price of your tour. Because all of our tours are customized, we will work closely with you to make sure that we meet your needs.

Taxes, Tip and Fuel Surcharge: We highly recommend including gratuities for guides, driver and hotel staff in your tour price. This enables us to offer the guides generous tips, ensuring we continue to offer our groups the best guides.

    • By collecting tips in the tour price, the funds can be given to the tour host to distribute as needed.
    • Taxes and fuel surcharge cannot be guaranteed by the airline. We can only give you the current fuel surcharge; the final amount will be determined 30 days before your departure. Should the airline impose an increase, the difference will need to be collected prior to departure.

Promotion: Our tours always include a customized brochure for your tour and a website link for easy online registration. Here are a few things to remember when promoting a tour:

      • Begin promoting early to give your people plenty of time to prepare.
      • Spread the enthusiasm! The number of participants will largely depend on your excitement for the tour.
      • Invite your church to join you on this life changing journey. “Come and go with me!”
      • Hold informational meetings and “Holy Land”, “Biblical Lands” nights.
      • We can provide you with materials needed to promote your tour. (posters, video clips, photos, hand-outs, brochures, etc.)

Registering Tour Members: It is our job to ensure a smooth and simple registration process for all of our tour members and leaders.

    • All tour members can register on our website or we accept mail in registration forms from the back of your brochure. We will provide you with the direct link for your tour registration.
    • We collect all pertinent information from passengers.
    • Deposits and all payments from individual tour members are collected by our team until payments are made to our various operators.

Final Documents: Final passenger documents arrive 2-3 weeks before departure. These include:

    • map
    • name tag
    • luggage tags
    • backpack
    • informational booklet that includes:
      • hotel information
      • rooming list
      • flight schedule, historical site details
      • daily detailed itinerary
      • helpful details on traveling to the Holy Land.

Madison Tours and Travel is available to assist you and your tour members to ensure that your tour is of the highest caliber. After all, this will be a life-changing spiritual journey!