Series departures and ad-hoc groups across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos — fixed net rates by group size, never handed to another local operator.
It is eight or nine of them running at once — each with a different supplier, a different deadline and its own way of falling over. They sit on one desk, ours, and they are confirmed before the group is in the air.
In-house teams in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos
Tap the diagram to see it full size
A group quote has to be repeatable enough to put in a brochure and robust enough to survive a full coach on a wet Tuesday in Hanoi. We cost the first part and operate the second — with the same in-house team doing both.
Four things decide whether a group programme holds together. All four sit with us, not with a subcontractor.
Vehicle, guide and fixed costs are shared across the group, so the per-person rate steps down as it grows. We quote the whole ladder of bands at once — enough to price a brochure without coming back to us for every passenger count.
Group rooms are held as a block by category, not booked one at a time. For the October-to-April peak we hold like-for-like alternatives we have already inspected — so an oversold hotel moves the group sideways, not downwards.
The same person costs the programme, holds the allocation, takes the rooming list and answers the phone at 11pm on day four. A Vietnam group extending into Siem Reap or Luang Prabang keeps that person the whole way.
Our own operations teams sit in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. When something moves at 6am local time, the person deciding what to do about it is already in the same time zone as the group.
Group size is not just a line on a quote. It changes the vehicle, the guide ratio, how restaurants are handled and how the group moves through a site. Pick a band to see what shifts — and why the per-person rate moves with it.
12 guests, one movement
A single minibus, a single guide, one hotel block — the whole group moves as one unit all day.
Below ten passengers we usually quote as a private tailor-made programme instead — a dedicated vehicle and guide price better that way for your client.
The first real step down in per-person cost happens here: the fixed vehicle and guide cost is now spread across roughly twice as many passengers.
Check-in becomes a timed event. Keys are pre-allocated against the rooming list so the group is not standing in a lobby for forty minutes.
Above forty, the programme is run as parallel movements rather than one line of people — which is exactly where an in-house ground team earns its place.
Typical operating shape by group size. Exact vehicle, staffing and commercial terms are confirmed with each quote.
Group travel has hundreds of moving parts, and some of them move without asking. As a local DMC our job is not only to write the itinerary — it is to operate it, and to decide quickly when it has to change.
For the programmes you sell again and again — a brochure, a catalogue, a seasonal campaign. Dates are set in advance, hotel allocation is held against them, and the costing stays stable, so you can print it and sell against it without re-quoting every enquiry.
For the group that lands in your inbox with its own dates, its own routing and its own budget — a corporate incentive, a club, an extended family, a school. Costed to that specific brief rather than squeezed into a fixed departure.
Running an incentive or a conference rather than a leisure group? That sits with our MICE and Incentives desk, which adds venue, staging and run-of-show production on top of the ground programme.
See MICE & Incentives →Exact deadlines depend on the hotels and any internal flights in the programme, and are confirmed in writing with your quote. This is the working rhythm behind them.
Dates, routing and an approximate passenger count. That is genuinely enough to start.
Costed per passenger band, ready to brand, with the bands quoted so you can price a range.
Room blocks held by category, plus like-for-like alternatives for the October–April peak.
Final numbers and names. Changes after that are worked with the hotel, not bounced back to you.
One coordinator on the ground and a duty phone live for the whole programme.
If yours isn’t here, send it over with the group brief — you will get a straight answer from the person who would run the programme.
We operate groups from around 10 passengers upward. Below that we usually quote as a private tailor-made (FIT) programme instead, because the per-person cost of a dedicated vehicle and guide works out better that way for your client.
Per person, banded by group size. Vehicle, guide and some fixed costs are shared across the group, so the per-person net rate steps down as the group grows. We quote the bands so you can price a brochure or catalogue without coming back to us for every pax count.
A series departure runs on fixed, published dates with hotel allocation held in advance — suited to brochure and catalogue programmes you sell repeatedly. An ad-hoc group is a one-off on your own dates, costed to that specific routing and passenger count.
As a working rule we ask for the rooming list and final passenger count around three to four weeks before arrival, and name changes as early as possible after that. Exact deadlines depend on the hotels and any internal flights in the programme, and are confirmed in writing with your quote.
A licensed local guide accompanies the group as standard. Free-of-charge allowances for your own tour leader or escort depend on group size and the hotels contracted, so they are confirmed per quote rather than as a blanket policy.
Yes, on a single contract. We have in-house operations teams in all three countries, so a Vietnam group extending to Siem Reap or Luang Prabang stays with one coordinator and one point of accountability instead of being handed to a separate local supplier at the border.
Group room blocks are held on allocation rather than booked room by room, and we hold alternatives of the same category for peak dates from October to April. If a property fails, the group moves to a like-for-like hotel we have already inspected — not whatever has availability that night.
Dates, routing and an approximate passenger count are enough to start. We come back with net rates per band, costed and ready to brand, within one business day.
