Have you ever thought about planning a trip for you and your friends but been put off by the logistics? Are you the person your friends have entrusted with the organising of a group holiday, and you’re not sure where to start? Whatever the reason for your impending holiday, there are some essentials everyone should know. Keep reading, and you’ll find out what they are. Follow them and your upcoming group holiday is sure to run smoothly. There will be no fallings out while you’re away, and everyone will return with fond memories of the occasion. You never know, you might be entrusted with the task of organising another one next year.

Find out everyone’s preferences

Before you start looking for anything and most definitely before you make any bookings, you’ll need to know what everyone will enjoy and what they really don’t want to do. If you’re travelling with kids, for example, do you need to look for luxury family villa holidays or will a camping trip be more to their liking? Is there a budget you need to stick to? Are there any particular activities you need to try to include? The more input you have from all the other travellers, the more likely you are to meet their needs.

Make use of Social Media

This will be a space where you can all communicate with each other. It could be a Facebook event page, dedicated email address or WhatsApp. There are also a number of holiday planning tools you might want to consider. With one dedicated space for questions and holiday-related conversations, you’ll all be able to keep up with the latest plan.

Make all the bookings at the same time

The first booking you’ll need to make are the flights. This is the first chance people get to make a firm commitment. Once the flights are booked and paid for there’s no backing out. Book seats for everyone at the same time and you’ll all get to sit together. Advance bookings are also likely to mean you’ll be saving money. Any other bookings you need to make can be made by one person as this means there’s no chance of anyone booking the wrong date.

Decide how you’re going to pay for things

There are going to be certain expenses you’ll all have to pay for. For example, flights and the cost of accommodation. It will be much easier if one person takes care of the communal expenses, and that doesn’t necessarily have to be you. Consider what will happen when the bill comes if you’re eating out. Are you going to split it evenly or will each of you work out your own portion of the bill?

The details matter but don’t go overboard

Knowing the holiday destination and where you will be sleeping every night are the most important details. However, there are lots of little things you don’t want to forget. How is everyone going to get from the airport to the hotel and back again? Will you need you to hire a car for your stay or are you planning to explore the area on two wheels? Are there any restaurants you want to try that might need a reservation? While it is a good idea to plan most of the holiday, don’t forget to leave some wriggle room. Your fellow travellers might not appreciate having every minute of their day planned for them. It’s also a good idea to have some flexibility in case of any unexpected adventures that crop up.

Allow for some downtime

Travelling in a group can get stressful. Trying to interact with everyone else 24/7 can be overwhelming. Everyone in the group is going to appreciate some time to spend by themselves. Just because you’re travelling as a group, doesn’t mean you need to be in each other’s pockets. Allow other group members the opportunity to go off on their own and do something else if they want to. Make sure everyone agrees to this option, and there shouldn’t be any upsets.

When it comes to planning a group holiday, don’t leave all the arrangements to one person. Each person in the group is going to have their own particular strength, so let other people take charge of things they are best at. If there’s a person in the group who’s particularly good at finding bargains, let them organise the flights. The person who’s good at research can be left to organise any tours or sight-seeing plans.