What is a Custom Tour and how does it work?

🧭 What is a Custom Tour?

A Private Custom Tour is a simple way for guests to book you based on time, not a fixed itinerary.

Instead of choosing a predefined tour (your signature tours), the guest books you for a set duration and shares their preferences after booking.

You decide:

• How long you are available for

• What you charge for each duration

• How many guests you accept

This gives you full control over how you work and what you earn. You find it here: Custom Tour when you login as a guide.

💡 Why is this different?

Most platforms expect you to:

• Answer multiple inquiries

• Suggest itineraries

• Spend time planning before anything is confirmed

Often, this work never turns into a booking.

With Custom Tours, it works the other way around:

👉 The guest books and pays first

👉 Then you plan together

This means:

• Less unpaid work

• Fewer back-and-forth emails

• More serious and committed guests

💬 What happens after a booking?

Once a guest books you:

• You receive a booking request (you have 12 hours to respond)

• When you accept, the booking is confirmed and payment is captured

• The guest has already paid but funds will be released after tour is completed

You will then get:

• If guest have started a conversation with you through our "conversations" you will se that in your dashboard menu.

• Their contact details

• The option to continue the conversation in chat or move to your preferred channel (WhatsApp, email, etc.)

From there, you can:

• Agree on the plan together

• Adjust the experience based on their needs

• Decide meeting point and details

⚙️ How should I think about pricing?

You are not selling “hours”. You are selling your expertise, flexibility, and time.

A common approach is:

• Higher price per hour for shorter bookings

• Better value per hour for longer durations

Example:

• 2 hours → higher hourly rate

• 4–6 hours → lower hourly rate, higher total value

This helps you:

• Protect your minimum earnings

• Encourage longer bookings

• Avoid short, low-value requests

📌 What should I include in my setup?

To get the most out of Private Custom Tours:

• Offer a small selection of durations (for example: 2h, 4h, 6h)

• Think about the size you are comfortable with guiding when you set your max size.

Keep it simple. You can always adjust later.

🚀 Why guides use this

Private Custom Tours are ideal when you want to:

• Avoid unpaid planning time

• Work more flexibly

• Let guests shape the experience with you

• Get confirmed bookings before investing your time

• When you want to be bookable but haven't made signature tours yet

It’s a more efficient and professional way to work — for both you and your guests.