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Planning a walking holiday

Behind the scenes at Inntravel

If you have been on one of our walking holidays and witnessed for yourself the attention to detail involved, it may not come as that much of a surprise to learn that each new walk takes many months of planning and several trips before it is finally 'cooked', as we say in the office. Indeed, in some cases, an idea could be in the pipeline for two or three years before it finally becomes reality and makes it into the programme.

The planning stages

The Inntravel team is packed with enthusiastic travellers and experts in our various regions, so we always have plenty of ideas for new holidays. Over the course of a typical year, Inntravel staff members also attend many 'educationals' and trade fairs (or 'workshops' as they are called in the trade), which are an important way of establishing and maintaining crucial contacts with hoteliers and tourism bodies keen to work with us. We receive, too, some wonderful 'tips' from our regular customers, for which we are very grateful.

The 'key ingredient' we are looking for is the most elusive and intangible – it is that special quality that makes a walking discovery of a place unique. It might be the variety of topography, or the sense of a journey, sometimes the style of hotel and the great food!

Once an idea is born, considerable time is spent researching the area: reading guide books, surfing the internet, contacting tourist offices and studying maps. At this stage, travel is a major concern – there is no point taking an idea any further if the region is so remote that getting there would take many hours or would be too costly.

Then, once we are satisfied that a place has real potential, comes the initial visit. Usually the idea is still only vague, so this is basically a fact-finding mission, building on the information already amassed. We visit all the local hotels to gauge the general standard (all too often, hotels are not quite what they appear on the internet or in guide books), and we also gather information about the walking possibilities – local tourist offices are often a good source of information, as are hoteliers who are keen walkers themselves. But nothing beats setting out on a footpath or two to really get under the skin of a region. By the time we return to North Yorkshire, our heads are usually brimming with ideas.

The next stage is to 'home in on' a smaller area, and to formulate an outline itinerary, influenced not just by the walking but also by the number and quality of the hotels in the area. By the second visit, we usually have one or two rough itineraries in mind already, though it is still important to be flexible. We use the second visit to make choices on which hotels we would like to work with in each village (if there is a choice, that is – there isn't always), and to negotiate with the hoteliers. We also have to look at the vital details: what months can we offer the holiday, who will transfer the luggage, is the local taxi driver reliable, where can we buy maps from for our documentation packs? We may come across obstacles – some hotels may have certain conditions, or we may find that the train now only operates on weekdays, in which case we may have to modify our planned itinerary. We also use this trip to take photos for the brochure, and do as much walking as possible to ensure we have the best routes.

If all goes well, we return to the office with a finalised itinerary and work begins on the brochure, getting the description of the holiday just right and choosing pictures which best represent the scenery.

The finishing touches

Nothing happens for a while then – the brochure is published and mailed out and we start sending reservations to the new hotels. Then, usually a month before the start of the season, a member of staff goes out to finalise the walking notes. Most people's reaction when we tell them that we do such trips is 'lucky you!', and though it certainly is an enjoyable part of the job, it is also very hard work. Usually we have a pretty firm idea of the route by this stage, but what can look a very promising path on the map could turn out to be blocked by undergrowth or barred by a fence, in which case we have to find an alternative. Sometimes we have to do complicated sections two or three times to ensure that we have the description just right. Also, we have to walk whatever the weather, and it is not always favourable that early in the season! Once we arrive at the hotel at the end of the day, our work is far from over: after a quick shower we have to read over our notes from the day's walk, look at the next day's walk on the map, and spend a while chatting to the hotelier who, with the arrival of the first customers just a few weeks off, usually has 101 questions to ask us! We also have to obtain cultural and practical information – does the village have a bank and a chemist, when is the local museum open, what are the dry stone huts that we saw along the route? These are details that we incorporate into the notes so that they are as informative as possible.

When we return to the office, we all discuss the trip and make any final changes – improvements to menus, adding cultural information and so on.

You may think that the process stops there, but it doesn't. We monitor the questionnaires you return to us very carefully, and if you make any suggestions – routes, places to visit, dishes to try, wines to buy – we add these to our customer information. Walks, like all our holidays, are constantly evolving.

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