Virtual Site Inspection – Marching Band – Tour Assistants

Tour Assistants

Youth Music of the World will provide you with a tour assistant – a member of the Destination Events team – who will be dedicated to looking after your group throughout your performance and sightseeing tour.

All of our tour assistants have been selected as a result of their excellent knowledge of the city, its customers and quirks, its sights, attractions and places of interest. All tour assistants are additionally trained to have an in depth knowledge of your personal itinerary and all the travel, hotel, sightseeing and performance elements associated with your programme. Your tour assistant will be able to answer questions and provide help to any students or adults within your group at any time.

Your tour assistant will meet you as soon as you arrive, stay with you in your hotel, accompany you on your itinerary and be your day-to-day liaison.

The Tour Assistant Team

Our team is comprised of approximately 70% tour assistants who have worked with us previously and 30% new tour assistants.

The span of ages of a tour assistant generally falls between 2–35 years old.

Our tour assistant team is split generally between male and female members of staff.

Generally our tour assistants start working with us while they are at university and continue working with us for approximately 3-4 years. We do however have a number of tour assistants who continue working with us for considerably longer periods.

The Tour Assistant Calendar 

6-9 Months Before Travel: During site inspection you will have the opportunity to discuss the character of tour assistant that would best suit your group. Every group is different and we therefore aim to find our more about how your group is organised and structured to ensure the best fit of person for you.

5 Months Before Travel: Destination Events recruits new members to the tour assistant team.

3 Months Before Travel: The Destination Events team works to pair tour assistants with groups to provide the best possible match.

2 Months Before Travel: Tour Assistant training – this gives the team the opportunity to come together, meet and get to know each other. During the final part of training we provide each tour assistant with information about the grouop they will be working with and that groups itinerary. The tour assistant will then visit the hotel their group will be staying in and meet all the hotel personnel, visit their groups performance venues and gain an understanding of all of the tours and excursions their group will be taking.

1 Month Before Travel: The Destination Events team will send you a short video from your tour assistant and he or she will also contact you personally by email to introduce himself / herself and find out if there is anything you would like them to do in advance of your arrival.

On Arrival: You will be met by your tour assistant who will be with you throughout your performance and sightseeing tour.

The Tour Assistant during your Performance & Sightseeing Tour

Throughout the year you will have been working with our key member of staff based in the Youth Music of the World and Destination Events offices, preparing all elements of your tour.

For the week of your tour all of the information you have worked on and finalised to make your perfect itinerary will be handed over to your tour assistant. They will then make sure the itinerary runs exactly as planned and as smoothly, organisationally and logistically as possible.

The only area your tour assistant will have no knowledge of are the financial arrangements surrounding your performance programme. If you have any questions of this nature, you should direct them to head office, which will be in operation throughout the period of your performance and sightseeing tour.

Tour Assistant Key Details 

.Your Tour assistant will be working with your group only throughout the time of your programme

.Your Tour Assistant will be supported by the full Destination Events team, and will be able to contact all members of the team at any time

.Your Tour Assistant will be able to assist with any matters relating to your hotel, meals, sightseeing, performance and unstructured time

.Your Tour Assistant will accompany you on all sightseeing and performance activities

.Your Tour Assistant will assist with the planning of your group’s unstructured time

.Your Tour Assistant will determine how to best use their time when groups have unstructured time in chaperone groups. i.e. lost passports, medical situations

.Your Tour Assistant must have a meeting with you (Group Leader / Band Director) every evening to check plans for the following day

.Your Tour Assistant must participate in daily chaperone meetings, to check they are aware of the chaperone’s plans and help as required

.Your Tour Assistants will not be involved with any school disciplinary issues. If there are disciplinary issues which affect your programme, your tour assistant will be able to inform the wider Destination Events team