Making the leap from Content Creator or Community Leader to ‘Travel Host’ can sound a little intimidating. Fortunately, we’re here to help make things as simple and transparent as possible. In this step-by-step guide to hosting group trips with Trova, we’ll cover each stage of the process and link to articles that provide even greater detail so you’ll never have to worry or wonder if you’re doing things right.
As they say, “Let the journey before the journey begin!” (okay, maybe no one says that… just us).
Key takeaways
The hosting process is made up of 5 steps, designed to ensure that Trova is a good fit for your community and vice versa.
Create your account
Plan your trip
Fill your trip
Prep for your trip
Travel (and earn!)
Trova provides tools to help choose the perfect itinerary (like our free, built-in audience survey) and promote your trip (promo calendars and guides).
Hosts are required to get at least 2 bookings within the first 2 weeks of launching their trips, so be ready to promote (and keep promoting - it’s the key to a successful trip).
Trova’s wide variety of itineraries offers options for every Creator, all around the world, and makes trip planning stress-free.
1. Create your account
Don’t be shy! Get started by signing up for a Trova Host account here and we’ll send you an activation email. As you sign up for your account, you’ll be invited to link your social media platforms directly to Trova so we can get a sense of how ready your community is to travel, recommend itineraries that are a strong fit, and offer personalized promotion coaching as you get further along (you can skip linking and add them manually if you prefer).
Once you finish signing up, you’ll log into the portal and start browsing the Itinerary Library.
The portal will be your command center of the hosting experience. Here are some of the most important features for new Hosts to know:
Itinerary Library — browse available itineraries, check pricing and available dates, and reserve your trip!
Host Profile Page — this is the link you share to survey your audience, collect emails from your community, and eventually share your trips
Survey Tool — your built-in data-collection best friend. Just share your Host Profile Page link and watch the audience insights roll in
2. Plan your trip
As soon as you activate your account, our algorithm will recommend 1 of 2 options based on factors like experience leading trips, community engagement, etc:
Immediately plan your trip by reserving an experience from our Itinerary Library, or
Prompt you to survey your community to collect more data around their readiness to book a trip
Either way, you'll want to get started on scrolling through the Itinerary Library to get familiar with what the options are for your group trip! To make sure you choose the right experience for your trip:
Think about your brand and community! Are there any strong themes or tie-ins? Outdoor Creators are likely thinking about backpacking in Canada, Colorado, or Patagonia. History geeks may enjoy touring Egypt…whiskey connoisseurs can hit up Ireland or Scotland…yoga, breath-work, and other wellness? Bali and Costa Rica are ready for you.
Use Trova’s built-in audience survey tool to collect data on your community’s travel preferences, budgets, and more. More about why and how to survey here, this is one of the best ways to get your community excited about the trip, plus it gives you a built-in email audience when it’s time to launch!
Poll your audience using your existing platforms - you can ask your community to vote between your top locations in a story poll, or email your list asking for feedback.
Once you decide, click into the itinerary in your portal. There, you can see what dates are available to reserve. You’ll want to book at least 6+ months in advance for mini trips or domestic travel, and 8+ months in advance for international travel so your audience will have time to book their flights and prepare.
Once you narrow it down to the ideal dates, double check your calendar and reserve that trip. A few things you’ll be asked during the reservation process include…
How many Travelers (remember, a minimum 10 is required for most itineraries, but a lot of Hosts say 12-20 is the sweet spot!)
Let us know if you’ll be bringing a +1 (free of charge, they’ll be priced into the trip!)
Do you have personal dietary restrictions, etc…
3. Fill your trip
Once you know where you’re going, it’s time to build awareness and get folks to book those spots. We’ll walk you through How to Launch your trip in this article, and after booking more than 1,500 of these trips and working with more than 700 Creators-turned-Hosts, our data team has cracked the code on how to successfully sell a group trip to your community…are you ready for it?
This is top secret, highly sensitive data, but we trust you….
To sell your TrovaTrip to enough people, you’ll need to promote your trip to your community.
We’re not being facetious! This is a new ‘sale’ for many Creators and it differs from physical goods, or anything that can be delivered instantly. You’re about to sell ✨travel ✨. Travel is a ‘big ticket’ (i.e. expensive and significant) item, so it needs to be promoted differently (and more consistently) than affiliate links, etc… Never fear, we’re here to help with all the tips and tricks so you can fill (and sell out) your trip.
Plus, the best news is that travel is tantamount to joy, and once you get your community traveling the world with you, they’ll likely be stoked to do it again and again. Helloooo repeatable income and repeatable fun.
4. Prep for your Trip
All that’s left to do now is show up and be a great Host! Okay, there’s a little more to it than that, but we have you covered with these articles on everything you can do before and during a trip to make it unforgettable. In a nutshell, you’ll want to connect with the group before the trip starts to make sure everyone’s comfortable and primed to form those trademark deep group travel connections.
We’ll get you (and your community) set up with…
Group chat via the TrovaTrip app
Final itinerary details
Built-in booking & payments
Customer support
What to expect from group travel
And more!
6. Travel (and earn!)
Then, on the ground, you’ll want to balance showing up for your community and enjoying the trip yourself. All the logistics of the experience will be handled by our vetted and experienced Operators which you can read about here. And in case you’re wondering how Trova works with you and these Operators to bring trips to life, check out this article that explains how our business model works. In these we cover exactly what you can expect from all the various folks who make a group trip run smoothly so there’s no confusion about who’s responsible for what. In a nutshell:
Hosts: Bring Travelers together and provide a leader to rally around
Travelers: Show up and have a good time
Operators / Guides: Local experts in charge of the on-the-ground experience (bookings, transportation, communication, etc.)
Trova: Customer support, payments, trip planning
Happy hosting!
There you have it, the entire hosting process from A-Z. Of course, this is just an overview so we hope you’ll check out the linked articles to really get a feel for how Trova handles Creator-led travel.