Annabel Lawson
These are very special people whom we like very much, and whom we train ourselves, so that they approach their role and your holiday in a way entirely in keeping with Andante's friendly, informal and relaxed style - but of course with their own personal "take" on it.
The role of the Tour Manager is as important as that of the Guide Lecturer, as anyone who has ever travelled with us will testify. The Tour Manager is at the heart of our ethos. Their presence allows the party to move around with more flexibility (one group sets off with the guide-lecturer up the scree slope to scramble around the temple, another prefers to meet them at the other side...). It allows them to take advantage of serendipity: a local festival; a home-made pastry seller at the side of the road; an excavation to which we are unexpectedly invited. A guide on their own with a group of people does not have the luxury of changing tack to suit events.
They will quietly and unobtrusively make sure that everything runs smoothly; that food and drinks are always available and good (trying to find you the best restaurants and make the best picnics), and do their best to ensure that you have the best holiday you possibly could. Many of our Tour Managers are themselves specialists in particular areas. Several of them are archaeologists, of course, but some have skills in wildlife/wildflower identification, ornithology, or geography.
On registration in each new hotel, the Tour Manager will wait in the the hotel lobby (if it is the kind of hotel that has a lobby, that is..) so that if you don't like your room, they can try to swap it. They will have water available free of charge to drink on the coach and ply you with it if there is any possibility of becoming dehydrated. Please take a metal water bottle (we sell them in advance very inexpensively) so as to avoid using acres of plastic.
The Tour Manager will sometimes appear with a box of cakes from the local pastry shop at the end of a long day, when just a little bit of sugar tides you over until dinner. They will help you translate the menu, and explain local dishes (when they know them), but best of all, on many of our tours, they will make you the most wonderful picnics.
Andante's picnics were conceived to take advantage of the frequently rural situations in which we find ourselves and save time. They may be real picnics with tablecloths on the grass, and bucolic baskets of local fruits, platters of cheeses and hams. Or they may be more simple affairs involving a good sandwich, some fruit and a pastry - but we do try hard to ensure you have locally produced, fresh and delicious food and the tour managers know that sometimes lunch is the only opportunity to try these things and will take trouble to procure a good selection and introduce you to them.
And they do all of this quietly and unobtrusively. Managing one of our Travels in Archaeology (for of course there is no Tour Manager on a Bare Bones tour) is a very special art and it takes a very special kind of person to master it.
Here is just a very small selection of the comments about them which have been returned on questionnaires at the end of 2008 and thus far in 2009:
He was an outstanding Tour Manager. We all laughed our way down the Nile! He made the holiday fun and trouble free. We all had complete confidence in him and enjoyed his unfailing good nature and humour.
Always cheerful, always helpful, always there with the water and always discreetly at the back to shepherd us along.
Always on hand with solutions and information. Her grasp of language and culture is outstanding and invaluable.
She was great! You could really tell that she loves and knows Italy very well and she was tireless in looking after us. She was also very interested in the study tour and engaged with us all in it. She is a great asset to you!
Very good complementary/ support role to the Guide Lecturer, and in liaison with the driver. Excellent role in picnic provisioning. Good/very good on logistics provision to members of the party- also flexibility in performance thereof.
An outstanding tour manager, tirelessly anticipating what might be needed and uncoiling the path for all her charges. Always charming, good-humoured and thoughtful.
She was a most able Tour Manager, always keeping everyone fully informed about organisational matters and successfully dealing with and problems which might arise, fortunately few. I felt that I could always rely on her as a source of reliable instruction and her patience and understanding; she was always warm and friendly.
She was a delight. Would be happy to travel with her anywhere. Her kindness and thoughtfulness was genuine and appreciated.
Superb. Nothing was too much trouble. He knew all our names very quickly and our 'needs' too. His knowledge of Turkey and Turkish people was much appreciated. Thank you.
She went to the greatest trouble to ensure that everyone got what they wanted - in my case obtaining taxi service to visit a site that wasn't on the programme
She did a wonderful balancing act of on the 'stage' and 'backstage'. She was kind, helpful and went to great trouble for us.
