Please carefully read the editorial guidelines for contributing information to the SafariBookings website before you add a tour. These guidelines explain what you can and what you should not do when you add information to our website. Read the guidelines.
How to add a tour
To start adding a new tour, sign in to your SafariBookings account and click on the ‘Dashboard’ tab at the top left corner of your screen (next to the SafariBookings logo).
In the ‘Dashboard’ tab, below the ‘Key Performance Indicators’ and ‘Analytics’ sections, you will see a red ‘Add a Tour’ button. Click on this button to begin.
Once you click on it, you will first see the checklist of all the information you will need further in the tour creation process. Make sure you have everything you need on hand, then click on the red ‘Add a Tour’ button below the checklist to start filling out the tour form.
It takes an hour or more to upload a tour from scratch. However, there is also an option to save your tour without publishing it and continue later.
Tour creation tools
The tour creation form is divided into sections. You will have to fill out each of these sections to adequately describe your tour.
‘Jump to’ menu
To quickly access any of the sections you can use the ‘Jump to’ menu at the top of your screen. To switch to the section you need, just click on its name in the ‘Jump to’ menu.
This menu is 'sticky', which means that you will always see it at the top of your screen no matter how far down you will scroll. This way you can easily use it any time you need.
‘Preview Tour’ button
On the right side of the ‘Jump to’ menu, you will see the ‘Preview Tour’ button. Click on it to open a preview of your tour in a new tab. The preview shows how your potential clients will see your tour on the SafariBookings website.
Tour title and description
The ‘Tour title’ consists of two parts: the number of days and the title.
The number of days
To choose the number of days, click on the ‘Select days’ drop-down menu on the left and select the correct number (1-Day, 3-Day, 10-Day, etc.).
The title
This is the rest of your tour title, which will sit after the ‘X-Day’ part. For example, if this is a safari in Ngorongoro Crater, you can write ‘Ngorongoro Safari’ in this section (do not mention the number of days in the text field).
Once you fill in the ‘Tour title’ you will see a preview of your title in green below the text box.
Your tour title plays an important role in your tour’s success. It is one of the first things SafariBookings users will notice about your tour, therefore it should be designed to provoke their interest. Make sure your tour title is:
- Eye-catching – it should grab attention
- Grammatically correct – it should be written in correct English; poor English may be perceived as a sign of an unprofessional attitude
- Descriptive – it should advertise the main highlights and benefits of your tour
Here are examples of some well-written tour titles:
- 6-Day Budget-friendly African Safari & Gorilla Trekking
- 9-Day Kenya Luxury Safari in All Major Parks
- 8-Day Great Migration Safari
- 7-Day Mid-range Epic Adventure (Stay on the Crater Rim)
- 6-Day Highlights of Tanzania Mid-range Safari
Tour description
The 'short description' of your tour should be between 250 and 500 characters. Make sure it is engaging, informative, and written in correct English.
Consider mentioning:
- Itinerary overview
- Benefits of booking this tour
- Pick-up and drop-off locations
- Accommodation information
- The comfort level of your tour
- What is included
- What wildlife is likely to be encountered
Please keep in mind that you have a limit of 500 characters. Do not squeeze a detailed description of your whole tour into this section, it should only contain a short overview. You will be able to mention all the necessary details further in your tour’s ‘Day-by-Day’ descriptions.
Short tour description examples:
Example 1:
Enjoy this amazing safari in a customized pop-up 4×4 safari jeep that has a portable fridge, binoculars, high-frequency radio, and above all a professional English-speaking safari guide who will ensure you have a memorable safari experience. Accommodation in Mara Zebra Plains is designed to give you the friendliest, most intimate, semi-luxury safari camp experience and the best wildlife safari in the Masai Mara.
Example 2:
Tanzania is a country bursting with natural beauty, wildlife, memorable experiences, and some of the friendliest people you will ever meet. On this premium luxury all-inclusive safari, you will explore the best of the Northern Safari Circuit in style! You will be amazed by the quality of the lodges and tented camps including food and service. Tanzania offers diverse landscapes and countless opportunities to view and learn about its rich wildlife. Tarangire, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and more…
Example 3:
See two of Uganda’s finest national parks on this safari. Queen Elizabeth with its wide-ranging wildlife is fantastic for game viewing and chimpanzee trekking in Kalinzu Forest. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the most enchanting experience, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch them at close range as these majestic apes feed, play, and relax. Afterward, enjoy some time at the beautiful Lake Bunyonyi before heading to Entebbe.
Country, main focus, and tour type
Countries visited on this tour
Select the country (or countries) that your clients will visit during the tour.
If your tour takes place in more than one country you should tick all the countries that are included in your itinerary.
Main focus of the tour
The ‘main focus’ of your tour refers to the category to which your tour belongs (based on the activities that are included). If your tour includes more than one type of activity, please select the main focus by the main (most distinctive) activity in your tour.
Private or shared Group Tour
The tour can be private or shared. A private tour is organized exclusively for a client, while on a shared group tour your clients will join a group of other travelers. Tick the option that fits your tour.
Additional adjustments:
- Below the ‘Private tour’ option, an additional setting allows you to add a note to inform your clients that transfers and game drives during this private tour are shared
- If the tour is shared, you have to select the maximum number of passengers per vehicle from the drop-down menu
- Below the ‘Shared group tour’ option, an additional setting allows you to add a note to inform your clients that your group tour requires a certain minimum of people (select the number from the drop-down menu) to start
Activities, transportation, and Where Your Tour Starts and Ends
Included wildlife viewing activities (and vehicle types)
In this section, select all the activities that your clients will participate in during this tour.
Only add the activities that are included in your tour rate and are NOT optional.
If you offer optional activities that can be included at an additional cost, you can mention them in your ‘Day-by-Day’ descriptions. It should be clear that they are provided on request and paid for separately.
When you select the activity ‘Game drives’ you should also select the vehicle types that will be used during this activity.
You may notice that some activities are written in gray and cannot be selected:
To select these activities, you first need to change your main focus accordingly. For example, if you want to select ‘Gorilla tracking’, you have to set the main focus to one of the options that include this activity.
Transportation types used to travel between destinations on this tour
Select all the transportation types that are used during your tour. If your tour includes a certain type of transfer (e.g. air transfer, boat transfer, train transfer), please make sure to choose a corresponding vehicle type.
Every transfer that will definitely take place and doesn’t have any alternatives should be selected in your tour settings and included in your tour rate. If your clients can choose between two kinds of transfers (e.g. a flight and a road transfer), please only add the primary option in your tour settings.
If there are flights during your tour, please make sure to add ‘Air transfer’ to your list of transportation types and include the flight costs in your tour rate.
Getting there and away
Set where your tour starts and ends. Start typing the name of a destination in the box to see a drop-down list of suggestions from which you can choose.
If your destination is not on the list, make sure the spelling is correct and/or try an alternative spelling. In rare cases, we might not have a destination in our directory yet. In this case, please type it in manually.
Below the ‘Starts in’ and ‘Ends in’ fields, you can set the airport transfer setting:
- ‘Yes, a transfer from and back to the airport is included’ – choose this option if the airport transfer is included in your tour’s rate
- ‘No, it’s not included, but can be arranged at extra cost’ – select this option if it is not included in your tour’s rate, but can be arranged on request (at an additional cost)
- ‘No, it’s not included and we can’t arrange it’ – choose this option if it cannot be arranged on request
Below the airport transfer setting, you can choose whether additional accommodation before and after the tour can be arranged at an additional cost (select Yes or No):
Day-by-day
In this section, please provide detailed descriptions and specifications for each day of your tour.
Click on a day to open it and fill in the requested information. Let’s take a look at each part of the day description in more depth.
Title for this part of the tour
Add a clear and accurate title for this day. You can also choose to cover more than one day by using the drop-down box on the left.
Main destination for this part of the tour
Start typing the name of a destination in the box to see a drop-down list of suggestions. If your destination is not on the list, make sure the spelling is correct and/or try an alternative spelling. If it still does not appear on the list, please type it in manually.
Photo
If the destination you have set for this day is in our directory, a carousel with suggested images of this destination will appear. You can pick a cover image for this day from this selection. If a destination is not in our directory, you will not be able to add a cover photo for this day.
Included accommodation
You can choose between ‘Accommodation’ and ‘Camping’ options.
If you click on ‘Accommodation':
You will be able to perform one of two actions below:
1) Find your accommodation in our directory:
This way you will not have to fill in any other accommodation information. Start typing in the name of the accommodation in the ‘Name’ field and click on it once it appears in the drop-down list. If it does not appear, make sure to try alternative names.
2) Input the accommodation information manually:
If an accommodation is not in our directory, you will have to add it manually and fill in the following fields:
- Name
- Type
- Comfort level
- Location
- Website (if an accommodation does not have a website, tick a box that says you cannot provide a website
If you click on 'Camping':
If the accommodation for this day is an unspecified campsite, click on the ‘Camping’ option and set the following adjustments:
- Comfort level (choose an option from the drop-down list).
If you select mid-range camping, the description of the day should mention the size of the tents (must be larger than 3m x 3m), that clients will sleep on normal beds and that each tent has a private veranda and bathroom. Mention that the bathroom has a toilet, shower and sink. You should also mention that your staff will take care of all the camp chores.
- Location (choose an option from the drop-down list)
- Participation (click on the suitable setting).
If it is a (semi) participation tour, the description of the day should mention the type of chores clients will help with.
The most well-known and established campsites can be selected under the ‘Accommodation’ option. To add one of these campsites to your tour please select the ‘Accommodation’ option and follow the guidelines from the ‘Find your accommodation in our directory’ step above.
It is a requirement to add accommodation for each day of your tour.
If accommodation upgrades or alternative accommodations are available, you can mention this in your tour description. But please DO NOT mention the names of alternative accommodation.
Included meals and drinks
Select all meals and drinks that apply.
Description for this part of the tour
The day’s description should include detailed information about:
- The specifics of how and where your day starts and ends
- The highlights of this day
- All included activities that your clients will participate in on this day. If there are any optional activities on this day, it should be clear to your clients that these activities are paid separately.
- The transfers that will take place on this day
- Accommodation that your clients will be staying at on this day
You can also mention (optional):
- The wildlife that your clients can expect to see on this day
- Meals and drinks for this day
If an airport transfer is not included, please mention where your clients will be picked up and dropped off (at their hotel or somewhere else) on the first and the last day of your tour.
You have an option of grouping the days if your clients will be staying at the same accommodation and doing the same activities on these days. To group the days, go to the ‘Title for this part of the tour’ subsection and choose the days you want to group from the drop-down menu.
Examples of good day descriptions:
Example 1:
Upon your arrival in Nairobi at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and on clearing immigration and customs, you’ll be met and greeted by our African Paradise Safari Journey guides. You’ll then be transferred to your downtown centrally located city hotel. Relax depending on your arrival time or do some sightseeing around the hotel. Your overnight stay will be at Sarova Stanley Hotel (the meal plan is on a bed and breakfast-basis).
Example 2:
Have breakfast and move to the rangers’ post. You will receive some briefing (from a ranger guide) on the dos and don’ts during trekking. Thereafter, you will enter the Bwindi Forest for your adventure. The time taken and the terrain vary with the movements of these great primates. Once you have located a gorilla group, you will be allowed an hour in their presence. The thrill of spending time observing these gentle but endangered giants is unforgettable. Return to the accommodation, check out and transfer to Lake Bunyonyi. Lake Bunyonyi is framed by lush, green-terraced hills that reach a height of 2,200m to 2,478m) but it’s the 29 islands of various shapes and sizes scattered across the water that make it most magical — you could admire them all day.
Accommodation: Itambira Island-Tree House-Budget Level | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | Transfer Time: Approx. 2-3 hours.
Example 3:
Today is the day you will set off to Serengeti National Park! You will reach Serengeti National Park by crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area after breakfast. You will stop for lunch inside Serengeti National Park, have little refreshments then continue with animal watching till evening. You’ll then go to your hotel for relaxation, dinner and your overnight stay.
Route map
The route map is generated automatically once you fill in the ‘Getting there & away’ and ‘Day-by-Day’ sections of the tour form.
If the automatically generated route map is not correct, you can choose not to add it to your tour page by selecting the ‘No (the route map will not be shown on your tour page)’ option below the map.
If your itinerary includes locations that are not in our database yet, the map will not be generated. Destination locations are added regularly to our database, so the route map will likely be available soon.
If the map does not appear, double-check the spelling of the destinations you added in the ‘Getting there & away’ and ‘Day-by-Day’ sections.
Customizations
Specify whether the accommodation, destinations and length of this tour can be customized. Please only select ‘Yes’ if clients can request any accommodation or destination in the countries visited on this tour.
Inclusions
Most of the options in the ‘Inclusions’ section are set automatically and cannot be changed once you select your tour’s ‘Main Focus’ and other settings.
The list of inclusions will be the same in most cases and look like this:
However, there are a few instances when the list can change:
- Main Focus: Guided self-drive or Self-drive (unguided) – you will be able to include/exclude the rental vehicle
- Main Focus: Mountain climbing & game drive safari or Mountain climbing only – you will be able to include/exclude porterage, rescue fee, and climbing gear
- Activity: Gorilla tracking/chimp tracking – one gorilla trekking permit will be added to the Inclusions list automatically. If there is more than one gorilla tracking day, please ensure the number of permits matches the number of included gorilla tracking activities (you can adjust the number of permits in the drop-down menu).
- Activity: Hot-air balloon safari – when selected as an activity, it will be automatically added to the Inclusions
- Transportation Types: Air transfer – if you add air transfer to your list of transportation types, flight costs will be automatically added to your Inclusions
- Accommodation: Camping – you can include/exclude bath towels and a sleeping bag
The tip is always excluded from your tour’s base rate; however, you can advise your clients to tip the crew by selecting an advised tip amount from the drop-down menu.
Notes and disclaimers
To add a disclaimer select ‘Yes’. If you prefer not to add one select ‘No’.
You can add the following disclaimers to your tour page:
Tour photo & photo gallery
There are several pictures available in our gallery that you can choose from to represent your tour and accommodations, but you can also email us any pictures of your own that you would prefer to use.
Tour photo
This is the most important photo that will be the thumbnail representing your tour when clients view your package. Only one photo may be chosen here.
Photo gallery
Here, you can add a selection of between 1 and 50 photos to represent the different parts of your tour.
We recommend adding a minimum of 10 photos to ensure the best performance for your tour.
You can also upload your own photos if:
- You own them
- They are in a JPG format
- Their width is at least 1,000 pixels and their height is at least 500 pixels
If your images meet these requirements, contact us at support@safaribookings.com and we will email you an agreement that says you won’t upload photos that violate any copyright.
Dates & rates and payment
‘Dates & rates’
Before adding your tour rates, you have to select whether your tour:
- Has fixed start dates
- Can start any day
After making this selection, you will also have to set different conditions that may or may not apply to your tour (such as the possibility of booking on short notice, discounts for children, local payments, etc.). Most of the questions require a Yes/No answer.
‘Availability’
If your tour can start any day, you have to also fill in the ‘Availability’ section. Double-click a day in one of the calendar tables to change availability for a single start date or click two separate days to change a range of start dates.
Make sure you read the Guidelines box to learn about four different availability statuses you can choose from:
If your tour has fixed start dates, you will have to select availability in the drop-down menu on the right for each start day.
‘Rates for this tour’
Provide your tour rates.
If in the ‘Rates per group size’ section you chose to provide rates for different group sizes, you will also have a separate field for each group size in these fields.
‘Selling rates’
The selling rates shown in this section are the rates at which your tour will be offered on the SafariBookings website. Selling rates consist of the tour rates you provide plus a 10% marketing budget. Learn more
The extra money from the automatically added marketing budget is yours to keep and can be used to pay for future quote requests.
Please note: You have agreed to a Best Price Guarantee. If you offer the same or a highly comparable tour on your own website (or other sales channels, such as social media), it must be offered at (or above) the rates shown in this section.
‘Payment per quote request’
Your tour is not visible on SafariBookings.com unless you offer a payment per quote request. How does paying per quote request work?
Selecting a higher payment percentage has the following impact:
- Your tour will rank higher on the SafariBookings website and, therefore, generate more quote requests.
- The quote requests you receive will be more expensive.
Payments are in Euro (€).
‘Final check: preview of your tour’
After completing all of the previous steps, click on the ‘Preview Tour’ button to do a final check.
‘Before you submit, please be advised that’
Read through the important information in this section before you submit your tour.
‘Submit tour’ button
Click on the ‘Submit Tour’ button if you have completed all the required steps and are satisfied with the result. Click on the ‘Submit Tour’ button if you have completed all the required steps and are satisfied with the result.
Please note: Once submitted, new tours will be directly visible on SafariBookings.com.
If you want to save your tour without publishing it and continue editing it later, click on the ‘Save to continue later’ button.
You have now completed your tour on SafariBookings. Creating a new tour will always be time and labor-intensive, however, if you would like to upload a variation of an existing tour, there is no limitation on doing so.
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