What we noticed
By 2021, our group-tour customers were consistently less happy than our private-trip customers. Feedback scores: 3.8 vs 4.7. Repeat rate: 8% vs 41%.
The three reasons
1. Group tours reduce to the median
The itinerary has to work for everyone — so it works optimally for no one. 30-year-olds feel rushed. 60-year-olds feel exhausted. The 45-year-old in the middle thinks it was okay.
2. The incentive structure is wrong
Group tours are margin-driven. Our incentive was to fill seats. That's not the same as designing a great trip.
3. It wasn't our strength
We're good at listening. Group tours don't need listening — they need logistics. Different skill set.
The decision
In 2022 we shut down group. Kept a small team, went all-in on private. Revenue fell 35% that year. By 2024 it had recovered and then some.
What we lost
- A solo-traveller community that we valued.
- Young travellers on tight budgets.
What we gained
- Clarity. Every trip we take on, we own from brief to return.
- Customer attachment. We now know our travellers' names.
- A clearer brand: we design trips, not tours.
Group tours remain a perfectly valid product — Wanderon, Capture A Trip, and Kesari do them well. We just don't.
