Tour operators and travel coordinators use rooming lists as an essential tool to manage group travel and enhance the guest experience. Understanding the ins and outs of rooming lists, and having the tools to manage them can significantly enhance efficiency and guest satisfaction.
Multi-day Adventure Tourism has it's own unique challenges to consider for rooming lists.
What is a Rooming List?
A rooming list is a document that contains essential details about travellers in a group booking, including names, room assignments, check-in and check-out dates, and any special requests, most importantly dietary requirements. This list helps hotels and tour operators prepare in advance and streamline the check-in process.
A well-organised rooming list is crucial for several reasons:
Efficiency: Reduces check-in time and prevents confusion.
Accuracy: Ensures travellers receive their correct room assignments and special requests are honoured.
Cost Control: Helps tour operators manage billing details and avoid overbooking.
Guest Satisfaction: Personalised service leads to better reviews and repeat bookings.
While you might get away with slipping in a late hotel reservation for an individual, a group booking is a different story. The rooming list itself is the culmination of a lot of work behind the scenes.
While travel organisers are benefiting greatly from the post-COVID tourism boom, the pressure on securing accommodation in popular regions is at an all time high. Securing and effectively managing group reservations is a combination of block bookings at the head of the season to ensure you can deliver your product, and being able to quickly contact and communicate with suppliers when new tours are created.
From this point onwards tracking and adjusting a booking against the number of actual guests is a task requiring constant attention to detail to ensure both service delivery and tour profitability.
When done manually, this process drains staff time and highlights the need for specialised technology to increase efficiency.
Issues with communication between the guest, hotel and tour operator can be a major point of weakness in the quality of customer experience, with important details and changes going missing. Some of the basic requirements for a group rooming list come with the tour reservation. Others need to be collected in the pre-trip communication.
Here is a summary of the relevant information you will need...
Source | Consider | |||
Guest Name | Initial booking | You may need to request names of group members and link them together in the reservation. | ||
Contact Details | Initial booking | |||
Check-in & Check-out Dates | Defined by the tour package chosen | Variable departure dates and custom tours will require alterations to set schedules. | ||
Room Type & Number | Pre Trip Comms | Defines accommodations based on guest preferences (single room, double room, suite, etc.). Knowing the types of rooms available at each hotel in advance is helpful. Check if a single supplement applies. | ||
Special Requests | Pre Trip Comms | Dietary needs, accessibility requirements, or room preferences. | ||
Billing Instructions | Tour operator | Clarifies who covers the costs (traveller, tour operator, or agency). Note how incidental costs are to be billed. | ||
Tour Coordinator Contact | Tour operator | A point of contact for last-minute changes |
You can see how it is easy to overlook or miscommunicate some of these detailed requirements if you are gathering details adhoc without defined workflows and templated emails. Not knowing the status of communication on key elements of the room list is one of the main causes of mistakes in tour operations.
Adventure tourism and multi-day trips come with some unique requirements. You should communicate the following accommodation details with hotel operators:
Luggage transfer - Inform the hotel how bags will be tagged and transferred between accommodation.
Late arrivals - Notify the hotel of the likelihood of late arrivals on long days of the tour.
Meals provided - Pre-arrange meal options especially in isolated locations.
Gear storage - Confirm where bikes, and other equipment can be stored securely.
Drying facilities - See if there is access to a drying room for wet backpacks and clothing.
Multi-day Adventure Tourism requires the seamless communication of customer requirements.
Rooming list issues can disrupt a group travel experience. One of the most common problems is last minute changes to an existing reservation.
Here’s how this scenario could unfold…
During a multi-day cycling tour, a last-minute addition of a guest triggered a reshuffle of room assignments at the overnight lodge. The hotel was informed of the change just hours before the group’s arrival. As a result, one participant’s room was reassigned, and their luggage, which had been labeled with the original room number, was sent to the wrong location.
The confusion escalated as tired cyclists arrived after a grueling day, only to find mismatched room assignments. The misplaced luggage was eventually discovered in the lodge’s storage area. Although the tour leader managed to smooth things over by offering complimentary drinks and snacks, the incident caused unnecessary stress for both the guests and the staff.
Solution - Set a strict cut-off date for changes and use real-time updates through digital tools. In the above case tracking the change history would be useful too.
Incorrect guest details (errors in names, dates, or room assignments) can lead to check-in delays.
Solution – Double check entries before submitting to hotels and confirm details with guests in advance. Alternatively generate all documentation from one customer CRM so that all the details are consistent.
Overbooking & availability issues caused by a miscommunication between tour operators and hotels can result in room shortages.
Solution - Always get written confirmation of room blocks and maintain a buffer for unexpected changes. Alternatively use a software system that inputs the hotel confirmation directly into the booking record and shows a colour-coded confirmation status at a glance.
First in first served is a recipe for disaster - just because the fastest rider gets their first it doesn’t mean they get to choose their own room. Others may have specific arrangements in place, and moving people can be awkward for all.
Solution - Providing a rooming list that details special requirements is essential to help the hotel operator allocate the right rooms to the right people.
Mismatched room preferences can be the result of failing to honour special requests or a lack of understanding about the option chosen. Either way they can result in a disappointing guest experience.
Solution - Clearly communicate preferences to hotels and confirm availability early. Use AI tools to build full content visibility on accommodation choices and include the selection in the customer's mobile itinerary.
A rooming list provides the Accommodation Supplier with the correct and appropriate information to look after your customers.
At Odyssey the rooming list is generated directly from our software system. Here's an example of the details we track for a group reservation. All the data is populated from our customer CRM and handy communication templates which drive our accommodation workflow.
Odyssey can produce personalised reports per individual hotel to ensure the correct room choice is made eg. Mary wants the blue ocean room. Alternatively, you can choose a generic report which lists which clients are rooming together and the Hotelier assigns the rooms themselves. Odyssey also produces reports for guides showing the group's room sharing arrangements.
Odyssey has a comprehensive Supplier Management system for rooming arrangements, communications and reporting.
Would you like a rooming list template to simplify your next group travel booking?
We've made one for you which you can download for free here:
If you would like to benefit from real-time updates, minimise errors and save time by having your rooming list generated at the press of a button, contact us. We can provide a demonstration of the Odyssey rooming list in action. You will see how centralised digital records eliminate paperwork and miscommunication.
