ED HILL TOURS
A Pastors/Tour Leaders Guide for Organizing a Successful Holy Land Tour
Use this step by step guide for tips on how to organize your tour
Step 1 – Deciding when to go – how far in advance should I begin planning a trip…
Initial tour planning may begin much earlier, but we suggest beginning the tour promotion a minimum of 10 to 12 months before the departure date. If you are new to hosting a travel group, one year to 14 months in advance should provide the time you will need to prepare, promote, generate interest, and allow time for your church members and friends to prepare for the necessary finances and vacation time. The key is to plan far enough ahead that you can accomplish your goals with tour deadlines and the departure date in mind, but not so far in advance that it is difficult to maintain excitement and momentum. An overly long promotion period also allows more time for changes in people’s lives such as sickness, moving, loss of job, etc.
- When is the best time to travel…
It’s really up to the pastor/group leader as we can arrange a tour at any time of the year. More than anyone, you as the pastor know your congregation, and your church and personal calendars. Spring and fall in Israel are the busiest seasons for Christian tours. We advise avoiding the major Jewish holidays as rates are higher, many hotels may not be available, and sites will be very busy. You will also want to consider the weather. Any season is workable for even in the winter months, Israel can be quite mild especially when compared to the northern U.S. Late November through early March can be cool or quite chilly with some rain. Summers are hot and airfare and hotel rates are higher. We’re always happy to work with you to decide the best time for your tour.
- Decide on an itinerary and budget considerations…
Our tours are highly customizable. The itinerary you decide on will be based on what kind of experience you want to provide for your group. Do you want to focus on only Christian and biblical sites or do you wish to include historical and recreational sites or museums, etc. Our traditional Signature Itinerary is designed for most Christian groups and includes sites everyone wishes to visit in Israel. We also specialize in “study tours”, youth tours, and tours with an archaeological focus. Tours also may include a “spa night” or two at a Dead Sea resort hotel. We always enjoy helping a tour host customize their tour: the itinerary, level of accommodations, budget considerations, special events and more.
Step 2 – Get the word out! Promote your special Holy Land travel event…
There’s nothing more effective than networking within your church body. It is essential to enlist members of your pastoral staff or ministry team as well as members of your congregation who will network and be enthusiastic about the upcoming tour of the Holy Land.
- Promote and be creative…
In order to promote your tour to Israel, you will need effective marketing materials. We can provide an excellent Leaders Kit with sample letters, examples of flyers, videos, etc. which can be used for promoting the tour. You may wish to have informational meetings which can typically follow a service.
- Here are some ways you can get the word out…
- Announce the tour in your Sunday church bulletin with a clear call to action such as: “Travel with us to the Land of the Bible…contact Paul in the church office.” 2. Put out colorful posters and flyers in your church, again with a clear call to action such as: “Join us for 11 exciting days in the Holy Land” or “Join Pastor Smith and Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus.” Have an attended information table after services with flyers, sign-up sheets and other tour information. 4. Encourage all members to join your email list and use that database to send out periodic emails about the tour. 5. You may wish to let your congregation know that they may invite family and friends from outside of the congregation and those who live in other areas of the country. 6. If you have a website or a Facebook page, create an ad or a page dedicated to promoting the trip. Encourage everyone to “Like” it and share it on their social media.
Step 3 – Be consistent and turn interested members into committed travelers…
Keep the tour before your congregation. Have sign-up sheets to gather contact information including phone and email. Compile a list of anyone interested in going and follow up immediately. Promotional materials should include information on signing up for the tour. For example: “Sign up today. Call Ed Hill Tours at 1-800-780-7801 or email: tours@edhilltours.com and ask to join the First Church Holy Land Tour.” We’ll take care of the sign-up and reservation details with just one simple phone call or email from your member.
Step 4 – Ask for commitment and retain participants…
A per/seat deposit must be sent to the airline to hold the group’s space. The number of seats we will reserve for your group is based on how many you believe will be going. When a member signs up for the tour and makes their deposit, you will forward that to EHT or the passenger can send their deposit directly to us. Only a few passenger deposits will usually cover the required airline deposit, and that is why initial passenger deposits are so important. Churches may also use church funds for the airline deposit. This is refundable up to a certain date should the trip cancel or should we need to reduce space. We will inform participants of future deposit amounts and deadlines. Retain travelers…This means that you do whatever you can to ensure that those who have registered to go, will stay in the tour and actually travel. This is done by maintaining a level of excitement about the tour: staying in communication regularly with new information on the trip, mentioning the trip during announcements or including a reference to it during a sermon. The pastor’s level of enthusiasm is the most important key to the success of any tour…if the pastor is not excited, no one else will be. We will also provide all travel details to your passengers including itineraries, packing list, weather information, etc. A few weeks before departure we will send a final travel packet containing detailed information on every aspect of the tour including contact information, badges and luggage tags.
Step 5 – Enjoy and experience the Land of the Bible…
You will be walking where Jesus walked, and we want you and your members to experience Israel to the fullest: Spiritually – it can indeed be life-changing; Historically – there is so much to see and learn about this ancient land; Fellowship – having a wonderful time of fellowship with you, their pastor, and friends old and new. Take lots of photos, create your own video, send a live video message to your congregation during a Sunday service, post pictures on Facebook or a blog. We also provide maps, hats, and a full color journal for taking notes at all the sites.
Step 6 – Talk about your journey to the Holy Land…
After you return form Israel, you will be poised to organize future trips. You can even make it an integral part of your ministry to share Israel with young ministers, staff pastors and as many of your congregants as possible. Build on your successful trip; talk with enthusiasm about your experiences and what the trip meant to you and your participants. Write about your journey in bulletins, newsletters, email broadcasts and social media. Encourage those who went to do the same. Schedule a post-trip get-together to share pictures and highlights of the trip. Then set a date for another trip to the Holy Land!
Step 7 – Useful Hebrew phrases…
This is a fun step. When you have informational meetings with the group, help them learn a few Hebrew words and phrases. Below we’ve list several of the most common. You may also check out a larger list including the same words in Arabic by clicking here. But don’t worry, if your group needs more help learning these, our EHT guides are always happy to teach these and more during the tour.
Shalom – hello, goodbye.
Boker Tov – good morning.
Erev Tov – good evening.
Kama Ze Ole – How much does it cost?
Ma Sh’lom’cha – How are you?
Lehitra’ot – See you later.
Toda Raba – thank you very much.
A final word…
If this seems like a lot of work, the answer is yes and no. Anything worth doing requires some amount of effort, and we’ve covered many ways to promote a tour. However, pastors should use the promotional methods they are comfortable with and which best fit their congregation. There are a number of proven methods that most pastors should use, but for example, if a church does not have screens in front, they obviously will not be able to place tour announcements on it. Again, the primary key to a successful tour is the enthusiasm of the pastor/tour leader…there is no way to have a successful tour by simply announcing it once or twice and assuming that you will be overwhelmed by the response. Many members of your congregation may be “interested” in going, however this does not interpret into tour members unless they enroll in the tour and place their deposit. It is also inadvisable to cut off enrollment in the tour several months out from the departure date as there will always be cancellations for various reasons, sometimes even at the “last minute.”