This document provides guidance on how to write effective tour descriptions. It discusses key elements like titles, images, highlights, abstracts, and formatting. Effective titles identify the point of interest, activity, and location. High-quality images should be descriptive yet concise. Highlights and abstracts should use invitational language and identify major attractions. Descriptions need to engage readers while informing them of what to expect. Proper formatting, style, and structure are also important for an appealing description.

1. ANATOMY OF THE
PERFECT TOUR

2. EDITORIAL
WEBINAR
ANATOMY OF THE PERFECT TOUR
• Anna’s Afternoon Tea
• Siem Reap by Bike
• Style, Formatting, FAQs

3. Activity: Anna’s Afternoon Tea

4. TITLES
Titles: What makes this one work?
Anna’s Afternoon Tea: a Midday Tradition at
Grosvenor House
Formula: Point of interest + Activity
(Afternoon tea) + (Grosvenor House) = Great title
You know just what you’re getting and where/when it is

5. ABSTRACT + HIGHLIGHTS • IDs Activity and location
• Key words, repeated in a fresh way
• Grosvernor House
Abstract •
• Afternoon tea
General location (London) and a highly-
searched term, “Hyde Park”
•
•
Invitational
Good USPs that represent different
Highlights
aspects of activity

6. TOUR DESCRIPTION
Tour Description
What are the qualities of a good
tour description?
1. Engages: hooks the reader from the get-go
2. F-pattern scannable
3. Professional and friendly
4. Includes variations on keywords
5. Informs without being pedantic
6. Tells the customer exactly what they’re
getting, where, and when

7. TOUR DESCRIPTION
Tour Description
TEA!

8. TOUR DESCRIPTION
So, why does this description work?
→ It’s F-Pattern Scannable
• Has an interesting hook at the beginning
• Informative, scannable text in the
second paragraph (which is less read)
• Includes clear description of what people can expect in the
3rd paragraph (more fully read than PP #2)

9. TOUR DESCRIPTION
Why else does this work?
• The language is engaging and friendly
• “Our” “We” and “You” are used
• Locations of note are clearly stated
and repeated throughout the tour
• Grosvenor House
• Hyde Park
• London • SEO-friendly
• Repeats the tour title
• Doesn’t assume within the first 100 words
• Customers may not know what
Grosvenor House actually is, but
the description explains why it’s
significant

10. PICKUP, ETC.
Pick-up, Inclusions and Exclusions
• The meeting place is clearly defined
• Inclusions are clear
• Times are clearly defined

11. TOUR TYPE II: TOUR
Tour: Full Day Bike Tour: Siem Reap

12. TITLES
Titles: What makes this one effective?
Full Day Bike Tour: Siem Reap
• Says how long it will take
• Full day
• States what it is
• Bike tour
• Includes location
• Siem Reap

13. IMAGES
Images
• Images are plentiful and appropriate
• All described, if minimally
• The main photo is accurate: it includes a bike and
is what a customer would expect from this tour
based on its title.

14. HIGHLIGHTS + ABSTRACT
Abstract
• Engaging,
invitational first line
• States major
attractions
• Places of interest
listed
Highlights • Parallel structure, “Bike,” “Enjoy,” “Follow”
• Great USPs
• “...and even some lesser-known ones,” This is
an intriguing thing for customers
• “the best equipment and safety gear,” couples
excitement with safety

15. TOUR DESCRIPTION
Clear word choice and
phrasing, uncomplicated
language
Mentions major attractions
(and the carrot of “lesser-
known-temples” again)
Backup team and safety
(always a customer concern) in
the 3rd paragraph, where eyes
are likely to fall when scanning
“Experienced guides” and “hotel
pickups” are located where the
“Bike Tour” and “Siem Reap” are
SEO repeated (with variations) throughout
the text body
eye will see them

16. FORMATTING/STYLE
Quick + Dirty Format Fixes
Capital Letters
In Titles:
Title capitalization should be used for product
titles. The rule of thumb is capitalize the first
word, all nouns, and any preposition greater
than 4 letters.
Ex: Ayer’s Rock Tour with Private Guide
In Abstracts/Descriptions:
Capitalize all nouns specifying the type
of landmark.
Ex: River Nile, Mount Ruapehu, Erfurt Cathedral

17. FORMATTING/STYLE
Tone of Voice
When referring to customers, try to combine use
of the second and third person.
Ex:
“You will visit...”
“The tour includes...”
“Visitors to the museum will see...”
Limit use of, “Guests Will.” It sounds antiquated and
too removed from our readers

18. FORMATTING/STYLE
Hyphens
Hyphens connect the words of a compound modifier that comes
before the noun being modified.
Modifier before noun? Add a hyphen!
Correct: He was a well-loved, if smelly, old beast.
Incorrect: He was a well loved, if smelly, old beast.
Modifier after noun? Do nothing!
Correct: That man was well respected.
Incorrect: That man was well-respected.
*Remember to use a hyphen to join 3 or more words that make a
compound: not-to-be-missed, all-you-can-eat, state-of-the-art

19. FORMATTING/STYLE
Tour Formatting & Mastering the Excel Sheet
Length
• ½ day, single tour or activity: 150 words
• ½ day, multiple-destination tour or activity: 170 words
• Full day, single activity or tour: 200 words
• Full day, multiple activities or multi-site tour: 250 words
Format
Bullets
• Must appear in Inclusions and Exclusions field
• Use alt+7 to get a single bullet
Inserting Additional Spaces for Highlights
• Go to the leftmost margin of the Excel sheet
• Right click on a numbered cell below the “Highlights” section, and select “insert.”
• A new cell will be inserted into the Excel sheet above the number you clicked.

20. FAQS
How can I tell if images have been provided?
Image 1:
Without
photos
Image 2:
With photos
BUT: without
descriptions
Image 3:
With
photos, descr
iptions

21. FAQS
What do I do with multiple-day tours?
Formatting:
<strong>Day 1</strong> or <strong>Day 1 – Madrid Center</strong>
Strategy:
• For tours more than 5 days, Standard Job, ~1PP/day
• For tours less than 5 days, blitz the first 5, then proofread for
logic and accuracy
Length:
• One solid, 3-4 sentence paragraph for each day, max

22. FAQS
What do I do about tours that give inadequate
information?
Evaluate:
1. What kind of tour is this?
2. How long will it take me to acquire enough information?
• If it’s a matter of missing 2-3 sentences worth of info you
can get from Wikipedia, feel free to briefly research or add
some fluff to get to the minimum
• If there are serious holes in logic and/or not enough info to
write a good description, contact editor
• Will reassign/talk with PM for more information If getting what you
need to write a
description will take
more than 5
minutes, contact me

23. FAQS
How can I increase my speed?
Don’t reinvent the wheel
If the tour provider has written a decent description of the
product itself, use it! Use as much of it as seems reasonable.
Simply make certain that the result of any copy/pasting is still
logical and organically coherent