FAQ
There are lots of articles, research and evidence purporting the benefits that touring provides. Many write of the international perspective and personal character building for teens that is developed in their formative years. We’ve experienced this first hand and the value of being able to be somewhat independent, experience new cultures, meet new friends and bond with their team mates will pay dividends throughout their lives. If you still aren’t sure here is an academic resource that describes some of the benefits.
Yes, you could. This is a common question. With all the information available on the internet, surely you’d be able to organize your own tour right? We’ve had some people do that, but they often come to us in the end because we’ve built up a trusted network of experts that you may not have access to. Expert coaching and local knowledge are things money can’t buy. The other aspect that many busy teachers and volunteer coaches don’t take into account is the extra workload in making individual contact with all the service providers, not to mention a potential lack of local knowledge. Teachers and coaches often report that it’s just easier to work with Total Tours. We know you’ve got a lot on your plate. In fact Phil Robson was a teacher for 20 years and understands the challenges you face. Summed up, what people say they like most about Total Tours is: EXPERT COACHING, MEETING WORLD CLASS ATHLETES and IT’S EASY.
The best place to start is to download a sample tour from one of our sport pages or use our Build Your Own Tour Tool
You can always just shoot us a quick message with some idea of the following information and we can get you started.
To start, you’ll need:
Numbers – how many on tour? __________
How long?__________
What time of year?___________
Leisure or competitive or educational type tour ?___________
Then just shoot us a message with those details and we’ll sort out some suggestions for you!
It is often a case of “If you build it they will come”. If that doesn’t happen, there are points throughout the process where you can cancel if you don’t get as much interest or commitment as you expected.
We have an initial deposit and then create a payment schedule from there that works for you. The closer you get to your tour the more non-refundable the deposits become. If we’ve had to pay for things in advance, that’s when the deposit becomes non refundable. We’ll always make it clear when payments are due and what the terms are.
YES !!!
We’ve had GREAT feedback on the affordability of our tours. We work very hard to ensure you get the best experience for your budget. According to many of our regular clients, it’s often the most affordable option.
The best way is to request a sample and a quote/person
We take great pride in New Zealand as the greatest adventure nation on earth. Every year people come from all over the world to experience our natural wonders and explore our untouched lands. For most of our tours, the sport they have come to compete in is central to the value of the tour. Together, we also recognize the importance of including other activities to complete the tour experience. These include:
Fun and excitement/adventure
Cultural education
Team building
Personal challenge
Geographical education
Historical education
Our tours generally have 4-7 excursions. These can be discussed and selected to suit the nature of the group.
We’ve worked very hard to develop trusting relationships with all of our specialist coaches. Due to complex schedules and seasonality playing a large factor, we must work around their coaching obligations. The best way to ensure that you have the best shot at getting premium coaches is to book your tour early which allows us to start seeking coaches early, however there is no guarantee due to the fluctuating nature of sports and last minute obligations. We always will ensure you’ve got a top of the line coach to coach your sessions, it can just often depend on availability. We’ll update the itinerary as this information becomes available and confirmed (and even then, sometimes there are last minute changes). You can access your latest itinerary through your unique log in.
If there are special dietary requirements within the team please let us know. We’ll do our best to work with the service providers to ensure that these can be accommodated.
All of our quotes typically are excluding airfares. We can definitely sort flights for you to make it easier. We’re also ok if you’d like to look into it yourself and perhaps use some connections within your team community to get access to some great flight deals.
We have taken teams all over New Zealand. If cost is a consideration often we look at centralizing your tour experience to make it achievable. The risk in touring all over New Zealand is that you could spend a lot of time on a bus or in airports. We want to make your time here a time to remember. We’ll work with you to find the best balance that suits your budget and your objectives for the tour.
Do you know where you’d like to visit already? Inquire about getting your custom itinerary priced here
Absolutely, parents are more than welcome to accompany the team. It can be a great excuse for a family get away. We have worked with teams to do partial itineraries for parents, as well as having teams that the parents wanted to do a completely separate program. Whatever you envision for your team we are more than happy to work with you to make it work.
We’d like to say there is no maximum. We’ve accommodated groups up to 70 athletes.
There are different challenges that arise when larger groups travel together. We’ve never met a challenge we haven’t been able to work out. The benefits of travelling in larger groups are that you can often get a lower price per player because some things are “group rates” which will be covered across many more players.
The benefits of large groups highly outweigh the challenges. We work hard to keep relationships with all the accommodation, excursion and transport providers that would work well for larger groups.
We love it when schools or clubs bring many sports over together, even across genders. We can manage it all.
Example: 1 X womens junior netball team, 1 X womens junior basketball team, 1 X mens junior basketball team, 1 X mens junior rugby team. We can sort all the specific itineraries and accommodation and keep them all together.
We develop the itineraries for free, you’re not obligated to pay anything until you agree to the itinerary and then we’ll make a deposit and payment schedule, so you can let everyone on the team know when the payments are due.
New Zealand Football manages and runs a semi professional football league. The New Zealand Football Championship (NZFC, known as the ISPS Handa Premiership since 2017 for sponsorship reasons) is the top association football division in New Zealand. It is a professional/semi-professional league that is operated by New Zealand Football and played during the summer.
New Zealand has produced many professional athletes that have gone on to professional contracts overseas.
There is a very big focus on the development of athletes and coaches through New Zealand Football’s strategic plan that encompasses developing home grown talent for referees, coaches and athletes.
New Zealand (men) qualified for 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
New Zealand is also focused on growing the women’s game
The New Zealand national women’s team qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup, held in China in September 2007. Most recently the Under 17 National Women’s Football team was victorious against Canada to take the Bronze Medal.
Every tour group has a risk management matrix to work with. The tour coordinator is taken through this and asked to sign off on it at the start of the tour. There is an emergency and serious incident plan, that outline what to do in case of: loss of life, civil emergency, sports injury (spinal, concussion) serious illness, personal injury requiring hospitalisation or medical attention, and serious injury during a tourist activity.
Each tourist operator we use has a full risk management policy that is available for anyone to read.
Total Tours Limited holds Statutory Liability Insurance.
Of course, there are quite a few variables to factor in when determining costs. We have found over the years that a ground package (no flights) that costs between 1800 NZD pp and 2500 NZD pp is going to work for most groups. We always quote in NZD so there maybe some credit to gain from a currency fluctuations if it is in your favour.
The group touring number will depend on the sport. The minimum we usually suggest is about 20 athletes. Economies of scale work in your favor with larger groups, enabling better rates to be accessed, especially around transport, which is one of the most expensive costs.
Some ways to get bigger groups:
- Group several teams (different codes) from one school or club together
- Group several age groups of the same sport together
- Group parents and coaches in for a leisure/ sport tour
We aim to take as much of the hard work out of organizing a tour as possible. This is the key element in our service delivery. This is why you came to us right? We’ve got our very easy to use “Design Your Own Tour” tool which helps you to see what might work for your team, and it takes most of the guess work and uncertainty out of the equation and we take it from there. We understand the value of good communication and with today’s technology there is no excuse for not staying in touch! After that it’s just collecting the fees and organizing the tour kit.
Our accommodation is always 3+ star accommodation. Sometimes we utilize school boarding facilities. Depending on when your tour is booked for this is a really great way to experience “a day in the life of a kiwi kid”.
These types of accommodation are highly sought after and often booked up early.
Another option is billeting or homestay. This does present challenges and has an element of the ‘unknown’ in it, but we also appreciate the type of experience being hosted by locals in their home provides
We have great relationships with accommodation providers all over the country and they know what our teams require and can ensure that you get the best service during your stay.
If you have any special accommodation requirements, please do not hesitate to get in touch to enquire about facilities.
While this doesn’t happen very often, we recognize that in sport sometimes injuries happen. We also recognize that sometimes unforeseen illness sets in.
New Zealand has a very accessible health care system. We encourage everyone travelling to get travel insurance before they leave (we can help you with that if you have any questions). Often when you get it as a group you can get better pricing.
New Zealand’s health services are comparable to any other 1st world country. Our emergency services are top notch as many travel here for adventure tourism. Nobody is turned away at the A&E (Accident and Emergency Room) at our Public Hopsitals. Medical care in New Zealand is both public and private. The ACC (Accident Compensation Commission) will cover most of the costs for any accident injury and this extends to visitors. For more information click the link below.
Visit this link for further information
As quoted directly from the New Zealand Ministry of Health website
“New Zealand has around 40 public hospitals spread across the country in cities and larger towns. With minor exceptions, such as some kinds of cosmetic surgery, hospital treatment is free for those eligible for health care services. Nobody can be refused emergency care because they are unable to pay.”
We have a great deal of experience working with ages 12-18. We’ve done many adult tours as well. Phil Robson – the Managing Director has a great deal of experience in the education space and understands the stage of development that this age group is at. We work to match your team with the appropriate age group here in your specific sport.
We specialize in ensuring your young athletes have an exceptional experience that will help to shape their young minds and their futures. This age is particularly special because you can see rapid change and growth from just one short tour away. For many it’s the first time they’ll be away from parents and even overseas.
New Zealand is a very safe country, which makes it very safe for young athletes of this age to travel with a group of adults in supervision.
