Managing Your Philmont
New Mexico Tour
Home
What to See and Do
Albuquerque
Northern NM
Santa Fe Trail
Where to Stay
Where to Eat
Planning and Logistics
Managing the Scouts
Managing the Trip
Sample Itinerary
Suggested Reading
Tour Coordinator's Job
Planning and making arrangements for a New Mexico tour can take some time and energy. You will need to obtain
information, make an itinerary, develop a budget, make and confirm reservations,
arrange for vendor payments at the times required, keep the crew informed, arrange
logistics, and oversee the tour. These are all significant tasks. One person who will be traveling with
the group needs to be responsible for these tasks, but it can be a participating adult who is not also a
lead Philmont crew advisor.
Budget
How much does it cost to spend a couple extra days touring New Mexico? For trip similar to ours (see the sample itinerary), you might expect $25-$30 per person per day for food, lodging, and museum fees, plus transportation which could be another $25-$30 per person per day. Transportation will be your biggest cost item and it will depend greatly on your group size, transport provider, and itinerary. In deciding whether to add tour days, it is important to consider the marginal or extra cost. So figure how you would get to Philmont directly, then compare the extra cost of adding some touring time to your expected transport provider's bill and/or substituting a charter bus or van for your planned in-New-Mexico transportation. For transport options see the discussion and links on this site's Planning and Logistics page.Your cost, of course, will depend on the size of your group and your choices. How many days will you be on the road? Will you travel by private or rented vehicles, a van with a paid driver, a coach bus, or a school bus? Will you camp out, stay in a motel, or a dorm? Will you eat fast food, restaurant meals, or food from a supermarket? Where will you go that requires paid admission? How much will you tip drivers and guides? These are all areas to look at to get your budget where it needs to be.
Once you decide on an itinerary, it is useful to carefully prepare a detailed trip budget and to update it periodically during the planning period. Try to err on the the side of overestimating in the early planning stages and to have a modest contingency on hand at the time of departure. We collected adequate funds up front and were able to provide a small refund to participants after all the bills were paid.
Vendor Management
You will have to keep track of arrangements with your providers of transportation, lodging, meals, and tour activities. I set up a folder for each vendor to keep information on services offered, hours of operation, our service arrangements (contracts and notes on oral commitments, payment schedule, etc.), and key names and phone numbers. I added maps and directions for each of our stops which came in handy when the bus driver was unfamiliar with some of our tour areas. I brought these folders with me on the trip, kept in order of our itinerary, so everything was at hand in case any questions or problems arose.Cash Management
Touring will require cash management of some kind to pay all service providers, meals, museum, tour, and camping fees, and tips for guides and drivers. Be sure to find out in advance who will take an out-of-state check, who will accept credit cards, and who requires cash. We paid, or partially paid, in advance where that was required, which reduced the amount paid out on the trip itself. Still, on our trip with 34 persons for four days on the road touring, we spent nearly $1,500 in cash, mostly for meals.We had one overall cash manager to pay museums and other fees, a Troop treasurer on hand to sign checks for Philmont-trip funds in the Troop account, and an adult with an ample credit card limit that could be used and reimbursed. You will need some sort of record keeping system to track who has cash and who incurs expenses. To avoid carrying all the cash in one place, we also had an adult in each of our three crews to be responsible for dispensing money (usually $5 each for fast food) to crew members at meal time. Cash and airline tickets for the return trip were stored in the safe at Philmont. The Scouts handled their own money for snacks, souvenirs, and other personal spending.
Confirm Everything
It is a good idea to call all of your transportation, reserved meal, and lodging vendors during the week before you depart. Calls to confirm activity, museum, and guide arrangements may help as well. This is an opportunity to uncover any unexpected changes or substitutions vendors may have made and to ask any remaining questions you may have. You can give a final head count, adjust for any changes in your itinerary, specify meeting times and locations, get names of those assigned to serve you, and jot down phone numbers of who to call if there is a problem. You should let vendors know of your expectations and build some rapport with those who will be supporting you on tour.Communication
We designated a staying-at-home parent from each crew to serve as a telephone contact point and top of a parent telephone tree. They had a detailed itinerary with phone numbers and could potentially reach us at museums, restaurants, campgrounds, etc. This was not used much but could have been useful in an emergency or for notifying parents if our return time was changed.We were all in one bus, but if your group will be in multiple vehicles you might consider bringing walkie-talkies. Cell phones are an option in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and other communities if included in your service area but cannot generally be counted on in the canyons and mountains of New Mexico.
A Tour Planning Schedule
For a 2006 Philmont expedition, I would suggest the following general planning schedule for the New Mexico tour portion of your trip:Spring 2005: Build consensus among crew leaders and decide on major trip objectives and parameters: entry through New Mexico or Colorado, pre- or post-trek tour, number of days on tour, must-see places, any major activity to include (rafting, horseback riding, train ride, hiking). Develop a preliminary itinerary.
Summer 2005: Collect information on places to visit: transportation, food, lodging, and activity providers, museums, parks, and trails, including services, hours & days of operation, prices, etc.
Fall 2005: Develop a detailed itinerary. Decide on providers to be used. Start watching for airline deals.
Winter 2005-06: Make reservations with all providers; sign contracts if required; make initial payments. Get airline reservations.
Spring 2006: Provide information about tour (including what to bring) to crew and parents; follow-up with providers; make advance payments as required. Arrange for any equipment (tents, stoves, etc.) Arrange for on-site tour guides.
Summer 2006: Assemble material to take on tour, arrange for cash and credit; confirm arrangements with providers.