Tour Pricing Calculator
Enter what a tour costs to run, how many guests you usually get, your capacity and the margin you want. The calculator returns the price per head that reaches it at your usual group size, how many guests cover your costs, the margin when every seat is sold, and a price for a private tour.
Your numbers
Profit as a share of what the tour brings in.
The number who actually turn up, averaged over the season.
The least a tour must bring in for you to run it. Small groups pay this between them.
What a tour costs you
Vehicle, fuel, permits, booking fees: the same however many come.
Entry tickets, refreshments, equipment hire: grows with each head.
Result
Price per head for a 30% margin
$50
With 6 guests you need $50 a head. At $45 the margin is 23%.
- Revenue with 6 guests
- $270
- Costs of that tour
- $208
- Profit
- $62
- Margin at your usual group size
- 23%
- Margin with all 12 seats filled
- 52.6%
- Guests needed to cover costs
- 5
- Private tour price
- $300
Price for the group you usually get, not the full tour. A full tour is where the margin comes from; a half-empty one still has to pay the guide. The private tour price is the higher of your minimum spend and what a usual group would bring in at the target margin.
Sell seats on a tour with capacity built in
BookingMachine sells places on each departure up to your capacity, takes payment per head and lets a private group book the whole slot at your private price.
Fixed costs, costs per guest and the usual group
Some costs are the same however many people turn up: the guide, the vehicle, the permit. Others arrive with each guest: entry tickets, refreshments, equipment. A price per head has to cover both, and the fixed part is the trap. Split over a full tour it is small; split over three guests on a wet Tuesday it is most of the ticket.
The calculator prices for the group size you usually get, not your capacity. That way a typical tour makes the margin you want, and a full tour makes more. Pricing for a full tour means most of your tours lose money.
Minimum spend and private tours
A minimum spend is the least a tour must bring in to run. If two guests book, they pay it between them or you cancel. Stating it up front avoids running a tour at a loss and is the basis for a private tour price.
A private tour should earn at least what a usual public tour would have, since it takes the slot. The calculator sets it at the higher of your minimum spend and the revenue of a usual group at your target price, rounded up.
Questions
What margin should a tour aim for?
Enough to cover the costs that are not in the calculator: marketing, booking platform commission, insurance, your own time planning and answering enquiries, and the tours that do not run. Margins of 25% to 40% on a typical tour are common for that reason.
Should I price for capacity?
No. Price for the group size you actually average, and let full tours be the upside. The calculator shows the margin at capacity separately, so you can see what a good day earns.
How do I set a minimum group size?
Use the break-even figure: the number of guests at which the ticket price covers the fixed costs. Set the minimum a little above it, or state a minimum spend that small groups can pay between them.
How much more should a private tour cost?
At least what a public tour at your usual group size would have earned, since the private group takes the slot. Many operators add a premium on top for the flexibility of a private start time and route.
How do I include booking platform commission?
Either raise the price so the commission is covered or lower the margin you expect. If a platform takes a share of each sale, treat it as a cost per guest at that share of the ticket price.
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Sell seats on a tour with capacity built in
BookingMachine sells places on each departure up to your capacity, takes payment per head and lets a private group book the whole slot at your private price.