Do: Designate a leader

Having a group leader who coordinates major things like hotels, activities, transport and more will give your trip structure and keep things from slipping through the cracks.

Christelle Davis, an Australian academic, has found herself an unofficial expert in group trip planning after organising countless holidays of varying length, group size and complexity – from party weekends in Macao to an upcoming 18-person trip to Thailand with kids, encompassing everything from music festival passes to renting a villa with room for all.

Davis likes to take the reins, but isn’t afraid to delegate. “I’ll pull together a few options for accommodation and put them all in a shared spreadsheet that shows the link, price per person, location, pros and cons, then I ask people to add their own comments or highlight their favourites.”

Allocating responsibilities based on people's interests also helps move things along the pipeline. Davis adds, “Split up the jobs and it makes it much easier. One person for accommodation, one for transport, one for tickets.”

Don’t: Do too much

Resist the temptation to overstuff your itinerary. Scheduling down time is crucial, as is making it clear that members can break away and do their own thing before later reconvening. Keep tabs on everybody’s energy levels and be flexible with your plans – and morning starts, as not everyone is an early bird.

“Don’t feel that you have to do every little thing together on a group trip. Everyone should be free to do their own thing then meet up for a cocktail at the end of the day,” says Davis.