One of the most difficult things about organizing a group outing is keeping track of everybody.

People tend to wander — especially when they are visiting an interesting, exciting, or scenic destination. Making sure nobody gets left behind and everybody arrives home safely is critical to the success of your outing. Here are five ways experienced tour organizers use to keep track of their tour guests.

Identification Practices

Identifying who is part of your tour and who isn’t simplifies the tracking of your guests. Assign your tour guests a unique identifier such as an original lanyard, a colorful t-shirt, or even simply a name tag with adhesive.

At the outset of your trip, take attendance by calling out everybody by name and requiring them to respond. Check off the names of everybody who is on your bus. Then count the total number of people. Throughout each step of your tour, taking a headcount and matching it to your original total can instantly determine if everybody is still accounted for.

5 Ways to Keep Track of Your Tour Guests – Using Technology

Today there are a lot of technological tools you can use to keep track of guests. For example, if your budget allows for it you can assign lanyards or ID badges that include an IR chip. You can then use tracking software to locate guests who wander off.

Another option is to ask your guests to turn on the “Find My Friends” app on their smartphones. This will similarly you allow you to track lost guests.

Finally, a simpler plan is to create a group text that includes everybody on your roster. Then when you need to send messages to everybody in your group — such as to tell them that the bus is leaving — all you need to do is text them all instantly.

Getting your guests to and from their destination safely requires tracking them every step of the way. These tools can help tour operators do just that.