Glossary
The words group trips run on
39 terms from Indian tour operations, each with a plain definition and what it means on a live trip.
Selling and structuring trips
FIT vs GIT
FIT is a Free or Fully Independent Traveller booking a custom trip; GIT is a Group Inclusive Tour with a fixed itinerary and shared departures.
Tour operator vs travel agent
A tour operator designs and runs trips, taking responsibility for the group on the ground; a travel agent sells travel products, including other operators' tours.
DMC (Destination Management Company)
A local company at a destination that provides ground services such as hotels, transport, guides and activities to tour operators and agents from elsewhere.
Land package
Everything in a tour except the flights: hotels, transfers, sightseeing, meals and guides, priced separately so travellers can book air on their own.
SIC vs private transfer
SIC (Seat-in-Coach) means shared transport with other groups on a fixed schedule; a private transfer is a vehicle for your group alone.
Offsite
A company trip taking a team away from the office for a few days of work sessions and activities, run on a fixed group itinerary.
Advance and balance
The deposit a traveller pays to confirm a booking, and the remaining amount due before departure.
Cancellation policy
The terms that say how much a traveller is refunded if they cancel, usually on a sliding scale by days before departure.
Single supplement
The extra amount a solo traveller pays to have a room alone when the tour price assumes twin sharing.
Planning a departure
Departure
One run of a trip on specific dates with its own roster, captain and bookings. A trip template becomes many departures.
Batch
A trek or adventure operator's word for a departure: one group on one set of dates on a fixed route.
Trip template
A reusable plan for a trip, including day-wise itinerary, stays and inclusions, from which individual departures are created.
Itinerary
The ordered, timed plan of what a group does and where it goes, day by day, including transport, stays and meals.
Day-wise
Indian English for day-by-day. A day-wise itinerary lists each day's plan separately rather than describing the trip as a whole.
Pickup point
The exact spot where a traveller joins the group transport. The most asked question on the morning a trip starts.
Buffer day
A day kept free in an itinerary to absorb delays from weather, road closures or missed connections without cutting the plan short.
Acclimatisation
The body's adjustment to lower oxygen at altitude, and the rest days and gradual ascent an itinerary builds in to allow it.
Permit
Official permission required to enter a protected, restricted or forest area, issued for a named group and dates. Common on Himalayan treks.
Meal plans: EP, CP, MAP, AP
Hotel codes for which meals are included: EP is room only, CP adds breakfast, MAP adds breakfast and one main meal, AP includes all meals.
Rooms and people
Pax
Industry shorthand for passengers or travellers, used to count the people on a booking, bus, room or departure.
Passenger manifest
The official list of everyone travelling on a vehicle, vessel or group, with identifying details, kept for safety and regulatory reasons.
Rooming list
The document sent to a hotel that says who sleeps in which room on which night, with room type, sharing and guest details.
Twin sharing
Two travellers in one room with two separate beds. The default basis for group tour pricing in India.
Triple sharing
Three travellers in one room, usually two beds plus an extra bed or mattress. Common on student trips and budget tours.
Running the trip
Trip captain
The staff member responsible for a departure on the ground: headcounts, announcements, hotel check-ins and the first response to any problem.
Trek leader
The qualified leader of a trek batch, responsible for route, pace, acclimatisation, headcounts and safety decisions on the trail.
Headcount
A count of the travellers present at a moment and place, checked against the number expected, to confirm nobody is missing.
Checkpoint
A planned moment in the itinerary where the captain confirms the whole group is present before the group moves on.
Sub-group
A named set of 8 to 10 travellers within a large group, each with a buddy or sub-leader, so headcounts and movement are manageable.
Announcement
A message from the operator or captain to every traveller on a departure, delivered so it is seen rather than buried in a chat.
Push notification
A message delivered to a phone's lock screen by an app, even when the app is closed, used to make sure trip updates are seen.
OTP login
Signing in with a phone number and a one-time password sent by SMS, instead of a username and password.
Safety, privacy and the law
SOS
An emergency alert a traveller can trigger from the app that reaches the captain, the operator's team and the traveller's emergency contact.
Live location sharing
A traveller's phone sharing its position with the operator during a trip, scoped to the trip and switched off when it ends.
Emergency contact
A person, not on the trip, whom the operator can reach if something happens to a traveller. Collected on the roster before departure.
Guardian consent
Written permission from a parent or legal guardian for a minor to take part in a trip and for the organiser to collect and use the child's personal data.
DPDP Act 2023
India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023: the law governing how organisations collect, use and protect digital personal data, with Rules notified in 2025.
Data Fiduciary and Data Processor
Under the DPDP Act, the Data Fiduciary decides the purpose and means of processing personal data; a Data Processor processes it on the Fiduciary's behalf.
DLT (SMS template registration)
TRAI's Distributed Ledger Technology framework under which businesses in India register sender headers and SMS templates before sending commercial messages.
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