Skip to site content
group travel leader select traveler small market meetings

How to Get Men to Take Trips

3) Build in guy-friendly activities.

If your trips consist mostly of shopping stops, garden tours or spa getaways, your itineraries probably aren’t guy-friendly. Sure, some men genuinely enjoy those kinds of activities, and others will go along to accompany their wives. But many men will be unwilling to spend their time and money on a trip that doesn’t have many highlights that will interest them.

There are plenty of great attractions and activities out there that are of interest to men, so do some research to find them. Many different cities have auto museums, military museums, aviation museums, sports museums and other similar institutions that appeal to a lot of men. Other guys will be interested in opportunities to hunt, fish or play golf when they travel, and most destinations have a variety of those activities available too.

Integrating activities that men like into your trips doesn’t necessarily mean taking the women away from the things they enjoy, either. With a bit of planning and creative thinking, you can arrange your itineraries so that people can choose from various options on the same day, giving everyone the opportunity to do what they like best.

 

4) Create volunteer opportunities.

Men tend to be doers by nature, and churchgoing men especially tend to bond over shared service projects. Since there is no shortage of needs anywhere in the world, consider attracting men to come on your trips by giving them opportunities to volunteer on the road.

“Voluntourism” has become increasingly popular in recent years, and many destinations and tour companies have developed opportunities for their travelers to give back during a vacation. This is a natural fit for church groups, since serving others is at the heart of faith, and it presents a variety of new experiences for travelers.

Whether it’s volunteering to help restore an old aircraft at a museum, to clean up a park or a historic site, or to help with a church outreach, service projects can appeal to men in deep ways and can make a good way for them to do something they enjoy while others in the travel group do other things.

 

5) Invite them to come.

Sometimes personal touches make all the difference. If there are men in your church who you think would benefit from coming on a trip with you, why not invite them in person?

Men might be opting out of your trips for a number of reasons you haven’t considered. They may have the incorrect perception that your trips are only for women or that they won’t have any friends on the trip. If they are single or have lost their spouses, they might feel especially nervous about joining a group trip with people they don’t know very well.

Inviting people on trips one-on-one gives you the chance to correct their misconceptions and allay their fears. More importantly, it lets them know you care about them and genuinely want them to come along.

Brian Jewell

Brian Jewell is the executive editor of The Group Travel Leader. In more than a decade of travel journalism he has visited 48 states and 25 foreign countries.