HR strategy and workforce planning for Tourist Vehicle Operators: drivers for peak and lean months
Tourist transport swings by the month. Planning drivers against bookings, and keeping a bench of people who return each season, matters more than any single hiring drive.
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Most operators plan drivers when the booking sheet fills up. By then the best seasonal drivers have taken other work. The owner phones around, takes whoever is available and hopes for the best. After the season, the same people drift away and the process repeats.
A workforce plan reverses this. It starts with two years of bookings by month and vehicle type, turns them into driver-days, and lines up permanent staff, regular seasonal drivers and a recruitment pipeline. It also decides what keeps seasonal people loyal: first call on work, fair settlement, and a word of thanks at the end.
How to set it up
1. Chart bookings for two years
By month and vehicle type, with tour length, so you can see peaks, lean spells and how they moved.
2. Convert bookings to driver-days
Estimate drivers needed each week, adding a margin for leave, breakdowns and no-shows.
3. Split the need into three groups
Permanent drivers, returning seasonal drivers and new hires, with numbers and names for each group.
4. Build the returning bench
Keep a list of good seasonal drivers, call them before the season, and offer first call on tours or a small retainer.
5. Review after each season
Note what worked, who returned, who was missed and what to change. Feed it into next year's plan.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Compare drivers used in your three busiest months with your permanent headcount.
- Count seasonal drivers who returned this year from last year's bench.
- Ask the dispatcher when the first peak shortage was noticed and how it was solved.
- Check how many bookings were refused or delayed due to driver shortage.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach HR strategy and workforce planning in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Only for the base you can keep busy most of the year. Cover the peak with a trusted seasonal bench, which costs less and still gives you known people.
Several weeks ahead, once your plan shows the gap. Late hiring means taking whoever is free, and that is where service problems come from.
Some operators do this informally. Agree terms clearly, protect your own peak and be careful about service standards when the driver wears two hats.