Results of the Tour Survey

Last June the planned EGCS tour to Mindelheim had to cancelled due to insufficient members signing up. Towards the end of the summer term the committee produced a questionnaire to ascertain the reasons why fewer people than expected had felt able to commit.

The survey was available to all members who had sung with us in the summer term. 31 replies were received by 16th June and the results were as follows:

Reasons stated for not signing up for Mindelheim tour:

The cost was too prohibitive 11
I would have wanted to sing more than one concert 9
Not good enough value for money 8
I already had something booked on those dates 8
I didn’t like the idea of us all not staying in the hotel 8
I would have preferred another location 5
I had run out of annual leave for this year 3
My friends didn’t sign up this time 2
The proposed music was not to my liking 1

Members also commented:

  • "I would not choose October half-term to go away to a climate similar to UK because of likelihood of bad weather"
  • "I don’t think the host country should dictate the choice of music"
  • "I have work commitments at this time and would only go away if the location was perfect"
  • "Its half-term and I always spend it with family"
  • "I was sorry not to sign up but my husband isn’t interested and I am happy to stay at home and support him"
  • "For medical reasons, my doctor has advised me not to go on any more foreign tours"
  • "We wanted to come but were unable to commit ourselves due to family reasons until after the deadline date had passed"
  • "The whole package must be attractive and cost-friendly especially when for most members a tour would be a secondary holiday"

Preferred type of tour:

A long weekend UK tour 21
A long weekend cross-channel tour 17
A longer (up to a week) tour to a Mindelheim type destination 12

Four members replied that they did not want to go on any EGCS tours.

Members also commented:

  • "I would welcome even day trips to allow us to be better known, possibly linking up with other choirs in cathedrals or music festivals"
  • "A week is too long – make it 5 days"
  • "Southern Europe preferred"
  • "Can we please go in Springtime?"
  • "Great tours from a holiday perspective have been Bruges, Ypres, Hereford, St Felieu and Barcelona in May with Stephen Hope"