Online booking for alpaca walks: fewer phone calls, fewer empty spots

When the phone rings during feeding

It’s early in the morning, you’re standing in the pasture with the hay net, and your phone rings. A family wants four spots for Sunday. You say yes, because your hands are full and you can’t check the calendar. In the evening you realize the tour is now overbooked. Three spots were already gone, two via WhatsApp and one by email.

The next day another group writes that they won’t be coming after all. They haven’t paid anything yet, the spot stays empty, and you already turned away the people who asked last week. Then someone shows up at the gate with a handwritten voucher from last Christmas, and nobody remembers whether it was for one person or two.

Each of these can be solved on its own. Together they cost you hours every week, and exactly at the time when there is the most to do on the farm anyway.

What a booking system for animal experiences needs to do

A calendar of the kind hairdressers or holiday rentals use only half fits an alpaca farm. On a walk, the number of spots depends on the animals, and the animals have their own limits. These are the points that matter.

Time slots and group size

How many guests can come along depends on how many animals are walking that day and how many people share one animal. Companions without an animal of their own don’t need a lead rope, but they do need a place in the group. A good system counts both separately and allows different prices. Plan enough time between two tours so the animals can drink and rest.

Payment in advance

People who pay when they book have committed. That cuts the number of guests who simply don’t show up, and on the day of the walk you don’t have to count cash or match bank transfers. Make sure the money goes straight to your account and that common payment methods are available.

Cancellation rules

For each offer, set until when a cancellation is free and what applies after that. Guests should see these rules before they book, and the system should apply them on its own. Then you don’t have to negotiate every cancellation individually.

Cancellation by the farm

Thunderstorms, gales, great heat or a sick animal: sometimes you have to cancel yourself. Then you need the contact details of all guests in one place and a clear rule on whether there is a replacement date or the money back. Write that rule into the offer description before the first case comes up.

Waitlist

When a tour is fully booked, interested people should be able to sign up. When a spot opens up, they get notified. Without a waitlist, a cancellation usually leaves a spot empty even though there was demand.

Reminders for guests

A message the day before the tour with the time, meeting point, directions and notes on clothing saves you a lot of follow-up questions. It also reduces the number of guests who wait at the wrong car park or turn up in sandals.

Gift vouchers

Alpaca walks are often given as gifts, especially for Christmas and birthdays. A voucher that guests buy online and redeem with a code can’t be used twice, and you can see at any time which vouchers are still open. Two kinds are useful: a fixed amount or a specific tour.

Animal welfare

No booking system knows how much your animals can handle. You decide that. Set how many tours an animal walks per day and per week, and plan rest days. Animals that are restless or unwell right now stay at home. On hot days, tours early in the morning or in the evening are better for the animals than in the midday heat. Only offer as many dates as your herd can comfortably manage. Anything you don’t release can’t be booked by anyone.

Clear rules, whatever tool you use

These points help you even if you keep taking bookings by phone. With online booking they matter more, because guests no longer ask their questions in conversation.

• Describe the offer precisely. Duration, length of the route, how demanding the path is, whether there is a break and what the price includes.
• State a minimum age. From what age may a child lead an animal on their own, and from when only with an adult? That belongs in the description before a family arrives with a toddler.
• Say what guests should wear. Sturdy shoes and clothes that can get dirty. On pastures and farm tracks, little stays clean.
• Describe the meeting point. Address, where to park and where exactly you meet, especially if the farm is hard to find.
• Word cancellation terms fairly. A free cancellation up to a clear deadline, a partial amount after that, and a replacement date or the money back if the farm cancels. The terms belong before the booking, not just in the confirmation email.
• Plan capacity realistically. Count the animals that walk reliably, not the whole herd. And count the people: how many guests can one person keep an eye on along the way?

One point comes even before the question of how bookings are made. In Germany, you need a permit under § 11 of the Tierschutzgesetz (Animal Welfare Act) for walks offered for money, and private animal owner’s liability insurance does not cover such tours. What else is involved is summarized on the Legal obligations page. That does not replace professional advice. If in doubt, ask the responsible Veterinäramt (veterinary office).

Phone and WhatsApp or online booking?

Both approaches have their strengths. The table puts them side by side.

The phone has its place, it just gets more tedious with every extra date. Many farms do well by combining both: standard dates run online, and for groups, children’s birthdays and special requests the phone number stays on the page.

ALPAKA.PRO as an example

ALPAKA.PRO is our software for alpaca and llama farms, and walks are one of its modules. This is how it covers the points above:

• Dates and spots. You set the date, time, duration, number of participants and price, and you set up recurring dates once. Participants with their own alpaca and companions are counted separately. Single bookings, private groups and children’s birthdays are possible.
• Booking page. Every farm automatically gets a public booking page where guests see free dates and book directly. You don’t need a website of your own for it.
• Payment. Guests pay at booking by card, SEPA direct debit, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The money goes straight to your account via Stripe. ALPAKA.PRO takes no commission on bookings; Stripe charges its own fees for payment processing.
• Cancellation rules. You set them per offer. They are shown at booking and applied automatically, with no manual refunds.
• Gift vouchers. Value and tour gift vouchers in your own design, bought and redeemed online.
• Waitlist and reminders. The waitlist notifies guests when spots open up, and 24 hours before the tour guests get a reminder email with directions and tips.
• Day of the walk. You open the app, check in the participants and off you go.

How often an animal walks is still up to you, through the dates and spots you create. Walks are included in every plan. Small for up to 10 animals costs €5 a month, Basic with no animal limit €15, each plus VAT and cancellable monthly. The first 30 days are free. All features are on the Alpaca walks page, the plans under Pricing.

What farms that take bookings with it say

Two farms that organize their walks with ALPAKA.PRO have allowed us to show their reviews.

“Right now we mainly use the app for our bookings and organization – and it saves us an incredible amount of time. Everything works reliably and without any fuss.”

— Jürgen, Schumachers Alpaka-Jungs, Brüggen

“I have a good overview of my bookings.”

— Lisa Marie, alpacas for happiness

When switching pays off

With a few dates a month and guests who like to call, the phone and a calendar serve you well. Online booking pays off when requests come in through several channels, when last-minute cancellations regularly cost you spots or when you want to sell gift vouchers without keeping track of slips of paper. You need the rules from this article either way.

Do you still manage your animals in spreadsheets too? When Excel is enough and when software pays off is covered in the article Managing Alpacas: Excel or Software?