Group, school and corporate tours in Jaisalmer
Twenty to two hundred guests at a single camp at Sam — one bonfire, one dinner, one group.
Four kinds of group, and what each one needs
Groups fail on logistics, not on the destination. What follows is what we have learned actually matters at 20, 50 and 200 people.
Corporate offsites and team outings
Typically 30 to 120 people over two nights. Dune bashing in a jeep convoy, a bonfire and DJ night, and a quiet space set aside during the day if you have sessions to run. We invoice with GST against your company details and can work to a purchase order. Airport and station transfers are staggered, because a corporate group almost never arrives on one train.
School and college trips
Our busiest group category, November to February. Seat-belted tempo travellers or coaches, a coordinator travelling with the group, a female attendant for mixed groups, tents allocated by gender in separate blocks, and a written itinerary formatted to send to parents. Vehicle and driver documents supplied upfront for your approval process.
Weddings and family functions
Sangeet or mehndi at the camp, or a full multi-day booking with the whole site to yourselves. We handle decor, sound, a larger kitchen and extra tenting. Coach transfers from Jaisalmer airport and railway station for guests arriving. This needs the most lead time of anything we do — eight weeks minimum.
Tour operators and agents
If you are an agency sending clients to Jaisalmer, we work on net rates with credit terms once we have run a few groups together. You keep the client relationship; we handle the ground. We will not contact your customers directly, before or after.
How group pricing works
What moves the per-head figure
- Headcount — cost per person drops at 40, and again above 100
- Tent tier, and whether you want city hotel nights alongside
- Dates: a midweek night in November or January is the cheapest you will find
- How many sightseeing days you add either side of the camp night
- Coaches, which are brought in for your dates and carry their own lead time
How we quote
One figure for the whole trip rather than a list of line items, with a written breakdown behind it so your finance team can see what sits where. GST invoice against your company details, and we can work to a purchase order and standard payment terms.
Send the headcount, the dates and whether you need hotel nights, and the quote comes back the same day.
Dates matter more than group size. The Desert Festival week, Diwali, Christmas and New Year run considerably higher across all of Sam, and availability at 100-plus disappears months out. If your dates are flexible, say so — moving a booking by a week can change the figure substantially.
How a 60-person corporate offsite runs
- Day 1 · Staggered arrivals, 6 am to 2 pmWe meet each train and flight separately. Guests go to the city hotel, rest and eat. Nobody waits at the station for the group to assemble.
- Day 1 · 3 pm, city sightseeingJaisalmer Fort and Patwon ki Haveli in guided sub-groups of about fifteen, because sixty people behind one guide hear nothing.
- Day 1 · 7 pm, dinner and briefingHotel dinner, and the coordinator walks the group through the next day so questions get answered once rather than sixty times.
- Day 2 · 2 pm, transfer to SamConvoy of tempo travellers, 50 minutes. Bags go direct to camp; guests check into tents on arrival.
- Day 2 · 4 pm, dune bashing convoyTen to twelve jeeps running together — the activity that consistently gets the best reaction from a corporate group.
- Day 2 · 5:45 pm, sunset and camel safariEveryone out on the dunes at the same time, which is the photograph the organiser actually wants.
- Day 2 · 8 pm, folk show, then DJAn hour of Kalbelia dance and fire, then the sound system takes over. One bonfire, one group.
- Day 3 · 9 am, breakfast and dropDepartures timed to each train and flight, with a holding room kept at the city hotel for late trains.
The parts that go wrong if nobody owns them
Staggered transfers
Large groups never arrive together. We meet each train and flight individually rather than making early arrivals wait at the station for the rest.
Guides in sub-groups
Sightseeing runs in batches of about fifteen per guide. Sixty people behind one person means fifty of them hear nothing and drift.
Dietary requirements
Jain, no-onion-no-garlic, vegan and non-vegetarian kitchens run in parallel. Send the counts a week ahead and they are ready on arrival.
Tent allocation
Rooming lists sorted before you arrive, not on the sand at 4 pm with the whole group standing around waiting.
Medical cover
First aid at camp, a vehicle held on site for emergencies, and the nearest hospital 50 minutes away in Jaisalmer. We ask for any medical notes in advance.
Documentation
GST invoice, vehicle and driver papers, insurance details and a written itinerary — supplied upfront for school approvals and corporate procurement.
Frequently asked questions
How many people can you host at one desert camp?
Up to 200 guests at a single camp at Sam, with everyone eating, watching the cultural programme and sitting around one bonfire together. Very few operators in Sam can hold a group that size in one place — most split larger bookings across two or three camps, which quietly defeats the point of a group trip.
What does a group tour to Jaisalmer cost per person?
Per-head cost drops as the group grows, and drops again on a midweek night outside the festival and holiday weeks. Send us your headcount, dates and whether you need hotel nights alongside the camp, and we will quote the whole trip as one figure rather than a list of line items.
Do you handle school and college trips?
Yes, and they are a large part of what we do between November and February. We provide seat-belted tempo travellers or coaches, a coordinator who travels with the group, a female attendant for mixed groups, separate tent allocation by gender, and a written itinerary you can send to parents. We can also supply the vehicle and driver documents your institution needs for approval.
Can you invoice a company with GST?
Yes. We issue a proper GST invoice against your company details, and can work to a purchase order and standard payment terms if your finance team needs that. Send us the billing details at booking rather than after the trip, because amending a filed invoice is painful for both sides.
What activities work for a corporate group?
Dune bashing in a convoy of jeeps is the reliable crowd-pleaser. Beyond that: camel safari, a bonfire and DJ night, a Rajasthani folk and fire show, kite flying, cricket on the flat sand, and treasure hunts across the dunes. For leadership offsites we can set up a quieter space away from the main camp for sessions during the day.
How much notice do you need for a large group?
Three to four weeks for 20 to 50 people. For 100 or more, six to eight weeks, and longer if your dates fall in the Desert Festival or the Christmas and New Year window — those sell out across all of Sam. Coaches are brought in for the dates and need their own lead time.
Is there a single point of contact for the trip?
One coordinator is assigned to your group from the first quote through to the final drop, and travels with you for the duration. You get their direct number, not a switchboard.
What happens if the weather turns?
Sam gets occasional unseasonal rain and, rarely, a dust storm. We move the cultural programme and dinner into the covered dining hall, and the bonfire is postponed rather than cancelled if it clears. Outdoor beds are moved into tents at no charge. We have never had to cancel a group night outright.
Get a group quote
Send your dates, headcount and whether you need hotel nights alongside the camp. We will come back with one figure covering the whole trip.