Travel Business Lounge | For Travel and Tour Entrepreneurs 001: How Free Tours By Foot Grew From 2k to 72k Bookings Per Month | Canden Arciniega of Free Tours by Foot
In today's episode I have the absolute pleasure of speaking to Canden Arciniega, my good friend and former boss, who is the co-owner and COO of Free Tours by Foot, a 'name your own price' walking tour company that operates in more than a dozen cities around the US and Europe. I actually got my start in the travel industry with Free Tours by Foot back in 2012 as a tour guide in Washington, DC, so this episode is especially dear to my heart.
Canden shares how name your own price tours work, including the major benefits and challenges of running this type of business. We'll also learn about the game changing strategy Free Tours by Foot used to increase bookings from 2k per month in 2011 to over 70k per month in the lead up to COVID-19.
Now unfortunately there was an issue with my mic at the very start of the recording, so I wasn't able to capture the first few minutes of me welcoming Canden onto the show and us chatting about our adventures in DC. However, the good news is that this means she'll need to come back for another future episode so we can finally share the story of the phantom snake attack from our 6 day cycle ride from DC to Pittsburgh. But the even better news is that the content of this episode is especially good and super actionable.
If you're interested in starting a walking tour company or you're looking to expand your current company into different locations, or if you'd like to learn how to diversify your income (because as Canden reveals, there are many other ways to make money as a walking tour business, beyond just through tour bookings) then definitely tune in. Plus at the end she shares some incredible productivity hacks, so make sure you stick around for that. Honestly, she is the most well organized and highly productive person I know, so you definitely won't want to miss her tips.
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