Tourpreneur Tour Business Podcast

How to start a tour company - our guests Sita and Ripley are back on the Tourpreneur Podcast to share their experience leading their first tour and the feedback, insights, and lessons they learned from it. They describe how the test tour did not go as smoothly as they had envisioned it and discuss one important aspect they need to include in their next test tours. They explain the most surprising comment they received after getting feedback. They also highlight the importance of long-term strategic planning in business and underscore what it means to be a “COVID-friendly” business.

Tom Barclay Matchett, the founder of The London Storyteller, shares his journey of crafting bespoke private tours that blend history with storytelling. He discusses themes from James Bond to Winston Churchill, emphasizing the creative process involved in engaging guests. Tom reveals key lessons learned about personal connections, adaptability, and trusting one's instincts in business. He also addresses challenges faced by independent tour operators, including competition and the impacts of the pandemic, showcasing the power of unique, insider experiences.

Dorene Wharton, a tourism marketing expert and founder of Travel Life Media, discusses powerful copywriting strategies for tour operators looking to enhance their blogs. She shares tips on crafting captivating headlines to boost engagement and the importance of tailoring content to different demographics. The conversation delves into the art of writing engaging blog content and introduces effective strategies for competitive analysis and SEO optimization. Wharton emphasizes patience in navigating the blogging landscape and the value of reflection for continuous improvement.

Host Shane Whaley is joined by Fat Tire Tours and bike tour business owner Emilie to discuss Fat Tire Tours’ initiative to create a community and booking platform for bike tour operators worldwide. Our guests reveal what inspired the company to start the project and share what they learned about the bike tour industry during COVID-19. They highlight Fat Tire Tours’ strategies for helping bike tour operators grow within the community. They describe the company’s history and explain how they plan to market bike tours globally. They also discuss the core pillars of their project and underscore the importance of collaboration over competition. Our guests are grilled by Bike Tour Operator and regular contributor to Tourpreneur., Emilie Pelletier.

The Tour Operator Start-Up is back. We take you behind the scenes of a tour business start up - each month we check in with She Shapes History hosted by Nikki Padilla Rivera. Each month you can join your host, tourism expert Nikki Padilla Rivera as we explore how Sita and Ripley went from the world of academia to building their own tourism company in Canberra, Australia.They share why they chose to focus on female stories and the importance of exploring the diverse histories that are often not taught in school.They discuss their partnership, the benefits of working as a team and the tools they are using to build their company. They also outline their steps for marketing and fine-tuning their tours as they approach their launch date.

The Tourpreneur Tour Operator Podcast host Shane Whaley announces an upcoming new line up and features for Tourpreneur listeners. Tourpreneur will be back in July. 

John Coupland joins me today to share how he leveraged his previous experiences as an entrepreneur when starting his tour company and the challenges he faced as a new tour operator. We discuss how he designed his most popular guided tour, The Crown Film Locations & Royal Secrets Tour. John shares why it’s critical for tour operators to have the ability to ‘read’ their guest’s body language and how it helps you deliver outstanding tour experiences. John also reveals the three key lessons he has learned about building a successful tour operation, creating exceptional experiences, and achieving outstanding customer reviews.

In this engaging discussion, marketing expert Dorene Wharton, who specializes in blogging for tour operators, shares her insights on the power of content repurposing. She breaks down strategies for transforming existing blog posts into engaging videos and social media snippets. Dorene emphasizes the benefits of short videos versus longer formats and offers tips to encourage audience sharing. Learn how to streamline your content creation process and explore tools that can help expand your reach across various platforms!

Tourpreneur host and founder Shane Whaley shares why he has decided to join Redeam.com as VP of Sales and why this is good news for Tourpreneur listeners.Passionate sales leader known for implementing global business development, growth, and strategies focused on driving revenue and increasing market share joins rapidly growing travel technology companyBroomfield, CO (May 3, 2021) – Redeam, the leading and only independent global connectivity stack with digitized channel management and touchless voucher redemption/reconciliation solutions for the Experiences and Things To Do industry, today announced that highly respected, long-time travel industry veteran and Tourpreneur publisher Shane Whaley will be joining the company as VP Sales. Whaley, a personal brand unto his own right, brings a deep, nearly 20-year legacy of selling digital travel solutions, for online hotel booking and online travel agency (OTA) websites, most recently with GetYourGuide before embarking on his own entrepreneurial endeavor with Tourpreneur. Whaley, known for his success building sales teams and his personalized problem-solving approach, joins Redeam to help operators grow sales and improve operational efficiencies through Redeam’s middleware SaaS solutions. Whaley will continue to nurture and publish Tourpreneur as its own independent business.“I love what I have built with Tourpreneur, but I miss the camaraderie of a team,” said Whaley. “What I so admire about Redeam and am excited to join is the thriving culture Redeam’s CEO Melanie Meador has built. I’ve watched Redeam’s product evolution and see the kind of industry problems they’re solving. Redeam is making a real difference in the Experiences industry, and I can’t wait to contribute directly to that.”“I honestly could not pass up an opportunity to work more directly with Shane, whose work and spirit I so admire,” said Redeam CEO Meador. “Shane understands the struggles of small and large operators alike, the fragmented nature of our industry sector, and the value Redeam’s connectivity, distribution, and improved customer experience brings. Shane is going to achieve great things here at Redeam, and we all welcome him with open arms.”To learn more about how tour, attraction, and activity operators rely on Redeam to easily automate their businesses so that they can sell more tickets around the world, visit the Redeam website.

Othelia Cassidy is the creative force behind Madison Eats Food Tours, specializing in Instagram marketing for tour operators. She shares her journey of leveraging Instagram to connect with potential customers while emphasizing the importance of quality visuals. Othelia discusses practical tips for community engagement, showcasing local businesses, and navigating Instagram's algorithms. With personal anecdotes, she highlights the significance of storytelling and offers insights on using features like reels and stories to enhance visibility in the competitive tour industry.