Tourpreneur Tour Business Podcast

'How lucky i am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.' After three years, Tourpreneur's Shane Whaley announces why he is leaving the show and revealed why he is thrilled to hand over the reins of the podcast and community to three industry veterans. Tourpreneur, the leading educational podcast and online community for tour operators around the world, will be under new ownership as of 11 May 2022, with big announcements to follow on 18 May regarding the new trajectory of the business. The new owners are travel industry veterans Mitch Bach, Co-Founder of TripSchool and Campfire; Peter Syme, founder of multiple tour operations; and Chris Torres, Founder and Director of Tourism Marketing Agency and the Digital Tourism Show.“I’m thrilled to announce that I’m taking on a new role as Head of Community at FareHarbor,” said Shane Whaley, Founder and Publisher of Tourpreneur. “One of my concerns in accepting this role was leaving all of the Tourpreneur listeners and community members in the lurch. Over the pandemic especially, I’ve received so many messages from tour operators around the world saying that the Tourpreneur community has kept them going during these tough times. So I’m thrilled to hand over the reins of the Tourpreneur to these incredibly experienced and knowledgeable industry professionals. I know that Mitch, Peter, and Chris will take Tourpreneur forward and give our subscribers an even better chance of growing their profits from their business.”Tourpreneur began in 2019  to connect tour operators in an otherwise often lonely professional journey. By sharing real stories and connecting through an engaged, supportive community, tourism entrepreneurs can build their businesses with the help of others, rather than in isolation.“Taking over the Tourpreneur podcast and site is a fun challenge for all of us,” said Torres. “Tourpreneur has been such a big part of the industry that it’s an honor and a privilege to try to take this forward and keep it growing.”The Tourpreneur podcast currently has over 250 episodes, offering a breadth and depth of helpful, actionable content for tour operators.“It’s probably worth saying that Tourpreneur will be different going forward,” said Syme. “Shane is a media professional and, if you look at the numbers, there’s only one of Shane and there are three of us trying to take over and fill his shoes. The tone of the show will certainly be different going forward just based on our backgrounds and expertise. But the focus on community is still 100% there; it’s all about the operators.”Going forward, tour operators around the world can look forward to more resources, more education, and more content coming from the new owners of Tourpreneur. For tour operators attending Arival in Berlin at the end of May, the new owners will be hosting Hot Seat sessions to tap into their depth of tourism industry insight and experience. “I am very sad to be leaving because Tourpreneur is my baby,” Whaley said. “It’s definitely bittersweet but I am excited to see where Tourpreneur goes from here. The growth potential for all our subscribers who listen with these three industry veterans at the helm is massive.”

Today, Sita Sargeant rejoins us  to share some of the major changes that are currently happening at She Shapes History. Sita explains  what it’s been like to transition from working as a duo-team tour operation to becoming a ‘team of one.’ We discuss the benefits of stepping back and taking breaks from your tour business and how it can leave you feeling recharged, renergized, and remotivated.. Sita shares her goals of expanding the She Shapes History team and how she builds her customer’s excitement and anticipation about upcoming tour events while growing her email list. We also discuss how she incorporates first-person stories in her walking tours without sacrificing ethics, the collaborations and partnerships she’s currently working on, and the value of connecting with other tour operators

In this episode, we throw the spotlight on TourOpp in a brand new series where we learn more about tech, tools and apps for tour operators.Tourpreneur is a no sales pitch podcast so we invited a customer of TourOpp to join us and share why they chose TourOpp and how it is increasing their cross-selling, upselling, number of reviews and saving customer service hours.We are joined by TourOpp founder, Daniel Pino and Gray Line San Francisco's Xavier Valls Pinilla.Check out the TourOpp features to see if they are a tour operator tool that can help your tour business.

Brian Cain, owner of CRAWL New Orleans, and Jarrod Riddle from Spirit of Arizona Tours share invaluable insights on staffing tour businesses. They discuss key strategies for identifying when to hire and how to empower new employees to deliver authentic experiences. Brian recounts his journey from solo operator to managing nine guides. The conversation also explores the intricacies of recruiting and interviewing talented tour guides, the pros and cons of employment models, and effective management techniques to ensure a high-quality tour experience.

Angee Johnson joins us today to share how she built and grew Taste of SLO Walking Food Tour.She discusses how she researched the San Luis Obispo tourism market before starting her business and outlines how she networked and collaborated with bars and restaurants.She talks about the point in the journey she started investing in paid advertising and reveals her secret sauce to maximizing Facebook ads.Angee also underscores the value of maintaining a working relationship with bar and restaurant staff and highlights the importance of keeping your tours fresh.

Liselot Caura reveals how she took her brewery tour business BeerSecret from a side hustle to a full-time business and outlines some of the challenges she faced.Liselot joins us today to share the story behind BeerSecret. She describes her beginnings in the brewery industry and reveals what led her to switch from sales and promotion in breweries to leading beer tastings and tours.She discusses how long it took her to take BeerSecret from a side hustle to a full-time business and outlines the challenges and lessons she learned along the way.Liselot also provides advice on building relationships with bars and breweries as a food tour operator and underscores the value of knowing your customers. 

The Tour Operator Start Up series is back, Simon Burke joins Nikki Padilla Rivera today to discuss starting a tour business, in fact, a sidecar motorcycle tour company during the COVID-19 pandemic.He explains the hoops, logistics, and licenses when starting a tour vehicle business in Paris. He describes how Brexit and the pandemic impacted his start-up and explains how he came up with the concept of Txango Tours.Simon also underscores the value of taking yourself out of your comfort zone and highlights the role of passion in running a tour company.

Ryan O'Grady, founder of Fotaflo, shares how tour businesses can boost bookings and reviews with photo memories. He highlights the power of 'memory marketing' and sending personalized photos to guests. The podcast discusses the benefits of using photos to enhance customer engagement and brand connections in the tourism industry.

Lauren Hefferon, with over 30 years of experience in bike tours, shares her journey of building Ciclismo Classico from the ground up. She discusses the importance of personal connections with customers and traditional versus digital marketing strategies. Lauren emphasizes the power of tailored experiences, navigating customer trust in online bookings, and engaging event marketing. She also highlights utilizing Zoom for virtual events during the pandemic and the significance of effective public relations to enhance visibility.

Jamie Robinson joins us today, he divulges his tactics to effective, authentic marketing on a budget. He describes his journey to being a tourpreneur and explains how an episode of the show, Top Gear, inspired him to start his experiences business based around two iconic cars, a London Cab and an Indian Taxi.He explains how to engage with a community without sounding like a pushy salesperson and discusses how he uses social media to promote his business.Jamie also explains why Tourpreneurs shouldn’t be afraid to give away free experiences or services and underscores the importance of remembering your mission in business.