Tourpreneur Tour Business Podcast

How to train tour guides is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive in our postbag here at Tourpreneur.So on this episode of Tourpreneur, a podcast for tour operators and tour professionals, we asked Margaret Hicks of tour guide training company The Tour Boost to share some tips on tour guide training with us.

The Fitz and Folwell Story, how two friends started and grew a successful bike tour company. Fitz & Follwell are into their 11th season.On this episode of Tourpreneur a podcast for tour operators and tour professionals, founders Diego, and Shea share their journey of what made them start a bike tour business and the lessons they have learned along the way.

How John LaVerne Built Bulldog Tours of Charleston. Tour Operator Owner John LaVerne talks with Tourpreneur Podcast Host Shane Whaley and pulls back the curtain on how he started Bulldog Tours from scratch.John LaVerne of Bulldog Tours reveals:How an internship on a carriage tour sparked his love affair with tours.Why he approached the Old Exchange to offer ghost tours?How he moved his business then called John's Tours from a part time hobby to a serious business.Why he changed the name from John's Tours to Bulldug ToursHow his parents reacted when he decided to leave a well paying job in the corporate world to go 'all in' on being a tour operator.How his mission of preserving historic Charleston sites drives him.Bulldog Tour has raised $3.7m for historic Charleston buildings and plans to raise even more.More about his mentors in the early days and the importance of having a business coach.What question his coach asked him that triggered him into action to hiring a specialist role and resulted in increased revenue.Why CPAs are so important for tour operators.How being a tour guide for his own company was a completely different experience.How he dealt with his competitors showing up for his first ever tour.How he deals with criticism and turns it into a positive.That managing expectations with Ghost Tours can be tricky.His first hire, tour guide Franny Russell is still working at Bulldog Tours today.His outlook and approach to managing tour guides and staff.How he first got the word out about his tours.His approach to working with hotels and concierges.How he works with OTAsHow much of his business comes from OTAs.Advice for tour operators who want to work with OTAs based on his own experience.How he works with AirBnB Experiences.Confesses that early on he did not think direct bookings from his website would be a success.How he was able to convince the Magnolia Cemetery to allow him to create and operate the Spirits of Magnolia Cemetery Tour. The cemetery have not allowed any commercial activity on their grounds in over 170 years.How a celebrity chef encouraged him to start food tours in Charleston.And Much More!

On this episode, Alan Rust reveals why he left the corporate retail world to start his own tour business. He shares with us how he has grown his tour operator business on a budget of $5k.Alan reveals:- Why he decided to become a tour operator.- The mission of his tour business.- How he had to pivot because of livery regulations in Nebraska.- How this red tape led to him creating and developing a new partnership with a limo company.- Why he allows guests to pick the times of their tours with America Tour Company.- Why he decided to acquire a history tour operator just 6 months in.- Why some restaurants refused to work America Tour Company- Shane shares some sales ideas on how to counter the main objections.- That 44% of America Tour Company's business is corporate.- How he works with OTAs and which ones are most profitable for him.- Why he decided to work with [Airbnb Experiences](http://airbnb%20experiences/) in Nebraska.- The differences between working in corporate retail and as a tour operator.- How did Alan Rust market his tours when starting out?- Why Google Ads and SEO were so important.- Why America Tour Company launched self guided tours.- Why he uses [Bookeo](https://www.bookeo.com/) for his online booking platform.- When searching for an online booking platform what his top 3 must have features and capabilities were.- How he achieves work/life balance- Books, podcast and apps that help him be efficient in his business and to achieve growth.- And Much More!

Jeff Woelker is the founder of the Underground Donut Tour. He started his first donut tour in downtown Chicago four years ago and has recently expanded into NYC, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle.On this episode, we talk about why he decided to create a donut tour in Chicago, what led to him expanding to other cities and how he built his tour from scratch in a very niche sector.Shane Whaley, host of the Tourpreneur Podcast pulls back the curtain on the Underground Donut Tours and reveals:How Jeff's friends inspired him to launch a tour all about donuts.How he overcame imposter syndrome when starting outWhich online ticketing platforms he uses for his tour business.Why 'share of stomach' is his biggest competitorHow 1 and 2 star reviews for his Philadelphia tours helped him shape his Chicago business model into one that would work in Philly.Without the local donut companies, Jeff did not have a business. How did he convince skeptical donut business to work with him?Why pricing his tours was and (still is in new markets) a challenge?What OTAs does he work?What was the catalyst behind him opening his donut tours in Philadephia?How does he recruit tour guide and why stand up comedians always catch his eye?What is the essential component every ticketing platform needs to offer tourpreneursHow he uses his digital marketing experience to promote his donut toursThe importance of listening and acting on Tripadvisor reviews and how they helped him adapt to the Philadephia market.What still gives him a headache when dealing with OTAs?How a Ben and Jerry's training video shaped Jeff's whole philosophy on customer service.And Much More!

On this episode of the Tourpreneur Podcast with Shane Whaley, Miranda Peterson reveals how she built a tour business around her passion for yoga and the outdoors. This is the story of Namaste in Nature.

On today's episode of the Tourpreneur Tour Podcast we talk with the tourpreneur behind The Battlefield Explorer Tours. You don't have to be into World War 2 history to enjoy today's conversation.Dutchman Joris Nieuwint has been leading tours of the Operation Market Garden battle sites since 2012.'Sharing what I’ve learned over the years has been my passion and becoming a tour guide has always been one of my dreams. Keeping the sacrifices of these men alive by telling their stories and showing the locations where it happened is my greatest passion.'

Mike Brown's Ghost Tour and accompanying ghost story podcast Pleasing Terrors slogan is 'Some Stories are Never Meant to be Told'. On today's episode of the Tourpreneur podcast, Mike opens up to Tourpreneur Host Shane Whaley and reveals stories about his business and ghost tours.

On Episode 2 of the Tourpreneur Podcast, Host Shane Whaley discovers how Jennifer Gruhn turned her passion for nature and the outdoors into a thriving tour business.Jennifer is the owner of Asheville Hiking Tours and today we learn more about how she got started, the challenges she overcame and how she has developed her tour business.Tourpreneur Jennifer also shares with us how used a very well known app to measure customer demand and gather feedback before launching her tours.

On the first ever episode of Tourpreneur, Alice and Torin Kexel talk us through how they came up with the idea for their Flying Bike tours, how they got set up and the challenges they face.They recommend resources and deliver real life tips for fellow tourpreneurs. They also give you the low down on what it was like to attend Arival for the first time and how it helped their business.Alice and Torin hold nothing back as they tell us how they have learned how to market their business as well as companies that have helped them along the way.