Madison Rifkin leads Mount , a platform that partners with short-term rental hosts to help them feature and promote local tours and activities to their guests. But how do you actually get those guests to book? A static landing page doesn’t cut it. That’s where Madison’s “Creator Army” comes in—a vetted network of content creators trained specifically to craft high-performing short-form videos designed for the tour and activity industry. In this episode, Madi breaks down what’s working on social ...
Jul 10, 2025•53 min•Ep. 290
All we hear about is AI this, AI that. And yet trying to keep up with all the changes can be overwhelming. Many operators are simply rejecting it outright, or knowingly keeping their heads buried in the sand. So Mitch Bach sat down with Janette Roush, the "Chief AI Officer" for Brand USA, to ask a fundamental question: what are some practical ways a tour operator can get started using AI effectively for their tour business? This isn't a technical, advanced conversation, but rather a clear-eyed o...
Jun 26, 2025•54 min•Ep. 289
In this episode of the Tourpreneur podcast, Chris speaks with Jonathan Coleman from the Untours Foundation and Zakia Moulaoui Guery from Invisible Cities. They discuss the transformative power of tourism and how both organizations are making a significant impact in their communities. The Untours Foundation focuses on impact investing in social enterprises, while Invisible Cities trains individuals affected by homelessness to become tour guides, sharing their unique stories. Together, they explor...
Jun 19, 2025•50 min•Ep. 288
Mitch Bach is joined by ToursByLocals CEO Lisa Chen and Sherif Abiza, Chief Community Officer of Withlocals . Together they discuss a recent incident of guide poaching amongst tour platforms, and talk about what trust and fairness looks like in our industry. Guide platforms operate differently than other OTAs like GetYourGuide, Viator or Klook, since they deal primarily in solo entrepreneurs who themselves are the face of the tour. In this episode of Tourpreneur the group discusses: what does th...
Jun 16, 2025•49 min•Ep. 287
Nicole Mahoney runs Travel Alliance Partnership , a small group of tour operators banding together to create more buying power with suppliers, resell each others' tours, and much much more. In this Tourpreneur episode Nicole talks with Mitch Bach about how powerful these kinds of B2B partnership models can be when it comes to growing your tour business. Watch the video, show notes, and more at tourpreneur.com And join us for our TourWeek 2025 , our global conference in Charleston, SC November 10...
Jun 12, 2025•45 min•Ep. 286
Benjamin Sann is the CEO of Tour Optima , a communications platform and white-labeled app solution that offers streamlined messaging between your business and your guests, guides, and internal team. Communication is everything. How are your guests receiving the itinerary and important updates? How are they being prompted to review and tip the guide at the end of the tour? How do you handle group communication blasts throughout a multi-day tour? In this episode we talk about how to streamline you...
Jun 04, 2025•50 min•Ep. 285
Katalina Mayorga is the powerhouse founder of El Camino Travel , a multi-day tour company reimagining the group trip experience for a new generation. But she's also much more than a tour operator. To sell her trips she's leaned heavily into community, creating a membership that serves not only as a customer base, but a space for likeminded 'bold women' to share recommendations and advice. And to power this community, she's created a new tech platform that is re-imagining the travel booking flow ...
May 26, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 284
We all know good reviews are important, but what deeper insights can reviews give us about our tour businesses, and our industry? To answer that, Anna Cashman, Head of B2B Brand & Insights for GetYourGuide, led an effort to analyze 3.1 million reviews with comments. Her team parsed the data to understand trends and takeaways for tour operators. She joins Peter, Chris and Mitch on the podcast to talk through what this all means for tour operators. We were surprised by some of the report's ins...
May 21, 2025•54 min•Ep. 283
Well, the new Airbnb 2025 Summer Release is upon us. The just hosted a big, splashy launch event for its reboot of Experiences, and also introduced Airbnb Services, featuring dozens of categories of new bookable offerings, from nail care to personal chefs. What does this mean for the future of Airbnb, for the tours & activities sector, and for Experience Hosts? Let's dive in! Mitch Bach and Peter Syme invited Ben Gollan to share his insights. Ben is one of Airbnb's most popular NYC hosts, an...
May 15, 2025•42 min•Ep. 282
Mitch Bach sat down with João Perre Viana, the founder of Walking Mentorship , to talk one thing we tour operators are all familiar with: walking. But not many of us design week-long trips where all you do is walk. Sometimes alone. Sometimes in a group. That's it. Beyond some shared meals and moments, there isn't much of a plan. Each group takes on a different spirit, but it's all guided by a mentor who along the way tries to facilitate and gently foster personal transformation. What that looks ...
May 12, 2025•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 281
Kelly Tompkins is the Founder & CPO of ReserveX, building software infrastructure that connects the components of our whole industry: Multi-Day tours, Day tours, Travel Advisors, OTAs, Meta-Search, and more. He's also been in the industry for a long, long time. Together with Tourpreneur host Peter Syme, Kelly talks about where the industry has been, and where it's going. He specifically looks at the disconnects in selling multi-day tours, how API connectivity can open your company up to more...
May 02, 2025•51 min•Ep. 280
TP team members Mitch Bach and Peter Syme talk to Chris Mark, Head of Connectivity for GetYourGuide. As we continue our Connectivity Series, we're looking at the people building the plumbing that make our industry work. When you list your tour on GetYourGuide, you might not understand the way in which it gets shared on other platforms, and how it integrates with your booking software, to bring you more sales but also make the whole process seamless. We sat down with Chris who is one of the archi...
Apr 15, 2025•47 min•Ep. 279
In this episode, Mitch Bach and Pete Syme interview fellow Tourpreneur partner Chris Torres, a seasoned marketing expert, who shares insights from his extensive career in the industry. Chris announces the sale of his business, discusses the evolving landscape of marketing, and emphasises the importance of storytelling and innovation in attracting customers. The conversation covers the differences between marketing strategies for day tours and multi-day tours, the significance of print marketing,...
Mar 25, 2025•32 min•Ep. 278
As we continue our connectivity series, we look at the landscape of B2B sales for tour operators as it evolves thanks to new technology, connectivity, and companies changing how travel is sold. Evan Frank has been the CEO of a tour company (Context Travel), founder of a short-term rental pioneer (onefinestay), and is no co-founder of Fora Travel, leading the charge at reimagining the role of the travel advisor, updating it with new technology and a brand that suits a new demographic of advisor t...
Mar 10, 2025•42 min•Ep. 277
This week we begin a mini-series on connectivity: interviews with people helping tour operators grow their B2B partnerships through tech tools that connect with other industry sectors. We start the series off looking at short term rentals. This is often a desired B2B relationship for tour operators, but one that's hard to decipher and connect with. Our guests are Karen Piscitelli, Founder of Explorabout and Annie Holcombe of the channel manager NextPax . Karen is building a platform to allow pro...
Mar 02, 2025•58 min•Ep. 276
Dan Christian has spent decades in the industry working at some of the world's largest travel brands: The Travel Corporation, G Adventures, Lonely Planet. Today he's the host of the Travel Trends podcast and CEO of the Acceleration Team , helping travel companies achieve rapid growth. Dan knows marketing and business transformation like nobody else, and in this episode he spills the secrets of the world's largest companies: How do the largest tour companies really make their money? What have the...
Jan 30, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 275
GetYourGuide has recently surpassed 200 million tickets sold. Co-Founder & COO Tao Tao sits down with Tourpreneur's Mitch Bach, Peter Syme and Chris Torres to talk about the challenges and surprises of 16 years of scaling an online experiences marketplace. As always, we focus on takeaways for tour operators as Tao Tao shares data and insights. We examine the tensions inherent in balancing the needs of both suppliers and travelers, especially when it comes to curation—and Tao Tao shares news ...
Jan 22, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 274
A Christmas Eve gift for you! We're just days away from 2025, so it's clearly time to start thinking about how you're going to grow and improve your business next year! Tourpreneur hosts Mitch Bach and Peter Syme have a conversation about what Pete calls the 70-20-10 rule for how to spend your time doing business development in the off season. (You'll have to listen to find out). We cover topics such as: Leading guide training and innovation workshops finding new sales partners looking at your f...
Dec 24, 2024•43 min•Ep. 273
TP hosts Mitch Bach, Peter Syme and Chris Torres have just returned from their California Road Show, in partnership with GetYourGuide. We spent a week hosting business development workshops in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles, meeting dozens of operators in all sorts of verticals. Thanks to everyone who showed up, and to GetYourGuide who shared regional data on travel trends and customer behavior insights relevant to the local market. The Tourpreneur team paired that dat...
Dec 17, 2024•47 min•Ep. 272
This episode is going to inspire and surprise you. Rodrigo Atuesta is the CEO of Impulse Travel. From humble beginnings as a guide and Couch Surfer, Rodrigo and his partners have built a DMC in Colombia that has now served over 30,000 travelers. But the way he's built it has been extraordinary, challenging assumptions about how DMCs should work, and understanding the responsibility and power that a travel company has to transform destinations. In this far-reaching conversation, Tourpreneur's Mit...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 271
In this episode of Tourpreneur, we dive into the intricacies of sustainable travel with Xavier Font, a seasoned expert in travel and sustainability. With over two decades of experience and a professorship at the University of Surrey, Xavier brings a wealth of knowledge to our discussion. We explore the necessity of rethinking travel for environmental reasons and the potential for combining work and travel for greater efficiency and satisfaction. Xavier emphasizes designing meaningful travel expe...
Nov 15, 2024•49 min•Ep. 270
Today, we're tackling a crucial topic for those looking to expand their business into new territories: B2B marketing strategies for tour operators. If you're aiming to attract corporate clients or promote team-building experiences, this episode is a must-listen. Chris Torres provides some quick tips on how to build a strong brand, utilise SEO, leverage targeted ads, and make the most of platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to grow your business in the corporate marketplace. Whether you're new to...
Nov 06, 2024•11 min•Ep. 269
In this quick episode, Tourpreneur partners Peter Syme and Chris Torres dive into the latest buzz around Airbnb's third attempt to amplify their experiences offering. Despite previous failures, Airbnb is pushing hard again, proclaiming that experiences represent a massive market opportunity. But can they succeed this time? Peter and Chris weigh in on the challenges Airbnb faces, from curating high-quality experiences to ensuring sustainable pricing for operators. They discuss the potential pitfa...
Sep 20, 2024•26 min•Ep. 268
Mitch Bach interviews three tour guides and operators who have become extremely popular on TikTok: Megan Marod (@themegandaily) David Harry (@the_london_spy) John O'Sullivan (@oneminutetours) These guides have all harnessed the power of TikTok in different ways that suits their personality, goals, and markets. But they have one thing in common: they say the key to success is showing up authentically. In this episode they tell their story and share their tips and strategies on a variety of topics...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 267
The Tourpreneur podcast is back! After a summer hiatus while operators were busy operating... we're returning to our weekly schedule of conversations and insights for the tours & activities industry. To kick off the fall season, TP partners Mitch Bach, Peter Syme and Chris Torres chat through everything that's been happening in the industry over the past month: What we hear about an industry 'slowdown' or 'softening' for tour operators, and whether it should change your business and marketin...
Aug 31, 2024•59 min•Ep. 266
Excuse the length of this episode, but I jealously didn’t want to stop interviewing this week’s guest, Kyle Campbell, who runs her small-group multi-day tour company, Sudden Journeys. For some of you listening, this might be the episode you need to hear to relase yourself from the burden of thinking you have to keep producing more content to sell your tours. At first glance, this episode’s title might put you off: what do the seemingly “soft” words like vulnerability and empathy have to do with ...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 265
Host Peter Syme sits down with Ambrose Bittner , a seasoned operator of private customised tours across Asia. They delve into the intricacies of running a tour operation, touching on key aspects like process engineering, client communication, and the decision to outsource tasks versus keeping them in-house. Ambrose shares his journey through COVID-19, during which he invested in new back-office infrastructure and refined his booking process. They also explore the challenges of maintaining revenu...
Jun 24, 2024•50 min•Ep. 264
Visit tourpreneur.com for more show notes. Tourpreneur is hosting two conferences! Join us in November in Marrakesh, Morroco for CONNECT:Multi-day, and in February in New York City for CONNECT:Profit. More info here . In this episode, Lia Garcia, CEO of Practical Wanderlust and Louisville Food Tours , shares her journey from starting a blog to becoming one of the largest travel blogs in the world. She discusses her monetization strategy, which includes ad revenue and affiliate marketing. Leah em...
Jun 08, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 263
In this episode, we'll unpack why building direct sales through SEO and website optimization, along with embracing paid advertising on platforms like Facebook, can be game-changing, despite being time-consuming. We'll also discuss the importance of feeding Google's business profile and the significance of robust content production for SEO and AI. But the conversation doesn't stop there. We dive into the critical need for human-to-human partnerships to build resilient businesses, especially in li...
May 21, 2024•34 min•Ep. 262
Guests Sherri Brown and Cherrye Moore discuss their experiences and the strategies that have helped them target new markets, focusing on both local and corporate sectors. Host Peter Syme shares his insights on effective pricing strategies, managing business growth, and best practices for training and integrating new team members. Throughout the episode, topics such as adapting to market changes, optimising group tour logistics, and customising experiences are explored. Overview 00:00 Tourpreneur...
May 15, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 261
