Start and Run a Profitable Tour Guiding Business (Start & Run ...) [Paperback]

Richard Cropp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000 | Series: Start & Run ...

Start & Run a Tour Guiding Business provides background information on the travel industry, describes what is involved in tour guiding, explains how to develop tours to your favorite destination, and outlines the planning you must do no matter where you are going. This book contains a blueprint for the entrepreneur who wants to establish a larger tour operation, and includes: Becoming the perfect tour director; Organizing your own tour; Marketing your tour; Understanding standard industry commissions; Building your company. This in-depth handbook will tell you all there is to know about the tour guiding industry, whether you want to become an independent tour guide, work for an existing company, or set up your own tour business.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Whether you want to travel year-round or for two weeks every summer, whether your ideal is tropical climates or icy mountaintops, luxury hotels or backpacks and hiking boots, tour guiding is one route to traveling where and when you like. This career demands creativity, planning, and sometimes endless patience, but you set your own timetable and pursue your own itinerary.

The authors provide background information on the travel industry, describe what is involved in tour guiding, explain how to develop tours to your favorite destination, and outline the planning you must do no matter where you are going. They also include a blueprint for the entrepreneur who wants to establish a larger tour operation. The book answers questions such as:

- What should I think about when I plan a bus tour? A cruise? - Where do I find the answers to tour members’ questions? - How do I deal with lost luggage or disorderly tourists? - What about sidetrips? - How can I market my tour?

About the Author

Barbara and Richard make their living writing about travel and the business of travel. They also worked in the travel industry for many years as agents, managers, owners of travel agencies, and as consultants to other firms and individuals. Susan is a professional writer and editor who focuses on travel writing.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Self-Counsel Press, Inc.; 2nd Edition edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551802848
• ISBN-13: 978-1551802848
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Missing important details; basic business boilerplate, January 20, 2002

By 

Michael D. Slater (Imperial Republic of Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Start and Run a Profitable Tour Guiding Business (Start & Run ...) (Paperback)

This book was a disappointment. I found it to have several chapters of vague generalities and typical small business boilerplate that I don't want to pay for.

It definitely does not give me the information I need to know to start a tour operator business. The most important example of it is it simply says nothing whatsoever about insurance and how to protect yourself from liability. That in itself should be an absolute condemnation of the book.

The only reason I didn't give it 1 star is it says a bit about how to guide a tour, which someone might find slightly useful, but overall, the book is not worth buying.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not very useful, November 4, 2004

By 

Branislav Rabotic (Licensed Guide and Lecturer) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Start and Run a Profitable Tour Guiding Business (Start & Run ...) (Paperback)

Absolutely basic approach to tour guiding in this book can hardly give you any valuable knowledge of the profession! Obviously, the authors were unable to give us a more insightful and informative text on tour guiding as such, so they decided to fill their book with some other topics more or less irrelevant to the theme. The second half of the 'Tour Guiding Business' gives us an equally simplified approach to travel agent practice focusing on such topics as 'Making your business legal', 'Equipping your office' and 'Marketing a large tour operation'. Think twice before you decide that you need the book.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, December 20, 2010

By 

moan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Start and Run a Profitable Tour Guiding Business (Start & Run ...) (Paperback)

I purchased this book because I am interested in starting this type of business. I found it to have much needed relevant information that was concise and easy to read. Just what you need if you just want to keep your research for this field of work simple yet informative!