Tour Entrepreneur: How to Start Your Tour Business - International Tour Management Institute

Are you wanting to…

Supplement your stream of income with additional work without having to depend completely on tour operators for your livelihood?
Stay close to home more often with your family, local community, and dog to feel more connected?
Take charge of your own destiny and have the freedom to control your schedule, create more fulfilling opportunities, and have the satisfaction of owning your own business?
Use your creativity, expertise, and passion to design unique tour experiences you love to share?

Are you wondering…

Where do I start?
How do I properly market and sell my tours?
What do I need to do to protect myself legally from liability?
How do I create tours customers want to buy?

Are you concerned about…

Liability risk, arranging transportation, and what insurance you will need
Costly marketing and promotions required to sell your tours
Setting the right pricing for your tours so they will sell and make you money
Not having a business, marketing, or financial plan

So the big question is “Are you ready to start making money leading your own local tours?”

This Course

We will go through the 10 Essential Questions you should be asking yourself to determine if you are ready to start your own local tours. By answering these questions, you can avoid making costly mistakes.

You will learn:

The key steps to getting your tour business started off on the right foot
If starting your own local tours is right for you
The top 10 questions you need to answer before starting your own tours
How to take your passion or idea and determine what type of tours you should offer
What you need to know to successfully run a tour business

You will walk away with more clarity on what your next steps are, and have the confidence to get started!

Let’s begin!

Course Curriculum

Total learning: 41 lessons

Module 1: Getting Started 2

Find out if you are you ready to start your own tour business.
- Lesson1.1
  
  Top 10 questions you need to answer before starting your local tours
  38 min
- Lesson1.2
  
  Meet the Our Guest Experts
  30 min
Module 2: Researching Types of Tours 2

Learn how to research your competition and determine what types of tours you should offer
- Lesson2.1
  
  Your Tour Idea and Research the Competition
  12 min
- Lesson2.2
  
  Researching your Competition and Types of Tours
  26 min
Module 3: Building your Itinerary 4

Learn how to design and build an itinerary that your customers will want to book AND make you money
- Lesson3.1
  
  Module 3: Training Session
  57 min
- Lesson3.2
  
  Module 3: Q & A
  17 min
- Lesson3.3
  
  Module 3: Guest Experts
  27 min
- Lesson3.4
  
  Module 3: Action Steps & Resources
Module 4: Working with Vendors 4

Learn how to get vendors to respond to you and negotiate contracts that get you the best deals
- Lesson4.1
  
  Module 4: Training Session
  01 hour 24 min
- Lesson4.2
  
  Module 4: Q & A
  19 min
- Lesson4.3
  
  Module 4: Guest Experts
  19 min
- Lesson4.4
  
  Module 4: Action Steps & Resources
Module 5: Pricing your Tours 4

Learn how to price your tours so that customers will see your value and book with you
- Lesson5.1
  
  Module 5: Training Session
  01 hour 16 min
- Lesson5.2
  
  Module 5: Q & A
  18 min
- Lesson5.3
  
  Module 5: Guest Experts
  16 min
- Lesson5.4
  
  Module 5: Action Steps & Resources
Module 6: Marketing your Tours 4

Learn how to create marketing content and build a website to make your tours irresistible to buyers
- Lesson6.1
  
  Module 6: Training Session
  01 hour 07 min
- Lesson6.2
  
  Module 6: Q & A
  33 min
- Lesson6.3
  
  Module 6: Guest Experts
  01 min
- Lesson6.4
  
  Module 6: Action Steps & Resources
Module 7: Promoting your Tours 4

Learn how to promote your tours so that customers will find and choose you
- Lesson7.1
  
  Module 7: Training Session
  01 hour 11 min
- Lesson7.2
  
  Module 7: Q & A
  26 min
- Lesson7.3
  
  Module 7: Guest Experts
  29 min
- Lesson7.4
  
  Module 7: Action Steps & Resources
Module 8: Protecting your Bsuiness 3

Learn how to protect yourself and your business legally and financially so that you don’t get shut down or sued
- Lesson8.1
  
  Module 8: Training Session
  01 hour 02 min
- Lesson8.2
  
  Module 8: Guest Experts Q & A
  52 min
- Lesson8.3
  
  Module 8: Action Steps & Resources
Module 9: Structuring your Business and Accepting Payments 3

Learn how to accept payment, keep accurate records, and pay vendors without getting in trouble with the IRS
- Lesson9.1
  
  Module 9: Training Session
  01 hour 02 min
- Lesson9.2
  
  Module 9: Guest Expert Q & A
  20 min
- Lesson9.3
  
  Module 9: Action Steps & Resources
Module 10: Tour Logistics 4

Learn how to manage the behind the scenes logistics of your tours so that you don’t lose money running them
- Lesson10.1
  
  Module 10: Training Session
  01 hour 14 min
- Lesson10.2
  
  Module 10: Q & A
  36 min
- Lesson10.3
  
  Module 10: Guest Experts
  10 min
- Lesson10.4
  
  Module 10: Action Steps & Resources
Module 11: Handling Problems on your Tours 4

Learn how to properly handle unexpected problems that may come up on your tours
- Lesson11.1
  
  Module 11: Training Session
  01 hour 03 min
- Lesson11.2
  
  Module 11: Q & A
  15 min
- Lesson11.3
  
  Module 11: Guest Experts
  11 min
- Lesson11.4
  
  Module 11: Action Steps & Resources
Module 12: Creating an Action Plan 3

Learn how to pull everything together and create an action plan
- Lesson12.1
  
  Module 12: Training Session
  43 min
- Lesson12.2
  
  Module 12: Guest Experts Q & A
  48 min
- Lesson12.3
  
  Module 12: Action Steps & Resources

Annette Morejon

Annette is passionate about travel, particularly to places she loves. She has undergraduate degrees in Hotel/Restaurant/Tourism Management and French, and an MBA in Hospitality. Annette graduated from ITMI in 2000, right after graduating from college. She has now been in the industry for over 20 years, starting off as a tour director in Italy and France for Collette, and then moving on to work for them as a Product Manager where she planned, contracted, and created itineraries as well as oversaw all operations for the countries she was in charge of. The skills gained as a Product Manager have been the backbone to everything else she has been able to achieve in her tourism career.

Her strong connections to Italy, led her to move there from the US, where she spent 11 years exploring every corner, experiencing the culture and history, and sampling all of the delicious foods and wines the country is known for. Annette then became Director of Operations for Cuba Travel Services, where she assisted many US Tour Operators in developing their people-to-people programs to Cuba and managed the operations of all travel-related programs for the company. Annette keeps busy these days overseeing two companies from her home-base in Miami yet still manages to sneak in local guiding and overseas tour directing whenever she can.

Annette is the managing partner of the North America division of Whisper System, a company that provides radio guide systems for guided group tours, and managing partner of Daiquiri Tours, where she organizes travel programs to Cuba, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France and other parts of Europe and the world. She also recently spearheaded the founding of her local Chamber of Commerce in the City of Miami Springs, where she is acting President. One of her greatest accomplishments is being an instructor at ITMI, where she can share her passion for her industry with new students, fellow instructors and fellow alumni.