In running your tours, what have you guys seen work as a way to get promoters to leave google reviews? (i.e. ask for and get reviews from customers most likely to leave a positive review)
Hi I am from London,UK and going to be in Tirana next week.
I am looking for a guide with access to a car to visit some places outside of Tirana below- There are 6 places on the 9th of July.
I'd like to spend 15 minutes each and 1 hour at the Archaeological Park. I have included references to the places below along with their address.
Monument to the 15th Partisan Assault Brigade Elbasan Rrethrrotullimi Zaranika, Elbasan, Albania
Elbasan Martyrs Cemetery Elbasan Elbasan 3001, Albania
Varrezat e Dëshmorëve Lushnjë, Albania WMXW+84C, Lushnjë, Albania
Fier Martyrs’ Cemetery Fier Rruga Koli Stamo-Fier
Apollonia Archaeological Park Fier PFCC+9FP, Pojan, Albania
Arch of Drashovica Drashovicë CHWP+PMH, SH76, Drashovicë, Albania
I will also buy lunch to show my appreciation and happy to pay euro cash. I will be staying in central Tirana.
Is this something you are interested in? I imagine it will be 6 hours or so. How much ?
I’ve been digging pretty deep into how Google Things to Do actually works, and something feels… off.
When you search stuff like “things to do in [city]”, most of what shows up are listings from big OTAs. Smaller operators either:
From what I can tell, the barriers are:
So even though Google looks like an open discovery channel, it’s kind of gated.
I’m curious:
👉 Are any operators here actually connected directly to Google Things to Do?
👉 If yes, how painful was the setup?
👉 If not, what’s stopping you — tech, cost, or just not worth it?
Feels like there’s a big gap between “local experiences” and actual distribution.
Would love to hear real experiences (good or bad).
As the title says. I've been curious about becoming a self employed tour guide, and the first tour I want to design is about the unique water and coastal defence situation here, its history and the engineering behind it. These would be private tours, so only one group of up to 8 guests.
I have 2 sites in particular I would want to show where guests stay 1,5 hours each where I or (through an arranged private visit) an employee on site explains more about the coastal defence, plus two little monuments with an interesting story to finish before heading back. The issue is that this together with the travel to and from sites takes quite long. 2*1,5= 3 hours for the main sites, plus 2*30 minutes is another hour is 4 hours. Add another hour for lunch and the day is 5 hours in terms of activities.
The driving, starting at the pick up point and ending with dropping off back there, is 335km of mostly highways. This means higher speed, but also congestion during rush hour. With little to no traffic this would be almost 4,5 hours of driving, but with traffic this could be 5 hours, maybe even reach 6 in some particular nasty days. Though rare it is something to take in consideration. It means that on those days guests are, from the moment they are picked up, 10 to 11 hours on the road, which is quite long. 2 of those 4,5 to 6 hours are from driving from and back to the main tourist hotspot. With how tourist stays are spread across the country the vast majority of potential guests will stay in that city. I anticipate most of my clientele to stay in that city. So now I fear both that the amount of total driving might be too long, and even if that isn't too long that the ratio between activities and driving is too skewed towards driving and feels like it wouldn't be worth it for visitors.
What are your thoughts on this? Anyone else has experience on hosting activities/tours which are further away from where you guests stay?
I've been to 8 countries and around 10-15 places within India and i think I have great knowledge of places that I visited and I need someone to help me with starting a travel company which organizes group trips for young travellers.
Hello everybody!
I have an anthropology background and have worked as a tour guide in Tokyo for a while. Recently I have started a new endeavour and am operating tours with a business partner. We have recently hired 2 new guides and are in the training process, I am looked for people who would be interested in coming on a free tour so that my guides can continue to gain experience as well as start to build up reviews so we can make more sales in the future!
If you are interested in a free tour of the Imperial Palace east gardens/edo castle ruins please contact me here or send an email to yumijapan.tour@gmail.com with the subject line Free Tour and I would be happy to book you in :)
Curious how you all handle the cashless problem. I’m an indie developer and I recently built an iOS (iPhone) app (GuideGallery) to test a theory: if you give guests their group photos via a shared link, and put a tip button directly on that page, they'll tip more because it feels like a natural "thank you."
For those doing daily tours, would a passive tipping method like this genuinely help your income, or how do you currently collect digital tips?
If any UK guides are open to taking a look and telling me what I got wrong (or right), the app is called GuideGallery.
I think we can't compare easily what's your thoughts?
So, I have been offering private and customizable tours, like private yacht charters, personalized food tours and exclusive cultural experiences but I am trying to figure out better ways to reach people who are actually interested in these kinds of experiences there is definitely a market for travelers looking for tailored, one of a kind experiences but I am still figuring out how they usually find or choose these types of tours. For anyone else offering private or luxury tours, do you focus more on specific channels like partnerships, referrals or other ways of getting consistent bookings? or is it more about targeting the right type of traveler from the start?Would really appreciate hearing what has worked for you when reaching travelers looking for something more personal and unique.
Hey everyone,
Quick gut-check for fellow guides. My June bookings came in noticeably lower than May, and now looking at confirmed July bookings, I’m on track for something similar to June — not the usual seasonal bump I’d expect.
That’s unusual for me. Past summers, July has always picked up. So I’m trying to figure out if this is just my situation or something more widespread.
Things I’m wondering about:
**•** Could a booking platform have changed its algorithm/visibility?
**•** Are people skipping walking tours because of the summer heat?
**•** Is the World Cup pulling travelers elsewhere this year?
**•** Or is it just inflation tightening travel budgets generally?
Would love to hear if others are seeing a similar dip, or if it’s just me. Appreciate any insight — trying to figure out if I need to change something on my end or just ride it out.
Thanks!
Hey all. I built a free AI chatbot for my tour business. If people here want to use it for free, here's the link: https://heyguest.co/login
All i ask is that you give me feedback! I might sell it in 1-2 years, but first users can have it free forever! It's been helping me respond to FAQ and booking requests.
Sorry if this isn't allowed here!
Hi all! I’m a single 41 year old living in New York. I want to take a solo trip to Japan. I would plan it myself but I’m leaning towards using a service since I have the money. My budget is $8500-$9000 all in including airfare (if I can go under, that would be AWESOME haha). I’ve looked in WeRoad, Flashpack, Go Ahead Tours, and Intrepid.
A few things to keep in mind…I don’t drink so partying isn’t a top priority. I’d like a chance experience the culture over shopping. Also…I’d strongly prefer my own hotel room. 9-11 days is max I want spend.
Any sugesstions help. Thank you in advance!
Hello, I'm living in Potsdam, Germany and would like to start offering tours. But I have a legal question in mind, do I have to get Gewerbeanmeldung? Thanks a lot.
I've been tour guiding now for three months, and it's been going really well - really enjoying it, and getting nothing but five star reviews. My guests seems to love it!
All I have is a single listing on Viator, but I recently got "Excellent" status due to the reviews and so on.
I had a steady trickle of bookings, a few a week, which I was happy with as it allows me to work just enough as I need at the moment.
In the last couple of weeks though, nothing... no new bookings.
I have lowered my prices, and added a special offer, but still nothing. I thought as we're approaching high season (I'm in Spain) that I'd at least get the same amount of bookings, if not more.
I'm not sure how to investigate this - there do seem to be a couple of other tours that are similar to mine, but they're not new, and there is certainly demand here. I'm wondering if it could be the numerous "free" tours that they offer here in summer.
Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas how to investigate why this could be the case, or what could be causing it?
So I am a KC tour guide. Just One Day Tours. Walking and bus tours, Mafia, murals, ghost, foodies and a bunch more.
I was hopeful there would be people interested in KC tours during the World Cup, but it has been almost nothing from tourists.
I'm listed on all the appropriate places. Visit KC, Civitatis get your guide etc. I admit I did not spend money on ads because I've never had luck with that in the past..
I'm really curious what they are doing. Has anyone had conversations? Is it really only about the beer and games?
What pants do you all wear to keep cool on the hot summer days?
Hello! Looking for a tour guide for Friday (June 26, 2026) late afternoon or Saturday (June 27)to look at castles near Boppard. Would love any suggestions or guide recommendation for a family of four (English speaking). Thank you!
Something I've been wondering about lately:
A lot of attractions, museums, activities, and experiences sell tickets online through OTAs like GetYourGuide, Viator, Klook, etc.
But local tour guides already spend their days talking to travelers who are planning things to do. In theory, it feels like guides could also earn a bit of supplementary income by selling attraction tickets under their own brand, while also getting discovered by travelers who may later want a guided experience.
Yet I rarely see independent guides doing this.
For guides here: what's the biggest blocker?
Genuinely curious because from the outside it seems like a fairly natural extension of what many guides already do, but clearly there's a gap somewhere.
Would love to hear from guides, operators, or anyone who's tried this before. What am I missing?