8 Walking Tour Business Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: November 19th, 2023

Start A Walking Tour Business

Do you love meeting new people, sharing knowledge, and touring places? Then, starting a walking tour business can bring so much enjoyment, and it is also a great business idea.

Starting a walking tour requires so little to no startup capital. With word of mouth and a website, you can begin receiving dozens of bookings so long as your walking tours are well planned and targeted to potential customers.

To start the walking tour business, do market research and design uniquely enjoyable tours. Establish proper marketing channels and register the business appropriately.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a walking tour business:

1. Free Walking Tour Italia ($118K/year)

Three young Italian travelers got the idea for their business while on a road trip from Shanghai to Cambodia. They participated in Free Walking Tours and realized it was a perfect way to discover cities. They decided to bring the concept to Italy, where it was underdeveloped, and created the first and largest network of Free Walking Tours in the country, attracting more than 7,000 tourists in just two years.

How much they make: $118K/year
How much did it cost to start: $3K
Current team size: 3

How Three Friends Started A $10K/Month Free Walking Tours Business In Italy

From zero to a network of free walking tours in 24 cities across Italy in just 2 years, these three friends built a €10,000/month business by offering quality tours and fostering word-of-mouth advertising, even while weathering the COVID lockdown.

About

Alessandro started Free Walking Tour Italia over 5 years ago

Revenue

Alessandro grew the business to $9.81K/month

Costs

It cost Alessandro $3000 to start the business

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2. ToursByLocals ($97.3M/year)

How much they make: $97.3M/year
Current team size: 290

Paul Melhus of ToursByLocals On How To Create A Travel Experience That Keeps People Coming Back For More

ToursByLocals offers customized private tours in over 190 countries with 1700 handpicked tour guides, serving more than 220,000 customers worldwide.

About

They started ToursByLocals almost 16 years ago

Revenue

They grew the business to $8.11M/month

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Read by 801 founders

So... can you actually make money with a walking tour business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

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Starting A Walking Tour Business: Everything You Need To Know

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5. ToursByLocals

ToursByLocals connects travelers with local tour guides, worldwide. We're a marketplace for customizable private tours and shore excursions!

How much they make:
Where they're located: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Current team size: 290

So... can you actually make money with a walking tour business?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

7. Strawberry Tours

Strawberry Tours offers the best quality free tours in the market. We have the best guides in the industry. Come and enjoy the Strawberry Tour experience.

Website traffic: 80K/month

8. SANDEMANs NEW Europe

Home of the famous Free Tour in 20 of the world's best cities, we bring you incredible walking tours, day trips, pub crawls and other unmissable experiences!