6 Tour Guide Service Business Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: November 1st, 2023

Start A Tour Guide Service Business

Tour guides are members of the hospitality and travel industry. Professional tour guides ensure itineraries are met and that tourists are informed entertainingly. Tour guiding businesses lead guests on excursions that would otherwise be unavailable to them.

To start a tour guide business, explore your location and its potential for attracting tourists. Understand the regulatory environment and create a business plan detailing your services and how you intend to deliver value to the customers.

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

1. Rayna Tours ($6M/year)

Manoj Tulsani and Kamlesh Ramchandani, founders of Rayna Tours and Travels, started their business a decade ago with no experience in the travel industry. Despite the challenges, they grew their venture into one of the UAE's leading destination management companies, earning over $40 million per year. Their success is attributed to their focus on exceptional customer experience, strategic investments in their own infrastructure, and the use of advanced technology to provide convenient travel services.

How much they make: $6M/year
Current team size: 670

How We Started The $35M/Year Dubai's Leading Tour Operator

Rayna Tours and Travels, founded by Kamlesh Ramchandani and Manoj Tulsani, began its journey as a small travel counter inside a Dubai hotel, and has now grown into one of the UAE’s leading destination management companies with earnings exceeding $40 million per year.

About

Manoj started Rayna Tours over 18 years ago

Revenue

Manoj grew the business to $500K/month

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2. Trip Hacks DC ($18K/year)

How much they make: $18K/year
Current team size: 1

How Rob generates 90% of his Tour bookings from YouTube.

A tour guide and founder uses YouTube to make $1,500 per month and gain 26k followers for his private tour business, ranked #9 on Tripadvisor in a competitive market.

About

Rob started Trip Hacks DC about 7 years ago

Revenue

Rob grew the business to $1.5K/month

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Learn more about starting a tour guide service business:

Where to start?

-> How to start a tour guide service business?
-> How much does it cost to start a tour guide service business?
-> Pros and cons of a tour guide service business

Need inspiration?

-> Examples of established tour guide service business
-> Tour guide service business Instagram captions

Other resources

-> Tour guide service business tips

3. 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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4. Intrepid Travel ($520M/year)

How much they make: $520M/year
Current team size: 1260

Responsible And Resilient: Intrepid Travel Shows Doing Good Is Also Good For Business

Intrepid Travel is the biggest adventure tour operator that generates $43 million in annual revenue, offering more than 1,150 sustainable and experience-rich trips worldwide and, since 2002, raising over AUD 12 million for 135 charities worldwide through The Intrepid Foundation.

About

They started Intrepid Travel over 35 years ago

Revenue

They grew the business to $43.3M/month

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