6 Tour Guide Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: November 1st, 2023

Become A Tour Guide

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

1. TourScanner ($720K/year)

Simone Semprini, CEO and Co-Founder of TourScanner, came up with the idea for the business while traveling in Brazil and struggling to find activities and tours online. Seeing the opportunity in the growing market for online tours and activities, he developed the concept, connected with co-founders Guillaume Picard and Joseph Dimucci, and launched TourScanner as the first meta-search engine for tours and activities. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, TourScanner has recovered and is now performing better than ever, with a monthly net revenue of $60k and plans to reach $1M ARR in 2022.

How much they make: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
Current team size: 5

We Built A $720K/Year Travel Activities And Tours Search Engine

TourScanner, a meta-search engine for tours and activities, achieved monthly net revenue of $60k and plans to reach $1M ARR in 2022, utilizing a lightweight business model based on affiliate programs that earned a commission from referrals sent to major travel companies like Viator, GetYourGuide, Musement, and Groupon.

About

Simone started TourScanner about 6 years ago

Revenue

Simone grew the business to $60K/month

Costs

It cost Simone $5000 to start the business

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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:

Where to start?

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

Need inspiration?

-> Examples of established tour guide
-> Marketing ideas for a tour guide

Other resources

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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