Suppliers Beware : a threat lurks in tours and activities distribution, not my words, but the words of GetYourGuide Co-founder and COO Tao Tao.

In an opinion piece published in Phocuswire, he slams the acquisition of Bokun and FareHarbor by TripAdvisor and Booking as not being 'healthy for the ecosystem in the long term.'

Tao Tao also outlines four questions he feels tour operators should ask themselves before working with an OTA-owned reservation provider.

He goes on to announce GetYourGuide preferred partners where they've teamed up with Rezdy and BookingKit.

There is a lot in this article to take in, so I invited Peter Syme and Alex Bainbridge onto the show for our first ever Tourpreneur panel discussion.

On this episode of Tourpreneur a podcast for tour operators and tour professionals, Greg Fisher, CEO of Tripshock shares his journey with host Shane Whaley, of how he founded the company and how he has grown tours and activities OTA Tripshock over the last 10 years.

Greg Fisher reveals:

• How working at a hotel led him to start up Tripshock.
• How he developed the idea and executed on it.
• Having no budget he could not go out and hire SEO and digital marketing experts (sound familiar?) so he shares how he went about learning the skills he needed.
• Why he feels that OTAs charging 30% commission is not feasible for many smaller tour operators such as fishing boat tours and charters.
• The decision he took after the Gulf Coast oil spill that almost crushed his business.
• What he learned as a result of this decision.
• What customers are looking for when they want to book tours and activities online.
• The importance of saying no (or not yet) to some tour operators and who want to work with Tripshock.
• All the Tripshock staff is remote-based.
• How he builds a Tripshock work culture when all his staff is based remotely.
• He has not taken any investment funds from VCs.
• Why he set up TripCon.
• Why he wrote to Nike's Phil Knight and why he recommends his memoirs Shoe Dog.
• How he initially struggled to manage a work/life balance and why it is important for tourpreneurs to work at this.
• And Much More!

On this episode of Tourpreneur a podcast for tour operators and tour professionals, Greg Fisher, CEO of Tripshock shares his journey with host Shane Whaley, of how he founded the company and how he has grown tours and activities OTA Tripshock over the last 10 years.

Greg Fisher reveals:

• How working at a hotel led him to start up Tripshock.
  
  
• How he developed the idea and executed on it.
  
  
• Having no budget he could not go out and hire SEO and digital marketing experts (sound familiar?) so he shares how he went about learning the skills he needed.
  
  
• Why he feels that OTAs charging 30% commission is not feasible for many smaller tour operators such as fishing boat tours and charters.
  
  
• The decision he took after the Gulf Coast oil spill that almost crushed his business.
  
  
• What he learned as a result of this decision.
  
  
• What customers are looking for when they want to book tours and activities online.
  
  
• The importance of saying no (or not yet) to some tour operators and who want to work with Tripshock.
  
  
• All the Tripshock staff is remote-based.
  
  
• How he builds a Tripshock work culture when all his staff is based remotely.
  
  
• He has not taken any investment funds from VCs.
  
  
• Why he set up TripCon.
  
  
• Why he wrote to Nike's Phil Knight and why he recommends his memoirs Shoe Dog.
  
  
• How he initially struggled to manage a work/life balance and why it is important for tourpreneurs to work at this.
  
  
• And Much More!

On Episode 16 of Tourpreneur, host Shane Whaley digs deep into the story of Ian Thomas and why he set up a running tour in Philadephia. Lace-up your running shoes, strap on your iPod as Ian reveals more about:

• Why Ian left the world of International Transport Logistics to set up his own running tours of Philadelphia.
• What he learned at Business School that he is applying to his business.
• Why he decided to go full time after one year of being a tour operator.
• Why Google Adwords doesn't make sense for his running tour business but SEO does.
• His SEO tips for tour operators, including what SEO tools he uses.
• Why Philadelphia is an ideal city for a running tour.
• How his running tour resonates with locals as well as visitors and how he is trying to capture more of that market share.
• His blog strategy.
• Why he decided to build his own website, See Philly Run with Squarespace.
• Why he feels See Philly Runs operates the best running tours in Philadelphia.
• What challenges and obstacles he faced when he became a tour operator.
• How he discovered what licensing, permits and insurance he needed to operate a running tour business.
• What it was like leading a running tour with his first paying customers.
• Which distribution channel gave him his first customer.
• How he got knocked back twice by Airbnb Experiences and was accepted on his third attempt.
• Tips on being accepted to the Airbnb Experiences program.
• Why he offers five different running tours and which running tour is his most popular?
• Why he decided to work with FareHarbor.
• What his only hangup using Fareharbor is and what he wishes they would improve.
• What tools/apps he used to run his tour business.

And Much More!

On Episode 16 of Tourpreneur, host Shane Whaley digs deep into the story of Ian Thomas and why he set up a running tour in Philadephia. Lace-up your running shoes, strap on your iPod as Ian reveals more about:

Why Ian left the world of International Transport Logistics to set up his own running tours of Philadelphia.

What he learned at Business School that he is applying to his business.

Why he decided to go full time after one year of being a tour operator.

Why Google Adwords doesn't make sense for his running tour business but SEO does.

His SEO tips for tour operators, including what SEO tools he uses.

Why Philadephia is an ideal city for a running tour.

How his running tour resonates with locals as well as visitors and how he is trying to capture more of that market share.

His blog strategy.

Why he decided to build his own website, See Philly Run with Squarespace.

Why he feels See Philly Runs operates the best running tours in Philadelphia.

What challenges and obstacles he faced when he became a tour operator.

How he discovered what licensing, permits and insurance he needed to operate a running tour business.

What it was like leading a running tour with his first paying customers.

Which distribution channel gave him his first customer.

How he got knocked back twice by Airbnb Experiences and was accepted on his third attempt.

Tips on being accepted to the Airbnb Experiences program.

Why he offers five different running tours and which running tour is his most popular?

Why he decided to work with FareHarbor.

What his only hangup using Fareharbor is and what he wishes they would improve.

What tools/apps he used to run his tour business.

And Much More!

TourRadar. Who are they and how can they help sell your tours?

On this episode of Tourpeneur, the podcast for tour operators, host Shane Whaley pulls back the curtain and reveals the inner workings of OTA TourRadar.

Tourradar specializes in multi-day tours. Even if you don't offer multi-days, I would urge you to continue listening to today's episode today because you'll get an understanding of how an OTA works.

We talk with various TourRadar department heads including:

• Christian Wolters - Managing Director.
• Brendan Roberts, VP Business Development.
• Iris Serbanescu, Director of Partnerships.
• Patrick Burke, Head of Talent
• Vanessa Subramaniam, Manager of Support. North America.
• Dennis Basham, Global Head of Industry Sales, On the Go Tours.

I also wanted to speak with a tourpreneur who sells their tours via TourRadar and I'll give the company a lot of credit here. They asked me to pick a supplier at will.

So a big thank you to Dennis Basham of On the Go Tours who agreed to be interviewed on the Tourpreneur Podcast, to tell us all what it's like to be a supplier and partner working with TourRadar.

So there's a lot in this episode. I hope you enjoy it, let me know which OTA you want to hear from next. And if you work for an OTA, do drop me a line and let me know if your company would be interested in being featured on the Tourpreneur podcast as part of our #MeetTheOTA series.

TourRadar. Who are they and how can they help sell your tours?

On this episode of Tourpeneur, the podcast for tour operators, host Shane Whaley pulls back the curtain and reveals the inner workings of OTA TourRadar.

Tourradar specializes in multi-day tours. Even if you don't offer multi-days, I would urge you to continue listening to today's episode today because you'll get an understanding of how an OTA works.

We talk with various TourRadar department heads including:

• Christian Wolters - Managing Director.
• Brendan Roberts, VP Business Development.
• Iris Serbanescu, Director of Partnerships.
• Patrick Burke, Head of Talent
• Vanessa Subramaniam, Manager of Support. North America.
• Dennis Basham, Global Head of Industry Sales, On the Go Tours.

I also wanted to speak with a tourpreneur who sells their tours via TourRadar and I'll give the company a lot of credit here. They asked me to pick a supplier at will.

So a big thank you to Dennis Basham of On the Go Tours who agreed to be interviewed on the Tourpreneur Podcast, to tell us all what it's like to be a supplier and partner working with TourRadar.

So there's a lot in this episode. I hope you enjoy it, let me know which OTA you want to hear from next. And if you work for an OTA, do drop me a line and let me know if your company would be interested in being featured on the Tourpreneur podcast as part of our #MeetTheOTA series.