Podcasts about fareharbor

Highlights from this week's conversation include:Jaclyn's Background and Journey in VC (0:50)Early Experiences in Venture Capital (1:55)Finding Edge in Venture Investing (5:16)Decision to Institutionalize Fund Investments (8:09)Evolution of Foundry's Investment Strategy (10:38)Building Networks in Venture Capital (15:16)Initial Impressions of the Venture World (16:14)Understanding the LP World (17:51)Evaluating People in Venture (20:39)Adapting to a Growing Number of Funds (23:01)Insider Segment: Advice for Fund Managers (25:49)Opportunities for Limited Partners (27:22)Outlook for 2024 (28:28)Transition to Direct Investing (32:08)Importance of Manager Relationships (35:37)Value of a Focused Strategy (39:10)Future of Venture Capital (43:37)Connecting with Jaclyn and Final Thoughts (44:10)Jaclyn Freeman Hester is a Partner at Foundry. She joined in 2016 with a passion for supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and investors. Jaclyn leads direct investments in early-stage companies, often collaborating with Foundry's partner funds. She loves working closely with founders to solve hard problems and think about the human elements of business. She invests across B2B and consumer companies that exhibit strong end-user empathy and use technology to empower individuals, unlock potential, and improve experiences. Jaclyn helped launch Foundry's partner fund strategy, building the portfolio to nearly 50 managers. Bringing her unique GP + LP perspective, Jaclyn has become a go-to sounding board for emerging VCs. Jaclyn first fell in love with entrepreneurship while earning her JD/MBA at CU Boulder (Go Buffs!). There, she served as Executive Director of Startup Colorado, where she got to know Foundry and the incredible Boulder/Denver startup community the firm helped catalyze. In her brief stint as a practicing attorney, Jaclyn advised clients in M&A transactions and early-stage financings. She also witnessed the founder's journey first-hand, working closely with her husband and his family as they built a B2B SaaS company, FareHarbor (acquired by BKNG). Learn more at foundry.vcGunderson Dettmer is the preeminent international law firm with an exclusive focus on the innovation economy. The firm serves market-leading venture capital and growth equity investors and pioneering companies through inception, growth and maturity, as well as groundbreaking public companies that result from the global venture capital ecosystem. The firm's clear-cut focus and well-honed technical skill enables an accelerated pace and unmatched efficiency, delivering best-in-class value at each phase of a client's business. Learn more: www.gunder.com. Swimming with Allocators is a podcast that dives into the intriguing world of Venture Capital from an LP (Limited Partner) perspective. Hosts Alexa Binns and Earnest Sweat are seasoned professionals who have donned various hats in the VC ecosystem. Each episode, we explore where the future opportunities lie in the VC landscape with insights from top LPs on their investment strategies and industry experts shedding light on emerging trends and technologies. The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this podcast are for general informational purposes only.

Colin and Brent discuss Colin's breakdown of FareHarbor and Peter Attia's $150,000 longevity playbook. Enroll in Colin's "How To Buy a Small Business" Course & Community https://www.indiepe.comGet our SaaS Growth Playbook https://www.indiepe.com/growthSell your SaaS at https://www.vernehq.com

My guest today is Dave Yuan. Dave is the Founder and Partner of Tidemark Capital, which he started in 2021 after 15 years as a General Partner at Technology Crossover Ventures. Dave has been investing in vertical market software as long as anyone I know and he currently sits on the board of two VMS businesses, Toast and Karbon. He is the perfect guest to deliver a primer on VMS, which is exactly what we do in this episode. Please enjoy my conversation with Dave Yuan. The Vertical SaaS Knowledge Project - Tidemark Capital Founders Podcast Founders Episode 136 - Estee Lauder Founders Episode 288 - Ralph Lauren For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Stretch your research budget with flexible expert calls you can trust. At a fraction of the cost of traditional expert networks, Tegus customers pay only what an expert charges – with zero markups and no confusing call credits – netting an average 70% savings. Don't want to conduct a full hour call? Tegus offers the ability to schedule 30-minutes, an offer you won't find anywhere else. And they don't stop there. With white-glove custom sourcing for every project and robust compliance measures, including a dedicated 50+ analyst team that vets every call transcript, Tegus ensures your privacy and protection. As the industry innovator for qualitative insights, Tegus helps you find the right experts you need at a quality and speed that can't be matched. For a limited time, as a listener, you can trial Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.  Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:02:57) - (First question) - Vertical Market Software (VMS) offers unique business models and customer benefits (00:04:02) - Industry-specific software serving SMBs with tailored functionality (00:06:53) - Assess market based on TAM, competition, and growth dynamics (00:10:00) - Trust as a nuanced factor in evaluating market opportunities (00:11:59) - Leverage account-based marketing and local network effects for VMS solutions (00:14:22) - Vertical solutions offer tailored value and quick results for specific industries (00:16:21) - Disrupting legacy control points through integration and surrounding functionality (00:19:07) - Building demand is crucial for small merchants (00:21:31) - VMS entrepreneurs need operational experience and multi-product mindset (00:23:13) - Investors need to adapt to the specific growth stage and market dynamics (00:25:22) - Gross retention is driven by control points, individual-based retention, and distribution (00:29:43) - Multi-product vertical SaaS: Integrated solutions for efficiency and value (00:32:33) - Diverse offerings to serve merchants' needs in a multi-product approach (00:34:07) - FareHarbor's unique strategy led to success in the tour industry (00:38:43) - LA-based company revolutionized commercial casting with a free software tool (00:40:03) - Opportunities remain in VMS, with greenfield areas and specific markets (00:45:12) - Key valuation considerations for VMS businesses (00:47:27) - Time horizon is crucial for investing in VMS businesses (00:48:04) - Businesses worth studying in this category (00:51:12) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Max Valverde (@dadbodgoespro on Instagram) was an overweight dad and CEO. After selling his company, FareHarbor, for $250 Million, Max found himself with a lot of extra time and access. In 2022, he and his family moved to Park City, where he discovered his love for backcountry skiing. After learning that this sport was coming to the Olympics in 2026, Max decided to make it his mission to train as a pro athlete with the hopes of competing in the games three years from now. In this week's episode, Kelsey Creveling interviews Max Valverde to discuss his impressive business track record and what it's been like embarking on his unique endeavor of training to become an Olympian. He shares his journey of transitioning from the corporate world to pursuing a career in backcountry skiing, and explains what challenges and triumphs have come along the way. Tune in this week to learn what it takes to be a successful business person, as well as a pro athlete.Resources + Courses for Consultants - https://theconsultantscounsel.comFollow:The Consultant's Counsel Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theconsultantcounselMax Valverde on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dadbodgoespro/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/theconsultantscounselYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@theconsultantscounselPartnerships & Affiliations:Disclaimer: A brand affiliate relationship is in place with the following brands, and a commission may be earned if a purchase is made using the link or provided discount code.Ally Shoes - Use code KELSEY10 at checkout for 10% off your first purchaseThe Healing Mind™ - Download the appUnder Pressure - Use code THECONSULTANTSCLOSET at checkout for 20% off your first purchaseMailchimp - $30 Intuit Mailchimp bill credit

Erica and Brian explore how OpenSpace and Guru delivered great engagement programs. Community Industry News: Valentina Ruffoni joined Disciple Media as Community Experience Lead Caroline Park joined Atlassian as Senior Manager, Community Engagement Kristie Presten joined Tasktop as Community Manager Carla Doty was promoted to Community Director at Yelp Celina Zamora joined ServiceNow as Community Engagement Manager & Strategist Shane Whaley joined FareHarbor as Head of Community Ben Garrison joined Zscaler as Technical Moderator and Knowledge Manager Katie Ray joined metadata.io as Head of Community Kimberly Ndola joined Wonder as Community & Content Strategist Cat Martinez joined Twilio as Principal Developer Community Engagement Manager, Developer Programs Donna Nicholson was promoted to Community Engagement Manager at Reddit Melodie Malfa was promoted to Senior Community Manager at Yelp Erin H was promoted to Community Engagement Manager at Reddit Clare Stager joined Seed Health as Employee Experience and Internal Community Manager Nicola Lyons was promoted to Head of Community at Andela Engagement Programs: OpenSpace Easter Egg Hunt The 12 Days of Guru

Kevin and Greg welcome Ilya Rozen from Destiny Water Adventures. The guys touch on a little bit of everything including res tech best practice, upsells, features, and Fareharbor. Ilya is also Kevin's business partner! [SPONSOR] - This show is sponsored by AAMP Agency. Check out their digital marketing services at https://aamp.agency[2022 WATERSPORT CONFERENCE] Make sure to join us for this year's watersport conference in Orlando, FL on 9/26 and 9/27. Get all the info including tickets and lodging at https://partners.tripshock.com/watersport-boat-tour-operator-forum-orlando/Show Links:Website: https://www.watersportpodcast.comFacebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/awgpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1155418904790489Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awg_podcast/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3TSseuv2wdIYO5nuviZSwQ

Welcome to what will be the last ever Digital Tourism Show… but not the end of me producing even more videos, podcasts, articles and marketing advice! Stay tuned to find out more. Many of you are probably aware that myself, Pete Syme and Mitch Bach took over the Tourpreneur community and podcast from Shane Whaley as he starts a new career over at Fareharbor. The three of us are about to launch an obscene amount of content that will help every Tour Operator understand many aspects of their business with one aim: to increase their profit margins. Because of this, it makes no sense for me to continue with The Digital Tourism Show as this, and more content, will be recorded for the Tourpreneur community and under the Tourpreneur brand. This is somewhat of a bittersweet moment as my podcast and videos have helped many over the last 5-6 years. But rest assured my thoughts and advice will not stop and will actually increase… it will just under a different name. Now if you are wondering about all the existing Digital Tourism Show you do not need to worry as all existing content will remain online so you can always refer back to past episodes. I do have one ask of you… So you can continue to receive lots of free advice, not just from myself, but from Pete Syme, Mitch Bach and the many speakers and operators in our community, please do join the Tourpreneur Facebook Group. This will be my new home as my Digital Tourism Show Facebook Group will also close in the coming weeks. So thanks to all of you for helping make the Digital Tourism Show a success and hope you continue to join me at my new home on Tourpreneur.

'How lucky i am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.' After three years, Tourpreneur's Shane Whaley announces why he is leaving the show and revealed why he is thrilled to hand over the reins of the podcast and community to three industry veterans. Tourpreneur, the leading educational podcast and online community for tour operators around the world, will be under new ownership as of 11 May 2022, with big announcements to follow on 18 May regarding the new trajectory of the business. The new owners are travel industry veterans Mitch Bach, Co-Founder of TripSchool and Campfire; Peter Syme, founder of multiple tour operations; and Chris Torres, Founder and Director of Tourism Marketing Agency and the Digital Tourism Show.   “I'm thrilled to announce that I'm taking on a new role as Head of Community at FareHarbor,” said Shane Whaley, Founder and Publisher of Tourpreneur. “One of my concerns in accepting this role was leaving all of the Tourpreneur listeners and community members in the lurch. Over the pandemic especially, I've received so many messages from tour operators around the world saying that the Tourpreneur community has kept them going during these tough times. So I'm thrilled to hand over the reins of the Tourpreneur to these incredibly experienced and knowledgeable industry professionals. I know that Mitch, Peter, and Chris will take Tourpreneur forward and give our subscribers an even better chance of growing their profits from their business.”   Tourpreneur began in 2019  to connect tour operators in an otherwise often lonely professional journey. By sharing real stories and connecting through an engaged, supportive community, tourism entrepreneurs can build their businesses with the help of others, rather than in isolation.   “Taking over the Tourpreneur podcast and site is a fun challenge for all of us,” said Torres. “Tourpreneur has been such a big part of the industry that it's an honor and a privilege to try to take this forward and keep it growing.”   The Tourpreneur podcast currently has over 250 episodes, offering a breadth and depth of helpful, actionable content for tour operators.   “It's probably worth saying that Tourpreneur will be different going forward,” said Syme. “Shane is a media professional and, if you look at the numbers, there's only one of Shane and there are three of us trying to take over and fill his shoes. The tone of the show will certainly be different going forward just based on our backgrounds and expertise. But the focus on community is still 100% there; it's all about the operators.”   Going forward, tour operators around the world can look forward to more resources, more education, and more content coming from the new owners of Tourpreneur. For tour operators attending Arival in Berlin at the end of May, the new owners will be hosting Hot Seat sessions to tap into their depth of tourism industry insight and experience.    “I am very sad to be leaving because Tourpreneur is my baby,” Whaley said. “It's definitely bittersweet but I am excited to see where Tourpreneur goes from here. The growth potential for all our subscribers who listen with these three industry veterans at the helm is massive.”

On this episode Adam and Chris speak with Lawrence Hester who was the founder and CEO of FareHarbor, the leading online booking platform for tours and activity providers. Under Lawrence leadership, FareHarbor grew from a small family run business to ultimately being acquired by Booking Holdings in 2018. Lawrence shares how his experience selling croutons has led to his biggest lesson.Check out more about what we're up to at Range.vc Connect with hosts and the Range VC team on LinkedInSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Anyone who deals with sales and/or marketing has known for a while now that tracking the consumer journey from start to finish is becoming nigh on impossible because of the changes from platforms like Facebook and companies like Apple. It is now impossible to track across domain names, which means tracking over a booking widget or separate booking URL is no longer possible. But there is a simple solution to this problem that Res Tech and booking platforms MUST implement if they wish to aid their customers and partners in generating more bookings through their systems. What is the current issue? Most operators who use the likes of Fareharbor, Bokun, Trekksoft, Checkfront, Rezdy, PeekPro or any of the other popular booking platforms will be familiar with the widget that is added to a website. This works by adding a button and/or a snippet of code through a piece of Javascript. When clicked, an iFrame containing the booking widget launches on the operator website or a calendar loads on a page that itself launches a separate window so the consumer can complete the booking. Now the issue is, Facebook now needs you to verify your domain name to make tracking website interactions work properly. It also has to be a main domain name and not a sub-domain name. Without getting too technical, the widget loaded from most booking platforms is from a URL on the res tech side within a container called an iFrame. As this is seen as a separate URL – one that you cannot verify on your own Facebook account – Facebook can no longer track your customers' interactions once they start the booking stage. This makes it impossible to know if they completed a purchase or where in that booking journey they may have dropped off. Currently, it is mainly Facebook that has this issue. But this will eventually be implemented by the likes of Google and other platforms as global pressure on data tracking becomes more and more strict. Facebook, and other platforms, have launched a way to track conversions using server side tracking. This means a server you set up, say on Google Cloud, can help claw back some of that missing data. But it will still not be as it was before, and still not entirely help with how most booking platforms are currently set up. Server side tracking is also a lot harder to set up for the non technical folks and may cost you a small monthly fee (or large if you get a lot of traffic). There is an easy solution Some platforms, like TourCMS or Rezgo, offer an API solution, so a developer can build you a bespoke, on-site booking process that would get around this issue. However, this can be an expensive endeavor to build and maintain. We did this back in the day for companies like Gray Line and Macs Adventure, amongst many others, when we used to develop bespoke websites. However, this solution is not viable for the vast majority of operators. The easy solution, from what I can see, is if these booking platforms allowed operators to add a ‘payment complete' URL that redirected the consumer back to a booking confirmation or thank you page on the operator website. Now, while this may still not allow you to track the full journey, it would allow you to track if that customer who visited a product page completed a purchase on your site. Some res tech may say this could stop any upsell opportunities, but another simple solution is to embed an iFrame into the thank you page that could still pull in upsell experiences and add-ons. By going to this page, the Facebook Pixel may have the opportunity to even pull in the sale price of that booking. This simple solution would allow for more insights into the ads or content that inspired that consumer to make the booking. That means marketing agencies like mine could create more of this content to create even more bookings and revenue for the operator and the res tech. For me, it is a no brainer that brings many benefits. The likes of PayPal, Stripe and most other payment platforms allow you to set a “payment complete” URL and it is high time booking platforms followed suit. Those who do will find themselves being recommended by agencies and other partners, more so, than those who don't. If there is a good reason why booking platforms don't do this, please do tell me, but from where I am sitting, this solution, at least, must be implemented by all. Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Today we celebrate Independence and this time next year the big cats will celebrate it too. So many good things are happening in the world as information is available to the masses.  Every week comes with new announcements such as another state enacting a bullhook ban, to keep circus acts from bringing elephants to town, or another county announces that they will protest the bear hunt in FL.  Our 3 prong approach to ending big cat abuse barrels forward and the end is in sight.   Facebook has proven to be a major ally with their recent launch of Facebook LIVE.  I've been trying to do at least one a day for Big Cat Rescue and every other day or so for explore.org.  The 15-20 minute ones are getting about 35,000 views and claim a reach of 750,000 to 900,000. Compared to my DailyBigCat YouTube account getting 800-1200 views for video I have to edit, FB is allowing me to reach a lot more people.  Since they can respond in real time, it's like a conversation where they type and I answer by voice while the camera is showing one of the cats.   The one downfall was the sound, so I bought a $500 mic and it is awesome!  The audience has responded enthusiastically.  I am very happy to have these tools.  I weave in the story of the cat being shown, and tell about some issue that is relative to them, and then give a call to action.  Yesterday it was some nitwit running a fair who was allowing Dade City's Wild Things to bring baby wild animals to the fair to pimp out for photos.  A lot of the viewers said they send her an email.  I'll be curious to know if it did any good.   I had a long talk w/ Max Valverde of FareHarbor yesterday.  Even though I chose his competitor, Peek, he was still trying to help us get our phone line diverted back to us from Zerve.  He had given Zerve over $100,000 to keep the lights on from July 5-8 so that customers could make the moves they needed after the holidays.  He seems to have high integrity; something I don't feel like I experience at Peek.  I chose Peek because I felt they were more stable, had more staffing, and have better reporting.     Zerve had a  34 million dollar infusion of capitol, according to Max, and burned through it trying to become the next TripAdvisor w/ booking capacity.  FareHarbor was bootstrapped by him and his partner and had refused 20 million in VC $ because what the VC wanted them to do was cannibalize the competition by undercutting prices and then, once they were the only game in town, have them jack the rates up. They didn't want to treat their customers that way and refused the money.   I can't wait for this holiday to be over so I can get some work done in switching our 888 number from Zerve back to us and so that I can switch Zerve.com/bigcatrescue back to BigCatRescue.org/tickets  I've had trouble with my credit card bills not getting to me too, so my card is overdue again, but I can't get the bank on the phone till Monday to see about setting up autopay from my bank.   Meanwhile all of this stress to retain our $900,000 annual tour revenue is a nice problem to have.  Not having the revenue at all would have been much more stressful.   Hi, I'm Carole Baskin and I've been writing my story since I was able to write, but when the media goes to share it, they only choose the parts that fit their idea of what will generate views.  If I'm going to share my story, it should be the whole story.  The titles are the dates things happened. If you have any interest in who I really am please start at the beginning of this playlist: http://savethecats.org/   I know there will be people who take things out of context and try to use them to validate their own misconception, but you have access to the whole story.  My hope is that others will recognize themselves in my words and have the strength to do what is right for themselves and our shared planet.     You can help feed the cats at no cost to you using Amazon Smile! Visit BigCatRescue.org/Amazon-smile   You can see photos, videos and more, updated daily at BigCatRescue.org   Check out our main channel at YouTube.com/BigCatRescue   Music (if any) from Epidemic Sound (http://www.epidemicsound.com) This video is for entertainment purposes only and is my opinion.  Closing graphic with permission from https://youtu.be/F_AtgWMfwrk

This week GuestX talks with Tyler Sindel, strategic partnership manager at FareHarbor, about the importance of the booking flow of tours, activities, and attractions as part of the total guest experience. From the instant, the guest has the idea of what to do to the completed booking, hosts Matthew Loney and Brian Hamaoui get pointers from Tyler on creating a simple process that converts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Over 35,000 people have been connected to Maine’s craft alcohol producers since our tours began almost 10 years ago" Don Littlefield is a legend in the brewery tour business and he shares his 3 major learnings on growing a brewery tour business with us.   Today, we take a deep dive into the work of brewery tours and how the beer tour market has changed since COVID. Don Littlefield of Maine Brews Cruise shares the essential tips he wants tourpreneurs to learn and which digital marketing strategies are most effective for his business. He reveals why the merchandise is critical and why he chose FareHarbor as his company’s preferred online booking platform. He shares how he ensures a high guest satisfaction level and the indicators that made him realize he could expand his tour offerings. Don highlights some unusual ideas he tried with his tours and why working with your competitors can be mutually beneficial. He also shares how working with an established brewery tour company can help you get started and the three craft beers he would take with him if he was stranded on a desert island.

Delve inside the world of top seed stage technology investor Adam Burrows. We explore: How Adam evaluates opportunities + what makes a great deal Top mistakes seed stage companies make Adam's top books And much more. About Adam Burrows Adam Burrows has been instrumental in building several of the most successful tech companies in Denver and is dedicated to partnering with the most ambitious founders in Colorado to create the next generation of big winners. As senior vice president and general manager at HomeAdvisor, Adam was part of the executive team that grew the company from $100M to over $1B in revenue, taking the company public in 2017 in Colorado's largest tech IPO.  As the first C-level executive at Guild Education, he helped the company raise its Series C and sign their largest clients towards a $1B+ valuation. Additionally, Adam has served as an advisor to the founders of two other successful Denver exits, Artifact Uprising and FareHarbor.

We continue to follow Morgan's journey on the Tour Operator Start Up.   Morgan shares how things are going for her tour operation startup since her previous appearance on the show. She shares how her first tour went and the results of target marketing using Facebook Ads, radiuses, and demographics. We discuss testing and adapting tour narratives using feedback and reviews and discuss ways of getting local media attention. Morgan also shares her experience with the FareHarbor booking system and the value of her business training with TripSchool.

in this series, we follow a tour operator on their journey from start to, well, we don't know where. We hope it is to success, but you're going to have to listen in each month to find out what happens. Today we feature Morgan Cantrell of HistoryWellTravelled.com. Let me introduce you to Morgan. She started her walking tour business just as the pandemic hit. Morgan shares why her dream is to build her own tour business. We also discuss some of the growing pains, she's experienced so far in starting her own tour business. We won't be sugarcoating anything during these chats, you know me well enough over the past 113 episodes that I'm all about authentic and genuine conversations. We will discuss Morgan's' wins and her losses. I know you're going to be thrilled when you hear Morgan share with us what it was like the day she picked up her phone and read that she had her first bookings. So today's episode is Morgan's tour operator start-up story. We will check in with Morgan monthly to discuss her wins and her challenges building her tour business. I'm excited. Strap yourself in. Let's go. This week on Tourpreneur: What inspired Morgan to start a tour business Developing a brand name, website domain, and logo How Morgan went about designing her first historic Carrollton walking tour Morgan's determination to create a tour in a market were none exist How to research and build a website with a WordPress theme How Morgan is marketing her business in her town through Facebook targeted ads Creating awareness and experimenting with Facebook ads, including images, demographics, and keyword plugins Why Morgan chose FareHarbor software to streamline bookings, payments, and data analysis The emotions and excitement Morgan felt taking her first booking Morgan's biggest frustrations on starting a tour business and how she motivates herself

Today we bring you an exclusive announcement, from two former guests of ours - two food tour operators They have teamed up with a major tour operator booking platform FareHarbor and have built a microsite Global Tours Connect, which they say, not only can deliver bookings for your tour business but will also pay you a dividend. Intrigued? I know I was. So we welcome onto the show today, Lauren McCabe Herpich of Local Food Adventures, Midgi Moore of Juneau Food Tours and first time guest on the Tourpreneur Podcast, Sabine Whitney of FareHarbor..

The rapid growth and adoption of reservation systems have made mission-critical tech accessible to even the smallest operators and brought much of our industry online. But just how different are all of these systems (Arival has identified more than 100), how do operators begin to choose, and what does it mean now that alignments are emerging between some tech systems and major online travel agencies? We’ll dive in and pull no punches as we talk tech and what it means to you with the CEOs of four reservation system companies. Res Tech Panelists: Chris Atkin, CEO of Rezdy Ruzwana Bashir, Co-Founder & CEO of Peek Jason Morehouse, Co-founder & CEO of Checkfront Max Valverde, CEO of FareHarbor

It's been a year since I wrote The Digital Battle for Tours and Activities, an article which I thought would be a one-off piece of content but now may become a yearly event. So much has changed during this last year, with the likes of Booking Holdings acquiring FareHarbor, AirBNB ‘investing' in Tiqets, as well as the fight for our sector between these OTAs and Google.Google is making big strides into the tours and activity space, testing the water with Touring Bird, which has now been closed and ‘folded' into their travel team, making tours and activities bookable within Google search and maps, bypassing the OTAs – well the ones not also directly integrated… which I am still against, by the way. Everyone wants a piece of the tours and activity pie. No wonder, as it has a reported worth of $180 billion and it will only continue to grow.However, this article is not intended to discuss who purchased who as with this article, I want to highlight a major and, in my honest opinion, dangerous situation many OTAs are giving tour and activity providers with in regards to competing for direct bookings. It may even have a detrimental effect on Google's business.

Tourpreneur Host Shane Whaley and Digital Travel Show Host Chris Torress discuss the major events of 2019 for the Tours and Activities Industry. includes: OTAs for tour operators. Good or a bad thing or both? The changing face of the tours and activities OTA landscape. Booking.com pulling out of the Experiences sector (for now.) Massive changes at Expedia. What exactly is Groupon doing in the tours and activities space? How was Arival 2019 in Orlando for Shane and Chris? What did we learn? What did we enjoy? We give you our opinions on that res tech debate between Peek, FareHarbor, Checkfront, and Rezdy. Who is our Tour Operator/Tourpreneur of the Year? And Much More

Miranda Peterson sat down with Tourpreneur Podcast Host Shane Whaley and told us how she gave up her corporate job, went on sabbatical around the world and came home to build a yoga tours business in Asheville. Miranda walks us through how she tested her idea to see if there was a demand for yoga tours in Asheville. We also discuss some of the challenges she has faced since launching her yoga tours business including why she moved from FareHarbor to Peek and we learn more about her marketing and OTA strategy.

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 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!

On this episode of the Tourpreneur Podcast , Miranda reveals how she built a tour business around her passion for yoga and the outdoors.  This is the story of Namaste in Nature.     How she came up with the idea to combine hiking with yoga. Tips for dealing with permitting and government bureaucracy. How she hires tour guides and why passion is so important. How she applies the lessons she has learned from working in the advertising business to her tour business. Why she works with a business coach (and how she worked with 3 coaches before finding the right one for her.) Despite hundreds of hours of yoga teacher training, Miranda still suffered with imposter syndrome. What was it like leading her first tour? Why the diversity of her customers surprised her. Why pricing her tours was initially difficult and how she overcame the pricing challenge. Why she has started working with FareHarbor. Why she wanted to to work with AirBnB Experiences and be an AirBnB community leader for Asheville (as well as that this entails.) Tips for social media marketing. Podcast and books that have inspired Miranda with her tour business. And Much More!  

Our guests, Alex Kremer (Redeam) and Stephen Joyce (Rezgo), dissect the latest in the tours and activities sector after what was probably the most fascinating week in its history following acquisitions by both Booking.com and TripAdvisor.

For this episode of Secrets for Scaling, we spoke with Lawrence Hester, Cofounder and CEO of FareHarbor, an online booking platform for tours and activities. Here’s a quick company overview: - Founder experience: 4 years - Team size: 135+ team members - Customers / Revenue: 3,500+ clients and $3 billion in total ticket sales in 2017, $50MM+ in revenue - Company founded: 2013 (4 years old) It’s safe to say that FareHarbor has seen considerable success over the past four years, but it hasn’t always been easy. The FareHarbor team has put in the hours and gone above and beyond to get the company where it is today. This speaks volumes for the culture they’ve built from day one, which has been recognized by Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more. Hear how they’ve built the business and scaled their culture in the full episode!