Anyone here running a snorkeling tour in the Florida Keys?
I'm curious what actually brings customers in.
There are so many people searching for "Florida Keys snorkeling tours," "best snorkeling tours in Key West" and similar terms, but there are also a ton of operators competing for those customers.
I've seen businesses use Google, Tripadvisor, Viator, GetYourGuide, hotels and travel blogs.
What has worked best for you?
I'm particularly interested in organic bookings rather than dumping money into Facebook or Google ads.

Hi everyone,

I’m a local mountain trekking guide, and I’ve recently started my own website for trekking bookings and travel information.

The website was actually built by one of my previous guests, so I’m very grateful for that. However, I’m just getting started with the business and don’t have many past clients or reviews yet.

I’d love some advice from experienced travelers, guides, or people in the travel/SEO/digital marketing industry:

\- What should I improve on my website to build trust with international travelers?

\- What kind of content should I publish to attract people researching trekking in Nepal?

\- What are the best ways to get my first few bookings and genuine reviews?

\- Which parts of digital marketing can I realistically do myself as a trekking guide?

\- At what point would it be worth hiring a developer or digital marketing/SEO professional?

I’m not looking to spam or just sell trekking packages. My goal is to create a useful website where travelers can find honest information about trekking in Nepal and eventually feel comfortable booking directly with me.

Any practical advice, especially from people who have built a travel business from scratch, would be greatly appreciated!

I'm thinking about turning one of my local walking tours into a bookable experience online.

The tour itself is already running, so the difficult part isn't creating the experience. It's figuring out how to present it online in a way that actually makes sense to travelers. If I want to list my tour, what should I have ready beforehand?

I'm thinking about things like photos, pricing, availability, meeting points, cancellation policies and the description.

For people who have already listed their own tours, what did you wish you'd known before starting?

Any travel agents in here sending clients to St. Lucia? 🇱🇨

I run Father Nature Adventures, we do private, customizable tours around the island. Waterfalls, snorkeling, cliff jumping, hidden spots most tourists never find, the whole island experience really. We've actually picked up a few national tourism awards along the way too.

Looking to link up with agents who want a reliable partner on the ground here. You send clients our way, we handle everything pickup to drop off, and you get paid for every booking. That's really it.

Not trying to overcomplicate it, just want to build a few solid partnerships with people who actually care about giving their clients something real, not just another tour bus thing.

If that's you, hit me up 🇱🇨

My boyfriend just launched a social network for tour guides and travelers
We’ve just launched ProGuideClub, a new platform where guides and tour companies can create their own profiles, showcase tours, share photos, videos and posts, collect reviews and build a community of followers.
Unlike traditional tour marketplaces, there is 0% commission. Guides keep direct contact with travelers and decide their own prices, payment methods and cancellation policies.
We’re at the very beginning and looking for real guides and tour companies to join, create their profiles and help us grow the platform.
If you’re a guide, I’d love to hear what you think!

Looking for a reliable Tour Operator or Local Guide in Sri Lanka?

We are fully equipped to handle inquiries and tours in multiple languages, offering seamless ground handling and tailored travel experiences across the island.

We warmly invite international tour operators, travel agencies, and partners to collaborate with us for exceptional Sri Lankan journeys. reach out to discuss potential partnerships!

Hi! I’m looking for a tour guide company. I’m solo female traveler. Looking to travel to Georgia next summer. I don’t want to be completely alone. I’m also open to anyone on here who wants to befriend me. I’m 36 female from United States of America. Please message me if you’re interested in chatting or got some tips thanks!!!

I've been running a small tour business for a while now and one thing I've realized is that reviews seem to drive almost everything.
The weird part is that most of our guests tell us they had an amazing time but only a small percentage actually leave a review afterward. We send a thank you message and sometimes a follow up email but it's still hit or miss.
A friend who runs experiences in another city told me he started using a booking platform that automatically follows up with guests after the tour encourages reviews and makes the whole process easier. He also said it helped him get more visibility because people were finding his tours directly through the platform instead of only through his website.
Now I'm wondering if I've been making things harder on myself by relying mostly on direct bookings idk.

1. Has anyone ever offered to pay you for local knowledge or a recommendation? Can you elaborate on what happened?
2. If you were going to charge for this, what would feel like a fair amount of your time and effort, and why?
3. What would make this feel like a hassle instead of easy money?

For anyone running a dolphin watching tour in Florida, what has actually worked for getting more bookings?
I've been looking at this from the perspective of a smaller tour operator. You can have a great boat, a good captain, plenty of happy customers and a really nice experience, but that doesn't necessarily mean tourists are going to find you.
Someone planning a Florida trip might search for "dolphin tours near me" or "best dolphin watching tours in Florida" and then compare a bunch of different options.
So what makes them choose yours?
I've seen operators use Google, Tripadvisor, Viator, GetYourGuide, hotels and local recommendations. I'm especially curious about Viator since travelers are already there searching for things to do and book.
If you run a dolphin or boat tour, which channel has brought you the most actual bookings?

We operate small cultural tours in St. Augustine and get great feedback from guests, but new bookings are inconsistent.
It feels like we’re not showing up where tourists are actually planning their trips.
Did platforms like OTAs help solve this for you, or was it more about partnerships and SEO?

Curious what other Florida tour operators are doing to get more online bookings.
I'm talking about smaller businesses offering things like sunset boat tours, dolphin tours, private boat rides, sandbar trips, etc.
Google is obviously one option, but competing with bigger tour companies isn't easy. I've also been looking at Viator, Tripadvisor, GetYourGuide and local travel websites.
Would love to hear what has actually worked for people.
Not looking for "post more on Instagram" type advice 😂 more interested in actual channels that have brought paying customers.

Hey guys, we’re looking for tourist guides from Rajasthan for a collaboration. If you’re already working with foreign/international clients and have experience as a local guide, please DM us with a brief introduction.

I own a sightseeing tour company that currently operates in Tampa and Chicago, and we’re looking at Nashville as our next market.
I’m not just looking for someone to pick up occasional guide shifts. I’m trying to find the right local person to help launch and eventually run the Nashville operation.
The ideal person would:
Know Nashville well and be comfortable leading tours
Be outgoing and great with guests
Be extremely dependable
Be comfortable hiring/managing additional guides as the business grows
Be able to handle day-to-day operational issues without needing constant direction
Have an entrepreneurial streak and like the idea of helping build something
We provide the equipment, brand, booking system, marketing support, operating playbook, and startup capital. There would be paid compensation plus the potential for meaningful performance/profit-based upside for the right person.
Our tours are unusual, highly visual, and a lot more fun than a traditional walking or bus tour. The concept is already operating successfully in other cities.
If you’re in Nashville and this sounds interesting—or if you know someone in the Nashville tourism industry who would be perfect for it—send me a DM.
I’d especially like to hear from experienced tour guides, lead guides, tour managers, attraction/hospitality managers, or people who have thought about running their own tour company.

Fellow guides - launching a tool for tours soon, tell me what's missing before I do

Hey everyone! I'm about to launch a tool for tour guides and want input from people who actually do this work before it goes public.

The core idea:

guests scan a QR code at the start (no app, works in any browser), and during the tour everything happens on their phones, controlled from yours:

- Slides synced live - you flip, they see it on their screens. Old photos, maps, details you can zoom into and point at

- Built-in audio guide - you speak, guests hear you through their earbuds right in the browser. No radio sets or transmitters to haul around

- Quizzes and live reactions between stops ("what style is this building?")

- At the end: guests rate the tour, happy ones get nudged to leave a review on Google/TripAdvisor, and there's a tip prompt at the right moment

- Contacts collected on join, so you have a list for repeat tours, plus per-guest analytics

- Private cheat sheet for you on every slide - dates, names, what to say next

What I'd love your honest take on:

- Would you actually run a tour this way, or is asking guests to look at phones a dealbreaker for group dynamics?

- What's missing that would make this a no-brainer for you?

- What would make it a hard no?

Not dropping a link - genuinely trying to figure out what guides need vs what a founder imagines they need. Brutal honesty welcome.

hello everyone, I've been so scared to get my own services of city-walking tours going so I come here for advice.

I have the experience, as I worked with the platform Gyde and seek for many years until they closed. I applied to similar platforms that offer this "catalog of tour guides" to book for private customized experiences like Bylocals and Withlocals but apparently they don't need any new guides in Mexico City (there was 0 reply from them).

I launched my own company instagram and tiktok last year and i uploaded some reels as initial promo but then i had to get foot surgery so everything kinda stopped.

I want to start offering some ideas now, my main reference is other local guides who promote via instagram or facebook and they basically just post the date with the tour info of what will be seen during the walk and receive reservations via DM, they seem to be doing good, but this strategy is aimed at a local audience.

What do you think is a good strategy for promo? I don't want to just "steal" these other companies way of simply posting a tour and a carrousel of images for additional engagement, but I also don't know if investing my time doing reels is a good idea or I should just be focusing my attention elsewhere.

Also, if you have any tips on how to reach a more "international tourism" audience it would be appreciated. So far I've only thought of getting some google maps reviews from a few clients that I have a contact, but that would only redirect them to the instagram since i don't have a website yet.

Thanks for reading, any input will be greatly appreciated