Embracing Diversity & Empowering Community Through Food Tours with Blue Fern Travel
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This is the Story of Blue Fern Travel, the DC Tour company which tells the history of neighborhoods through food. Blue Fern Travel focuses on supporting local businesses, specifically, women-owned and minority-owned businesses.
Today, Mary and Stefan share the Blue Fern Travel ethos and how they work with organizations helping those in need in the city.
They share how their food tour business started and how they gained funding for their new venture. They reveal how their community reacted to their business and why it’s essential to work with staff, management, and owners when securing vendors.
They explain the business skills they had to learn and the methods they use to design their food tours. They discuss why they chose their online tour booking platform and how they market their tours. They also share advice for hiring people to help promote your tour business and what tourpreneurs can do to help their communities.
“People will pay a premium knowing that their money is going to help a lot of people, not just the tour guide.” – Stefan Woehlke
This week on Tourpreneur, the weekly podcast for tour operators:
- The ethos behind Blue Fern Travel
- Local issues that Mary and Stefan have noticed in DC
- How Blue Fern Travel is working to help those in need in the city
- How Blue Fern Travel got started and how the business gained funding
- The initial reaction of the community to Blue Fern Travel
- Why working with owners, management and staff is essential for food tours
- How Blue Fern Travel uses their food tour to highlight significant black historical figures
- What guests and vendors think of the historical elements of the food tour
- Business skills that Mary and Stefan had to learn when starting their tour business
- How Mary and Stefan designed their tours
- Why they build their tour programs based on all five senses
- How Mary and Stefan chose their online booking platform
- How Blue Fern markets their tours
- Why Mary and Stefan chose to work with a marketing consultant
- Advice on hiring people to help promote your tour business
- New initiatives Blue Fern Travel launched during COVID-19 and how they were received
- How Mary and Stefan balance their business and family life as a married couple with two children
- How Tourpreneurs can help their community
Today’s episode of Tourpreneur is kindly sponsored by FareHarbor
Why FareHarbor?
- ✓ Enterprise-level, user friendly backend software that works great on both desktop and mobile.
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- ✓ 24/7 support from our team in Denver, Amsterdam or Sydney, plus one-on-one personal training.
- ✓ When you’re ready to go live, we’ll transfer your future bookings and update your website.
- ✓ Expand your reach with established distribution channels
- ✓ The highest-rated reservation system across all categories, with client stories to prove it.
- ✓ We’re the fastest-growing company in the activity and tourism industry, with over 13,000 clients worldwide.
Get a Live Demo of FareHarbor
Our Favorite Quotes:
Our Favorite Quotes:
- “It’s a matter of competing on the quality of the experience.” – Stefan Woehlke
- “People will pay a premium knowing that their money is going to help a lot of people, not just the tour guide.” – Stefan Woehlke
- “Have a goal. Know where you want to go. Don’t just hire someone because you know it’s something that needs to be improved.” – Mary Collins
- “The more senses that are engaged, the easier it is for people to remember.” – Stefan Woehlke
- “It’s not all about building the business; it’s about being an active, engaged member of your community.” – Stefan Woehlke
More about today’s guests Mary Collins and Stefan Woehlke of Blue Fern Travel
Stefan Woehlke and Mary Collins are the co-founders of Blue Fern Travel. Following her traveling experiences worldwide, Mary understands the fundamental importance of connection and giving back to the local community. Her passion for connecting people through stories, culture, and food adds to the food tours’ unique elements. Before starting Carpe DC, Mary gained an MPA in International and Nonprofit Management and worked with various NGOs around the world.
Stefan co-founded the Blue Fern Travel business with his wife Mary while earning his Ph.D. in Archaeology from Maryland University. He uses his passion for history and culture to weave a rich tapestry of information into the food tours. He has worked with various communities and students through archaeology and loves to share the stories of artifacts, significant figures, and the history of places with the community.
Resources Mentioned:
- Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
- Cat Pear Consulting
- Food Tour Pros Course
- FareHarbor
- TripSchool Storytelling Course for Tour Guides.
Connect with Stefan Woehlke and Mary Collins:
- Blue Fern Travel
- Blue Fern Travel on LinkedIn
- Blue Fern Travel on Instagram
- Blue Fern Travel on Facebook
- Blue Fern Travel on Twitter
- Mary Collins on LinkedIn
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Tourpreneur. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review. Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more tour operators
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn and join the Tourpreneur Facebook community! And for more great content and information about the tours and activity industry, visit our website and subscribe to our Daily Brief emails.
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Tourpreneur. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts to subscribe to the show and leave a review. Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more tour operators
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and join the Tourpreneur Facebook community! And for more great content and information about the tours and activity industry, visit our website and subscribe to our Daily Brief emails.
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More About Tourpreneur Host Shane Whaley
