Starting a Tour Business with She Shapes History: Embracing Diverse Histories with Local Tourism
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Welcome to the all new Tour Operator Start-Up with Nikki Padilla Rivera
Are you starting a tour business or looking to help those who are? Then the Tour Operator Start Up Series is for you.
Each month you can join your host, tourism expert Nikki Padilla Rivera as we explore how Sita and Ripley went from the world of academia to building their own tourism company in Canberra, Australia.
They share why they chose to focus on female stories and the importance of exploring the diverse histories that are often not taught in school.
They discuss their partnership, the benefits of working as a team and the tools they are using to build their company. They also outline their steps for marketing and fine-tuning their tours as they approach their launch date.
“This is one simple thing we can do to be part of this national conversation.”
This week on Tourpreneur, the Tour Operator Podcast:
- Why Ripley and Sita were inspired to start a female-driven tour company
- How they strive to move beyond the history taught in schools to include Australia’s diverse histories
- The advantages of working in a partnership
- How Ripley and Sita are marketing their tours and which platforms they’re using
- The biggest challenges Ripley and Sita have faced while starting a tour business and the tools that help them stay organized
- Why Ripley and Sita chose to cater their tour business to locals
- How they went from academia to tours and the steps they are taking to build their tour business
- The advantages of having partnerships with cultural institutions and other tourism businesses
- Why they plan to use test tours to fine-tune the experience and improve customer service
- And Much More!
"We see a lot of power in sharing history.” -
Today’s episode of Tourpreneur is kindly sponsored by The Tourpreneur Daily Brief – the industry’s free go to resource for busy tour professionals.
More about today’s guests - She Shapes History's Sita Sargeant and Ripley Stevens.
Sita Sargeant and Ripley Stevens both began their careers in higher education, working as research assistants.
Last year they reconnected and discovered that they were unhappy and unfulfilled in their work in academia.
Sita and Ripley connected over their shared love of women’s history and passion for their home of Canberra.
They decided to start a woman-centric tour business that would explore the diverse histories of their city.
She Shapes History will offer walking tours of Canberra that explore women’s stories and achievements and visit iconic cultural institutions.
Your podcast was amazing, I too am part of a partnership with a very long time friend(Aussies) and we are building a tour company to take historical themed tours to France and the United Kingdom. Obviously Covid has been a huge hindrance in the planning process and we have had to put off our dates but fingers crossed we will head to Europe in September this year (2022) for our scouting trip, with an end goal of our Inaugural tour being April 2023. It has given us time which as you said, there are so many things that you don’t realise you need to do in building a business. So many things you spoke about resonated with me and I just want to thank you so much. I will definitely be following your journey.