The tour guy, zac bodner

The Tour Guy 


Personalized Travel Solutions Zachary Bodner

TABLE OF CONTENTS Problem

3

Solution

4

Market

4

Market Research

5

Takeaways

6

Competition

7

Value Proposition

8

Operations

8

Services Offered

9

Marketing Objectives

9

Marketing Plan

10

Marketing Timeline

10

Advertising Strategy

11

Financial Projections

12

 

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Problem Traveling to a new place can be stressful. Why? Because as humans, we love to know where things are. We love the familiar. It makes it easier for us to have a good time and connect with the things that we like. When we travel to a new place, all of a sudden everything is unfamiliar. We are out of our element. This leaves us feeling just a bit uncomfortable. To complicate matters, since we may never travel to this place again, we often put a lot of pressure on ourselves to have the best time possible.

I went to New York City with my classmates to visit advertising agencies last Spring. In between these agency visits, I wanted to explore the city and find some memorable and unique activities to engage in. So I decided to ask random people on the street for their opinions, because I believed a local’s perspective would be far more valuable than Google’s, and I also wanted to talk to some of my fellow humans who lived in a different place than I did. Of all the people I tried to ask, only one of them stopped to talk to me.

Another time, me and some friends took a cruise to Jamaica. We were riding through Ocho Rios in a taxi cab, being shown around a little bit by the driver. We asked him if he could take us to a waterfall in the forest somewhere, so we could hike and go swimming, and surround ourselves with the beautiful Jamaican setting. He said no.

I was in San Francisco for a training seminar once. My co-workers, although lovely people in their own right, were not necessarily folks that I wanted to hang out with in the City by the Bay. Especially Phil, from accounting. The evening rolled in, and it was time to come to a consensus about dinner. They chose P.F. Chang’s.

These experiences got me thinking.

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Solution When we travel to a new place, be it for business or pleasure - we all have needs. Like the need to connect, and relax, and experience, and enjoy. Since we are unfamiliar with our new surroundings, this can be a challenge. What we need is a local. A guide. A helping hand. Someone with a car. Someone who loves to connect, and relax, and experience, and share, and enjoy. Someone who knows their city well, and loves it, and wants to share its majesty and joy with those who cross its path.

My name is Zac Bodner, I’m a student at The University of Texas at Austin. I’ve lived in Austin since ‘99. I love to dance, and eat and drink. I love art and music and sports. I love meeting new people and connecting with them. I love to enjoy life and new experiences. I love to party and show people a good time. So why not put it all together, and get paid to do something I truly love? Have a good time and see to it that others do the same? Right here in the town I love and live in?

Market Austin is one of the most unique travel destinations on Earth. It is the Capital of Texas, and the Live Music Capital of the World. Every weekend and every week, the city plays host to a rotating door of festivals, conferences, seminars, graduations, performances, sporting events, and any other type of happening you can think of. It is one of the tech and software capitals of the world, and its reputation as one of the most interesting culinary destinations in Texas precedes it.

According to the Austin Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, Austin has 24.11 million visitors a year, resulting in an annual economic impact of $7 billion. It is one of the fastest growing cities in America, and an estimated 110 people move here every day.

That’s a lot of new faces. What do you think they’re going to wanna do when they get here?

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Market research/ Validation It is obvious that Austin is a tourist town, teeming with opportunity. The myriad tour guide companies operating in the city will attest to this. Before I got started creating this new venture, I wanted to find ways to differentiate my offerings from theirs. To do this, I engaged in three different means of primary market validation. The first of these were in-person interviews at The Broken Spoke - the oldest country music dancehall in town, and one of Austin’s famed tourist attractions.

Travelers visit the Spoke to get a glimpse of the Texas that they know in their heads the one with ten gallon hats and longnecks and country music and cowboys and cowgirls. I learned how to Two-Step in Houston, and what I found while dancing at the Spoke was that half of the people I danced with were from out of town, and about half of those (maybe a little less) were from another country, all together. I love country dancing, and I’m pretty good at it. I go from table to table and ask people to dance; if they don’t know how, I just offer to teach them real quick. Two-Step is very simple, (and I’m utterly charming) so I have them out on the floor in no time. While dancing, I would ask them what their plans were while in town and make recommendations. I asked them if they would potentially be interested in tours of the city, or having a local resource in town they could contact when they had questions or needed recommendations. The majority of people I spoke to told me yes, and were very encouraging.

The second round of market validation consisted of an online survey. I put the URL on a business card and handed them out at the airport. I did this until I was asked to leave by airport security for soliciting. That’s commitment!

The point of the survey was to ascertain common pain points of being in/traveling to a new city, for business or pleasure. (See Appendix D) Here is a quick summary. Their biggest pain points were finding things to do, and securing transportation. Their ideal

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tour experience would be customized, personal and local. Lastly, the most important thing for them while on a tour was getting a local/insider view of the city.

After considering these results, I had some ideas in terms of future service, and wanted to see if these ideas would be well received. (See Appendix E) The first question I asked was, ‘If there were a local they could call to ask questions and get recommendations while in town, 1) would they be interested? and 2) how much would they be willing to pay?’ And then, ‘If there were an online form they could fill out and receive a personalized itinerary based on their likes and objectives while on vacation, 1) would they be interested? and 2) how much would they be willing to pay?’

Around 90% of the respondents said ‘Yes’ to both questions, and indicated they’d be willing to pay about 10 dollars for each.

Takeaways I set off initially wanting to be a tour guide, and go off on fun adventures with visitors and show them awesome things and experiences in Austin. I even wanted to teach them how to Two-Step! But after the market validation process, I realized that the people needed more than that. I found that: Everyone is different when they travel. Some people want to go on a tour and be shown around, some want to ask Google, and some want to engage other humans for help.

Some people want to learn how to dance and get a glimpse of old Texas, some could care less. Although everyone is different, everyone always wants to have fun. If I can help connect travelers to this fun while they are in an unfamiliar setting - whether it’s through tours, or providing transportation, or teaching dance, or telling them about my favorite things to do over the phone or through a personalized itinerary - then I will have the makings of a valuable new venture.

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Competition From my personal travels, from the Austin market, and from my research - I have come to the conclusion that people don’t need a tour guide when they travel - they need a resource. Sort of like a concierge at the hotel, but an interactive one. One who can answer questions, show them the city, drive them around, and provide a personal and custom solution to any of their needs while traveling. Right now, Austin is very saturated with tour operating companies. But none of them take a customer first attitude.

Austin Detours is one of the largest tour operating company in Austin. They have a team of tour guides with different specialties and interests, a whole armada of vans, and even nifty polo shirts. They offer a menu of different tours around the city, ranging from seeing the bats, to the Capital, to various art museums, to trips around the Hill Country, to food and drink excursions. These are all great, especially for folks who don’t know exactly what they might want to see while in town.

ATXcursions is a local company with similar offerings. They take travelers to float the River, which is awesome, and they specialize in brewery tours. Their offerings are limited to these two categories, although they do offer custom tours for groups, not individuals. AccessATX is another company like these two. They have nearly identical offerings: pick a tour from the list on their website, (or design your own experience at additional cost), get picked up in a van, whisk around the city for fun and adventure.

Then there are other, niche offerings around the city. Segue Tours allows you to zip around downtown and the Capital on a Segue, which is exciting. There are also river tours, which are unique and romantic, offered by companies like Capital Cruises or Lone Star Riverboat. These companies are all awesome, successful, and showing visitors a good time during their stay. But these companies are limited, overly structured, and don’t meet the complex spectrum of needs that travelers and vacationers have.

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value proposition The Tour Guy’s value comes from wearing the hats these companies will not. All Hours Chauffeur: even if that means Whataburger after the bar when the line is really long.

Interactive Concierge: there to answer any and all questions, give advice and help plan activities, over the phone, in person, or online. Culinary Advisor: who can point them to the best 3.99 Pho in Travis County. Dance Instructor Extraordinaire: the one that can have them on Instagram twirling through the honky tonk like a real Texan.

History Professor: that will tell them what this town was like in 1995, and bring them to some of the old dives that are still around from those days.

The Tour Guy is every traveler’s best friend. He knows where the roasted carrots with local honey and goat cheese are. He knows the joints on Sixth where they’re still playing the blues, just like they did when Stevie was around. If there’s a waterfall or a swimming in hole in this town that can wash your troubles away, he’s been there. If there’s a graffiti park on top of a hill overlooking the skyline and the capital, he’s spray painted it. If there’s a yoga studio heating up and ready to stretch you out, he’s Namaste’d it.

Operations Before anyone purchases any of the services of The Tour Guy, they will need incentive to do so. They will need proof of expertise! They will need a guarantee of personality and good times. They will need demonstration of skill and joix de vivre. They will find these elements on the website/blog and through the usual social channels - Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat.

What will separate this venture from any other tour company or resource will be personality, and expertise. Both will be on full display via these channels. There will be

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videos of The Tour Guy Two-Stepping and Swing Dancing the night away, possibly while dressed in full Pink Gorilla Suit. There will be photos and videos of all the Tour Guy’s favorite locations, venues, Yoga Studio’s, parks, holes in the wall, you name it - each one accompanied by a memory or commentary or jokes. There will be restaurant reviews and top ten lists. There will be journal entries or presentations caught on video from The Tour Guy’s time in Graduate School at UT. Everything will be geared toward building a personal connection through humor and unique worldview. If the website and social channels succeed in establishing this connection, the customers will be ready to sign up.

Services offered/PURCHASING From the website, the customer will be able to browse and learn more about all services offered. From there, they can either call directly or fill out a contact form to request a consultation. From here, The Tour Guy starts off with a bad math joke to break the ice, and then proceeds to listen intently to understand his customer’s needs while in town.

Then, they receive a customized package and quote. They enter their preferred payment method, and they are billed following satisfaction of rendered services. Now, it’s time to party.

Marketing Objectives The marketing plan has three objectives to be met in chronological order. The first is to gain credentials and legitimacy. Customers will want to know the person that they are touring with is knowledgeable and safe. The Austin Tour Guide Association has a three month certification course that will meet this objective. The second, as previously stated is to effectively showcase expertise and personality. This stage will involve creating content for the website and social channels. The third objective is to acquire customers. In the initial stages, this will be accomplished through a combination of Pay

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Per Click (PPC) advertisements, Search Engine Optimization of the website, listings on various Tour Guide Websites, and utilization of strategic partnerships.

Marketing Plan The Austin Tour Guide Association has a three month professional training and certification course. They also provide marketing opportunities for their guides via their website, and through affiliate websites such as the Austin Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Currently, the ATGA website is #1 in SEO rankings after performing a Google search of “Tour Guide Austin.” This is significant, because while I am setting up my own marketing mix, (website, social media, out of home advertising, PPC, partnerships, etc.)

I will be able to benefit from the visibility of being marketed on their website.

Marketing Timeline January 2017 - 1) Begin certification program. 2) Begin creating content for website and social media pages. This will include photos, videos, editorials, and reviews. 3) Begin building WordPress website to host this content.

February 2017 - 1) Begin establishing contacts and partnerships. This includes hotel concierge services, Dance Halls like The Broken Spoke and The White Horse, and various bars/restaurants. Look into securing discounts for bringing in groups. 2) Begin creating marketing and branding collateral. This includes flyers, brochures, guidebooks, t-shirts, business cards, stickers, etc. 3) Compile contact list for email marketing purposes.

March 2017 - 1) Finish initial phase of content creation for website and social pages.

The content creation will be an ongoing and integral process moving forward. 2) Finish ATGA tour guide certification. 3) List services on ATGA website and other visitor and tour operator websites.

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April 2017 - 1) Begin Pay Per Click campaign via Google AdWords. 2) Begin distribution of marketing materials. 3) Begin initial email marketing efforts. 4) Acquire initial customers.

Advertising strategy The first stage of the customer journey (awareness) usually begins with a Google search. PPC (pay per click) is one of the most valuable methods of advertisement, due to its ultra-targeted and cost-effective nature. This will be my primary means of acquiring customers in the initial phases of growth. I initiated a PPC campaign to gain an understanding of some of my future advertising costs, and what kind of return on investment I should expect from them. The following is a summary of my first PPC campaign via Google AdWords. Please see Appendix F. I began with a budget of ten dollars per day and chose the following search terms: 1) “what to do in Austin,” 2) “things to do in Austin,” 3) “Austin tour guide,” 4) “bored in Austin,” 5) “Austin transportation services” and 6) “local tours Austin.”

The search term “Austin tour guide” netted 14 impressions and 1 click, while “Things to do in Austin” had 13 impressions and 1 click. These resulted in CTR’s (click through rates) of 7.14% and 7.69%, respectively. An average CTR is 2%. These CTR’s are particularly high, and it may just be because this is my first PPC campaign and Google would like to boost my expectations. Or it may be that the Ad was above average in effectiveness. Either way - the cost per click of Things to do in Austin was $0.49.

A decent conversion rate (how often a click leads to a conversion - like a purchase or sign up) once they reach the website is anywhere from 2-5%. This means that all things being equal, for every $49 dollars I spend on Google AdWords, I can expect at least 2 conversions.

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Based on my pricing assumptions of forty dollars an hour for a tour with a minimum of three hours, I can reasonably forecast that every $49 dollars spent on Google AdWords will yield at least $240. This is nearly a 400% return on investment.

Financial Projections The Tour Guy will finance its first year of operation through a zero percent interest loan from friends and family. The total sum will be $12,000. Based on first year financial assumptions and income projections, the break even point will occur early in Year 2.

(See Appendices A - C) These first three years are intended to showcase growth through minimal investment, after which I intend to seek additional funding. This funding will be used toward the purchase of a party bus, and additional employees. During these first three years, I will operate this venture on a part time basis. After which, if profitability is achieved and additional funding is secured, I will switch to operating the Tour Guy full-time.

Conclusion

There are several options available for people on vacation to have fun and get to know their city. While these options are all great in a limited capacity, none of them are comprehensive, and none of them put the customer’s needs at the forefront of their operations. Furthermore, none of them will teach anybody how to Two Step like a true Texan or take them on a Whataburger run at 3:00 in the morning. The Tour Guy offers 10% personalized, customizable solutions for every traveler. From transportation and guided tours, to phone recommendations, personalized itineraries and Texas dance lessons: The mission of the Tour Guy is to do anything and everything required to help visitors have a memorable experience while in town. 

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Appendix A




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Appendix B




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Appendix C




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Appendix D

BIGGEST PAIN POINT

Transportation Kids Time N/A 0

4.5

9

13.5

18

Ideal TOUR

Customized/Personal Local/Insider Historical/Cultural Misc.

0

3.5

7

10.5

14

MOST IMPORTANT THING Sightseeing Transportation Other 0

3.5

7

10.5

14 !16

Appendix e

YES

NO

YES

NO

6%

18%

82% If there were a service where you could call a local and ask them for recommendations, would you be interested?

1)

94%  

2) If so, what would you be willing to pay for this service, if it proved valuable?

Avg - $10.64

Under similar circumstances, if there were a service where you could fill out an online form listing your likes, dislikes, and goals for your trip - and then receive a personalized itinerary within the hour, would you be interested?

If so, what would you be willing to pay for this service, if it proved valuable?

Avg - $9.14

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Appendix F

This is my first PPC Campaign. I bid on the keywords listed above. So far, some of them are getting decent traction. “Things to do in Austin,” and “Austin Tour Guide” have above a 7% CTR. That’s pretty good. There are too many factors to consider right now to estimate on actual conversions once they get to the website, but at least people are clicking on the ads. !18