How to Get a Job as a Tour Guide – Tour Guide Jobs

The question of how to be a better people person is one that every tour guide should ask themselves regularly.

Tour Guide Jobs

Let’s start with some good news. The overall number of tour guide jobs is growing globally, and the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) reports that global tourism continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy! When asking how to get a job as a tour guide, I believe there are at least 7 questions you will need to ask yourself first. This video will go through those questions one by one!

I also share some insights into looking for a tour guide job, discuss some of the advantages of working for a smaller or larger tour company and how you can work as a guide internationally or locally.

How to get a job as a tour guide – Resources

First:

Our amazing Be a Better Guide Team put a lot of effort into researching a list of the largest tour guide employers on the planet. There are over 63 companies on this list that hire guides from all over the world! Use it to research what they are up to and reach out if you are interested in their hiring process. This free PDF can be downloaded right here .

Second:

Here is another one of our videos that will help you understand the distinction between ‘tour guides’ and ‘tour directors’. You’ll need to decide which has more appeal to you, as it will mean approaching different companies to get your tour guide career underway!

Third:

Here is a list of 101 different tour ideas from our friends over at Tourism Tiger. This list is not only amazingly long, but it also shares company websites for each different tour type. Scroll through for inspiration, or maybe even reach out to some of the companies to find your dream job.

Fourth:

Another list from Tourism Tiger that shares over 92 different places where you can list your tours and activities online. This list will be a big help to you if you are interested in becoming a freelance guide or starting up your own tour company! Furthermore, I highly recommend checking out these listing sites and services, as you can find out what other guides and companies are doing in the area you want to work.

Holy cow… that’s a lot of resources!

I know that the getting a job as a tour guide is not easy, and sometimes it can be discouraging. Hopefully, these resources will help you on your way to finding that perfect tour guide job.

As always, be sure to join the Be a Better Guide community for more videos, helpful tools and thoughtful discussions on what it means to lead unforgettable tours.

All the best and happy hunting!

Kelsey T

Finished watching ‘How to Get a Job as a Tour Guide’?

In the comments below, share any other resources or websites that you found useful when looking for a tour guide job! And if you haven’t yet, grab our free PDF: 63 Tour Companies that Hire Tour Guides right here.

Transcript:

Just before we get started, here’s a few things that you’ll never hear on a job hunt. “Boy! I can’t wait to start my job search today.” “Gosh! I wish I could work all of these jobs at once.” “Fulltime mustache model needed, pay is generous.”

Hi! Kelsey Tonner here from beabetterguide.com. Perhaps, you’re here because you’re searching for a tour guide job or maybe you just want to learn a little bit more about the industry.

Either way, I can tell you that there are hundreds and thousands of different tour guide jobs all over the world, and there’s more and more every year. The World Tourism Organization recognizes that global tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, so that’s good news.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that the job hunt is going to be easy or even that there’s necessarily guiding jobs in the place you want to work.

That being said, I put together this video with a few questions that you want to ask yourself when looking for tour guiding jobs. Plus, at the very end, I’ve got an awesome bonus for you to help on your job hunt.

1) Do you want to work in your own country or travel internationally?

This is a pretty big question and it’s going to depend on factors like is there actually tourism in the area you’d like to work.

But as a general rule, it’s easier to get hired as a guide, as a local or national, from the country in which you’d like to work and this makes sense too.

If you think from the traveller’s perspective, somebody who grew up here and spent their whole life here is going to have all kinds of insights into the history, the culture, and etcetera.

But that being said, there’re lots of opportunities where you can work internationally. I’ve had tours in Paris that were delivered by New Zealanders who were studying in Paris, or people from Poland who are working in Croatia or the Czech Republic.

Sometimes, I’ve met national guides who escort groups say from South Korea, so there would be Korean guides who escort them on trips around the world. Those opportunities exist as well.

2) Do you want to be a tour director or a tour guide?

Now, I made a previous video that explained this distinction which I’ll put a link to below.

But very briefly, I think of tour guides as the folks who are with travelers and guests for shorter periods of time, like an afternoon tour or maybe a tour that lasts a couple of days.

Tour guides will tend to have a sort of specific knowledge on a particular topic, let’s say wine making if it’s a wine making tour, or architecture of a city if it’s an architectural tour of a city, or something like the Coliseum if you happen to be leading tours there.

Tour guides can also have specialized skills. If you think of a whitewater rafting guide, they’re probably going to have some paddling skills and rescue skills that go along with that guiding job.

Tour directors or tour managers on the other hand will generally facilitate the logistics of a longer tour or an event, something like a conference.

Now, these can be things like helping with the logistics of transportation, passport and border controls, airport pickups, getting groups and escorting them to restaurants to their accommodation, and often times, they’ll work with multiple guides.

If I’m facilitating a group or leading a group through an itinerary, we might have a wine making tour with the wine making guide, the local guide, on Monday and on Tuesday, we’ll go have that tour of the Coliseum.

Now, much like a tour guide, being a tour director, you can work internationally escorting groups on international itineraries or you can do it in your home country. Most major cities will have something called the destination management company.

If there’s a big event or a conference happening, they’ll work with tour directors and tour managers to help people get out and see the highlights of their country.

Now, you want to think about this distinction, but don’t get too hung up on the terms. There’re lots of companies that use those terms pretty interchangeably and there’re sometimes roles that you can get hired for, they’re kind of a blend of both of them.

3) What type of tours would you like to lead?

Because the tourism industry is so diverse these days, there’re lots of options when it comes to guiding. If you get a job as a brewery tour guide, you’re going to have a very different job than if you’re a fly fishing guide working in some remote wilderness camp.

When it comes to your job hunt, think about what experience you would like to facilitate or what you would enjoy doing on a day-to-day basis and also what skills might make you a good candidate for that job.

Now, to give you some ideas, I’m going to put a link below to 101 different tour ideas. This is going to give you a sense of just how many different tours are operating out there right now, and under each one of those headings there’re some links to actual companies who lead tours in that area.

4) Do you want to work for yourself or work for someone else?

There are pros and cons to both choices. Now, working for yourself, you are most certainly going to have to put in more effort, but the tradeoffs of having more freedom, flexibility, and control over your own business might be worth it to you.

Now, if you’re freelancing and doing this yourself, you will need to be the one responsible for things like licensing, insurance, marketing, sales, and customer service.

But these days, it’s becoming easier and easier to partner with people like TripAdvisor and Viator, getyourguide.com, and Peek just to name a few of the big players who are online tour agents basically who will market and sell your tours for you for a small commission.

There are also peer-to-peer marketplaces, think of Airbnb but for tours and activities. There’re all kinds of websites that are popping up; some of them working, some of them not working.

But I’ll put a link below to another resource which is over 90 different websites where you can list your tour or activity online.

But if you’re interested just in guiding and sort of facilitating that experience and you think that’s what you would enjoy the most, it’s probably the best bet just to work for another company and let them handle the rest.

5) Do you need a license to work where you want to work?

In many highly touristed areas, you actually need a permit or a license to be a tour guide. These are sometimes controlled by national governments or sometimes by municipal or city governments.

Now, in other places, in other parts of the world, it really varies quite a bit. Sometimes you don’t need a license at all. For example, here in Canada, you can work as a guide in Vancouver, in Toronto, and the vast majority of Canada without any kind of license.

However, if you want to be a guide in Montreal or the City of Quebec, you do need a permit.

The best thing to do is to look into your local situation. A good place to start is asking other guides who are already working in that space, and two, try and contact a national tour guide association because they can help with these types of questions.

6) Would you prefer to work for a smaller tour company or a larger tour company?

Smaller tour companies tend to offer more seasonal employment. There tends to be a lot more options to choose from because there are just more smaller companies out there.

And lastly, you tend to have closer relationship with your employers, with your bosses, and even your fellow employees.

Now, larger tour companies can sometimes provide more stability, more work, sometimes better pay, and they can also occasionally provide opportunities for promotion or developing your career.

Now, if you’re interested in working internationally as a global guide, then these large multinational companies are definitely the way to go.

7) What skills can I work on that will make me a strong candidate?

Companies are always looking for enthusiastic, personable, and pleasant people to hire as tour guides.

If you’re a great presenter, if you are organized, and you’ve got a good memory, those are all traits that help and if you’re comfortable leading towards multiple languages, well, that is going to be a huge asset for you as well as any experience you’ve got in the service industry.

If you’re interested in developing those skills or learning more about what makes an incredible tour guide, you should definitely check out www.beabetterguide.com. I hear that site’s amazing!

Now, I can’t quite help you with your local job search just because there’re so many tour guide companies out there, but as a bonus I’ve assembled a list of 63 of the largest tour companies that hire guides and tour leaders every single year.

You absolutely want to check out this list if you’re interested in working for one of the larger tour companies and I think it’s going to be an amazing resource to help you find a job of your dreams. Now, to get that PDF, just use the link below and join up to Be a Better Guide community.

Thank you so much for tuning in today. In the comments below, please share any other advice you would have for job seekers out there, websites that you found useful or resources, please post them in the comments and share this video if you’re inspired.

Thank you so much for being here. I wish you all the luck in the world with your job hunt and I’ll see you next time.

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Avital Ungar is the founder and owner of Avital Food & Drink Experiences, a culinary company that hosts in-person and virtual events for corporate team building, client entertainment, and conferences. Her mission centers on deepening human connection through storytelling, food, and drink.
Ungar’s passion for the finer points of life began while living in Paris and the quaint town of Aix-en-Provence in Southern France, where she embraced the cultural norm of afternoon wine and explored the countryside’s culinary offerings. Upon returning to the United States, she pursued formal wine education and is now a certified sommelier.
A Phi Beta Kappa UCLA graduate, Ungar studied Art History, French, and Mandarin Chinese, though she jokes she wishes she could have majored in Chocolate. After living in Shanghai and working in the Chinese Contemporary art market, she returned to her hometown of San Francisco to pursue her professional interests in art and food.
Since April 2011, Ungar has operated Avital Food & Drink Experiences, offering progressive dining food tours in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City, where each course is served at a different restaurant. The company also provides dining experiences, conference activations, and interactive meals in 12 cities nationwide. Her virtual offerings include culinary experiences with ingredient delivery featuring award-winning chefs, bartenders, and sommeliers, along with virtual mixology classes, cooking classes, water tastings, and aperitif hours.
In September 2022, Ungar launched Edible Architecture, which creates innovative holiday products including Charcuterie Chalet Kits – savory gingerbread houses made from charcuterie and cheese board items, complete with “Salami Shingles” and “Parmesan Snow.”
Ungar has been featured in The New York Times, served as a judge at the Good Food Awards, International Chocolate Salon, and Best of The West Rib Competition, and has appeared on the Travel Channel, CNN, and in USA Today.
Midgi is the owner and Chief Eating Officer for Juneau Food Tours and Taste Alaska! She has lived in Alaska for more than a dozen years and got her start in the culinary industry as a food writer and blogger. Her tour company opened in 2014 and has hosted thousands of hungry visitors in Alaska’s capital city. In spring 2020, Midgi launched Taste Alaska!, a subscription box service to ship shelf-stable Alaskan food gift boxes.
The pandemic also presented the opportunity to create www.globaltoursconnect.com, an online boutique marketplace for food, history, and cultural tours.
Her passion for food and telling the story of Alaska have been noted in the New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, Vogue.com, Forbes.com, AARP, as well as countless blogs and international and national television shows, including All the Best with Zita and Gordon Ramsey: Uncharted.
Gez Hamer is an entrepreneurial leader with extensive experience building and scaling businesses from startup to growth phases. He possesses strong strategic decision-making abilities and hands-on leadership skills, with experience across startups securing Series A investment, scale-ups obtaining continued funding, and post-acquisition companies ranging from SMEs to publicly listed global players.
Since June 2025, Hamer has owned Nautica Collective, a company reshaping luxury yacht travel for the new generation of travelers. Nautica Collective offers curated, boutique yacht experiences designed for over-30s millennials seeking connection, culture, and comfort through small groups, hidden anchorages, and chef-hosted dinners under the stars. The company operates routes in Mallorca, Greece, the Caribbean, and beyond, positioning itself as “aspiring luxury meets authentic adventure.”
In January 2025, Hamer co-founded Transcend Consultancy, which helps businesses navigate growth challenges with cost-effective solutions. The consultancy works with founders to streamline operations and expand into new markets, specializing in the transition from startup to scale-up with strategies built for today’s fast-changing business landscape.
Previously, Hamer served as Chief Operating Officer at ExperienceFirst from November 2022 to December 2024, Interim Chief Commercial Officer at Bundl from July to November 2022, and CEO/Management Consultant at GJH Consulting from October 2016 to November 2022. His diverse background spans consulting, operations, and commercial leadership across multiple industries and business stages.
Akila McConnell is a dynamic entrepreneur and cultural historian who owns Unexpected Virtual Tours and Training, and Unexpected Atlanta Tours & Gifts. She creates radically creative cultural training sessions for remote teams and immersive tours for visitors to Atlanta.
Since 2020, her virtual tours company has been featured in The New York Times and Forbes, specializing in cultural awareness events around Juneteenth, Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month, and Pride. Her Atlanta tours business, operating since 2015, has been named one of Conde Nast’s 16 best things to do in Atlanta and National Geographic’s top tour in the city.
As a freelance culinary historian and writer since 2009, McConnell contributes to major publications including Conde Nast Traveler, USA Today, and National Geographic Traveller. Her book “A Culinary History of Atlanta” was a finalist for Georgia Author of the Year in History in 2020. She also hosts “Savory Stories,” a food-focused podcast on WABE, Atlanta’s NPR affiliate.
McConnell specializes in sharing stories of disenfranchised and minority populations through food, history, and immersive experiences that challenge the perception that cultural education has to be boring.
A Colorado native, Staci left a job she loved designing dental offices and funeral homes, to accompany her husband on a job transfer to the Central Coast of California in 2009. At the height of the Great Recession, jobs in an area known for its high density of retirees – let alone jobs in her industry – were scarce to non-existent.
After a couple unsuccessful years trying to resurrect her thriving career, someone mentioned a Food Tour. In a few short months she researched, built, and launched Carmel Food Tours (CFT). Now in its 12th season, CFT is expanding and rebranding to Enjoy Carmel, offering more than just food tours. CFT employs 6 guides, and plans to grow the staff by 50% in 2023.
In her free time she enjoys traveling, pickleball, and Pilates with her husband, and tossing a tiny ball at the beach for her fluffball Chuck.
Simon began his career in tourism as a tour guide with Fat Tire Tours – Paris. As a trained social studies teacher and a dual FR/US citizen, this job fits like a glove! After three years as a tour guide with Fat Tire and side-hustling as an independent motorcycle guide, Simon returned to FTT – Paris to create its human resources department.
Specializing in local compliance and talent acquisition, Simon took over the hiring strategy for FTT’s European operations in autumn of 2019. With a new group of trainees set to begin work in several cities, COVID required an immediate 180 degree turn for everyone. After a decade of building tour leader teams, Simon combined his two passions and started a motorcycle sidecar tour business, and welcomed his first guests in Paris in spring of 2022.
Born and raised in Charleston, SC, Catherine began her 18-year career in tourism waiting tables while in college at one of Charleston’s busiest restaurants. What started as just a fun job that paid the bills and allowed for many social outings with friends, had turned into something that made her realize that working in hospitality was the only industry she ever wanted to be in.
After graduating from the College of Charleston, she came to work at Bulldog Tours in 2007. Serving as Operations Manager, Catherine oversees a staff of 50+ tour guides and customer service members. The best part of the job for her is seeing guests experience and love Charleston in the same way the staff does. When she’s not working, she enjoys playing volleyball, going to the beach and spending time with her husband and two super adorable daughters.
Chad is an experienced tour leader, trainer and tour business consultant. He’s been the go-to-guy for developing world-class training programs and leading global teams for tour operators such as G Adventures and many small to medium tour and activity businesses. Chad also comes from a background of startups in the tech industry, having worked for Adventure.com, Airbnb Experiences and other great companies.
Live the life you dream of living… That’s Chad’s mantra and he does his best to bring it to life every single day. Chad’s a big fan of micro adventures and spending quality time in the wilderness, sailing, hiking and camping with his wife Julia, daughter Cali and friends.
John founded Bulldog Tours in 2001 as a hobby with a goal of helping preserve his hometown. This sustainable tourism model has raised over $4M to help preserve many of Charleston’s most historical landmarks. Bulldog Tours offers a variety of history, food, pub and ghost walking tours with over 50 tour guides.
John is the Chairman of the Charleston Area CVB’s Travel Council and on the Advisory Board for the College of Charleston’s Hospitality Tourism Management Department.
Ralph Velasco is the founder of Continental DRIFTER® Experiences, where he has developed more than 200 once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences since 2008. He specializes in travel product development, researching and vetting local partners in destinations worldwide, conducting scouting trips with local operators, and creating unique itineraries that guests remember for a lifetime.
Velasco has personally led small group tours (4-10 participants) to more than 30 destinations including Antarctica, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Cambodia, Lapland, Vietnam, India, Bhutan, Romania, Mexico, Morocco, Turkey, Iceland, the Baltics, and the Adriatic. As founder of Continental DRIFTER®, he handles every aspect of the business from branding and trip design to marketing, social media management, contract negotiations, and client follow-up.
Since December 2018, Velasco has expanded his expertise through The Continental DRIFTER® YouTube channel, which features more than 75 videos offering travel advice, photography tips, destination guides, and interviews with locals. The channel targets GenX and Baby Boomer travelers and serves as the hub for his international tours. He conceives and films all content, oversees channel branding and optimization, writes scripts, records voiceovers, and manages social media distribution to increase viewer engagement.
Through his comprehensive approach to travel experiences and content creation, Velasco combines his extensive international travel expertise with practical advice for mature travelers seeking authentic, well-curated adventures.
Yaron’s love for travel turned into an 18-year career building one of Israel’s most successful travel companies. What started as personal wanderlust became Abraham Tours and Hostels – a business he co-founded and grew from scratch into a powerhouse serving 100,000 travelers annually.
As CEO from 2010 to 2022, Yaron learned how to turn great experiences into profitable business. The early years weren’t profitable despite rave reviews – they focused on creating amazing content without understanding business fundamentals. Once they cracked variable pricing, team management, and operational efficiency, everything changed.
Yaron and his team built systems that let him step away from answering every email. He developed bonus schemes that kept their best guides and drivers loyal for years, reducing industry turnover. Most importantly, he learned how to scale across multiple destinations while maintaining quality and profitability.
After stepping down as CEO in 2022, Yaron spent eight months traveling before launching his consulting practice. Now he works with the Israeli National Parks Authority on major system overhauls and helps tour operators worldwide through Guest Focus coaching, as well as other consulting projects.
Yaron brings this scaling experience to operators ready to grow beyond the one-person show, helping them delegate, systematize, and make data-driven decisions that improve both profits and personal freedom.

Accomplishments:

  • Co-founded and grew Abraham Tours & Hostels from startup to serving 100,000 tour participants and 200,000 hostel guests annually

  • CEO from 2010-2022, scaled company to 4 hostel locations plus a multi-destination tour operations

  • Established Israeli Hostel Association 17 years ago, served as general manager and chairman

  • Developed variable pricing schemes and team management for 100+ subcontractors/guides

  • Successfully exited as CEO in 2022, now consulting & mentoring various businesses in Israel and globally

After receiving his Applied Degree in Ecotourism & Outdoor Leadership from Mount Royal University in Alberta, Canada, Dave Kratt has made a living for the past 20 years in the alternative tourism industries as a guide, researcher, instructor, teacher, facilitator, manager, business owner, and naturalist. He has worked in many world regions including Central America, Australasia, Asia, and North America, applying his skills and training to various tourism, cultural, and environmental initiatives.
Kratt has been fortunate to find success through starting a number of businesses, which he tailors to achieve a more personal work/life balance. Recently, he made the significant decision to sell his farm and offload all personal and business assets, relocating his family (wife, daughter, and two dogs) to be more present in aiding his aging parents. This transition has provided him with the opportunity to share his business expertise through new and exciting channels.
In addition to his regular business coaching role with Guest Focus, Kratt recently started a consulting business called Wild Kratt Tourism Consulting Ltd. The two operations complement each other and have helped him find ways to share his passions for recreation, tourism, travel, and nature while enabling others to engage in these activities safely and consciously toward their potential social, economic, and environmental impacts.
Klaudija packed her bags in Slovenia 20 years ago with no plan except to see the world. A travel rep job in Turkey was supposed to be temporary – just long enough to fund the next adventure. Instead, it launched a global career building tour businesses from nothing and selling them for profit.
Her biggest win came with Urban Adventures, joining when it was just an idea without a brand. Over 10 years, she helped grow it to 500,000 passengers working with 170 tour operators worldwide. She spearheaded expansion into experiential products and negotiated one of the industry’s first media partnerships with New York Times Journeys.
Klaudija also built and sold two tour businesses in Ljubljana and London. Not many coaches have walked the startup-to-exit path.
Now she’s Head of City Experiences at TUI, leading an experimental department testing new products. This year her team achieved 75% revenue growth and 50% growth in passenger numbers.
Klaudija brings startup grit and corporate scale to Guest Focus coaching. She specializes in sales strategy, marketing optimization, and distribution channels. Her coaching clients particularly value her website development expertise – she’s guided three members through complete overhauls.

Accomplishments:

  • Grew Urban Adventures to 500,000 passengers working with 170 tour operators worldwide over 10 years
  • Negotiated one of industry’s first media partnerships with New York Times Journeys
  • Built and sold two tour operating businesses in Ljubljana and London
  • As Head of City Experiences at TUI: achieved 75% revenue growth and 50% passenger growth in one year
  • 20 years in travel industry across multiple roles: rep, guide, marketing, sales, managing director

Angela Shen is a proven business builder with deep roots in entrepreneurship and brand management.

Angela founded Savor Seattle in 2007 and grew it to a $1M business in under 5 years without outside investment. During the COVID shutdown in 2020, she pivoted the business from food tours to curated food boxes and grew revenues more than 2x her best tour year! Angela was named in Puget Sound Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, and started a second tour business Savor the Wild Tours in 2023.

Angela’s expertise in business strategy and operations hails from the consumer packaged goods sector where she previously worked in brand management at PepsiCo and looked after iconic brands including Quaker Oatmeal and Life Cereal. Angela is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business and serves on the board for Visit Seattle.

Ana stumbled into tourism backwards in the 1990s—first as a guide in remote Northwest Argentina mostly because she spoke English where few others did. As a horse rider, mountaineer, and fitness trainer, she naturally fell into adventure guiding, learning the hard way by doing first and studying later.

Everything began to click when she attended her first ATTA Adventure Travel Trade Summit in 2014. Suddenly, the entire structure of the travel industry made sense—the difference between operators and travel advisors, how B2B relationships actually work, or how marketing for a B2C audience is so different. That clarity saved her years of trial and error.

Since then, Ana has built her own travel company, Adentrando, initially as an active inbound tour operator for Northwest Argentina serving multi-day B2B clients, and since 2023 as an Argentina DMC and also operating trips in Latin America, working together with trusted partners. She’s become an ATTA trainer, developed Adventure Travel Guide Standards, and spoken at major industry events about responsible tourism and community partnerships.

Ana brings her hard-earned industry knowledge to Guest Focus members, particularly those starting out or pivoting their business models. Her specialty is multi-day trip design—creating itineraries that tell a story and have a positive impact, rather than just connecting attractions. She helps operators avoid the mistakes that cost her years of learning, turning complex industry relationships into clear, actionable strategies.

Accomplishments

  • First woman adventure travel guide in Northwest Argentina, driving Land Rovers across deserts
  • Been an ATTA trainer since 2016, traveling to Jordan, Chile, Colombia working with suppliers
  • Co-creator of Adventure Travel Guide Standards (2015) – one of 15 people who developed industry standards
  • ATTA business partner since 2012 and trainer for their Adventure EDU program
  • Speaker at major industry events like Pure, Lata in London, ATTA World Summit, Adventure Elevate on responsible tourism and adventure travel product design.

Casey spent 14 years at Zegrahm Expeditions, climbing to VP of Marketing Communications where she managed a million-dollar budget. Through her leadership, Zegrahm increased business with travel advisors by 10% and cut direct mail costs by 23% – real money when working with those numbers.

After Zegrahm, she spent a decade at the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), growing net revenue by 30% and profit margins by 60%. Through COVID and its recovery, as President of the ATTA maintained a 90% team retention rate by keeping people engaged and motivated.

Now running Casey Hanisko Coaching and Consulting in Seattle, she’s doubled her own revenue in one year while becoming ACC certified through the International Coaching Federation. She’s also Dare to Lead and DISC and EQI assessment certified, bringing structured tools to her approach.

Casey specializes in strategic planning and getting tour operators out of the daily grind so they can work on their business instead of in it. She helps solo entrepreneurs and small teams document knowledge, define roles, and build growth systems. Her Guest Focus clients have hit major milestones – one reached a million in revenue, others doubled income, and several Guest Focus members have brought on new team members, consultants, and partners.

She’s passionate about supporting women leaders and purpose-driven operators focused on responsible tourism.

Accomplishments:

  • Grew ATTA net revenue by 30% and net profit margins by 60%
  • Maintained 90% team retention rate during COVID challenges
  • At Zegrahm Expeditions: managed million-dollar marketing budget, increased travel advisor business by 10%
  • Cut direct mail costs by 23% (significant savings on million-dollar budget)

Jess quit her high school teaching job for what she thought would be one fun summer guiding bike tours around Paris. Eleven years later, she’s still there. Turns out, trading lesson plans for tour routes was the best career move she never planned to make.

She worked her way up from tour guide to director at Fat Tire Tours, learning every role – designing tours, training guides, managing ticketing, overseeing operations. This ground-up experience taught her what works for staff. She now works as Europe Head of Retail, as well as overseeing Paris/Versailles operations.

Her biggest win? Maximizing operational efficiency while keeping the human element intact. She redesigned scheduling systems to reduce labor costs and spoilage, automated data processes, and streamlined operations without losing Fat Tire’s family-friendly culture.

What she’s most proud of is her team development approach. Using her teaching background, she focuses on staff satisfaction and growth, helping guides and managers build confidence. Many told her the training changed not just their work performance, but their lives outside the company.

Jess brings this dual focus – operational efficiency plus people development – to Guest Focus coaching. She works with operators from solo startups to multi-million dollar companies, helping them increase profitability while maintaining authentic culture. Her coaching clients especially appreciate her reminder to take breaks and prioritize self-care.

Accomplishments:

  • Worked way up from tour guide to director at Fat Tire Tours over 11 years
  • Maximized operational efficiency – redesigned scheduling systems to reduce labor costs and spoilage
  • Automated data entry processes and streamlined operations without losing company culture
  • Developed team management systems with 60+ guides, created buddy system and quarterly reviews
  • Created staff retention program with traditions, events, and ‘dominate’ t-shirt recognition system

Fieldbook focuses on one thing: simplifying all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into delivering a tour.

The Fieldbook platform makes it easy to:

  • Publish stunning, interactive itineraries digital and paper itineraries
  • Equip guides with a comprehensive run-sheet
  • Streamline supplier management and track reservations and rooming lists
  • Bring all your tours into one connected workspace

Unlike other platforms, Fieldbook is simple and easy to use. And because it’s a small business just like you, you’ll get the kind of support big software companies can’t offer. That means getting up and running in days, not weeks.

If you want to give Fieldbook a try for your next tour, you can sign up here or if you want to have a chat feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected].

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