What would it take for you to grow in your tourism career?

For Lorna Holland, it took a customer who believed in her. After years as a freelance tour director, Lorna and her husband took a client’s idea and turned it into not one but two tour companies. Today they operate TourDCWithUs and VaFeltre Tours in addition to raising a young daughter and managing home life in Italy. Lorna joins this episode of the podcast to tell us about her journey from guide to owner and pull back the curtain on life as a mom and tourism entrepreneur.

Lorna explains why most guides probably already have the skills necessary to launch their own companies. She also explains the economics and challenges of small group travel and gives us an insight on how she balances family life with a busy travel schedule. Plus, we have news about proposed minimum wage hike for tourism workers; a Road Tip about staying in touch with loved ones while traveling; and a Hot Minute about why elite status isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Podcast: Embed

Insights from Lorna Holland

Lorna had lots of encouraging and insightful stories to share about making the transition from guide to owner. Here’s one thing she said about realizing what customers really wanted from her trips:

“Many people have told me that what Dante and I are selling is not the tour. We’re selling ourselves. And from that initial click or email or phone call or face on the street, from that moment, they have to realize that they’re buying us and not just buying the Sistine Chapel or the Statue of Liberty.”

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Learn more about VaFeltre Tours at vafeltre.com.

Learn more about TourDCWithUs at tourdcwithus.com.

Follow Travel with Lorna and Dante on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

For information about our OnSite familiarization tour in Kentucky, contact Kyle Anderson at 859-334-1718 or kyle@grouptravelleader.com.

Key Moments From This Episode

2:02 — Travel News: A $30 minimum wage for tourism workers?

3:42 — Road Tip: Staying connected to family when you work in travel

9:49 — A few spots left on our trip to Kentucky

14:58 — How Lorna Holland found her calling as a tour director

19:14 — The inspiration for starting a tour company

20:29 — How a collaborative marriage set Lorna up for business success

21:53 — The skills you need to start a tour company

24:29 — Tapping into women-only travel

28:09 — The economics of small group travel

33:35 — Scaling a company when you are the primary product

36:26 — Maintaining a healthy family life as a tourism entrepreneur

38:33 — Advice for young parents working in travel

51:34 — Hot Minute: Why I don’t want elite travel status

Watch the Full Interview

See the full interview with Lorna, including content not in the regular episode, on our YouTube channel.

Thanks to our sponsor Huntsville, Alabama, for making this episode possible. Learn more about group travel to Huntsville at huntsville.org/groups.

About the Podcast

Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism industry podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. There are also tips and insights for destination marketers and others who support the tourism trade. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes an interview with a smart travel pro or an insightful person from outside tourism who’s expertise can help make travel businesses better. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly.

You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen to podcasts or subscribe by email.

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