Douglas Quinby knows what profitable tour businesses have in common.

After decades studying group tourism, first as a journalist and then as a researcher, Douglas launched the tour education community Arival. And he and the team recently finished one of the most comprehensive studies of the multiday tour industry ever undertaken.

On this episode, Douglas shares the major findings of that study, including the surprising traits that the most tour companies have in common. He shares insights into which destinations are the most popular and the most common challenge tourism entrepreneurs face. Plus, we have travel news about a new concept in tour refund policies and a Hot Minute about how your work habits may be impacting your partners’ bottom lines.

Insights from Douglas

Douglas had lots of intel about what successful tour companies do right — and where others struggle. Here’s what he had to say about the key to profitable operations:

There’s a very clear correlation between profitability and the number of products that were offered…. Larger operators were actually the least profitable. And the operators that reported the highest overall level of profitability were those operators that offered one or two different product types. In other words, focus beats breadth.

Plus you’ll hear his thoughts on:

  • Why the tour industry struggles with tech implementation
  • Today’s most common tour group size
  • How supplier management is creating headaches for tourism professionals

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Learn more about Arival at arival.travel.

Contact Douglas Quniby at douglas@arival.travel.

Find our Group Travel Essentials series at grouptravelleader.com/essentials.

Key Moments from This Episode

2:18 — Travel News: Major tour company offers flexible refund tiers

3:53 — Essential intel for growing group travel companies

8:00 — How Douglas Quinby went from travel writer to tourism researcher

9:58 — Why Arival is growing its focus on multiday tour operators

15:55 — Survey says: Which destinations are tour operators’ top sellers?

21:55 — Why the tour industry struggles with tech implementation

24:46 — What the most profitable operators have in common

29:40 — What’s the most popular group size today?

31:58 — What do the most popular tours cost today?

35:30 — Why operational discipline is key to profitability

49:14 — Hot Minute: Are your work habits costing your partners money?

Watch the Full Interview

See the full interview with James and Stephanie on our YouTube channel.

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.