"Have coffee in Dublin at 11 and walk in
Stephen's Green and you'll be in heaven."
You've replayed the words of that old song
over and over in your head for years. In fact, all
your life, you've dreamt of seeing the Emerald
Isle, of spending long evenings in Irish pubs,
sipping Guinness and engaging in lively
conversation.
The only thing that has kept you from making
your dreams come true is money. After all the
monthly bills are paid, you never seem to have
enough left over to afford a trip to Dublin.
But money need no longer be an obstacle. You
can arrange to see Ireland free -- maybe even make
a bit of money in the bargain.
Cruise lines, airlines, tour companies, and
hotels will gladly accommodate you free of charge -
- even put cash in your pocket to boot -- if you
promise to bring them a certain amount of business
in return.
You don't have to be an experienced tour
leader. You don't need any experience as a
salesman. The only job requirements are enthusiasm
and a desire to see the world.
The possibilities are endless. You could lead
a tour of Ireland's green, green countryside and
ancient ruins. You could lead an art tour of
northern Italy. A garden tour of Britain. A river
cruise in New Guinea. An archeological expedition
to Easter Island. A family train tour of France. A
hiking trip in the Alps. A castles and wine cruise
of Germany. A tour of rural Japan, visiting
teahouses and farmhouses. A cycling adventure in
Scotland. A luxury yacht charter in the Greek
Isles.
And as the leader of the tour, you travel for
free.
Making a business of biking
Peter Costello did it. He had been working
restoring antique furniture in Baltimore, Maryland.
It was a steady living, but what Peter really
enjoyed was riding his bicycle and traveling. If
only someone would pay me to ride my bike and
travel around the world, he thought. Because he
could find no one willing to do so, he decided to
arrange it for himself.
After a vacation to Scotland, his future was
determined. He would lead bicycle tours through the
green and rolling Scottish hills.
Peter asked a former executive of a bicycle
touring company in Vermont to act as consultant.
Scotland was the perfect place to begin the
business, not only because Peter (whose family was
from Scotland) knew the country, but also because
the market was wide open. In fact, no one else in
the business was offering bicycle tours in
Scotland.
Peter knew bicycling, and he knew Scotland.
But he didn't know anything about starting a
business or leading a tour. As Peter explains, "I
took a crash course in Business 101."
"The touring is the easy part," he says. "All
of my tours begin and end in Edinburgh. We take off
down the road, supported by a van, exploring
beautiful countryside. We travel about 40 miles a
day, and then spend the nights in comfortable,
homey bed and breakfasts. That's easy.
"The hard part is the marketing."
Peter handles all of the marketing himself
from an office in Baltimore. He advertises in major
bicycling publications and tries to generate
business through travel agents.
Peter has been quite successful. His amateur
operation, Peter Costello Ltd., P.O. Box 23490,
Baltimore, MD 21203; (410) 685-6918) has grown into
a full-fledged business. He employs two other tour
leaders and leads 17 tours a year. Peter attributes
his success to two things: first, he was able to
find a niche in the market; and second, he keeps
his tours competitively priced.
Keeping it low key
Peter's tour operation has grown into a big
business. He is making enough money to support
himself and two employees. To get to this point,
Peter has devoted himself completely to the
company. It has become his livelihood and his
favorite pastime.
But it doesn't have to be that way. You can
travel for free as a tour leader -- and still
maintain your regular job and home life. It doesn't
take a lot of time or energy to arrange one tour a
year, for example.
But it still works in much the same way. As
Peter explained, the most difficult part is the
advertising and marketing. How do you convince four
or five other people to pay you to act as their
tour guide? We'll tell you, step by step.
How it works
The first step is to decide where you want to
go. This should be the easiest task of all. After
all, this is the reason for arranging the tour in
the first place -- to allow you to live out your
life's dream of seeing another part of the world.
Once you know where you want to go, do
extensive research on the area. Call the tourist
board and the embassy for that country and request
all the brochures and literature they have
available on hotels, restaurants, nightclubs,
transportation, sightseeing, and local customs.
Spend a day or two at the library, poring over
travel guides and reference books. The best general
reference guides available include Fielding's,
Fodor's, and Frommer's (which include the
Dollarwise series on budget travel). Also read
Lonely Planet's guides and the series known as
Let's Go. If your library doesn't stock these
books, you can order them (as well as a catalog of
worldwide travel guidebooks) from Forsyth Travel
Library, 9154 W. 57th St., P.O. Box 2975, Shawnee
Mission, KS 66201, or the Traveler's Bookstore, 22
W. 52nd St., New York, NY 10019.
Also study local maps. Remember, everyone you
bring with you will look to you for guidance.
Once you've become familiar with your
destination, pick something unique about it and
plan your tour around that theme. It is easier to
sell a tour of the stately homes of Britain's
aristocracy than it is to sell a tour of Britain,
period. Look for a niche in the market, something
that no one else is doing (or doing well).
Next, plan your itinerary. Choose the hotels
where you would like to stay, and then contact them
to explain what you want to do. Ask for special
group rates and request that you stay free as the
tour leader.
Do the same with the airline you wish to fly.
Find out what restrictions are attached to the
cheapest tickets available. Usually you have to
purchase special fare tickets a certain number of
days in advance. Other restrictions involve the
length of your stay and the days of departure and
return. Make sure you know about all of this up
front. And again, request that you fly free.
Plan some sightseeing and evening
entertainment, but keep some time open. Your group
will want time to itself.
Make all of the plans -- but don't make any
reservations. At least, not yet. Wait until you've
gathered your group together and agreed on a
departure date.
Next, set a price. This will be the first
question you are asked when you approach someone
about joining you on your grand adventure. Figure
in all of your costs (airfare, hotels, ground
transportation, sightseeing, taxes, departure fees,
and any meals that you plan to include in the
package). Take this total and mark it up as much
as you think the market will bear. The lower your
costs, the greater your profits. You want to make
at least enough to cover all of your expenses,
including the entire cost of your trip. Any money
you make beyond that is an added bonus.
Finding the people
This brings us to the most difficult part of
the project: finding the tour participants.
The easiest way to do this is to tell everyone
you know -- everyone you work with, everyone you
run into at the supermarket, everyone you meet on
the subway, everyone you play bridge with on
Thursday nights -- that you are planning to lead a
seven-day, all-inclusive tour of Germany's Bavarian
castles (for example). Tantalize them with tales of
Mad King Ludwig, who built the country's most
beautiful castle, Neuschwanstein, the turreted,
white creation that Walt Disney used as a model for
Disneyland. Tell them about Linderhof Castle, near
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where the mad king had the
dining room built directly above the kitchen and
then installed a dining table that could be lowered
into the kitchen, set by the cooks, and then lifted
back up to the dining room. Thus, King Ludwig could
be waited on at dinner without ever having to be
bothered by the servants.
Once you've got them interested, remind them
that group travel is always cheaper than going it
alone; they'll save several hundred dollars at
least. Remind them also that group travel is much
more hassle-free than independent travel. Tell them
that you'll arrange everything. You'll make all the
reservations. You'll check on all the train
schedules. You'll offer suggestions for good
restaurants. All they have to do is enjoy the
experience.
The other way to find tour participants is to
advertise for them in travel magazines and
newsletters. It doesn't cost much to place a small
classified ad. Publications to try include:
International Living, Agora Inc., 824 E. Baltimore
St., Baltimore, MD 21202; International Travel
News, 2120 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818;
Transitions Abroad, Box 344, Amherst, MA 01004;
Travel and Leisure, American Express Publishing,
1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036;
Travel-Holiday, Travel Publications Inc., 28 W.
23rd St., New York, NY 10010; Conde Nast Traveler,
Conde Nast Publications, 350 Madison Ave., New
York, NY 10017; National Geographic Traveler,
National Geographic Society, 17th and M streets
N.W., Washington, DC 20036; the International
Herald Tribune, Box 309, 63 Long Acre, London WC2E
9JH, England; or the Travel Section of The New York
Times, 229 W. 43rd St., New York, NY 10036. You can
also place ads in your local newspapers. Make the
ad simple. Tell where you're going, when you plan
to depart, how long you'll be staying, what the
trip includes, how much it costs, and how to
contact you for more information.
Another easy way to advertise is to put up
notes on bulletin boards at community centers,
colleges, and libraries in your area. Include the
same information you used in your classified ads.
This may be just as effective, and it will cost you
nothing.
Once responses begin coming in, create a log
of everyone who has expressed an interest (either
as the result of an ad or the result of a chance
conversation at a bus stop). Contact each person
by phone or by mail and make a record of the
correspondence. If you don't hear back within a
couple of weeks, send another letter or make
another telephone call.
When someone does make a reservation, ask him
if he can suggest anyone else who might be
interested. You'll find that word-of-mouth
referrals will be your best source of new clients.
Booking the trip
Once you have your group together and you have
determined an itinerary and a departure date, the
next step is making the reservations. You can do
this in two ways: on your own or with the help of a
travel agent.
If you go it alone, all of the profit is
yours. If the tour costs you $2,000 per person
and you charge $3,000 per person, you'll make
$1,000 off each tour participant. If you have
five people traveling with you, that's $5,000.
Assume that you're able to arrange for your airfare
and accommodations free of charge (as the tour
leader), and you're way ahead. You'll spend several
hundred dollars at your destination on your
personal expenses; the rest of the $5,000 will be
clear profit. Plus, of course, you're getting the
trip free. Not a bad deal at all.
The disadvantage to all of this is that you
alone are responsible for everything. If you don't
know what you're doing -- if you've never dealt
with airlines and hotel managers and bus drivers
and taxi cab drivers and translators before -- you
might be in for a rude awakening. Your dream trip
overseas might turn into one huge headache. It is
possible to go it alone. But it may not be
practical.
So consider affiliating yourself with a travel
agency. True, the agency will take its cut of the
profits -- but in exchange, it will share with you
its wealth of experience. It will tell you whether
it's better to land in Beijing, tour China, and
exit through Hong Kong or to land in Hong Kong,
visit China, and return to Hong Kong for the flight
home. It can tell you which Rhine River cruises are
a delight and which are taking water. It can help
you choose hotels. It can tell you about special
health requirements at your destination. It can
offer tips on the climate and how to dress. It can
tell you whether it's better to take a bus at your
destination or to hail a taxi.
When looking for a travel agency to deal with,
your first question should be, "What commission do
you pay to outside agents?" (That is what you will
be considered.) If the agency won't pay you a
commission (and a sizeable commission at that) for
the business you bring in, find another agency.
The second most important question involves
free tickets. Who gets them? You or the agency?
Travel agents receive free airline tickets and
vouchers for free hotel stays all the time in
exchange for the volume of business they bring the
airlines and the hotels. But make sure that these
tickets are also available to outside agents.
Ask about other outside agents working for the
agency. How many of these agents organize tours?
What kinds of tours do they organize?
And inquire about support for outside agents.
Will you be given a manual? Reservation forms?
Guidebooks? Will the agency maintain records for
you?
And shop around. Don't settle for less than
you think you should be getting. If you don't come
out of the deal with at least a free trip,
something's not right.
Book with a tour company -- another alternative
If you're intimidated at the thought of making
all the arrangements on your own, but you don't
like the idea of having to share your profits with
a travel agency, you have a third alternative.
Decide on the tour you want to lead, and then book
it through a tour company that offers free trips to
individuals who reserve a certain number of spaces
on their package trips.
Globus-Gateway, 95-25 Queens Blvd., Rego Park,
NY 11374, for example, offers a free trip for
anyone who books 16 people on any of its tours to
Europe and one-half off a trip for anyone who books
eight people on a trip to Europe.
Saga Holidays, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA
02166, offers one free trip for 20 bookings.
Destinations include Europe, Asia, the South
Pacific, and South America.
Travel Plans International, P.O. Box 3875, Oak
Brook, IL 60521, offers one free trip for 20
bookings on a safari to Africa.
Toucan Adventure Tours, 1142 Manhattan Ave.,
CP #416, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266, offers one free
trip for 12 bookings on a tour to Mexico.
Newmans Tours, Suite 305, 10351 Santa Monica
Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025, offers discounted
trips for 10 bookings on trips to New Zealand.
The following companies also give
complimentary trips to anyone who signs on five or
six other people to travel with them:
* Ambassadors World, 5601 Roanne Way, Suite
314, P.O. Box 9751, Greensboro, NC 27429
* Bryan World Tours, P.O. Box 4156, Topeka, KS
66604
* Friendship Tours Inc., P.O. Box 2526,
Shawnee Mission, KS 66201
* Travel Careers and Tours, P.O. Box 91102,
International Airport, Los Angeles, CA 90009
In addition, almost all major cruise lines
offer free tickets to anyone who can sign on 15
paying passengers.
Most major tour companies around the world
will offer terms very similar to these. Unlike the
American companies, most are unwilling to publicly
advertise their terms. They want to meet you or
discuss the situation first, but the net result
will invariably be along the lines discussed here.
These are practically world-wide industry standard
compensation rates, and not usually negotiable.
Trip tips
You and five strangers are sitting in the
airport lounge. They answered your ads in travel
magazines, and now they are counting on you to take
them on a memorable tour of the castles of Bavaria.
How can you make sure that all the tour
participants feel like they're getting their
money's worth -- and still have a good time
yourself?
Well, you will have to work a bit. After all,
these people have paid you money. Following are a
few tips to make sure all goes smoothly.
1. Take charge. The old saying that too many
cooks spoil the soup applies here. As the leader,
you should make all the arrangements and all the
decisions -- within limits, of course. Ask for
input from the group, but don't waste time debating
every move.
2. Be flexible. Itineraries are made to be
broken. Don't be more concerned about following
your original schedule than you are about enjoying
the trip. Take advantage of opportunities as they
present themselves.
3. Make sure that no one feels left out or
overlooked. Ask if everyone is comfortable in his
room. If his luggage arrived safely. If there is
anything special he would like to do or see. Don't
ever let anyone eat alone during an unscheduled
meal (unless he prefers to do so, of course).
4. Make time for yourself. Promise your group
your undivided attention from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.,
for example, but make everyone know that he's on
his own after that (except for one planned night
out).
For more information
For more on traveling as a tour leader, read
Travel for Fun and Profit by Larry King, available
from Dreams Unlimited Inc., P.O. Box 20667,
Seattle, Washington 98102; (206)322-4304. The cost
is $12.95.
Leading a tour with a twist
We've a unique suggestion for anyone who loves
boating, loves to travel, and is ready for a change
in lifestyle. It requires a little more commitment
and investment than organizing a single tour a
year, but the payoff is potentially much greater as
well. If you follow up on our idea, you could earn
a comfortable living -- and spend your days
floating down the riverways of Burgundy, France.
The idea is to lead guided tours of the French
countryside -- in your own passenger barge. As we
mentioned already, this is not something to be
undertaken lightly. And it is not something to be
undertaken by a total novice. You should have a bit
of experience in the boating industry.
But don't let these words of caution
discourage you. This could be the opportunity of a
lifetime, a chance to live out your dreams.
Dennis Sherman did it. He had been crewing on
boats, primarily as cook, for years. Mainly
interested in barging, his knowledge of the
industry served him well when it came time to take
the plunge and purchase his own passenger barge.
"The barging industry is small and close-
knit," he explains. "If you want to get into it,
your best source of information, especially about
boats for sale, is word-of-mouth."
Dennis' first piece of advice is that you
shouldn't try to buy a working barge and convert it
into a pleasure craft. Too timely and costly, he
says. Neither should you try to build a barge from
scratch -- that is, not unless you have nearly
unlimited capital to invest.
The remaining option is to purchase a barge
already operating as a pleasure craft. Without
contacts in the industry, it's paramount to begin
by contacting a barge agent. Dennis recommends Joe
Parfaitt, Chantier du Nivernais, 89000 Mailly-La-
Ville, France; tel. (33-86) 40-44-77. Parfaitt has
his own shipyard. In addition to barge sales, he
handles conversions
When you've found a boat you're interested in
buying, the next step is arranging the purchase.
Find an independent lawyer who is experienced with
Americans doing business overseas. Dennis consulted
Catherine Kessedjian, 27 rue des Plantes, 75014
Paris, France; tel. (33-1) 45-40-86-27. Experienced
with handling the details of setting up a
corporation in France, according to Dennis, dealing
with Catherine "is like one-stop shopping," because
she is capable in all areas.
Dennis set up a French corporation to handle
the barge operation and an American company to
handle the marketing. This enabled him, with the
barge operating under a French corporation, to
arrange financing in France.
Dennis chose France as his location, because
that's where the barge that he wanted to buy was
operating. But there are other reasons to choose
France. The country is striving to attract new
small business, and therefore, any new venture in
France is eligible for tax-free status for the
first three years and considerable tax breaks the
next two years.
The capital investment
How much does a venture such as this cost?
Dennis estimates $250,000, including purchase of
the barge, any improvements, first-year operating
expenses, and professional fees. True, that's
hardly free. But think of the return. And after the
initial investment is made, if your barge company
is successful, you'll not only be able to travel
the French countryside for free for the rest of
your life, but you'll also have a comfortable
annual income. And the equity in the barge.
Dennis' barge, called the Papillon, travels
the Burgundy region of France. Spring and early
summer, it cruises in the Nivernais; in June, the
barge moves to the tree-lined waters of the
Burgundy Canal; in late summer, it cruises the
River Seine and the Canal du Centre, through the
heart of the vineyards of Santenay; in the fall,
the barge heads back to the Nivernais. It makes
one-week cruises for a 33-week season.
