How to create authentic travel tours in your city in 2024

A tour in a tourist capital is not quite the same as a tour in smaller but still desirable tourist destination. But nowadays plenty of travelers seeking more authentic experiences that your city and you as a tour guide can meet that desire.

A tour is a tour, is a tour?

Not all travel tours are the same, or even try to appeal to the same travelers. It can be seen as a paradox, to want to go on a travel tour while at the same time looking to avoid tourist hot spots.

When we buy so-called experiences, or tours, we naturally expect something that is different and enjoyable. There are agencies that aggregate tours, and looking at them we use tools such as reviews, number of bookings and price to determine if the tour is interesting enough.

But is that enough, what about authenticity?

Authentic travel experiences can also mean coming closer to the local population and activities that are more lowkey and very refreshing.

Rules of thumb when creating tours or experiences that stand out

So you want to create a your that is more memorable for your customers. These are three things to keep in mind as you tailor your next tour package.

1. Pick a niche and stick to it. Long gone are the times when it was enough to stand next to historical monuments or buildings and count dates with the occasional fun fact. You need to put together a tour that has a theme. Whether you pick food, history (focus on a niche!), or something else, you need to string together place and preferably activities that are coherent and fit within the theme.

2. Be precise about how long the tour is, and what is includes. Travelers this day and age are picky and they have a lot going on when they visit cities. With the help of Internet, the next experience or sightseeing point of interest is just a few clicks away. So ask yourself, what exactly will your customers get by choosing your tour.

Continue by asking yourself how long should your tour last? Keep in mind that “the longer, the better” is not always true for tours. Focus on the fun and the time you can expect to keep your audience interested before they become tired.

3. Price does matter. There is no standard rule for this. But as a few guidelines, you should think about the demographic that your themed tour is catered to. The price you set will be highly dependent on, say, if your intended customer is a middle-aged high income earner looking for intellectual tours, compared to the 20-something who just wants to go for thrill experiences such as riding segways or other micromobility vehicles.