Is It Open??

Las Vegas Tour Guides

So while our elected officials sit back and play games, Las Vegas tours are grinding to a halt.  or they are getting creative in working around the closures…  But many people are wondering what park or recreational areas near Las Vegas are open during the Federal Government shutdown?

JoLynn Worley from the Federal Bureau of Land Management put it best:  “Anything with a gate is closed,”

That would mean

  • Red Rock Canyon  Conservation Area is closed
  • Lake Mead National Recreation Area is closed (including the marina)
  • Great Basin National Park is closed
  • Grand Canyon National Park is closed
  • Death Valley is closed (see below)

What is Open?

  • Spring Mountain Ranch State Park!!!
  • Hoover Dam (it makes money)
  • Grand Canyon West Rim (Hualapai Indian Tribe)
  • Valley of Fire
  • Death Valley is open’ish – you can still drive through Death Valley and take photos at scenic points. Facilities are closed.

Please remember, this is a FEDERAL issue, State Parks are not impacted!

 

FAMS are for Business

FAMS.  Familiarization tours.  An opportunity for tour professionals to get together with other tour professionals and get familiar with an attraction or location you may have a tour to someday.

It’s also an opportunity to do some business or get some business if you are smart.

Usually you are invited as part of a group, on behalf of the host of the attraction and given a behind the scenes working tour of the place as well as tips and examples on how you can benefit from the attraction as well as learning how it works with groups and private functions.  Important details you can’t get any other time.

FAMS are used for more than just familiarizing you with the attraction, its an opportunity for the attraction and others to see you in your element. In a place you do business in. Your behavior is being judged on a professional level.  Attending such an event can lead to more work just as easily as it can lead to losing work.  Its your choice.  Use it wisely or pay the price later.

Observing and Networking

Please remember that Any Time you are out wearing your “Look At Me, I’m a Tour Guide” hat, you are being judged by potential clients.  People you do not know who may want to work with you in the future are watching you.  Since it is a professional event, you should know its time to shine!

I get several jobs a year from other tours.  People who have been on one tour I am leading, later calling me to ask me to lead their tour because they liked what they saw.  I never knew they were tour ops, they were just guests on a tour.  I have also met other tour professionals at FAMS who referred business my way afterward.   As well, I have sent business to other tour professionals I met at FAMS because I liked what I saw and knew they could do a great job for my client.

The advantage to attending a FAM is that it shows you are taking your profession seriously by expanding your education and your knowledge base.  The fact that you attended the FAM while many others did not, can  boost your credibility with the host and those in attendance for future contacts ( or not).   Its Your Choice.

Never Forget that FAMS are for business.  Your Business!!

CSI – Members February Meet & Greet

CSI: The Experience MGM Grand, las vegas tour guides

Attention All Tour Professionals!  Come on out and join the new 2013 Board of Directors for the second Las Vegas Tourist Guides Guild gathering for 2013 at CSI: The Experience at the MGM Grand

If you ever had the itch to become a crime scene investigator but never got a chance to test out your skills, the Las Vegas Tourist Guides Guild’s February meet & greet is your perfect opportunity.

At CSI: The Experience at MGM Grand, you’ll go through a series of steps that will get you thinking like a real investigator. See how science and critical thinking combine as you piece together the clues in one of three crime scene mysteries. There are a total of three murders and 15 suspects, so you’ll really get your mind going.

“Our hands-on exhibit allow the guest to get involved and we put guests in the driver’s seat. They are getting an interactive experience solving a crime using the techniques as a crime scene investigator would use.” said our host Ava Bahnam, marketing manager for CSI: The Experience.

So let’s get an inside look at CSI: The Experience and explore some of the interactive experiences, adding another hands on personal experience to articulate to your tour clients. We would like to thanks a friend of the LVTGG, Ava Bahnam for extending complementary admission to our guild members.

RSVP to thanksbabs@gmail.com, your earliest response would be appreciated, but please no later than Sunday, February 24, 2013

Where: CSI: The Experience MGM Grand, 3799 South Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, NV 89109, (702) 891-7006, located inside Studio Walk

When: Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Time & Place: 6:30 PM, meet at downstairs gift shop

If late call Babs at 702 370 6961 to meet up with us.

Web: http://lasvegas.csiexhibit.com/

This event is complementary to all current 2013 members, previous 2012 membership or potential new members with RSVP.

Internet Marketing Workshop March 18

Where do you get new tour business from?  Today, it’s the Internet. Having that phone ring and a new client asking “Can you do this tour?”  is a great feeling.  Especially knowing that the call came from your efforts at Internet Marketing.

The problem is that many people get overwhelmed by all the opportunities and choices there are to market on the Internet.  Facebook? Twitter? Pinterest?  Yahoo, Google, etc…  What works?  What works for us and why? What doesn’t work and why.  Most importantly, is “how do I get it all to work together and with the least amount of work for me?”

The Workshop

The answers will be found at this interactive workshop put together by tour professionals for tour professionals.  We will dissect the mysteries of the Internet and show you how it all works, using real world, live examples

Web sites, forum groups, discussion groups.  We will look at social media like Facebook, Pinterest, instagram and more.  We will show the best search engine marketing techniques that will get you found faster and by the right people who want to hire YOU.

Want to know more?  Checkout the link below, register and show up…  It’s Free and you get to meet other tour professionals.

Click to register: Internet Marketing for the Tour Professional 2.0

Getting Business From the Guild Website


One question I hear a lot when I ask people to join the Las Vegas Tourist Guides Guild “How Can I Get More Business From it?”  A simple question really.  Being a member for only $25 will get you your money’s worth IF you participate and take advantage of the website and other members.

Why Be Here?

  • More DMC’s and Tour Operators are utilizing the power of professional organizations. Their first place to look for help in a new city is to first check that cities guild or professional tour organization.  After that, research the guides that peak their interest from the membership list.  Be Here and Be Seen
  • Being part of a professional guide organization helps you stand out, look like the professional you are and helps us look better by having a larger talent pool for clients to chose from.
  • Education and Networking events.  The Guild has set itself on a focused path of new education and networking opportunities for its members.  This is getting us as an organization, out and about.  Being seen and recognized has meant an increase in website visitors who hire guides on a regular basis.
  • Publishing opportunities.  One of the most under used marketing tools for its members is this website.  The ability for you to write about your profession, get recognized and have it being seen by others.  This drives traffic to your contact information. (website/facebook/etc) .  Articles from this website get feed to other search engines and website directories.  It gets around!
  • Internet Marketing.  Face the facts.  More people search the Internet for what they want, than any other source.  Being here with other tour professionals helps build the rest of your Internet profile.  The Guild helps you get known on the Internet.
  • You are known by the company you keep. Be with other tour professionals.

Free Website

It’s free and not very fancy, but it is Very Effective for Marketing!  And that’s what matters.

Being a member of the Las Vegas Tourist Guides Guild gets you a profile page.  Click Here to see a real member’s page (and help our search engine rankings).  It’s simple and informative.  Quickly tells the reader who you are, what you do, your education and/or credentials and how to get in touch with you.

You will also note the webpage address (URL).  Simple and to the point.  Easy to use for marketing or to point your own domain name to it.

Interested?  Want help in getting established on the Guild Website? Contact the LVTGG webmaster today.

 

 

Boulder City Bypass and History

Boulder City Btpass history las vegas hoover dam

That stretch of Highway 93 from Railroad Pass Casino to the Hoover Dam Bridge will never look the same again.  I mean that figuratively and literally.

The Las Vegas Review Journal had an article “Boulder City Bypass project protects tortoises.”  A simple read about what is about to happen in phase one of what will hopefully become Interstate Highway 11 from Las Vegas to Phoenix.  That led me to wonder more about the first phase and the project.  And that led me to some interesting reading about the area and what all is out there and why it’s so important to the project and our jobs as tour professionals.

The Electronic Paper Trail

I started with the Goetechnical Report.  I know, a nail-biting title to a page turning book if there ever was one!  Not really, but I digress.  But I was wondering about the roads they were putting in and how it was all going to work.  Also I needed the photo for the post..

The technical part of building a highway in the Mohave is actually pretty fascinating.  The stuff they need to know about what sunder our feet before building a roadway made me understand why when the big earthquake hits, you will find me at the Railroad Pass Casino.  That’s some hard rock up there that ain’t moving!  Not to mention I found out where I can hunt for turquoise.

That all piqued my interest in their real desire to save what is left of Boulder Dam squatters camps mentioned like McKeeversville and the camps around Railroad Pass (as well as the real reason that it is called Railroad Pass).  That jumped me over to the tree hugger’s report.  You know you can ‘t turn a shovel of dirt without filing an impact statement with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Love The Tree Huggers

As much as I hate the EPA and all their paperwork mandates, I do love their attention to detail.  They are like the Mormon Church;  Document Everything.  That meant I needed to read  Affected Environment – A look at the Indian tribes of what is now the bottom of Lake Mead.  It is a historical look at everything from the era before the Indians up to the squatters camps and how they were named and built.  The creating of Boulder City, the Boulder Dam working district.  The creation of Lake Mead National Park (the third most visited National Park) that lead to the mining claim that saved the Hacienda Casino. And what is there now and why.

If you click any of those links, you will see long page numbers.  It’s government, its busy work.  But scan the highlights and you will see some interesting reading material there that will help your tours.

Here are some of the things the reports highlights about the area between Railroad Pass and Hacienda Casino;

  • We have 16 lizard species in that drive
  • There are 18 snake species
  • With over 20 bat species, 11 are on the endangered list
  • Desert Tortoises are popular around Railroad Pass but almost non existent near Lake Mead
  • The first serious discussion of the Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge in 1992
  • Willow Beach was considered the popular spot for the bridge
  • Hoover Dam Bypass bridge location was chosen in March of 2001
  • The historic nature of the Los Angeles Switch Yards and power lines

It All Changed One Day

The one thing that was surprising, was how it all changed September 11, 2001.  Reading the reports written pre 911 are completely different from reports written post 911.  We went from projections that were optimistic (we can build it wherever we want)  and sometimes combative (agencies not working together) to one of balanced thought and maybe even a little skepticism.

It goes along with those of us who lived that time.  How Vegas changed and how the tourist changed by that one day.  Just an interesting note I had….