Don’t Go Up There

March 27, 2012 by

hoover dam overlook pillbox

Look familiar?? Well, don’t go there…  It could cost you your tour career.

Hoover Dam Overlook

The air defense hut that sits on top of the hill on the Arizona overlook above Hoover Dam.  There are signs posted not to trespass.  Restricted Area.

I finally asked a security person what would happen if I did venture up there.

  1. It’s National Park property.
  2. Off limits for safety
  3. $275 fine
  4. $100 fine for disobeying the signs
  5. You would be banned from the park
  6. Being banned from the National Park means you would not be able to legally cross the Hoover Dam bypass bridge as it is in the park.

The National Park has acquired it.  They would like to open it to tourists, but they have a problem.  That peak is loaded with rattle snakes.  Serious infestation of poisonous rattle snakes.  No way (yet) to make a path up there that would be snake proof.

Just letting you know… Don”t go up there…

 

Filed Under: Tourist News Tagged With:

Hoover Dam from a Photographers Perspective

March 25, 2012 by

hoover dam, Aerial photos by Tom Donoghue

Aerial photos of Hoover Dam by my good friend and photography buddy: Tom Donoghue

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: ,

Las Vegas Tourist Guild “invite only” Networking Event

February 13, 2012 by

Tour Guide invite even at nevada sytate muesum

Greetings, members, past members, prospective members and those who consider themselves tour professionals.

Many of you have asked for it, now we have it, the first LVTGG 2012, “invite only” networking event for Las Vegas tour professionals. Come see the new and spacious Nevada State Museum http://museums.nevadaculture.org including an opportunity to meet, mingle and network with other tour professionals while exploring of the history of Nevada dating back millions of years to the present.

Our host, Nevada Historian, Dennis Mc Bride, Curator of Collections & History, will personally tour our group around his new surroundings leaving plenty of time for roaming on your own.

Get on the Door List!

The LVTGG Board of Directors looks forward to your joining our mixer as we all intermingle to exchange information, and updates on the state of the tourist guide professional.

Come on out, this event is free, its Industry only, Invite only , so please rsvp to thanksbabs@gmail.com, by February 24, so we can add your name and your guests to our list, it is required to be on the list to gain free entry into the museum. We encourage you to bring prospective members for the Las Vegas Tourist Guides Guild to this first of our yearly gatherings.

Dennis asked that you park your cars at the upper parking lot, and then walk directly into the museum and meet at the information desk inside

 

Where: Nevada State Museum at the Springs Preserve
When: Sunday, February 26, 2012
Time: 2:00 PM

Address: 309 S. Valley View Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89107
Email to reserve your spot:thanksbabs@gmail.com

See you there,

Babs Daitch
President

Filed Under: Updates Tagged With: , ,

Bottle Ban at Grand Canyon Explained

February 10, 2012 by

grand canyon bottle ban explainedStarting in March, The Grand Canyon National Park will ban the sale of water packaged in individual disposable containers.

This ban comes more than a year after the original ban was announced and then put on hold after Coca-Cola complained. They bottle water under the Dasani brand and wanted to know more about why the park wanted this ban.

Under the ban, water sold in individual plastic bottles will be banned.  But soda and juices sold in plastic bottles will be allowed to be sold. (if you are thinking what I am thinking, the NPS says no)

In their place, the park has installed 10 water refilling stations around the park and at the various overlooks. This will encourage park visitors to buy refillable water containers.   The new filling stations provide free, Grand Canyon spring water from the park’s approved water supply, located at Roaring Springs.

Bring Your Own Water

The ban is for water sales inside the park only.  We are still allowed to bring in our own bottled water, just to please remind our guests to dispose of them properly.

Refill Here

The new South Rim filling stations are equipped to provide year-round access to water and are located at:

  • Hermits Rest (located near the other public amenities)
  • Bright Angel and South Kaibab Trailheads
  • Canyon Village and Desert View Marketplaces
  • Yavapai Geology Museum
  • Grand Canyon, Verkamp’s and Desert View Visitor Centers
  • Maswik Lodge (in the cafeteria).

water filling at the grand canyon
More information can be found here: NPS.GOV

Filed Under: Tourist News Tagged With: , , , ,

One of Our own Gets Published!

January 31, 2012 by

Early Las Vegas Nevada Oral History, as told by Charlene Cruze Cox was published by Early Las Vegas Oral History Project, Oral History Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. A copy is available for viewing in the Boyer Library on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas.

Her family history in the Las Vegas valley dates back to 1855. Relatives of Char include the first school teacher in what became known as Clark County; one of the early miners at the Mount Potosi lead mine, and the Town of Overton; and family members attended the 1905 land auction on Fremont Street held by the San Padro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad. Born in Las Vegas, she is a life long resident of Las Vegas valley.

Char is affiliated with the Las Vegas Tourist Guides Guild, Friends of the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort, Friends of Red Rock Canyon, Friends of Classic Las Vegas, the Lost City Museum of Archaeology, the Old Spanish Trail Association, the Preservation Association of Clark County, Distinguished Women of Southern Nevada, and Southern Nevada Women’s History Project.

Char is Registered with the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, Registered with the Daughters of the American Revolution, and a Registered Member of the Northern Tsalagi Nation. Char is published in “Skirts that Swept the Desert Floor,”the story of her Great Grandmother.

Established in 1976, Char is president and owner of Creative Adventures Ltd, http://www.creativeadventuresltd.net, specializing in personalized southwestern sightseeing tours. Char said, “Since 1976 we have been showing tourists the hidden secrets of Nevada and the Southwest. From the mountains to the deserts, from the mining towns of Nevada, Arizona and Death Valley to the canyon lands of Utah, we know the area and we are listed as a favorite in Frommer’s travel guide.”

 

Filed Under: Member News

Yes, You Need Facebook and other Social News

January 25, 2012 by

tour guides and social media

Maybe, just maybe THIS chart will make it sink in…. If You Want To Be a Tour Professional and want some new work in the year 2012 and beyond, you will need to be on Facebook (and other social media networks).  Case closed, shut and sealed.  Next??

When I started touring in 2005, I remember leading a group of retired Brits.  All over the age of 60.  Most were well over the age of 60.  On a day off in Phoenix, they were all sitting around the pool.  Want to guess what they were all doing??  Remember, this was 2006.  They were texting friends, family and others about their trip.  Were you texting in 2006?  If you were an American tour director, I sincerely Doubt it.

We Americans laughed it off as a “teenager thing” until about 2010.  That’s when “adults” got into it with smartphones.  Same with Facebook.  Ok, I will admit, the MySpace thing almost had us.  Thankfully we recovered and survived…  But other nations are on the Social Media bandwagon and way in head of us.  That means you.

Neglecting International Markets

Some of us at the Las Vegas Tourist Guides Guild, may only do work in Vegas and think they don’t need to be on Social Media.  You are wrong… knowing what is up in other parts of the world and having “friends” and clients in other counties can make us more marketable to the local DMC’s.

So take a look at this article on International Social Media trends:  The dangerous neglect of international hotel marketing – Do Not shrug it off just because it relates to hotels.  The information in that article is excellent for Tour Professionals.

Two Other Trends

Reading further down the article, it shows how social media has consolidated and changed over the last three years.  Yes, Facebook now rules the world.  But two other trends also are emerging.  Mobile and Local…  I know from my own Internet Marketing work, that it is growing daily.

Mobile

More people are communicating via mobile devices. We saw this trend in Japan, now its coming to America.  In the websites that I manage, I am seeing an average of 23% of the traffic to the websites come from mobile devices.  (tablets, netbooks and smartphones).

Local

This is more for the marketing.  Being where the customer is on their “soil” electronically speaking.  As in their country’s favorite domain or that country’s version of forums.

What I mean by that is a tour operator trying to attract the Canadian market should have a website hosted on a .CA Like mytourcompany.CA  (unlike America, where it’s mytourcompany.COM).

Same theory holds if you want to attract credibility from the Canadian markets.  You want to be known as a tour professional in Las Vegas for Canadians to call on??  Go to a travel or tourist forum on their domain and post. Ask questions and answer other peoples questions about Las Vegas.   As an example; Answers.yahoo.ca  Its Canadian for Canadians.

FYI: On my tour website, I get some nice traffic from answers.yahoo.com.  Several inquires a month from TO’s and others looking for information.

 

Filed Under: Member News Tagged With: ,
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