March is Women’s History Month and we’ve got a lot to celebrate. We reached out to our clients to send us their amazing stories answering the following questions: 1. Why did you want to become a guide? 2. What's your favorite part of the job? 3. What's your least favorite part of the job? 4. What are some hard truths about guiding? 5. How do you see guiding evolving in the future? 6. What's something about your job most people don't realize? Maria Tucholke Laurie Watt Heidi Wirtz Meg Nickman Morgan McIntire Juliana Garcia Faith Dickey Anna Rollins "Gus" Klein...

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The Winter 2022/23 travel season is hurdling towards us with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, and New Years plans on the horizon. With the “Summer of Revenge Travel” and a lackluster Fall, here’s what tour operators can expect this winter travel season. Online Bookings Drop For The Fall Season A new report by Similarweb used data from Airbnb, Expedia, and Booking.com to assess global web traffic and U.S. travel conversions and it seems like it’s in line with historical travel trends. Despite a murky economy and high inflation, summer saw the “revenge travelers” who spent their extra cash on travel. This...

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The SOAR Act will make your life as a guide easier. At least, that's the hope. As we know, federal land management agencies require guiding businesses and outfitters to get special recreation permits so they can operate on public lands and waters. Even though this is a legal requirement for professional guides, they aren’t easily obtainable. Not only is the process totally convoluted, a lot of businesses ask agencies about available permits to only be told there aren’t any available. Because of this, guiding companies can’t take their clients out on public lands and their businesses suffer. I. What’s the...

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We scoured the internet for online booking stats that our clients will care about. While researching, we saw the shift to online booking has seen significant changes from pre-pandemic levels. While many guiding companies are making the move to online booking, there are still too many putting it off and gripping too tightly to the pen and paper. Those who don’t jump on board now will be left behind and lose out to their competitors. Here are 25 online booking statistics showing the shift to online booking, travelers’ habits and interests, and how important it is to adopt reservation technology...

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The outdoor guiding industry, like other adventure travel sectors, has seen its fair share of dramatic changes over the past two years. We don’t expect that to level out any time soon. Instead, consider going into 2022 with your pivoting feet because there’s sure to be a consistent change in guiding (and travel in general).  So, if there’s anything we’ve learned since 2020, it’s that “the only constant is change” for tour operators. Here are 9 outdoor guiding and adventure travel trends coming our way in 2022: Outdoor Guiding Trends Coming in 2022 1. End of Reserve With Google But...

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(Photo/state of Oregon) President Biden Nominates Charles Sams for Director of the National Park Service By National Parks Conservation Association President Biden nominated Charles Sams III to be the director of the National Park Service, a position that’s been vacant for the past four years. This is historical because Mr. Sams would be the first Native American to lead the national parks. He is Cayuse, Walla Walla, and a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Mr. Sams is also a Navy veteran and co-founder of the Center for Diversity and the Environment. While he’s never managed...

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Outdoor women’s organizations give women a safe, welcoming, and an empowering environment to learn more about their sports and themselves in the outdoors. A woman in the outdoors will have a different experience than men. As a company that strives to get more people outside and taking more adventures, we’re excited to see more and more organizations showcasing and supporting women in the outdoors. We’ve included outdoor women’s organizations that go hiking, climbing, fishing, and all the adventures in between. Black Girls Trekkin Mission: To help empower black women while getting outdoors. To show the world that ladies of color...

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