Hi Reader, Happy Easter! Hope you're enjoying a well deserved long weekend off. LOL 😂 .... as if! In these busy times, Cycle Cities is here to save you. If you are reading this and you are not a part of our community, some of the links won't work, but drop me an email - [email protected] - and we can discuss joining options that are right for you. Love to have you on board! Discussion This week we have 3 posts wanting some 🖐. How can Kay get in touch with Fareharbor Support? Going to...
10 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Spring is upon us! Our bike tour community is buzzing with new tours, new guides, new customers, and all the fresh vibes that come with this great season! We're Getting Reel. Our community members got some special training last month from Tourné Bilbao, on making engaging instagram reels. Here are some of the standout creations: San Sebastian Bruges A Bright Idea! Brighton, on the South Coast of England has eccentricity, culture, beach and bikes! Only an hour on the fast train from...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, This week and next, we are focussing on guide training. Let's Train Those New Guides - Part 1/2 Safety First. Are there any tricky parts of your route, or intersections that could be problematic if not crossed safely? Make sure your new guides know these places, and are properly trained on how you want them to guide in these specific hot-spots Make sure you communicate your company values and culture to your new guides. Give them the induction and the training they need to keep to...
17 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, This morning I listened to a tours and activities consultant in the USA say operators should aim for no less than 70% OTA bookings 😡. A consultant! For tour operators!!! If you don't own the customer, your business is on shaky ground. The more you rely on OTAs, the more they will exploit that reliance. They can take their customers elsewhere at the drop of a hat. We have seen that happen to some of our operators. Absolutely use OTAs to fill up empty seats... but if your strategy is...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, King's Day - 1 Month to Go! Bike tour operators in Europe know that the Kings Day Weeked is BIG for Dutch outbound tourism. It's when Spring really kicks in. If you're not prepared, you'll know about it! Make sure you have your Dutch guides recruited, trained and on-hand for the Last weekend in April.. you're going to be busy! Discussion Wow.. what an amazing Happy Hour with Nicolien on Wednesday! Nicolien trained us on how to make a stunning Instagram Reel.. and the result was...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Here's a sneak peek of what you can expect from this Wednesday's Happy Hour, where Nicolien will give us a live demonstration on how to create beautiful instagram reels. Wednesday, March 26 at 7:30 PM GMT+9:30 Happy Hour - Insta Video Creation with Nicolien March Happy Hour! 🍹- Instagram video Theme! 🎥 Want to boost your bike tour business on Instagram? Don't miss this exciting webinar with Nicolien from Tourne Bilbao. She'll show you how to create stunning Instagram Reels and...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Welcome to the Cycle Cities unmissable buzz for bike tour operators. Let's start this week with an important piece of industry news... Airbnb re-opening for Experiences Learn the latest here. Want to chat about Airbnb? Post a thread about it on our discussion board, or search 'Airbnb' on the discussions board to see previous discussions that mention Airbnb, and chime in on those threads. Discussion Lots of new questions in Discussion this week, and some new faces too 🤗. Maria wants...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, First this week, we have a couple of sad 😢 farewells. Radius Tours is ending their bike tours and focussing more on other products. Daniel has let me know with sadness he will be leaving us. I want to say a big thank you to Daniel and everyone at Radius Tours for being such a valuable member of our community over the years, and for giving us a very memorable Symposium 2019 in Munich. You will be missed! Also, It's a farewell to Monica Busby who has been working for Cycle Cities for...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Buzzing from Bangkok. Jetlag conquered. Almost back to Aus! Discussion Unanswered Posts: Can you help Ginette with web design? Elfsite for a slider testimonial? German opeators, can you help Felix with "Scheinselbstständigkeit"? Topics getting attention: Flat Tires and Broken Bikes with Thibault Merchandising with Emmanuel Quality Metrics The important project we discussed last week - quality metrics for Cycle Cities Operators. We have Stephan, Thibault and Rob in this working...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
