Hundreds of travel professionals descended upon Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood for the first-ever TripCon — a sold-out tour and conference for experience industry professionals held from Nov. 10 to 14.
The event attracted upward of 550 new tour guides and tour directors, as well as more than 100 tour operators from 20 countries around the world.
TripCon attendees listened to 35 tourism pros talk about diversity and inclusion in tour companies, social justice, the state of the industry, industry insights, business, technology, and marketing tips.
TripCon’s diverse industry included LGBTQ, religious, Asian, Black, and Latin-owned tour companies, tour directors, and guides. Adult and student travel were also represented.
The conference also hosted two job fairs and facilitated 2,300 individual interviews between tour guides and tour operators.
“This is the first time that we went big,” Mitch Bach, co-founder and CEO of TripSchool and co-creator of TripCon, told Gay City News. “It was the first time that we said to our entire community: ‘Can you show up for us, for guiding, for what it means to be a storyteller in the world?’”
He added: “It completely exceeded our expectations and blew us away with the way the group tour industry showed up for this celebration.”
A former professional tour guide, Bach started TripSchool with a fellow professional tour guide, Alan Armijo, in 2017. The two men train thousands of tour directors and tour guides through bootcamps, online trainings, and training guides. They are also business partners at Tourpreneur, which also provides professional development for tour business owners through its website, podcast, and community.
Bringing place-makers together
“We, as tour guides, are a global community,” Bach said. “We’re not just our cities. We’re not just our destinations. [We’re not just] our companies. Together, [we] have a global identity of being the change-makers, the storytellers, the place-makers, the people who make travel tick. We’re the face of travel. We’re the soul of travel.”
“This was validation that there’s a need,” he added, stating that TripCon is going to get bigger and better in the future.
TripCon also gave New York City tour guides and activities directors a way to show off their city to their peers. The Big Apple’s tour guides provided more than 200 tours and experiences for their fellow tour guides, tour directors, and tour operators.
Kaitlin Calogera, founder and president of A Tour of Her Own, based in Washington, DC, appreciated how Bach brought the personality of New York into the conference.
Tourism professionals also enjoyed the welcome party hosted by TripCon’s sponsor, Yard House, and a glitzy closing party filled with aerialists, drag queens, burlesque dancers, jazz performers, and more.
Guiding the heart and soul of experiences
Tourism professionals kept the joy of being together front and center despite the results from the recent United States presidential election. Many were laser-focused on how they could be agents of change. They gained inspiration listening to presentations by tour companies, like Invisible Cities’ founder and CEO Zakia Moulaoui Guery, who presented “Guiding as a Force for Social Change.”
Invisible Cities is a United Kingdom-based organization that trains people who have experienced homelessness how to be tour guides and hires them to lead city walking tours.
Leigh Jameson, a freelance tour director and tour guide, and Michael Venturiello, founder and lead tour guide of Christopher Street Tours, participated in “‘There is No Neutral’ Dealing with Tough Topics on Tours” with moderator Tourism Cares CEO Greg Takehara. Takehara also moderated the panel discussion, “Feeling Seen, Being Heard: The Importance of Inclusivity and Representation,” which brought together The Pathways Project executive director team member Miles Tibbs, Travel Unity Executive Director Roni Weiss, and WorldStrides tour guide AJ Gibson.
Takehara, a gay man, is a co-creator of The Pathways Project.
“There’s a huge need to continue to diversify the people who are doing this job,” said Bach, who is also a co-founder of The Pathways Project. “We want to be an integral part of that.”
The conversation got heated during a session, “Candid Talk: What’s Right and Wrong with Our Industry and Careers?” led by Calogera and Miriam Bourin, travel director at Destinations America, and moderated by Bach.
Many tour directors and tour guides expressed frustration with compensation and expectations leading tours. One person brought up unionizing, but not everyone agreed.
Takehara believed it was important for tour professionals to come together as a community and talk about the realities of their work. Many tour guides are contractors who work for many different tour companies.
“I know the kind of people that are in this room. They’re incredible storytellers,” he said, describing tour operators, directors, and guides as the people who have their eyes, ears, and feet on the ground in the tourism industry. “I just knew that there would be a lot of very robust conversation here.”
New York-based independent tour guide Emily Pearse appreciated the hard topics addressed at the conference, from discussing real history and issues on tours to the realities of the job.
“I think that was really empowering to be able to say, ‘this is what I’m worth,’ and ‘this is what I’ll accept, and no less,’” said the 31-year-old pansexual woman. “There’s been a real sense of solidarity in that.”
“We need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” she added.
Getting down to business
TripCon sponsor, GetYourGuide’s Anna Cashman, B2B brand and insights lead, provided up-to-date insights into the travel market and trends. Wanderful founder Beth Santos demonstrated the power of solo women travel in her presentation, showing tour professionals who make the majority of travel decisions: Women. Women, 85%, are clicking book on screens across America.
“I think that really backs this idea that people are seeking connection, experiences connect us,” said Pearse. “Tours are really beautiful way to do that.”
Saturday Night Live’s choreographer and director Shannon Lewis and writer, actor, and producer Douglas Lyons talked about stage presence, body language, and storytelling when performing or giving a tour.
Other presentations included using artificial intelligence as a tour guide, using Google’s free tools to book guests on tours, using online travel agencies, branding, and owning and operating a tour business.
Response
Calogera, a 36-year-old bisexual woman, and Venturiello, a 33-year-old gay man, appreciated the opportunities TripCon offered smaller tour companies to grow their businesses and learn from their peers. Their favorite panel discussions were about inclusivity.
“I think that they both brought beautiful perspective to the conversation about how there is space for marginalized histories on our tours,” Calogera said. “I think that they delivered it really professionally and responsibly. It was a much-needed conversation that we need to be having in this industry.”
As an independent tour company focused on women’s history in Washington, DC, Calogera reflected on how she showed up at the conference compared to larger tour companies and tour companies that are very different from her company, such as faith-based companies.
“There were folks talking about Christian tours, LGBTQ, even… science and nature,” she said. “The space is diverse in what the offerings are and what people are bringing, as far as their personality and their skills.”
Gibson, 44, agreed, stating, “TripCon has been the most beautiful, welcoming experience.”
Gibson noted that as a self-identified gay Christian man, there was “a lot of family in the room,” but he also said that a safe space was created for everyone, including the Christian tour companies and student tour companies.
“I think it’s so important now more than ever to create safe spaces, to create a seat at the table for everyone, especially our community,” Gibson said.
Venturiello, who owns a New York-based LGBTQ history tour company, told Gay City News that TripCon was “incredibly valuable” because he appreciated the accessibility and size of the TripCon — a departure from other tourism industry conferences that are large and often inaccessible to smaller companies.
“Everyone here has an opportunity to shift and evolve this industry in a way that best fits them, best fits their clients, best fits their employees, their contractors,” Calogera said. “Everyone brings something different to the table, and this is one of the most like diverse and beautiful places to talk about tourism.”
“There was really something for everyone,” said Venturiello.
You deserve it
“It’s an unforgettable experience to be on tour,” Bach said. “We are finally happy to create a home for them.”
“We’re going to make this what tour guides deserve,” he continued, “which is a place to gather every year, to get hired, to get inspired, and to network and connect.”
The inaugural TripCon started in Brooklyn, he said, but it will journey to other destinations.
TripCon attendees told Gay City News they plan to attend next year’s conference, set for November 10-13, 2025, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Registration for the conference is open. Early bird conference fees are $399.
Full Disclosure: Heather Cassell is currently working on earning a tour guide certification from TripSchool and self-funded attending TripCon. She is developing content for The Pathways Project.
