Join me

The New Year brings a new home for this Travel Blog. Join me over at http://guide.trustedtours.com/ for the new and improved wordpress version! Very excited about the possibilities so please update your RSS feeds, bookmarks, etc. and thanks to everyone for all the support.

Trusted Tours and Attractions is growing by leaps and bounds so take a look. http://www.trustedtours.com/ Happy New Year! - John

Being all things to all people

Aesop once said, "Please all and you will please none."

Trying to please everyone is a tempting trap but doomed to failure. Chuck McKay at Fishing for Customers has a great post about the benefits of specialization. He makes the point that specialists are more successful than generalists but everyone is afraid of leaving potential customers behind. Chuck argues that it doesn't work that way. He makes a good case for rethinking your strategy and defining yourself more precisely.

This applies to hotels, restaurants, tours, attractions, museums, people and every aspect of the tourism business. What is your brand really? What are you known for?

Even cities have a certain quality, a distinct personality that sets them apart. Boston isn't the same as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami or Washington, D.C.; the list goes on and on. They don't even try to be. But there is something I see more and more in my travels. The homogenization of many aspects of these cities. The loss of local flavor and personality. Starbucks is a classic and overused example. So is Walmart. But it exists on a smaller scale too. How many times can you visit similar sites, tours, eateries and experiences everywhere you go before it doesn't matter where you go. It's all the same.

Travelers today seem to want familiar and unusual. Variety and sameness. The opportunity lies in specialization whether for yourself or your tourism related business. Don't try to be like everyone else. Don't say "me too!" anymore. Decide who you are and be it with all your might.

Will you "miss" some customers at the end of the day...yes. The upside is developing a true identity in the marketplace and creating loyal, even rabid, fans.

Who are you and why should I give you my money? Better decide before it's too late.

Trusted Tours Halloween Roundup

I have always loved Halloween...

It was my first experience at becoming another character, assuming another identity for just a little while. No, I didn't just put on a costume. I became that character. My early memories are vague and fuzzy. A hobo, a devil, a clown. As I got older the costumes became more sophisticated...more realistic. Now, I portray historical characters year round but Halloween holds a special place in my heart. Walpurgisnacht...All Hallows Eve...Samhain. Here is a roundup in one convenient location of our haunted tours and attractions at Trusted Tours. Enjoy!

Atlanta Segway Ghosts and Legends Tour

Boston Ghosts and Gravestones

Salem Witch Museum

Plymouth Historic Cemetery Tour

Plymouth Twilight Ghost Tour

Charleston Ghost and Legends

Charleston Historic Homes Tour

Chicago Colombian Exposition Tour (the White City)

Key West Ghost Tour

Key West Ghosts and Legends

Key West Ripley's Museum

Key West Harry S. Truman Little White House

Key West Ernest Hemingway Home

Key West Shipwreck Historeum

Las Vegas Hoover Dam Jeep Tour

Las Vegas Eldorado Canyon and Gold Mine Tour

Las Vegas Madam Tussuad's Wax Museum

Hollywood Behind the Scenes Tour

Los Angeles Go Card (Queen Mary. Really creepy)

Memphis Haunted Pub Crawl (Many Spirits)

Memphis Ghost Tour

Miami Go Card (Coral Castle, Vizcaya, Deering Estate)

New Orleans Voodoo Tour

New Orleans Vampire Tour (nice)

New Orleans Ghost Tour

New Orleans Cemetery Tour

New Orleans Cemetery and Gris Gris Tour

New Orleans Ghost and Spirits Tour

New Orleans Bayou and Swamp Adventure

New Orleans Garden District Ghosts and Legends

New York Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum (I think it's creepy. Good haunted trail here,too!)

New York City Pass

Niagara Falls Tour

Orlando Go Card (Ripley's Odditorium, Haunted Grimm House)

Philadelphia City Pass

San Diego Haunted Ghost Tour

San Diego Haunted Old Town

San Diego USS Midway

San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf Wax Museum

San Francisco Alcatraz Cruise

San Francisco Muir Woods/Sausalito

Savannah Ghosts and Gravestones

Savannah Owens Thomas House

Savannah Sorrel-Weed House

Savannah Telfair Academy

Savannah Ghosts Tour

Savannah Sorrel-Weed Candlelight Tour

Savannah Historic Homes Tour

St. Augustine Ghosts and Gravestones

St Augustine Old Jail

St. Augustine Lightner Museum

Washington DC Monuments by Moonlight

Washington DC Madam Tussuad's Wax Museum

Washington DC Georgetown Ghost Tour

Washington DC Segway Night Tour

Washington DC Mount Vernon Tour


Happy Halloween. See you in the Cemetery...

Old St. Augustine

I live and work in St. Augustine, Florida. The oldest, continuously occupied, European-settled City in the United States. (whew!) The town was founded by the Spanish in 1565 and the local joke is that by the time the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, St. Augustine was already up for urban renewal. It's a little, big town with lots of charm.

We're celebrating our 442nd birthday (Sept. 8th)this week with lots of festivities, including recreations of the landing of Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles to establish the town, the first thanksgiving feast, 16th century entertainment, arts, crafts and the "changing of the guard". Should be lots of fun. (I even get to dress up in period clothing!)

I've lived in St. Augustine over ten years now and always enjoy the festivities, activities and interesting people in our town. You never get bored here! I'm lucky to work for Historic Tours of America and participate in Old Town Trolley Tours, The Old Jail, The Florida Heritage Museum and Ghosts & Gravestones on their behalf. Through Trusted Tours and Attractions, I get to visit great attractions and sites here and elsewhere. St. Augustine is certainly worth a visit if you enjoy unique history, great beaches and eclectic, talented people. See you soon.