Niche tour business in a big metropolitan city

[Steve Scheffler]

I live in a big historic city where tourism is the biggest money maker for the city. There is a constant flow of tourists and a lot to see.

What I wanted to do was partner with hotels, since they are a great source for client leads (constant supply of tourists). I want to offer an alternative to jumbo bus tours this city offers, with a smaller more personalized tour in a shuttle of like up to 10 people. For every customer of the hotel that takes my tour the hotel gets a cut from the ticket.

Is this doable? And what are the costs, licenses, permits, etc. that I need to take into account?

[PhillM]

Anything is doable but I think you should talk to the hotel manager and if they're interested and get the approval then talk to a lawyer to get the legal issues taken care of.

I love taking tours of historical cities, especially Charleston, SC on a horse and buggy.

[Steve Scheffler]

Great, so the manager would be the one to talk to? If it's a bigger hotel chain then I am assuming it will be a lot more tedious since I'd have to speak with the corporate office that is not local to me. So am I better off at first trying to create this partnership with smaller local hotels?

[Steve Scheffler]

An additional question I have is regarding the tour crossing state lines. Are there additional legal issues that come into play? For example a greyhound-like bus business that just transports people from some city in some state to another city in a different state, what if anything does that mean for that business since their bus is crossing into different states?

[PhillM]

Great, so the manager would be the one to talk to? If it's a bigger hotel chain then I am assuming it will be a lot more tedious since I'd have to speak with the corporate office that is not local to me. So am I better off at first trying to create this partnership with smaller local hotels?

Smaller chains should be easier to work with since their main offices should be in the same location as the hotels themselves.

With bigger chains it really depends on how corporate has their manager roles set up. Some managers have a lot of control over their direct store fronts/hotels while others don't have much say at all.

Legal questions should be directed to a lawyer. LegalZoom.com might be able to help you out with your questions.