How to Turn Your Travel Passion into Tourism Business Profits – Part I

This is the candid and illuminating story of how Kevin Warren turned his travel passions into substantial profits, fun and adventure.

Back in august of 1970, the Warren brothers Kevin, Steve and Tim moved with their family from Chicago, Illinois to San Diego, California. As teenagers they grew up surfing, riding dirt bikes, camping, flying hang gliding and ultra-light airplanes, traveling to the backcountry and nearby Baja, Mexico.

It’s true.

They were all energetic “slightly challenged youths”.

One of the schools they attended was the Athenian School in N. California; a college prep, coed boarding school with an emphasis on academics and the outdoors. Their first rafting trips, snow camping, backpacking trips, and x-country skiing trips, as well as extreme skateboarding, building a bamboo hang glider out of bamboo, secret beer-making experiments under the bed and many other adventures, all happened at Athenian.

Part of their graduation requirements was a 28-day survival and outdoors skills “outward bound-type” training in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains.

It was fantastic!

And yes, between adventures, they studied too.

It was clear. They loved the outdoors, flying, adventure and novel business adventures…

Fortunately, None of them died, was not expelled and they eventually graduated from Athenian.

Back in San Diego, being adventurous, young and entrepreneurial, Kevin started a business towing aerial advertising banners low and slow along the beaches of North County San Diego with our ultralight airplane around 1978.

He was getting $175 for 1/2 hour to pay for our hobby. How cool, getting paid for what he loved to do!

In the early 80’s Kevin’s passion for flying continued. He wanted to fly for the airlines and started flying buddies into remote areas of Baja, Mexico to surf, build his flying hours and share the cost. He started getting calls from people he never met with questions like this,

“My buddy Jeff flew into Baja and went surfing with you. Sounds fantastic! How can I go too?”

Kevin thought, “Could I get paid to do some of the things I most love; surfing, flying and travel?”

———The Answer Was a Big YES ———

What started as a hobby, turned into a life changing tourism career for him with the launch of Baja AirVentures in 1985. Kevin’s early trips focused on 4-day fly-in surfing expeditions into remote dirt strips on Baja’s isolated Pacific coast. Empty and perfect waves, pristine nature, catered camping – just what mostly professional men who loved to surf wanted.

Kevin’s Baja surfing tour company grew into a diversified and profitable multi-sport soft Eco-Adventure Baja travel company, by asking his guests what they wanted in their active vacations,

Many tourism professionals Kevin has met over the last 15 plus years – or those wanting to get into tourism – also seek to combine their passion for travel, sport, adventure, the outdoors and make good money too.

Does this sound at all like you?

Or something you are dreaming of…?

Kevin’s tourism business and income have earned him two eco-adventure resorts in Baja, Mexico, a new big 5-bedroom house in San Diego, 4 airplanes, a lovely wife and three beautiful daughters.

Kevin’s material success is only a small part of the more valuable rewards of: appreciating life, living your dreams and experiencing joy daily in your tourism profession.

Success and quality of life – however you define it – is what you can have as tourism professional if you take the right steps.

Follow this link to read the second part of this real-life tourism business and hospitality marketing case study – and hear a “Secret to Their Success” Interview Series, more best practices and resources that have absolutely increased the bottom line and quality of life for Kevin and so many tourism projects around the world.

The travel business has been good to Kevin and sharing these articles and tips is a way to give back to the industry.

Starting, promoting and running any type of tourism business or destination – takes a lot of time and work. So all articles, tips, resources and news – will be in short “readers digest” versions.

Upcoming Tourism Business Categories and Resources

Future EzineArticles.com contributions will include topics on:

Sales

Marketing

E-marketing

Search engine Optimization

Pay per Click Advertising

Online Reservation & Distribution Systems

E-mail newsletters and databases

Advertising

Management

Home-based travel agencies

Operations

Development

Finance

Risk management

Communications

Strategic planning

Media and media relations

Working with suppliers

Trade show marketing and much more.

Not only will you learn what business and marketing strategies work, but how-to avoid critical mistakes that spell disaster.