Knowing the right people can save you a lot of money — and a lot of headaches — when planning group tours to popular destinations. The insider’s secret to planning secret tours is to let local experts do the planning for you.

Stacy Barry shares all the details in this episode of the Gather and Go Podcast. As the second-generation owner of Sharin’ the South Tours, she and her family have been helping groups discover the best of Nashville, Memphis and the Smokies for decades. Today, she’s pulling back the curtain on the world of receptive operators and sharing the secrets she uses to plan exceptional group trips.

Stacy talks about how her local network gives her special access to exclusive experiences, how her services can help tour planners save money, and why familiarization trips are a key part of her strategy for launching an outbound tour division. Plus, we have news about Amsterdam’s changing attitude toward tourism; a road tip about building your travel delay survival kit; and a Hot Minute about curbing bad visitor behavior.

Stacy had lots of insights about how receptive operators can leverage their position to create value for traveler planners. This might have been the most interesting:

“A lot of partners give me receptive rates. I’m getting receptive rates most places, and you are not. I have that relationship with hotels and vendors. I have contracted, negotiated rates that never change, even if it’s busy season. I’m still going to get that same rate. And they’re rates that would never be for an outbound tour operator. So even if I’m planning it all for you and putting the work in, and even if I add a markup for my time, it’s still not what you would think, because my rates for things are lower than yours. It may be the same cost, but you’re not going to have to put any of the work in.”

Plus, she had great things to say about:

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• How receptive operators partner with group leaders
  
• How she helps people find affordable hotels in crowded destinations
  
• Why familiarization tours are critical to her plans for expansion
  

Email Stacy at stacy@sharinthesouth.com.

Register for OnSite FAM opportunities at grouptravelleader.com/fams.

1:28 — Travel News: Amsterdam is trying to decrease tourism

2:51 — Road Tip: A travel delay survival kit

14:36 — How Stacy Barry found her way back to travel

19:11 — What is a receptive operator, anyway?

21:32 — A receptive tour operator’s economies of scale

24:32 — Do receptive operators play nicely with group leaders?

28:19 — Secrets for saving money in popular tourist destinations

37:03 — Using FAM tours to build an outbound business

50:03 — Hot Minute: Using FAM tours to build an outbound business

Thanks to our sponsor Coastal Mississippi for making this episode possible. Learn more about Coastal Mississippi’s travel experiences for groups at coastalmississippi.com.

Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism industry podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. There are also tips and insights for destination marketers and others who support the tourism trade. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes an interview with a smart travel pro or an insightful person from outside tourism who’s expertise can help make travel businesses better. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly.

You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen to podcasts or subscribe by email.