What is your favorite thing about Spark Las Vegas?

“I think that some people do not realize how much FareHarbor wants you to succeed at what you do. And, when you are able to meet with FareHarbor employees in person, they know who you are and they’re so excited to show you all the new features and resources that will help you sell more tickets and grow your business!” – Midgi Moore, Juneau Food Tours

Spark Las Vegas was a major success and we’re thankful for each client, sponsor, and partner that was able to join us on October 10th, 2022. We’re still buzzing from seeing everyone face-to-face once again!

More than 70 FareHarbor employees traveled from across the world to make our annual event better than ever. Even more excitingly, more than 400 clients from 240 companies and over 40 states made their way to the Paris Hotel on the Las Vegas strip to explore breaking industry trends, connect with friends new and old, and (re)ignite their passion for their businesses. 

We know this is just the beginning of hosting in-person events again. So, if you couldn’t make it to Spark Las Vegas this year, we’ve rounded up the highlights (and we hope you can join us next year!) 

What we covered, from A to Z

3 Stages, 14 Sessions, Unlimited Learning

We had a jam-packed day of discovering new strategies, helpful resources, and Dashboard features. Throughout the event, attendees were able to hear directly from FareHarbor experts and leadership as well as fellow tour operators. 

The Main Events

During main event sessions, clients discovered what was to come for FareHarbor, insights about the future of tourism, discussions about OTAs and so much more. 

We’re going to discuss two of our most popular sessions from the day, but stay tuned because all SIX main event sessions will be available on Compass in the coming weeks. 

How I Grew My Business: Tour Operators Reveal Their #1 Growth Strategy

FareHarbor clients Justin Buzzi of Get Up and Go Kayaking, Jeff Woelker of Underground Donut Tour, and Midgi Moore of Juneau Food Tours took the stage with host Shane Whaley, FareHarbor’s Head of Community. In this casual yet incredibly informative chat, these three operators revealed what supercharged their success in the tourism industry.

Unmatched Support: Three Teams Working for You Behind the Scenes

You may not be aware of all FareHarbor resources available to our clients. That’s why we gave attendees an inside look at some of the more behind-the-scenes teams and how they assist in our clients’ success. 

This session featured:

• Eliza Radeka talking about Compass, our resource hub including hundreds of articles, checklists, and webinars made specifically for tour and activity operators.  
• Chelsea Love discussing software partnerships, a team that vets and secures all FareHarbor partners — from waiver integrations to marketing solutions and beyond. 
• Alley Wilcox representing our quality control team, who interprets existing FareHarbor products and sees how they can be improved to better clients’ businesses. 

Breakout Sessions

We curated our breakout sessions by identifying the specific topics that will help tour operators succeed. Some covered Dashboard-specific strategies and others dove into niche topics like how you can win in the search results.

We have some select breakout sessions that will be available on Compass soon, including our most attended breakout session of the conference.

Tweak These Four FareHarbor Features to Drive Conversions

Account Managers Michelle Dierks and Carly Ryan revealed four FareHarbor features that, when optimized, will increase conversions along with revenue. Discovering booking flow best practices is just the starting point — be sure to watch on Compass once available to find out more. 

Excitingly, the most popular sessions will return as new live webinars in the upcoming months. First up…

What Every Tour Operator Should Know About Google Tag Manager and Goal Flows will be happening on Wednesday, November 30th at 12pm ET. Register here.

What are you going to do differently after attending Spark? 

“I am going to optimize my website better. That is really what I took from this conference the most. My website is just what I thought a nice website should look like; I had no idea it’s supposed to be functional on the back end too. I feel as though once I do that I will be able to get more bookings — which I am already getting a solid amount — but everything will just get even better.” -Beau La Fave, Portland Food Tours

Expo Hall – To discover partnerships and resources

One of the best parts of Spark Las Vegas was having the chance for attendees to connect in person with our sponsors and FareHarbor representatives at the Expo Hall. 

Attendees had the opportunity to network with GetYourGuide, Fotaflo, Wherewolf, Smartwaiver, and Clear Sky Tourism. Clients learned first hand how each company’s software or integrations will lead to countless hours saved and more efficient day-to-day operations!

We also had five FareHarbor booths available for attendees to chat with employees about various resources we offer. Our two favorites of the day:

In-Person Payment Solutions Booth: Clients got to interact with all of the FareHarbor-compatible hardware to streamline in-person payments. Most importantly, attendees saw Tap to Pay on iPhone in action!

Sites Booth: Every Spark attendee had the option to get a free FareHarbor website created and optimized by none other than our FareHarbor Sites Team.

And some of the other fun stuff

One-on-ones

As we’ve expressed already, you can’t beat an in-person discussion. That’s why we offered personalized one-on-ones for every Spark attendee so they could sharpen their skills for the topics they wanted help with. 

Over the day we held over 130 hours of one-on-one discussions with FareHarbor specialists. 

Happy Hour

It wouldn’t be FareHarbor Spark without our famous happy hour to end the day! Attendees and staff made their way over to The Chateau located just under the Eiffel Tower to raise a glass to an amazing event.

If you were lucky, you could catch a perfect view of The Bellagio water show while mingling and absorbing all of the strategies and learnings of the day.

We can talk nonstop about our favorite parts of Spark. So why not let one of our amazing clients finish it off? 

“I can’t thank you enough for hosting Spark! I honestly can’t wait for the next one. I recommend every business owner in our industry to check out this event and take advantage of what FareHarbor and its partners have to offer. – Big Bear Off Road Experience