THE TOURISM PROFIT PROGRAM - LEADERS
A 14-week program that sets a new tourism business up to be profitable from the start, before the wrong habits take hold.
The Tourism Operator Start-Up Program is a 14-week business set-up program for new tourism operators, delivered one focus area per week by Sarah Colgate of Exceptional Experiences. It covers pricing, cash flow, marketing, seasonality, operations and distribution, and finishes with a 12-month operating plan. It is built for operators in their first year, or about to open, and costs $349 per week.
Why this program exists
Most new tourism operators do not fail because the experience is bad. They fail because the business underneath it was never set up to be profitable. Pricing is guessed. Cash flow is a surprise. The off season arrives with no plan. The agent takes a bigger cut than anyone expected.
I fix that in the first 14 weeks, while the habits are still being formed. I have been in and run tourism businesses, carried the risk, made payroll, and lived agent commissions and seasonal cash flow. This is operator guidance from someone who has done it, not consultant theory.
By the end, you have a profitable pricing model, a marketing approach that brings direct bookings, a handle on cash flow and seasonality, and a 12-month operating plan you can actually use.
Who it is for
New tourism operators in their first year, or about to open.
Owner-operators who are good at delivering the experience but new to running the business side.
Operators who want to set the business up properly rather than learn the hard way.
This program is also built for destinations, regional tourism organisations, councils and destination marketing organisations to offer to the new operators in their region. Instead of watching new operators learn the hard way, a destination can give them a structured 14-week start that lifts the quality and the survival rate of the local operator base. A destination can sponsor places, co-fund places, or refer new operators in, and I can run group cohorts for a region so operators learn alongside each other.
What you walk away with
A profitable pricing model built on your own costs and capacity.
A mapped guest experience with repeatable service standards.
A marketing approach that brings direct bookings.
A clear view of your margin, yield, and cash flow.
Operating systems and checklists that reduce your daily load.
A seasonality plan for the quiet months.
A working knowledge of agents, commissions, and industry bodies.
A 12-month operating plan that ties it all together.
What the program covers
Experience delivery. The experience is the product. The program maps the guest journey from first contact to follow-up, sets service standards you can repeat, and finds the moments that win repeat business and the moments that quietly cost it.
Pricing. Most new operators price too low and then cannot work out why they are busy and broke. The program teaches pricing from cost, capacity and value, and breaks the belief that there is a ceiling the market will not pass. You leave with a pricing model built on your own numbers.
Marketing. Marketing here means bookings, not noise. The program covers positioning, the offer, and the channels that bring direct bookings, so you are not handing every sale to a third party.
Profitability. Margin, yield, break-even, and the few numbers that actually run a tourism business, all in plain language. You learn to tell the difference between busy and profitable, and to see a profit leak before it drains the season.
Operational management. The systems, checklists, rosters and safety basics that let the business run without you holding every single thread. This is what turns a one-person scramble into something that can grow.
Handling seasonality. Tourism has a quiet season. The operators who survive plan for it before it arrives. The program covers smoothing cash flow, shoulder-season offers, and using the quiet time to build rather than to panic.
Distribution and agents. How distribution works, what commission really costs, and how to use agents as a shopfront while still protecting the direct booking. A new operator who understands this keeps far more of every dollar.
Tourism industry bodies. Who the regional tourism organisations, the state body and the relevant accreditation schemes are, what they do, and how a new operator plugs in, gets found and gets supported.
The 14 Weeks
Every program is shaped by the operation and the role. The structure of the twelve weeks stays the same. What changes is what we spend time on inside each session, based on what the business needs.
A one-page snapshot of where the business sits today and the numbers you will track for the next 13 weeks.
Week 1 — Foundations and the operator mindset
Mapping the guest experience from first contact to follow-up, and finding the moments that leak goodwill.
Week 2 — Experience delivery, part one
Week 3 — Experience delivery, part two
Service standards, scripting the non-negotiables, and a delivery you can repeat on a bad day, not just a good one.
Week 4 — Pricing for profit.
Setting a price from cost, capacity and value, and breaking the price-ceiling belief.
Week 5 — Knowing your numbers.
Margin, yield and break-even in plain language, and the three or four numbers that actually run the business.
Reading cash flow, spotting the profit leaks, and setting a simple cash rhythm.
Week 6 — Profitability and cash flow.
Week 7 — Operational management
Building the systems, checklists and rosters that let the business run without you holding every thread. Safety and risk basics.
Positioning, the offer, and the channels that bring direct bookings rather than just filling agent allocations.
Week 8 —Marketing that books direct
What commissions really cost and how to use agents as a shopfront while protecting the direct booking.
Week 9 — Distribution and agents.
Week 10 — Handling seasonality
Planning for the off season before it arrives, smoothing cash flow and using quiet time to build.
Week 13 — Putting it together.
A simple 12-month operating plan that ties pricing, marketing, cash flow and seasonality into one document.
Week 11 — Tourism industry bodies and accreditation
Who the RTOs and state body are, what they do, and how a new operator plugs in and gets found.
Week 14— Review, next steps and accountability.
A full review against the Week 1 snapshot. What moved, what is next, and how you keep the momentum going.
Turning interest into bookings, handling enquiries, qualifying and following up without feeling pushy.
Week 12 — Sales and converting enquiries
The investment
One leader, or a group of up to four from the same business. Paid weekly.
If you have more than one person you want to develop, put them in the room together. A duty manager, a lead guide and a reservations supervisor learning to read the same numbers and hold the same standard is worth more than any one of them learning it alone.
Paid weekly. You can stop at any point if the program is not the right fit. The option matters.
The Tourism Profit Program — Leaders runs alongside my established coaching work. I take on a small number of program clients at any one time. When the spots are full, the next intake opens when one finishes.
$349 per week
How it works
The program runs across 14 weeks, one focus area per week. Each week includes:
A working session on the week's focus area.
A practical task you complete in your own business.
A simple tool, template or checklist to keep.
The weekly format is deliberate. It keeps the cost manageable for a new operator, it spreads the work so nothing gets skipped, and it builds the business one solid piece at a time.
Why me
I have spent over 20 years inside the tourism industry, as an operator, not a consultant. I have been in and run tourism businesses, carried the risk, made payroll, lived the agent commissions and worked through the seasonal cash flow that every new operator is about to meet
I have taken a tour business from a $36 ticket to $50, past the ceiling the previous owners insisted was impossible, and shifted online sales from 4 percent to 47 percent of turnover. I know what a new operator is walking into because I have walked into it myself.
"Working with Sarah Colgate has been transformative for Hot Air Balloon Gold Coast & Cairns. Her deep tourism industry expertise and practical, results-driven approach helped us refine our sales channels, strengthen OTA and trade partnerships, and drive measurable growth in bookings and revenue. Sarah truly understands tourism operators and tailors her strategies to deliver real results."
Clayton Priddle
General Manager, Hot Air Ballooning Cairns and Gold Coast
Common questions
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It is a 14-week business set-up program for new tourism operators, delivered one focus area per week by Sarah Colgate of Exceptional Experiences. It covers pricing, cash flow, marketing, seasonality, operations, distribution and industry bodies, and finishes with a 12-month operating plan. It costs $349 per week.
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Fourteen weeks, one focus area per week. The investment is $349 per week, paid weekly.
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No. This is the best time. The program is built to be done while the habits are still forming, so the business is set up properly from the start rather than fixed later.
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Yes. Every number and every system is taught in plain language, one piece per week, with a practical task in your own business. You do not need a finance or marketing background.
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Yes. You can sponsor places, co-fund places or refer operators in, and Sarah can run group cohorts so operators learn alongside each other.
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This program is built for the first year. If you are established and turning over more, the Tourism Profit Program or Business Improvement Coaching is likely the better fit. Start with the Tourism Business Health Check and we will confirm the right path.
The Next Step
You do not need to learn the business side the hard way, one costly mistake at a time.
You need a structured start built by someone who has run the businesses. The starting point is the free Tourism Business Health Check.
It takes about ten minutes and tells us both where your business stands and whether this program is the right fit for you right now