When a Tour Guide Travels
Las Vegas News – To show support for the sovereignty of Ukraine, the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign will change colors, starting at sunset tonight (Monday Feb 28th) and running indefinitely, to the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian national flag.
As soon as I can I will add some pictures.
Two weeks after State of Nevada mask mandates were mostly ended, mask wearing has mostly stopped. That is mostly. There are still some businesses and situations where mask wearing is still required. See the video for the current state of the mask in Las Vegas:
Last night I ventured around Resorts World in Las Vegas. It has settled in quite well. And the Sphere is rocking.
At opening Resorts World felt unready. It bills itself as the most tech friendly place. No money changes hands at the food court… all kiosk ordering and digital pay. Lots of ballyhoo about easy WiFi yah de yah de yada.
Except at opening the systems were glitchy at best and system overloaded at worst. Now a few months in everything seems smoother and the promise of Resorts World being a digital leader looks to be closer to reality.
And the Sphere, the monstrous digital globe located in Resorts World District retail area just simply rocks. Check out my video of one of its “shows.”
Not everybody needs a personal voice amplifier. Yet if you speak to groups – meetings or briefings or like me you give tours, your voice gets stressed. Its not bad if it is a big group and you have a PA system to talk over. It is not so bad if it is just a few people that you can speak to in a normal voice.
But when you have to speak to a larger group… 8-20 people say, outdoors, fighting wind and other noises, it can fry your voice pretty quick. That’s when a personal voice amplifier can be a godsend. Light weight, easy to carry over the shoulder or on your belt, it helps you reach everybody but still speaking in something like a real voice.
If you present to medium sized groups or give tours like I do, check out a personal voice amplifier. Here is a link to a fairly simple and cheap one that works for me…
Huge demand from visitors coming to Las Vegas has overwhelmed the supply of hotel rooms and show tickets. That has equated into high room and ticket prices.
That may finally be starting to turn around as more restaurants, hotel rooms and especially shows grow and expand their offerings. The half-price ticket kiosks are still selling tickets close to full price, but at least Vegas.com is offering some details. Some Cirque shows are offered up to 60% off on some dates!
If more deals come around, I’ll share them right away.
For those who want a taste of the types of things that drives tour operators batty:
This is an email I sent to a client. I’ll call him Chris:
Just an update. I quit Bokun today. They still say they are going to bill me for your refund to the tour I was never paid for. Completely disjointed customer service where multiple layers of management get involved in turn and each new person fails to read what the issues are. They just give a stock answer that has nothing to do with your problem so you have to go back at each layer two or three times to get to the next level. So I am done with them. They SAY they are issuing you the refund. I hope they do.
Good luck.
Richard
The background is that I used Bokun – which provides marketing and management sites for tour operators to use. They also have a payment system called Bokun Pay that certain accounts MUST use for payment. Bokun and Bokun Pay are based in the United Kingdom. They are part of the Trip Advisor umbrella.
The problem is I received a booking through the Bokun system that required payment through the Bokun Pay system. The issue is I can’t take Bokun Pay. I cancelled the tour. Then the fun began.
Weeks later I start getting messages from Chris the guy who booked the tour. He was having trouble getting his refund. It turns out that Bokun Pay was insisting that the refund be approved by the tour operator. The issue? I didn’t have an account with Bokun Pay so I had no means to authorize a refund.
Catch 22.
Finally after countless appeals to Bokun to get involved Bokun Pay very grudgingly agreed to refund Chris his money on the tour he never took because the tour had been cancelled. The upshot? Bokun Pay was going to charge me for the refund.
The refund for the tour that never happened and that I never was paid for because I didn’t have an account with Bokun Pay.
So after days and days and countless hours on the telephone and online customer service chat I learned several lessons:
Travel safe friends.
Wow. Just wow!
You thought YOUR wedding was expensive?
Fun YouTube video:
Adele’s residency “Weekends with Adele” kicks off this weekend at the Caesars Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas. Boy is this big! Big show, big event, big money! Did I say big?
Adele will enjoy her 24-show residency that starts this Friday night and continues through April 16.
Ticket prices for each show run between $1,300 and $17,000 each. Just on those numbers Adele will earn in the range of $950,000 per show … or more!
Of course, that’s before her cut of all merchandise sold at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace during her residency.
Adele should send a thank you gift to Celine Dion for this opportunity. Way back in 2003 Caesars built the Colosseum to host Dion’s “A New Day” residency. She was originally contracted for three years for an astounding $100 million, plus 50 percent of the profits during the original three-year contract. But, due to its immediate success, the show extended an additional two years. A New Day ended on 15 December 2007, after a five-year run, grossing over US$385 million. That was about $500,000 per show.
Adele will be getting much more for show, but Dion was doing over 70 shows a year. The Canadian singer then followed up A New Day with a second residence “Celine” from 2011-2019. More big bucks followed. Adele would have to do a lot more over a lot of years to catch Dion as the biggest earner on Las Vegas stages.
Don’t feel bad for Adele, as reports say she will be one well looked-after lady. The singer will stay in the Colosseum’s dedicated suite, which comes with a full staff including a butler, executive assistant, chauffeur, and a special security detail. She and all her guests will eat and drink for free at any Caesars’ resort.
I wish I had learned to sing.
This is actually news from my own walking tour service: deeply discounter Las Vegas Strip Walking Tour tickets for January 2022. These tours are rated 5-Star on travel sites like Viator and Trip Advisor:
Regular tickets range $35-$47. For these times and dates only $20 including all taxes and fees! Limited availability!
Saturday 1 January 2022 @ 2pm
Tuesday 4 January 2022 @ 2pm
Monday 10 January 2022 @ 2pm
Saturday 14 January 2022 @2pm
DM me for promotion details or to book one of these tours at these special rates.
Follow this link for details about the tour (and read the reviews!):
https://www.viator.com//tours/Las-Vegas/Las-Vegas-Strip-Walking-Tour/d684-189272P2?mcid=61846
The Vagabond Horizon