SegwaySightseeing.com is launched with 31 cities worldwide

[SF Segway Tours]

SegwaySightseeing.com has been launched featuring Segway Guided Tours in 31 cities worldwide.

http://www.segwaysightseeing.com

The site is a one stop source for tour information and reservations for fun Segway tour companies from Paris to Berlin, Boston to San Francisco.

New cities are being added in the next few weeks. The site provides star ratings and reviews by guests for each tour. Reservations are easily made with each tour provider and charged in the local market currency.

For more information about listing a Segway tour please contact Ashleigh Bunn. Email; [email protected]

[hibmep]

How is this new site, or is this site any better than Segwayguidedtours.com with over 300 segway tours listed all over the world. Steve

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by hibmep

How is this new site, or is this site any better than Segwayguidedtours.com with over 300 segway tours listed all over the world. Steve

SegwaySightseeing.com is *much* more attractive and visually interesting.

I'm not sure it's more usable. And I don't know if that translates into more traffic generated, or tours booked.

But visual appeal definitely has its place, and SegwayguidedTours.com is surprisingly drab and uninteresting. It might be superior, if you already have decided to book a Segway tour, and just want the fastest and and most convenient way to find your tour operator, get to their site, and book your tour.

But if you're sitting around, thinking, "what shall we do on our summer vacation?", I don't think it'll be nearly as effective at getting people engaged to the point of booking a tour they hadn't yet decided on.

[wwhopper]

Any website that promotes our Segway industry is a good one, this one in my oppinion needs some work. Though the other one does need updating as well.

As I am looking at it, this website is missing a majority of the tours in my area, and the areas that I tend to spend time in. Though the other website has not been updated to list who is currently offering Segway Tours.

And in reality only ONE tour company is included on this website in is in my area and though it does have tours in a variety of areas through out the region, it is not a Segway Authorized Tour.

Here are my comments:

There are three tour companies in my home town of Washington DC.
Capital Segway - not included - it is the only Segway Authorized Tour in DC www.capitalsegway.com

City Segway Tours - not included www.citysegwaytours.com a company that has been established since the beginning of the Segway Tour industry and is all over the world.

Segs-In-The-City - though their name may have changed by now - it is the only one included - as per the address though not the name.

Gettysburg Pennsylvania.
SegTours - which is the only tour that has real Gettysburg Guides who lead the tour and have the knod of the local tourist industry. www.segtours.com

Gettysburg Segway Tours - not sure who they are, though I think they are the Segs-In-The-City Tours are listed on the site.

Annapolis Maryland
Annapolis Segway Tours - the only Segway Authorized Tour in Annapolis - not included www.annapolissegwaytours.com

Another Segway Tour Company - probably Segs-In-The City is again included on the site - this is only because of their location.

Oxon Hill Maryland / National Harbor Maryland
HarborSegs - not included www.harborsegs.com

Crozet Virginia
Seg-Ville Tours - not included. www.seg-ville.com

Philadelphia PA
I-Glide Tour - not included (not sure their website)

Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach
The Segway Authorized Dealer there has a tour operation, again not included.

Indianapolis Indiana,
The Segway Authorized Dealer has a tour there that is top notch, again not included.

Next I looked at prices, I see the prices they are quoting on the website are a tad higher than others that I know that operate in the area. I can understand that they are no doubt including the commission for the advertising on this website in the cost, so that the tour operator does not have to cover the cost. Hey as a businessperson, I surely understand that.

It may indeed be a pretty website, but the other website though not so pretty is not as up to date - nor does it take reservations.

So I would say, like anything else, check the local Convention and Visitor Bureau for Segway Tour listings, as well as the local Better Business Bureau for the validity of the Segway Tours in the area that you are interested in!

[Halffro777]

If the tours on this site are incompletely listed and the ones that are listed have raised their price to compensate for the website's commission, then who does this website benefit?

[CovRob]

This newly promoted site charges a commission to operators who use the site - it is probably incomplete as some operators either don't know about it or choose not to pay the commission. It potentially offers more information to the prospective customer of business subscribing though.

Segwayguidedtours.com costs the featured operators nothing, hence the increased volume of listings but it does rely on businesses approaching the site to appear / update / delete entries as appropriate - a Segway domain name in the UK recently changed hands and the new owner wasn't actually operating any kind of Segway tour or business (although it is stated to be a future desire). Nevertheless the link from both INC's guided tours page and Segwayguidedtours.com went to this new website until other UK Segway operators highlighted the anomaly to both websites whereupon they deleted the offending link.

I venture to suggest that no service of this kind can ever provide 100% coverage or be totally accurate. I would also highlight the OP's opening title - the website is "launched", which I interprete, for this sort of service, to be something that still needs to evolve & grow.

[otis]

To put some facts straight - Segs in the City has not changed its name. It was the first operator in all its locations - DC, Annpolis, Baltimore and Gettysburg. And yes we do have REAL guides in Gettysburg - if you mean Licensed Battlefield Guides and if you also mean having people that actual talk to you and not a recorded system!

The listings on this new site are due to current customers of tourcorp that is the originator of the site. And we all know that the only difference between a regular segway tour operator and an "authorized tour operator" is that an authorized tour operator is a dealer and Segway pushed them into being "tour operators" so they could actually make some money.

[bvelke]

Originally Posted by otis

To put some facts straight - Segs in the City has not changed its name. It was the first operator in all its locations - DC, Annpolis, Baltimore and Gettysburg. And yes we do have REAL guides in Gettysburg - if you mean Licensed Battlefield Guides and if you also mean having people that actual talk to you and not a recorded system!

For the record, the standard pricing for both tour companies in Gettysburg is for tours which are accompanied by staff people who "actual [sic] talk to you" about safety and equipment. The difference (one of many) is that Segs in the City's standard pricing offers to let you ride through the battlefield and "look" at it while SegTours.com's standard tour includes a recorded audio by a Licensed Battlefield Guide so that you actually learn about the battle from someone who knows the history of the area.

For an extra fee, both companies offer tours that are accompanied by a live Licensed Battlefield Guide.

Bob Velke
SegTours, LLC

[wwhopper]

Originally Posted by bvelke

For an extra fee, both companies offer tours that are accompanied by a live Licensed Battlefield Guide. Bob Velke
SegTours, LLC

DCSEG members really enjoyed their tour from Seg Tours last year. And having live, speaking, thinking, interacting guides made the tour a real history lesson. Especially since a number of our group were very interested in Civil War history, so the back and forth between the tourists and the guide was as intersting as the tour guides descriptions all by themselves.

Bob, do the tours of Gettysburg have to special approval from the National Park Service to operate their tour? I would think that the NPS would mandate some kind of license agreement to operate a tour for a fee of any National Park.

[Florida Ever-Glides]

Keep in mind that SF Electric Tours was started by seasoned travel/tour operators. Their Segway tours, over time, have been a boost to the overall segway tour industry.

I believe that there are good and bad tours both authorized or not. And, in most cases, I still prefer the safety and the ride of a 'well-maintained' Gen 1 over a Gen 2. Thats another topic.

Segway Sightseeing.com is a brilliant business model. It allowes the SF Electric Tours to get a 'piece' of every segway tour in their system. It's 'virtual expansion for them'.

Many Segway Tours out there are barely hanging on, and this is another low-cost way to get their tour 'out there'. Tours could also sign up their tour with Expedia or Travelocity for the same kind of referral service for a fee.

As far as the 5 Star or Authorized ratings, they are nothing more than marketing gimmicks with little reality. Nothing is better than earning a good reputation and always exceeding the customers expectation. Let your customers be your best advertising tools...