TEN Business Essentials
Drive more bookings and transform your business with Tourism Business Essentials, our brand-new series of free online courses, designed exclusively for tourism operators like you! Whether you're running a cozy bed-and-breakfast, offering thrilling guided tours, or operating a remote lodge, these courses are packed with expert insights and practical strategies to boost visitation, sales, and profitability.
Each course takes just 10 to 25 minutes to complete! Packed with best practices and expert insights, our bite-sized courses are perfect for busy professionals ready to make a real impact without hours of study.
Courses in this Pathway
Basics of Risk Management and Insurance
Protect What Matters with Basics of Risk Management and Insurance: Discover risk management and insurance essentials, tailored to help you identify liabilities and protect your business, staff, and personal assets—leaving you free to focus on delivering unforgettable experiences.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify and analyze the risks and liabilities of your tourism operation so you can protect your business from the unexpected
- Outline risk management processes so you can implement best practices to your business
- Understand the various types of relevant insurance to minimize financial risks for yourself and your business
- Understand the steps in choosing the best coverage and provider to ensure you are covering all your bases
Sole Proprietorship vs. Incorporation
Choose the Right Business Structure for You with Sole Proprietorship vs. Incorporation: Not sure about sole proprietorship or incorporation? We break down the benefits, responsibilities, and upkeep of each option so you can make the best choice for your business’s growth and sustainability.
Learning Outcomes
- Differentiate the types of business structures and understand the pros and cons so you can choose the right one for you
- Recognize how business structure impacts funding eligibility, financial reporting, tax returns, and liability so you can plan for growth and meet the responsibilities tied to your chosen structure
- Understand the process of registering a business and incorporating
Components of a Business Plan
Master the Business Plan with Components of a Business Plan: Get guidance for creating a flexible, impactful business plan that helps you adapt to industry changes, secure partnerships, attract funding, and optimize your resources.
Learning Outcomes
- Develop a standard business plan that will provide a roadmap to sustainable, long-term growth
- Understand what lenders and funders look for so you can tailor your plan to help secure funding
- Understand ChatGPT prompts so you can write, update, and refine content for your business plan quickly and easily
- Identify when and how to use your plan so you can make confident decisions through every step of your business journey
A Basic Guide to Financial Statements
You’ll learn how to make sense of financial data, track the movement of money in and out of your business, and use this knowledge to plan ahead with confidence.
Learning Outcomes
- Recognize the value of financial statements and how they guide smarter business planning and decision-making.
- Interpret and evaluate key financial documents to gain clear insights into the health and performance of their tourism business.
- Grasp essential cash flow principles to ensure steady operations and avoid financial shortfalls.
- Outline the process of creating income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports tailored to their business needs.
- Apply financial tools and techniques to forecast revenue, manage expenses, and allocate resources for sustainable growth.
A Practical Guide to Market Research
Whether you're launching a new experience, refining your offerings, or expanding into new markets, this course will help you make confident, evidence-based decisions that fuel sustainable growth.
Learning Outcomes
- Discover how market research can unlock new growth opportunities and clarify the direction for your tourism business.
- Harness the power of market insights to make smarter, data-driven decisions that enhance your services and boost customer satisfaction.
- Identify the key data you need to deeply understand your ideal travelers—what they want, how they behave, and what drives their choices.
- Master practical tools and techniques for collecting and analyzing market research data that fuels innovation and business performance.
- Pinpoint areas for improvement and innovation by tracking market trends and aligning your services with evolving customer preferences.
Basics of Budgeting, Bookkeeping, and Accounting
Whether you're managing daily transactions or preparing for growth, you'll gain essential financial knowledge and tools that support better decision-making and long-term success.
Learning Outcomes
- Build a customized budget that aligns with your business goals and supports smarter day-to-day decision-making.
- Understand the key differences between bookkeeping and accounting, and why both are essential to running a successful tourism venture.
- Discover how to leverage financial systems to monitor business health, improve cash flow, and plan for sustainable growth.
- Apply fundamental bookkeeping practices to keep your records organized, reliable, and ready for action.
Financing and Loans
This course demystifies the financing landscape, helping you explore a range of funding options and understand how to choose what fits best.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain the role of financing in launching, growing, and sustaining a tourism business.
- Assess which types of financing options are most appropriate for different business stages and needs.
- Summarize the various financing sources available, from traditional loans to alternative funding solutions.
- Navigate the steps involved in securing financing with greater confidence and clarity.
- Interpret how financial institutions evaluate loan applications to strengthen your chances of approval and present a compelling case.
Fundamentals of Marketing Planning
This course teaches you how to shape your offerings, reach your target audience, and measure what’s working.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain what a marketing plan is and why it matters for business growth and competitive positioning.
- Recognize how a marketing plan supports strategic direction and helps achieve clear, measurable business goals.
- Identify and describe the core elements of the marketing mix (4 P’s) and their relevance in the tourism industry.
- Interpret how each of the 4 P’s—Product, Price, Place, and Promotion—shapes marketing strategies and impacts customer engagement.
- Outline the steps involved in developing a focused, effective marketing plan tailored to tourism offerings.
- Determine which key performance indicators (KPIs) are most relevant for tracking marketing success and refining future campaigns.
Improving Business Processes with an Operational Plan
With practical tools and real-life examples, you’ll learn how to spot process gaps, make simple improvements, and set clear goals that boost efficiency, enhance guest satisfaction, and lay the groundwork for growth and long-term success.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand what an operational plan is and why it matters for small tourism businesses
- Identify inefficient or unclear business processes
- Set clear goals for improvement
- Use a simple, one-page operational plan to streamline operations
- Apply the plan to a real-life process in your business
Pricing and Costing
You’ll explore how to calculate costs, understand market-driven pricing factors, and develop strategies that balance customer appeal with profitability.
Learning Outcomes
- Distinguish between costing and pricing and understand their unique roles in business profitability.
- Explain key costing methods and techniques that help manage expenses and optimize pricing decisions.
- Understand the factors influencing pricing within the tourism industry and how market dynamics affect customer behavior.
- Describe effective pricing strategies that attract customers while maximizing revenue.
- Outline the process of creating cost-price plans tailored to different business scenarios and market conditions.
Succession Planning
This course aims to support you in evaluating options for passing your business on, whether to family or other successors, and develop strategies to ensure the process is smooth and value-maximizing.
Learning Outcomes
- Explain why succession planning is vital for securing the future and legacy of their tourism business.
- Assess different exit strategies to find the best fit for their personal and business goals.
- Understand the key steps to ensure a smooth leadership transition when passing the business to a family successor.
- Outline how to select optimal succession strategies that maximize the value of their business.
- Describe how to prepare successors effectively to maintain business continuity and operational success.