Guided, Personal, Anywhere: How Pintours Is Creating Experiences Worldwide by Empowering Guides

What if your best friend in every city could design your perfect day and get paid for it whether they are with you or not? That is the idea behind Pintours. In this episode, Dan speaks with founder and CEO Lou Chatta about how human storytelling combined with AI can scale the magic of a great guide while preserving the personality and authenticity that make guided experiences special.

Lou explains how growing up with a father who worked as a guide for 40 years inspired him to build a platform designed for creators first. Guides can record their stories, routes, music, and recommendations, then share those experiences across different settings including walking tours, rideshares, museums, and attractions. Pintours’ personalization engine then adapts the experience to the traveler. A foodie couple, a family with young kids, or a solo history enthusiast might follow the same route but hear different stories, pacing, and suggestions tailored to their interests. It goes far beyond audio. The platform blends navigation, mood, bookings, and local context into one seamless experience.

Lou also shares how strategic partnerships are bringing the concept to life in real travel moments. Integrations with companies like Uber and Blacklane support transportation, while platforms such as Yelp and OpenTable help connect travelers with local dining along the way. In cities hosting the FIFA World Cup, travelers will even be able to leave a match and instantly begin a curated neighborhood experience with dining and transport already aligned with their route.

A key part of the conversation addresses the concern that AI could replace guides. Lou explains that Pintours is designed to do the opposite. Guides are compensated whenever their knowledge powers an experience, even if they are not physically present. This opens new income streams for creators, expands the range of available tours in lesser known destinations, and makes it easier to deliver experiences in multiple languages.

From an onboarding process that welcomes storytellers with no technical background to a product roadmap that includes indoor mapping and enhanced navigation, this episode outlines how guides, operators, and destinations can meet the growing demand for more meaningful and personalized travel experiences. Whether you are interested in the evolving experience economy, exploring destinations beyond the usual hotspots, or building creator led travel products, this conversation offers a clear look at where guided travel is heading next. 

Learn more at pintours.com.

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Transcript

Setting The Stage: Tech Meets Travel

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hello, everyone, and welcome to a special spotlight episode of Travel Trends. This is your host, Dan Christian, and today's episode is all about the evolution of travel experiences and how technology is empowering a new generation of guides, storytellers, and creators around the world. Our guest for this conversation is Lou Chatta. He is the CEO and founder of Pintours, which is a platform that is rethinking how guided travel experiences are created and delivered. Lou actually grew up watching his father work as a tour guide, and he still is, which gave him a unique perspective on the power of storytelling and travel, but also the challenges that guides face in building sustainable careers. That personal insight eventually led him to build Pintours, a platform that is designed to give guides the tools to create, own, and distribute their own travel experiences anywhere in the world. And what makes Pintours especially interesting, and I found really fascinating about this, leading up to this discussion, is how it flips the traditional model. So instead of relying on large tour operators or centralized marketplaces, it pulls creation directly in the hands of guides, allowing them to design personalized experiences in cities, even small villages, around natural landscapes. So they can literally create their own itineraries around even niche communities that travelers might never discover otherwise. And in our conversation today, we'll talk about the origin of Pintours, how technology and AI can empower guides rather than replace them. Very important. This has been a big topic of conversation at our AI Summit and elsewhere. And why independent storytellers may be one of the most important forces shaping the future of travel. So whether you're a guide, a creator, or a travel operator, or just someone who believes that travel should be more personal and more meaningful, this episode is packed with many valuable insights. So let's jump in. Welcome to Travel Trends, Lou. Thanks so much for joining us. Great to have you on the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Hey Dan, thank you for having me. Yeah, really excited to be here. Uh, you know, checking in from San Francisco. So yeah, really excited to connect with you all.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

That's awesome. Yeah. Love that you're in San Fran. Got some great friends in San Fran. I think we got one friend in common, Jesse Fisher from GuestOS.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yeah, yeah. We just actually met yesterday. Yeah. Wonderful person. You know, uh, she's working on GuestOS and the whole travel ecosystem is so unique today, especially with tech. So yeah, very, very great to meet her and uh super excited to be part of Travel Trends.

SPEAKER_00 2:28

Yeah. And, you know, on that note, I think that's one of the things that I love about the travel industry is that even as you enter different pockets of the travel industry globally, there's a community of travel tech investors in San Francisco. And obviously you guys are connected by virtue of that. And I think, you know, San Francisco is clearly, you know, the uh um very much the capital of tech globally, but at the same time, there's uh a community of trip people building within travel in San Francisco. And you guys all seem to know each other and uh and and are kind of the leading edge of developing a lot of this technology when I think of companies like Mind Trip and certainly what you're doing and what GuestOS is that there is an advantage of being based in San Francisco, which is why I wanted to highlight where you are first. But let's talk a little bit about your background and Pintours. So tell us a little bit about how you got into the travel space. I know you were an engineer at Apple, so very much the California connection there too. But yeah, tell us how you actually got into the travel industry, and then I'm really keen for you to give us a bit of an overview of Pintours.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yeah, yeah. So uh before Pintours, I was at Apple Special Projects for seven years, uh, prototyping some of the world's best health products, so EKG, things like that. Uh it was a lot of fun, you know, had had a great time there. But my dad actually was a uh a tour guide and a tour director his whole life. And so, you know, I witnessed him work in the industry and all the nuances. And, you know, at the same time, the AI boom was happening. So, you know, I noticed that there was a potential to really empower tour guides. Uh, instead of, you know, having to be physically there all the time to earn money, you could actually digitize what you're doing. And so we started prototyping some of these things. And it turns out, you know, uh a lot of folks need guided experiences, and a lot of guides are actually looking to earn more money. So uh it kind of worked out, and uh, we built a small version of this, and we started getting more tour guides kind of reaching out, and it just turned into a thing that we just wanted to empower tour guides with giving them technology and AI. So uh it just worked out that way.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

That's really fascinating. I always love how people get in the industry. Obviously, I did know about your dad, and I was actually keen to ask you about that because you know that's actually how this podcast first started. I was living in LA, most of our listeners do know this story, but it's you know, I moved back when my dad wasn't uh wasn't doing well, and I stepped out of the corporate world and started this podcast. So there's an interesting father-son connection there for both of us, and part of you know why I created this podcast, but obviously why you ventured into travel. And I love the world of tour guiding. My good friend uh Mitch Bach, who runs Tourpreneur, I just saw him recently, and he he's always been a big advocate of the human connection in travel. And that's one of the things that stood out to me about what you're building and why I was keen to do this spotlight episode on Pintours and to bring you on the Travel Trends Podcast, is because you have a very much a focus on technology, clearly given your background, but you're not trying to replace the tour guide. If anything, you're trying to give them the tools to be able to actually earn more money. So let's talk a bit about that. So give us the overview of Pintours. I know you've been to some of the biggest tech conferences, so I'm sure you're used to doing your pitch, but yeah, give us the uh the elevator overview of Pintours.

The Problem: Great Tours Don’t Scale

SPEAKER_01 5:33

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So we all know that the best experience in travel is having a guided experience. You know, your best friend showing you around, personalizing everything. It's such a valuable experience. Unfortunately, it's very expensive and you can only make money if you're physically there. So most places actually can't afford to offer guided experiences at scale. So that's why when you go to like Disneyland, you go to some of these places, either it's like$500,$600 to get a guide with you, or you don't have that option at all. And so uh what we actually ended up doing is we partner with tour guides to actually digitize what they do uh in person. So the same kind of commentary that you would give, the same, you know, questionnaires, all that stuff, you can kind of digitize it on the Pintours platform, and that creates like a digital copy that you can distribute anytime. So you don't you can be sleeping, you could be on a vacation, but your tour is still bringing you money. So you're almost like a content creator now. Um but what's really cool is actually with the power of AI, we can take the tour that you've created and actually personalize it to the guest who's there. So the same tour that you've created can now work with a family, uh, a couple, uh, no matter what kind of group it is, we can dynamically change the tour and personalize it for whoever's there. And so uh now we can basically take the existing tour that you have and just you know distribute it amongst every type of traveler. But the best part is it's not just for uh, you know, a tour, we actually can now take the same experience that you provided and take it to different experiences. So for example, if you're in a car. So we can take your audio and your tour and put it in an Uber car or a chauffeur, or if someone is in an attraction, we can kind of do that. And so now the same tour that you maybe would have done in one place can now be distributed amongst many places and giving you an opportunity to earn way more. And so that's basically how it works. And uh, we're just trying to scale it up now and go from more locations from where we are.

Digitizing A Guide’s Knowledge

SPEAKER_00 7:24

It's exciting. I think that's where you know, working with guides, and one of the videos I'd seen highlighted the uh connection with drivers as well, so that you can take a tour and you can get in a driverless vehicle. And it's really interesting because Alex Bainbridge from OTORA, he's been he was a he's been very much ahead of his time in kind of predicting that these types of experiences will exist. And there's been some pushback in the industry from the idea that, you know, if you take it out that human connection, but the reality is this technology is now available to us. And the standout for me was the fact that it's you know the human touch and the technology together and what Pintours is offering, but it's more that it's the complete journey. And I think that's one of the things that travelers are looking for more than ever, is that they actually want the connectivity. So when I was watching the video of you uh traveling around San Francisco and going from place to place, you know, getting a recommendation in Chinatown, and then um, as you made your way around the city, you could go from one place to another, and your whole day was kind of mapped out for you with pin tours and with your guide, and then with you know, real world experiences. So, what what I'm keen to know is that when you started on the journey, tell us a little bit about the initial proof points, like the use cases that you started off with, because all of a sudden I can see now, you know, you're a year into this business and it's already growing in different directions. So tell us what I guess the initial problem you were trying to solve and then how it's evolved since then. And I'm obviously keen to talk about where you go from here.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So one of the main problems was how do we actually create an experience that's similar to the human tour guide that's physically there? And we actually found out it's very tough. You know, a lot of what guides do is very, very dynamic. So they do storytelling, they walk you around, they give you navigation, they play music, they book things for you. And so this whole experience is quite dynamic, and it's very hard to replicate uh this with technology. And a lot of folks who've tried this in the past really have used outdated technologies and haven't been really able to capture the full human experience. Uh but with our approach, using AI and using all the the data that we're able to collect, we're able to fully provide the same experience of the the guide being physically there, and we're able to pay them. So with that dynamic, we're kind of able to really power in-person guided experiences to the next level. And so once we nail down that technology, you know, it was really cool. And now uh we're focused on kind of taking that to more dynamic levels. So with personalization, with AI, um, we're kind of able to go into attractions now. So I think Alcatraz, Disneyland, these kinds of places, we're able to fully uh bring on that that that experience. And we're actually working with some uh supports providers. So uh we just launched a deal with uh the FIFA World Cup, host cities, where we're going to be creating personalized experiences for people in these events. And so what this does actually is uh it enables the guys who created their their tours you know around cities to be actually showcased to people who are ready to purchase them. So folks at these games, right after they finish, they want to go see the city, they want to go explore. And now we can connect them to the guides and enable them to do that. But what's even better is actually we have uh B2B partnerships with some of the biggest brands in travel, like Uber, uh Black Lane, and some of these driving companies, uh, where we can actually add ancillary services to the guided experience. So if you need transport, if you need a scooter, that can also be included. And we're also working with Yelp and Open Table, where we can also have reservations for you. So we can kind of bridge that whole experience uh for you whenever you want to go. And the best part out of all this is the guide who initially created this is still getting paid and is still kind of the main forefront of this technology.

Personalization Engine For Any Traveler

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Well, I guess that's you know, that's coming back to the at the heart of it. And this idea that you are kind of flipping the traditional model where you can empower guides to be able to create their own experiences anywhere in the world. That's the part that the premise of that is what I found the most exciting and compelling is that you know, uh, a tour guide knows their city and they know how to guide. Because the other thing I want to ask you about is personalization, because oftentimes what you have is you know, you have cookie cutter tours that don't necessarily adjust to, you know, it's a family, or if they've got you know, you have got young kids, or trying to understand what's going to make a really great day out. And when you have a group of individuals that you clearly all have different needs and different like even learning styles, um audio, video, or like you know, people get distracted. Everyone's got ADD now, it seems. So, how do you try and keep a group engaged and and keep the script fresh and interesting for an audience? So the first thing I want to ask you is around the empowering guides to create their own experiences, because I think that that is very much foundational to uh the concept that you've created and what one of the what I think would be the biggest contributors to the success is that you can create unique itineraries that may not exist elsewhere, and you can give the ownership directly to the guide. So I guess my question to you is how important was that? I sounds like to me that was very intentional from the onset that you, you know, that this was the core of the platform.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So working with my dad, you know, I learned that guides have this immense knowledge of the world that no one else has. You know, you could read books, you could do articles, but the guide who's been there for 20 years knows everything, knows where to take the selfie, knows the best place to grab a drink. All this knowledge is in their heads and it's not anywhere else. And so without them, you're not gonna have a great experience. So that's why we we work with them exclusively to really develop this knowledge and this data. Uh, it just doesn't exist anywhere else.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

And I've got to ask you, I think because I think it's a cool connection, given your dad knows what it's like to be an operator and you have an understanding of the technology. And here we are having this conversation in 2026. Uh, how long did your dad guide for? And how and is he actively guiding now with Pintours?

SPEAKER_01 13:05

Yeah, yeah. So he's been in the industry for 40 plus years. Uh, and yeah, he has some tours on Pintours, uh, some of which, you know, downtown San Francisco, uh, a few driving tours as well. And yeah, they're doing great. Uh you can experience them today at pintours.com. Look for Matt. Uh, his tours are on there.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

Okay, cool. Well, I'm definitely gonna be in San Francisco. Uh, I'm uh an advisor with plug and play, and that's obviously another big reason to be in the valley when it comes to travel tech. And um, and so I am when I my next trip to San Francisco, I'm gonna I'm gonna book in advance and make sure that I get a tour with your dad. Because for me, that's the like the power of that uh the personal connection, and that that's the person I want to hear the stories from. And so, as much as AI can advance, I want someone who's got the history and understands the culture. And um so okay, so let's let's then jump forward to obviously some of these big partnerships you're now doing. But just before we get there, um, on this path, you mentioned personalization. And that's something to me that AI offers and and technology can introduce so that you can you can as compared with traditional group tours or even sort of the generic marketplace experiences that people typically buy when they're looking to go uh whether it's you know with like a via tour or get your guide, and they're looking for a day tour and they're booking through those platforms, like that has gone through a massive growth in the last 10 years. But the question always comes down to how personalized is this going to be for me? So, what do you guys do differently to achieve that, both with the technology and with what gets conveyed to the guide so that they can uh customize the experience for the guests?

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah, absolutely. So, this is actually the core of the problem. One-on-one guided experiences are very expensive. If you want someone with you one-on-one, it's really you know hard to get and really expensive no matter where you go. And that's why most places actually offer these group experiences. Because of the cost, they just eventually give a generic tour with a group guide that's saying the same thing to everyone, maybe 30, 40 people. And so it's not personalized. Uh, and that's the main thing is the cost. But with our technology and our AI, we're able to do that one-on-one experience from the guide who may be doing the group experience and tailor that personally to the individual who's there. So two people could be walking in and have completely different experiences from the same tour based on their profile and their personality. And we do this intentionally because we know that you know in travel, the best experience is your personalized experience. Not everyone is the same. Some people love history, some people are here to have fun, some people are here on a date. So everyone has their own reason for being at a certain place, and we want to make sure they walk away with what they're looking for. And so our technology knows who you are, and so over time we build a profile on what your favorite travel profile is, what kinds of experiences you're looking for, and what you're looking to get out of it. And we're able to take that uh information and customize your tour that you're doing today anywhere you are. So it could be in the car, in an attraction, anywhere in the world, uh, and then personalize that so that you're getting the perfect experience that you're looking for. Uh and that's basically how it works. We just use AI with our personalization, and it just comes out to create a really unique and wonderful experience for all people.

From Streets To Cars And Attractions

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Well, it's interesting because you know, I'm always looking at startups to try and figure out one is what is their competitive advantage, especially against incumbents, you know, mentioning like uh get your guide or Viatour or some of the marketplaces that exist. But the other part that always excites me, especially from an operator side, is to actually create product and inventory that doesn't exist yet. And there's always, you know, within this travel industry in particular, we keep coming up against massive opportunities to be able to uh digitize inventory, which you know, Airbnb, certainly Uber, which are, you know, both not none of them are specifically travel companies, but became travel businesses by virtue of the industries they operate in. But I did a spotlight episode recently with a company called Traveler, and their whole business model is to make ferries and sea uh transport accessible, uh, much like an Uber. So it's a marketplace that connects B2B and B2C with, and it's a very complex uh process to try and connect those uh the number of departures. There's more departures for uh ferries per day than there are flights, for example, and uh but they all differ in terms of the the shape, uh the construction of each of the ships and how many people they can accommodate. So it's there's a lot more complexity. It's part of the reason it hasn't been digitized. And one of the things I'm keen to know as you look at the addressable market or what the big opportunity is uh for you know investors in pintours is what it looks like for you to be able to unlock experiences that don't currently exist. And I'm I'm genuinely curious about that because you know, uh, you know, being in some of the bigger hubs, for sure, there's gonna be lots of growth opportunity. But is there other, you know, whether it be smaller towns or other places where people might have like more uh like out in nature or niche interests, that all of a sudden having the technology, knowing that there's local guides, that you can create tours that don't even exist today in certain places?

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah, absolutely. And this is one of the things that we're actually exploring with uh the FIFA World Cup and a company called Data Curve, where they'll give us data on what people have and what they're looking for, and we're able to use our technology to create experiences on the fly just for them. So, you know, we might know that your budget is a certain range, this is what you like, and we have our tour guide knowledge, and so we can take that information and create a personalized experience that may have not existed before just for you or your group. And uh that's that's the unique part about this technology is we're really able to unlock new things that may have not existed, and we're able to benefit partners. So, you know, restaurants, drivers, chauffeurs who are available, just haven't been contacted yet, we're able to dynamically bring them together and create a personalized experience around anything. So that's the that's the magic of the whole experience.

Partnerships: Uber, Yelp, FIFA World Cup

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Now, the one thing that always stands out to me, and even going back to my time at Lonely Planet when we were trying to make Lonely Planet reviewed and recommended hotels bookable online, and this is literally pre-Airbnb. One of the big challenges we had was working with smaller operators to give them access to the technology. They were not on booking.com or any of the other large OTAs. They weren't familiar with managing the uh the PMS platforms, property management solutions that you know most hoteliers are very comfortable with. And if anything, they're managing too many of them. So like it's a different challenge. Um, but mostly smaller operators they weren't used to connectivity, they they weren't, they had different rules and regulations when it came to cancellations, and so there was quite a bit of complexity, and that that the that entire industry has really been paved in the last 10 years by so many players entering that space. And what I'm curious to know is that when it comes to guides and people that actually are going to create these trips, a lot of the times you know they're storytellers, um, but they're not tech experts. And so for them to be able to try and figure out what platforms they use, I'm keen to know how you have accommodated that in the Pintours. I haven't seen that part of the platform, but like when it comes to onboarding hosts and um and guides, tell us a little bit about that process because I'm sure there's many guides that might be listening to this wondering if it's for them. Tell us a little bit about how that process works and then also about the potential for them, you know, to earn income and to be able to sustain their lifestyle. Because I've I've met a number of people that have you know been doing part-time jobs as well to try and make up for the fact that you know the business has been down in certain cities.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So uh we actually designed this in mind. Uh a lot of guys are actually older folks who aren't used to technology. And so we actually built this to make it super simple for them. Uh a lot of the guides we work with, you know, this is the first time using technology. They haven't used computers before. And so we make it as easy as possible. No matter where you are in your in your tech career or, you know, in technology, we can help you build your tour no matter what. It's as simple as sending us a text of what you typically tell people, the locations, and we can build a tour out of that. Um, and some folks like to get more deep and record and do all those things. We can support that as well. But really, whatever you're comfortable with, we can build a tour out of that. And we have dedicated uh agents that are ready to get on the phone with you and really make it as simple as possible. Really, over a phone call, we can just kind of take that information and build it out for you. So it's really, really simple.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Well, and that to me, like I'm very keen to meet your dad, Matt, and have that. So tell him I am coming. But like the the soul of a business and the and travel is the people that uh and that's what I love about what Mitch advocates for. And so, and I'm a strong believer in that. And more so than ever, I think that the travel industry, we did an episode at the end of last uh season on transformational travel. And Jake Haupert, who runs the Transformational Travel Council, had highlighted that AI is the best thing that ever happened to travel because so many people are going to be seeking travel as an alternative to you know their lives being overwhelmed, digital overload, all these things. That people seek out human connection on their trips because they're lacking that in other areas of their life by virtue of the way that we function most day-to-day. And so I do see travel offering a bit of a reprieve. And that that for me is also trying to figure out then how best to strike the balance between where technology plays a role, or in this case, the these travel guides working as entrepreneurs and running their own business. So just on that note, actually, I'd love to ask you that question. When it comes to the travel guides not losing their soul in the face of technology, how how have you guys thought about that to make sure that your dad, Matt, is still, people still love meeting Matt, going on Matt's tours, but they're now doing it because they can book it through Pintours and they can like it takes care of even getting them to the destination. But yeah, how how how do you balance that human and technology component?

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. This is a question we get all the time. You know, a lot of guys are actually scared of AI and technology and they're worried about getting replaced. And that's actually why we built this. This is a way to empower guys in the way of AI. We you don't have to be worried about AI replacing you or anything like this. In our in our case, we're actually using AI to help you earn more. And the the thing that we're seeing is, you know, in-person experiences are never going away, those are always going to be there, and people love to book them. But what we're actually opening up is a new market for you that you can make money outside of the existing stream that you have in person. So you could be doing an in-person tour and someone could book your tour digitally while you're doing something else. And that actually opens up more streams of income for you while you're doing other things. So that's the whole idea is you know, you don't have to be physically there to earn. You can use your brain and your knowledge that you built over, you know, years and years to help you make money when you're not there. And that's the whole point.

SPEAKER_00 23:42

Well, so let's look at some examples of how that plays out because I think that's the part that I find with uh many of the the uh travel guides that I've met that are trying to figure out the question of are they gonna be replaced? That is absolutely right. That's the biggest fear they have. And it's like this either-or, like either you're gonna have a human guide or you're gonna have an AI guide. And how does AI enhance the human experience? So give us some examples of that, like how AI actually will improve their tours, or you mentioned about being able to use their mind, like if they've created a specific tour, they can still earn from that, even if it's not them operating the tour. But yeah, give us some examples of how that actually plays out in practice.

Empowering Non‑Technical Guides

SPEAKER_01 24:23

Yeah. So anytime a tour is used, our guides get paid. Uh, you know, regardless of if it's the tour that they've made or if it's a personalized experience, they still get paid regardless. It's their knowledge, it's their data. So that's how that works. Um, and it's it's quite simple, you know. Uh they just kind of record it, they upload it, and then uh we're able to personalize it no matter where they go. And so, for example, you know, one one example is they could be someone could be ordering an Uber from the airport to their hotel, and we can build an experience for that customer uh on their ride home using the guide's knowledge of that area. And then that's that's the scenario where the guide would earn money, he wasn't there, and uh the customer got to have a personalized experience.

SPEAKER_00 25:03

One thing I just wanted to share with our listeners, because this is um relevant to the times that we live in, and especially you being in California, the home of uh this you know, the whole rage that happened with food trucks and food trucks leveraging social media, letting people know where they're going to be and when, and then people flock to them, right? There was like the um uh there was some great examples of this, like you know, Korean food trucks and like all of a sudden doing a million dollars a year, and then now all of a sudden everyone's got a food truck, and you know, celebrity chefs have food trucks, and this whole industry has exploded in the last five years. And just recently, being based in Canada in the summertime, where it actually does get hot, um, there was uh a uh ice cream truck had pulled up at uh the kids' park, and uh he we weren't ever sure when the ice cream truck comes, like it's just like a random experience, but like so obviously you're uh the kids are delighted when the ice cream truck appears. And so I said to him, it would actually be really helpful if we knew, like maybe if we have a an account that we can follow and you can post when you're gonna be here, and he's like, I can't do that because my then my competition would know, and my competition will know where I'm gonna be. And I can't I can't risk them knowing my route because my route is like what's precious to me, and I have to like make sure that I'm and I just thought it was so interesting that he was just like pushing back against the use of technology that could be a business benefit because he's so fearful of the competition being able to replicate and showing up when he shows up at the places. So what this this highlights to me the the the world that we live in today where like there is that fear of using technology, even though it could be incredibly helpful. So when you have people that are skeptical about that, like um I'm very curious to know, so you do get all the time. How do you approach that with people that are hesitant or skeptical about AI in the experiences space? And how do you how have you been able to win them over and to prove it as opposed to having them feel like, man, I it's exactly what I thought it was gonna be?

Keeping The Human Soul In AI

SPEAKER_01 26:52

Yeah, you know, it's anytime new technology comes, it's always a people are scared of it. And it's it's it's a it's a common experience, you know. You know, you can be nervous, but the best approach, especially what you know, my my background at Apple, is to embrace it. You know, you're not gonna the internet's not gonna go away, the AI is not gonna go away. So we might as well learn how to work with it and really use it to our our uh advantage. And so that's the whole point here is um if it's not gonna go away, how can we use it so that we can benefit? And that's kind of the tools that we've built. And so, you know, a lot of the best guides that we're working with are making great income. And it's a great way to supplement what you're doing. And some folks are really making this their full-time, uh, full-time experience. So, you know, it really can range on how deep you want to go on to onto pin tours, but um, you know, some folks are earning, you know, around$500 a month, others are doing, you know, a few thousand. And it's really just opening up a new channel for for them to earn more. And so I would say um, even if you might be hesitant with technology or you may have had uh bad experiences with technology before, this technology is is great and it's gonna earn you money. And it's better to get on it now when we're early and we're, you know, we're hiring more guides rather than later when you know the system's already full. Uh so it's a great opportunity to come in now and really upload your content and really benefit from the power of AI uh rather than waiting later where you know AI is everywhere and uh the opportunity might be too late.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Well, one thing that particularly excites me about this business model and concept is the idea of preserving human storytelling. And I'll give you an exact example of what stands out to me in that regard is Anthony Bourdain. I'm a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain. I'm sure most listeners to our show are as well. And uh obviously his life was tragically uh cut short for the reasons that we've all read about. But if you I still, you know, I watch his shows, I read his books, and I'm like, you know, it's it he he was unique in so many ways, and the his ability to experience a new destination or I you know when I was in Hanoi, I had to go into the place that him and Obama went uh for FA. And and there's now you can there's the Obama special there, um, because Obama had a beer when he when he and he like you can so I ordered with my wife the Obama special, and like and we sat exactly where I've watched that episode like three times. And for me, it was a great experience because I I loved watching that episode, and I really like following someone like Anthony Bourdain in the places that he he chooses. And I find the difference between editorial content versus say user-generated content. I mean, there's lots of people out there that have great recommendations for restaurants, but I often you end up relying on the wisdom of the crowd and you end up you know checking out Google reviews and trying to figure out what restaurants to go to. I would prefer to go to the places that your dad, Matt, tells me to go to. Like I would rather I would I guess I trust like part of the reason that from evolution we've got to this point is that humans give us shortcuts and they help us, you know, navigate our way through life. And you trust people that you um you if people that you trust give you recommendations, you follow them. And so for me, I would rather do a tour, even if it's someone uh alive or even someone who's passed away in the case of an anti-bordain. I'd rather do an anti-bordain tour of a particular city than just what Google Reviews tells me to do, or what the AI tells me to do based on a combination of factors. So so tell me a little bit more about that, because I actually this idea that you can create tours that are unique to you and that you can automate it, that to me is a compelling proposition. So is that something you see that AI can preserve the human storytelling in a way and then create this automation? It sounds to me like that's actually pretty fundamentally one of the things you're doing.

Competitive Edge And New Inventory

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, human storytellers are are always the the golden standard of everything, you know. Um that's why we love human tour guides. We love hanging out with our best friend. And that's always a go back to the best experience in travel is your best friend picking you up who knows you personally, and you get to spend the whole day. Like imagine Anthony Bourdain picking you up and showing you around. Like nothing can beat that, right? That one-on-one experience. And so that's that's the whole goal here is that we partner with the best storytellers in the whole world, whether they've passed away or they're still currently here, and we're able to make that vision that they had, that story that they were trying to portray and tie it to locations so that when you're walking, when you're exploring, you're able to tie into that experience that they built. And we're able to take that a step further with the personalization. So that it's not a generic experience, it's personalized to you and what you're looking for. And that's that's the whole thing, you know. Uh so even generations from now, you'll be able to witness Anthony Bourdain and some of the greatest tour guys and and greatest storytellers of of all time. And even moving forward, you know, that is one thing that we're looking at is working with some locals and and and folks who have been around their neighborhoods. Like imagine doing uh a tour with Stephen Curry and Oprah Infree and some of the the biggest names out there uh about their neighborhoods and those kinds of things. So that's that's where we're trying to enable is that you know, people know their locations, know their neighborhoods, know, know these places. And so let's empower them to really share that with the whole world and really uh tell their stories at a global scale.

Why Now: Experience Economy Shift

SPEAKER_00 31:59

Yeah, what's really interesting, it takes me back too that we with the launch of the Lonely Planet platform, one of the things that we offered all of our people that booked is a best day out. And so we had our Lonely Planet authors do a kind of best one day in the city, and you could download that for free if you booked a hotel on the platform. And I actually think that concept was a bit ahead of its time, but but there's an exception to that, which is that you were getting one person's view of a day out. The thing I actually like the idea of because I I loved reading those and I would do some of them, like start your day here, have breakfast here, go for a walk in the park, and then go to this museum and go have lunch here. And some of those were a perfect day for me, but other ones it didn't fit as well because it wasn't like curated the way I would prefer it to be. And so I actually like the idea of having 10 options for the best ways to experience San Francisco and to be able to fit the persona that like whether it's a celebrity or if it's a chef or someone that like, or so for people that love running, like that like runners in the city. Like I find that an interesting concept within the tour industry now. You know, there's much more active tours. I'm a big e-biker now because after my trip to Chile, so like I would be like I would look at more at cycling tours. I wouldn't have looked at biking tours before, but now that I can rock an e-bike around a city, I'm like, it opens up way more potential. And so I I would I would totally be down for uh looking at different options for like, okay, here's the best e-bike tour through the city as led by someone who is an avid cycler and will take you, like you can, you know, in three hours can get you to all the places that you uh would be interested in seeing and find the right place to then stop for a coffee. So for me, that I find that really exciting. I guess um my question there is uh shifting away from AI and just thinking about this broader shift that uh is happening where people are choosing experiences over things. That you know, I've kind of referred to this year as the year of transformative travel. I'm not alone in that. You know, Joe Pine's book has come out, The Transformation Economy. And I do think it's sort of a watershed moment for the travel industry to wake up and realize that you've been doing this all along, but it's now so much more important to make sure that you are positioning it in such a way that people understand that they are consciously choosing this or that that what they're looking for is is much more profound than just the sightseeing and checking something off and having had that experience. That's what travelers are much more moving away from. They're going to secondary destinations, you know, the dupe cities and all these things you kind of see. And that's where I find it fascinating. You see customer behavior changing, you see technology empowering that. And so, where do you see pin tours fitting into all of this when it comes to who your customer is and what the opportunity for you is in this experience economy, transformation economy, and people spending more time doing these type of things? Because and the reason I emphasize that is because 10 years ago, there were certainly people doing, you know, audio guided tours, and it's never taken off the way that I think some of us hoped it would. You know, you look at Detour, Andrew Mason's startup after Groupon, and there were some people that tried to you know pioneer in this space. And I actually think they were ahead of their time. I think that you know, we didn't have iPhones, we didn't have social media, we didn't have some of the technology, we didn't have AI. Um, and uh I don't and therefore the market wasn't there for it. There was the demand and the opportunity. Whereas I do think in 2026 and beyond, there's more people that are going to be seeking these types of experiences when they travel and also domestically. So yeah, I'm keen to get your view on that. Like I guess it's kind of like a why now question for you.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So the the problem with all these existing products and audio tours and detour and all those things are they didn't fully capture the in-person experience. That's the problem. They got the audio portion, which is good, but it's not the whole experience. When you have your best friend with you, it's not just audio, it's storytelling, it's music, it's you know, having ev essentially it's just having a great time and having a great experience. And with audio alone, you just can't capture that. And so that's why we've kind of restarted this whole process from the ground up. We have the audio, we have the music, we have the navigation, we have the transportation, we have the whole A to Z package for an ideal experience, and that's why we're able to deliver at that level. And you know, like you said before, we're not just doing tours, we're doing personalized experiences at a at a global scale. And so this could be driving, this could be um, you know, culinary experiences, this could be events, you know, any type of experience that you're looking for, we're able to fully personalize that and really deliver that at a at a global scale. And so, you know, that that really what it brings out is is having that in-person guide really with you at a personal level in your phone, available to go with you anywhere you go. And you know, whether you're in a museum, you know, looking at the Louvre, you're trying to dive deeper, you'll have that available. If you're in an Uber, if you're in a bus, whatever you're really looking for, we're able to dynamically take that and make that personalized experience just for you.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

Interesting. It takes me uh it takes Rick Steves. I'm sure many of our listeners know Rick Steves, legend to uh a lot of people in the travel industry, especially in the US market, is work with creating um, you know, Europe through the back door, his publications, B PBS shows. And um, although he uh sometimes looked like a dork on TV, which some people are just like get past that really quickly because Rick has got so much to offer. He's so his advice is so intellectually stimulating, I would say. And I feel like Rick Steves is I really enjoy listening to uh his shows as well and reading his books. And um, when I do, I've done audio tours. I was in Prague for a conference and I did uh an audio tour walking around uh listening to Rick describe Prague, and I was trying to figure out exactly am I in the right place? Am I standing on the right bridge? Is that the clock he's talking about? Like I kept having to stop it. And I was just like, I'm enjoying this so much, but there's all these limitations to just the audio, to your point. Like it's just like it was definitely I was I was trying to figure it out, and I was I wasn't seeing anybody else doing what I was doing, to looking confused with headphones on, like you know, not connecting it to a map, that kind of stuff. So, Lou, one of the things you mentioned, obviously, is working with the World Cup. And one of the things I'm keen to know is that timing is always so important for startups. And uh what I'm keen to know is why now for pin tours in 2026? What do you guys have planned uh that would suggest this is gonna be the breakout year for you guys?

End‑To‑End Experiences, Not Just Audio

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Yeah, so it's a great time in travel. Uh specifically, you know, the World Cup is coming up and we're looking to build up personalized experiences around that. But not only that, is we're finding that there is a trend in in travel and in guided experiences where uh companies like you know, Airbnb, get your guy, trip advisor, they're all really looking to push for guided experiences at a at a larger scale. The problem in the industry is inventory. You know, there's not enough guides available, it's too expensive, and they really can't bring this out at a at a big scale. And that's where our technology comes in. We're kind of that middleman where we're able to take the digital content from the tour guides and bring it to where people need it most. And so it could be an experience on get your guide or trip advisor or the World Cup, where someone needs to do a guided experience right now, but the guide is not available, and so our technology really can deliver that and offer a very similar experience, and the guide gets paid, and the traveler gets to have a great experience. So we're able to fulfill these on-demand experiences at a high level and deliver great value. So that's the that's the core uh sweet spot that we found right now.

SPEAKER_00 39:20

So 2026 summer uh this year, obviously, there's a lot happening with US domestic travel. So clearly that's a market that you can focus on and prioritize. But travel obviously is global, so I'm sure you have even bigger ambitions. Tell us a little bit about, you know, although you're based in San Francisco and you've been, you know, testing the product in the US, tell us a little bit more about your global aspirations and plans.

SPEAKER_01 39:45

Yeah, so really we've been focused on building the technology so that it can work everywhere. And so we're finally at that point. You know, we we've prototyped a few experiences around 25 here in San Francisco. Uh, we've done over$2 million in annual revenue with that. And so now we're finally ready to kind of take that to the next level and really expand across the US and key locations in the world. And so this year in 2026, we're working with key partners, uh DMOs, uh travel agencies, and tour guides all over the world who have that really good content and looking for them, looking to partner with them to really increase our offerings. And so uh this is the year of growth for us. And so, you know, if you're a tour guide, or if you're in travel, if you're an operator, if you're a DMO, if you're anyone who's trying to, you know, in increase your storytelling, please reach out to us. You know, we are expanding and we are trying to add more content. And especially if you're an attraction or any place that has visitors and you're looking to engage more with your customers, whether you're Disneyland or Universe or any of these places, you know, we are offering guided experiences uh for these places. So uh, you know, please partner with us. We'd love to connect.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

Well, you bring up another interesting point there, which is like as we think about the different markets that you can expand to, one of the things to factor in is multilingual. Uh, Civitatus is one of our big partners on our travel trends podcast, and they've been very successful by virtue of focusing on the Spanish-speaking market. And uh, because so many of us that are English language only, and it's one of the things that I, you know, when you think about the global travel industry and especially AI. So curious to know how you're looking at multilingual as you expand to other markets and the technology you have that clearly makes that a possibility.

SPEAKER_01 41:25

Yeah, yeah. That's actually one of the key technologies that we have is we are multilingual. Every language is is available, and the best part is the guide can actually upload their tour in whatever language they speak, and our technology can automatically translate that for them at every language. So whether you speak French, English, Spanish, whatever, uh, we can take that content and make your tour available for every traveler on Earth.

Global Expansion And Multilingual Plans

SPEAKER_00 41:47

Very cool. Interesting. No, and so uh obviously I'm keen for you to expand into Canada because obviously I want to see this uh in Toronto, but obviously when the place cities that I travel to. Um, but when I think about some of the emerging markets, and this is where when you look at secondary destinations, I also think there's a exciting opportunity for you there to start to play a role in the cities that are currently underserved or not served uh by tour guides or some of the other platforms that all of a sudden now become accessible by virtue of someone uh basically a land grab of someone, someone putting a flag down and saying, I'm gonna take pin tours for the cotswolds in England. That's gonna be my domain. Um, but the other thing I'm keen to ask you about is the roadmap with what you have planned, because clearly you have to build out features and functionality for the tour guides, uh, but also for consumers. So take us a little bit through what some of the enhancements you have planned for 2026 for both the B2B and B2C side.

SPEAKER_01 42:48

Yeah, so uh, you know, really this has been our year of building out the technology. Now the technology is working great. We're just uh expanding. So um some of the new things that we have are indoor maps and indoor navigation, where inside a museum and inside places you can have that personalized navigation for you at scale. And so those are some of the things that we're bringing out, especially with the AI personalization, that almost anywhere that you go, you're gonna be having that personalized experience. So um that's that's kind of what what we're focused on right now, but also getting more content onto the platform. Uh like I said before, we're we're only doing you know about 25 experiences here in San Francisco, and now we're just onboarding um, you know, guides all over the world to basically uh empower themselves and and really take up that that that uh that domain. And it's actually quite funny you mentioned uh, you know, a small region and things like that. We were actually at IFTM in Paris, and uh, you know, I actually didn't realize how many cities there are in the world that are actually looking to get more travelers. And so we connected with folks from all over the world from you know South Africa, Johannesburg to Jordan and the Middle East, and even folks in Canada. And so, you know, no matter what city you live in, no matter where you are. People want to travel there and people are looking for guided experiences. And so we'd love to partner with whoever you might be.

Roadmap: Indoor Maps And Scale

SPEAKER_00 44:07

Well, what's interesting there too is that we have this concept that is very real of overcrowding, overtourism. And it the challenge is that certain places are just not able to manage the capacity of people traveling there at certain times of the year, especially like Italy in the summer, or like you certain destinations, like Venice. I mean, no matter what surcharges they put in place, the city is still overwhelmed and uh changes they make to cruise operators. So, like it is a very real issue in many places in the world. And then you have kind of pushback against travel, like what we saw in Barcelona last summer. And um what I'm keen to know is and this, I guess what excites me is like how new technology and new product offerings kind of solve for that. So, how do you encourage people to travel further afield? You know, an interesting stat that Shannon stole had shared with me from ATTA Adventure Travel and Trade Association is that 90% of people only travel within 100 miles of the destination they fly into. And so when you take a country like Japan, like it's the major cities that people are going to, where there's so many beautiful places to explore, but it doesn't necessarily work in with their itinerary and how much time it takes to get there and and so on. But I've that that is starting to change because travelers are are demanding that and they're they're seeking alternatives. And so uh clearly there's lots of potential for where you guys are going. The one thing I I wanted to ask you though, before uh that big question, which is when you look at the business you're doing so far, I'm genuinely curious to know what you're seeing on your platform that might be different than you expected, or even different than you thought the way the market worked. And I guess what I'm specifically asking is whether or not people are choosing really unique tours on the platform, like things that like that you're surprised that people are embracing tours that are, you know, um uh really unique. Or if are people going back with guides where they've had a great experience once? I think of the example with WeRoad, they allow their travel coordinators to take their next trip to a different destination they're not an expert in, but people just love traveling with that guide. And that highlights the importance of giving this, like it's like it they literally have broken the model of tour guiding where you used to have tour guides that only worked in a specific place, and all of a sudden people want to follow the travel coordinator, like they're off to Iceland or Japan. I want to go with them, and that's my tribe. And it's like it's I I love when someone has a breakthrough like that because that's what the traveler actually wants, but that's not the way the business was set up because they thought they needed to have a local expert that was Irish or was Japanese that was running that tour. And it's like actually, they so tell us a little bit what you've seen so far. What are some of the insights from running pin tours up until now that might be interesting for our listeners?

SPEAKER_01 46:50

Yeah, you know, uh, one of the things that we found out are uh people love uh transportation experiences. So we initially had built this out for just you know walking tours and these kinds of things, but we had actually found a lot of folks really love doing a tour with a driver. And so uh we did a partnership with Uber and some chauffeurs, and you know, it's been quite a quite a successful partnership. Uh folks love having a chauffeur with them, driving them around, and having the guided experience. And we didn't know this before, so it was uh it was quite a unique insight. And uh now you can do all these tours with all different types of transportation, whether it's a scooter, uh a car rental, a chauffeur, a helicopter, whatever you're looking for, uh, we can kind of bring you into that. But that's one of those things I I didn't know would be would be uh quite a hit.

SPEAKER_00 47:34

Yeah. Well, you just made me think last year when the Olympics were on in uh Paris, my friend Laura Cilio Pavada works at Panotra car. She lives in the Champagne region, and I had seen the Uber champagne trips and I forwarded them to her, and I was like, Well, how cool is this? And she's like, Yeah, I I I I I helped create those. So I was like, I I I thought I thought I was showing this for something new and novel. She's like, Yeah, I've been working on that for like six months or a year. And and uh, but the whole idea was to take people who are in Paris for the Olympics and make it possible for them to have a quick, easy, simple transfer, get out to the Champagne region, do some wine tasting uh or champagne tasting and get back. And so this shows to me like the the novelty of companies like Apreneur Ricard working with pin tours who have these uh wineries, distilleries, and they have many in the US, for example, that all of a sudden they could build it into a tour that you visit one of them on your trip, or you go on like uh the bourbon trail, uh good example. Like they do I so many people are doing the bourbon trail and going to multiple places, and clearly they don't want to be driving because the bourbon is so good. So, like you need to uh be safe and conscientious. So you clearly need a driver, but also you want to explore different places. Um, so yeah, I can think of a lot of use cases. I guess ultimately you have you know, you've got lots of different ways you can take this business. I'm keen to know, you know, we're having this conversation here in 2026. You know, you're a year in, things continue to evolve and change in in the startup world, but over the next two to three years, what is your ambition? Like what is ultimately, you know, uh, I don't want to even ask you the five year 2030 plan. Um, but just in the next few years, where do you want to take this business? What where do you see pin tours in the next couple of years?

Spreading Demand Beyond Hotspots

SPEAKER_01 49:14

Yeah, yeah. So one of the questions you asked before was uh, you know, why why do people keep coming back to the platform? And it's that consistent, uh personalized experience. You know, once you have a great experience on Pintours, you want to go to other places and have that same consistent experience, which is why people are looking to pin tours when they go to other cities and other places. And so with that same model, we want to have that personalized experience brand. You know, whether you're in a car, you know, we can convert your Uber into a personalized experience. Whether you want to have a restaurant experience, we can personalize that. And so any type of experience, we want to be the engine that personalizes and makes that perfect for you and your group with our guide knowledge. And so, you know, that's why we're going into sporting events and and dining and on all these things, is that you know, any type of experience can be personalized and can be made better with a guide. And so that's the goal. Whether you're in an attraction at the Eiffel Tower, you're in Disneyland with your kids, you're at, you know, your favorite restaurant, or you're at a FIFA World Cup game, we can personalize this experience and make it as seamless as possible for you to enjoy anywhere in the world.

SPEAKER_00 50:20

Yeah. I've got a good friend, uh Azaz, that I'm gonna be hosting a series of sports tourism in 2026, and I'm actually gonna put him to the test after this to uh to see if we can't do something for the World Cup because there are so many cities. It's one thing that's really unique about this year's World Cup is it's happening not just in one host country, it's three countries, and it's so many cities, right? So, like it's uh you know, it presents a new marketing opportunity for uh for tourism because everyone is trying to capitalize on the travelers that are coming to each of those cities. And so uh yeah, no, that it's been really fascinating speaking to you. Obviously, I'm I'm uh I'm excited for what you're what you've built. I'm I'm kind of I'm bull very bullish on this whole category. I did speak to uh Chris Hemeter uh from Thayer Ventures, who's based in San Francisco there. I've seen him a number of times whenever I come to San Francisco. He's often speaking the plug and play, and he has highlighted there's you know uh I we have a lot of investors that listen to our podcast, and I do have investors on, like uh Michael Zeisner, who was a fantastic interview as well, a big time investor in the experience economy, uh more late stage, but nevertheless, he's incredibly bullish on this sector for what I believe to be all the right reasons demographics, consumer behavior changes. And when I asked Chris Hemeder this question, he said, There's never been a better time to be investing in travel. That's his his view, and I I share that. And so uh it's uh you know exciting for a young, smart entrepreneur like you to enter the travel space and be solving what are you know complex problems. That's the interesting thing about the travel industry is that people think it's a lot easier than it is, and they get into it and realize wait a second, there's a lot more complexity to this, which is why Rod Cuthbert from Viator always criticized every startup that is building another travel planner. It's like not another travel planner. Um, and this is nothing like that. This is uh, yeah, this is really exciting. I guess just a couple last questions for you, Lou. And um, one of them is for all those guides out there, we know we've over the conversation we've been talking about the importance of their role and and also making sure they're part of this transition to embrace this technology and they're not feeling as if they're gonna be replaced by robotaxis that are just gonna take over, you know, all of a sudden there's no driver and there's no guide, and you're just listening to uh an audio tour. Um, what would be a piece of advice that you would give them about stepping into this new era of travel?

Surprising Insight: Travelers Want Drivers

SPEAKER_01 52:42

Um, what I would say is what we do would not be possible at all without the guides. You know, the knowledge that you've built over years and years, no one can replicate that. No AI can replicate that, no one can can do what you've done. And so you're the core piece of this experience. And it's kind of the perfect opportunity for for guides today because of the the transformation in the industry with you know driverless and all this automation, where your audio and your knowledge can be everywhere. And it's a it's a great opportunity because a lot of these companies, a lot of these AI companies and you know, different different places in the world are looking for these this knowledge. And so to be able to be in a car, in a museum, in a stadium from just uploading once is is such a unique opportunity, and this is the right time. And as technology goes further, and we have like robots and we have all these things, your knowledge is still gonna be super valuable. And you know, why not make more money now? This is the perfect opportunity, and let's work together. That's kind of our whole approach is uh don't wait, don't let things progress without you. Let's embrace it, let's uh let's build this new economy together and let's transform travel. So that's the whole point.

SPEAKER_00 53:56

Well, I'd love to hear from tour guides that have gone on this journey, and by all means you can post in the comments. And as this episode is distributed across all of different uh social platforms and and published, I'd be really keen and I'll keep an eye for this. So feel free to jump into the conversation and share some of your experiences and and also for any Pintours guides that you know have been on this journey uh to share some of your experiences, learnings, advice, because again, that's the power of the human connection. That's ultimately what we're looking for, is that that validation. So I'd love for you to be able to share your stories, your testimonials. And uh also, too, Lou, I've as we you know uh wrap up our conversation now. I'm I'm really keen to follow your journey. Obviously, I'm keen to uh keep in touch. This is actually in a really cool way, the first time we've had a chance to meet. And it's like um I know I know we've got a number of friends in common that spoke speak very highly of you. And I've heard a lot about your startup. So I'm you know, it was a real pleasure to have this conversation with you. I'm I'm sure many other people are feeling the same way. So tell everyone where they can find out more information about Pintours to either discover experiences or learn how to create their own.

SPEAKER_01 55:02

Yeah, so if you go to Pintours.com, uh you can check out the offerings that we have and create an account if you would like to become a guide. And uh, we also have an Instagram page, Pintours. So if you'd like to see kind of a rep two, that's also a great place to tune in.

SPEAKER_00 55:15

Fantastic. Well, thanks so much for joining us for this special spotlight episode. A real pleasure to meet you, and I certainly wish you and the team all the success in 2026 with the World Cup and everything you have planned. And I look forward to uh keeping in touch.

SPEAKER_01 55:27

Thank you so much, Jen. Yeah, it was great to meet you, and uh hopefully we can see each other again uh in person.

Two‑Year Vision: The Personalization Layer

SPEAKER_00 55:32

This has been such a fantastic conversation, Lou. Thank you again for joining us and sharing the vision behind Pintours. And what I love most about the Pintours story is that it really highlights something that I think is very fundamental about travel, and that is that some of the most memorable experiences often come from connecting with those passionate local guides who really know how to tell a story about a place and make it come alive. They give you that context that makes it really interesting and meaningful. And now understanding how Pintours as a platform can unlock the potential for guides to give them the tools to create, distribute, and scale their experiences while keeping that human element at the center of travel is really, really exciting. So thank you for sharing the story. I'm certainly keen to see your continued progress. And for listeners who want to learn more about the platform, discover opportunities to work with Pintours or just learn about their tours, you can visit pintours.com. That's PINTORS.com. And you can also see clips and highlights from our conversation today on our social channels, which you can find on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at Travel Trends Podcast. And as always, if you enjoyed this episode, make sure you are subscribed on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified when new episodes go live. And if you want to check out our spotlights specifically, you can go to traveltrends podcast.com slash spotlights. Thanks again for joining us. Thanks again to Lou and the team, and we look forward to seeing you on the next episode of Travel Trends. Until then, save travels.