Live here long enough and you'll see one every now and then: rugged-looking Jeeps swathed in Barbie-esque coats of pink paint. Since October 2001, Pink Jeep Tours-Las Vegas' fleet of brightly colored off-road vehicles has taken domestic and international visitors on small-group tours of 10 historical sites throughout southern Nevada, western Utah and northern Arizona, including Hoover Dam, Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon.
Last year, Pink Jeep's fleet of 25 vehicles conducted 6,999 tours, ferrying 48,489 guests, an average of seven guests per day per vehicle. As the company nears its 10th anniversary, officials are busily planning to take it to the next level, both through its one-of-a-kind tours and solid relationships with the travel industry.
"What sets us apart is that our market niche and our expertise is in providing a professionally guided tour within a small-group experience," operations manager Richard Scown said. "Here in Vegas you have buses, airplanes and helicopters, and then you have us. We've designed our own custom vehicle. It is a wonderful and extremely comfortable vehicle that seats 10. And our guides personally guide each tour. They don't just drop folks off and say, 'We'll meet you back here.'"
Another perk for passengers: Each guide is certified by the National Association for Interpretation, a 5,000-member nonprofit group that works to advance the profession of heritage interpretation. Its members work at parks, museums, nature centers, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, historical and cultural sites, commercial tour companies and theme parks. Guides are also certified in first aid and CPR.
According to Scown, Pink Jeep Tours has permits with the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, allowing its vehicles to go off road.
"We are one of the few companies that are certified by the state of Nevada to conduct scenic tours in the state," he said. "Some of our tours are specific [to us]: We are the only company, for example, to which the National Park Service has granted a permit to enter the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at Toroweap."
In addition to the Grand Canyon Toroweap tour, which offers views at the narrowest, deepest part of the inner canyon, Pink Jeep also offers trips to Death Valley, Eldorado Canyon, Grand Canyon (South and West rims), Historic Las Vegas (Springs Preserve as well as historical landmarks), Hoover Dam (inside out and top-to-bottom tours), Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, a West Rim/Hoover Dam combination tour and a trek to Zion National Park.
Honing agent expertise
Company spokeswoman Brittany Smith credits Pink Jeep's relationship with booking companies, tour operators and more than 50 travel agents with its popularity among domestic and international tourists. Its fam tours let travel agents experience the trips for themselves, thus making them better salespeople.
"We have a staff that is trained to assist travel agents," Smith said. "We send out DVDs of each of our 10 tours, we give them sales and marketing information on how to sell to the end-user, we send out e-blasts about changes in tours and new tours so that agents get the news first."
With a business model that is 80% business-to-business, General Manager Alix Reed said Pink Jeep goes the extra mile to work with travel agents.
"In this destination, you have to work with the wholesalers, the Internet companies, all the travel agencies with tour receptive operators," Reed continued. "Travel Impressions has, for example, a lot of American Express travel agents all over the world that will get our product through Travel Impressions. So our expertise is working with our clients to build the product, help our clients or the travel agents have the right materials for the end-user to give them the contract, the insurance they need and everything they need to offer our services."
Reed added that Pink Jeep has also streamlined the way it organizes its reservations and booking systems, to accommodate third-party bookings through the travel agencies and wholesalers.
"A lot of companies, when you look at their brochures, will have three tours to the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam and either Zion or Death Valley -- they are all out of state," Reed said.
"In our brochures, we offer 10 tours, for everything in and out of state. It's one of the reasons why we've been very successful in our contracts with travel agents and wholesalers and receptive tour operators, because we're almost a one-stop shop."
When Pink Jeep Tours-Las Vegas opened in 2001, Reed heard travel agent horror stories about declining, then disappearing, airline travel commissions.
But in the last few years, she said, agents have learned that they can make a lot more money selling attractions and sightseeing tours than selling hotel rooms or airline seats.
"In our sales department, we spend a lot more marketing dollars on training materials for agents," Reed noted. "We're in the process of rebuilding our website. And when we relaunch, one whole portal on the website will be specifically dedicated for agents to sign in, get newsletters, do virtual familiarization trips, learn about our product.
"We're trying to take that process to the next level technically, like downloading a 20-page manual to look at or looking at high-res photos or videos," he said.
Tickled pink
Founder Don Pratt started Pink Jeep Tours a half-century ago in Sedona, Ariz., offering off-road adventures throughout the Southwest.
The name comes from the color of the vehicles, buildings and uniforms he saw on a visit to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach.
If the past 10 years are any indication, the next decade holds just as much promise, Scown said. "We're looking at additional venues in the Mojave Desert, the Las Vegas area. We haven't firmed anything up yet or made any decisions, but there are some other areas of interest we might decide to go to in addition to adjacent states that may offer exciting experiences to our clients."
Added Reed: "About three years out, we're looking at designing a new generation of vehicles. And we also have a city tour that debuted last April; we're going to be doing major tweaking to that, we're going to be offering some of the other venues, such as the Mob Museum and the Neon Museum, that are coming down the pike.
"We also started doing the South Rim of the Grand Canyon in 2010, so we're looking at getting some additional South Rim product."
Rates for Pink Jeeps Tours-Las Vegas' Grand Canyon tours start at about $240 per person, including lunch. The company also offers group rates and team building activities.
For more, see www.pinkjeeptours.com.