How five entrepreneurs launched their own walking tour companies

If you’ve a penchant for history, culture or food, or have any sort of local offbeat intel, you may very well have fantasized about opening up a little walking tour operation, whether as a full-time business or as a side gig.

Ahead, these city-trotters share how they made pounding the pavement work.

Gabriel Schoenberg, Graff Tours

Schoenberg’s uncle was a tour guide for many years, and the entrepreneur worked for him in college to make extra money. “I saw a graffiti art tour in Buenos Aires and thought it was amazing so I adapted it to NYC,” he said of the origins of his Bushwick business in 2013.

Now, the Greenpoint resident nets “a few thousand” a month through Graff Tours, his sole gig. In addition to tours, his company offers graffiti art classes and does live painting events. “Being a good tour guide is about your passion for the topic, so only guide in a field you love,” said Schoenberg, who recommends reading up on your area of interest to become even more of a subject-matter expert.

Seth Kamil, Big Onion Walking Tours

Founded in 1991, Kamil, based in South Slope, has been at the helm of this NYC business for 33 years. The company was born out of “accident and economic necessity,” when two Columbia University American history Ph.D. students — Kamil and his co-founder Ed O’Donnell — needed to make money.
The pair committed to only hire graduate students and recent, underemployed Ph.D.s, which “is still the core of our business model,” said Kamil.

O’Donnell left the company, but Kamil runs Big Onion full time to this day.

To succeed in this industry, Kamil stressed being original.

“Read books, articles — but don’t take the tours that other guides are leading to try and build your knowledge base,” he said.

Alana Hoye Barnaba, Ahoy New York Food Tours

Originally from Gloversville, NY, Hoye Barnaba moved to NYC, where she was often visited by loved ones on the weekend, so she’d spend time showing them around.

“I realized that I had a knack for sharing my city and started to volunteer for Big Apple Greeter,” she said of the free organization that connects visitors with residents willing to share their knowledge of the city.
Ultimately, she decided to pursue her sightseeing license to become an official tour guide and spent time developing what is today the operator’s signature tour — a food walking tour of Chinatown and Little Italy.
In 2010, Hoye Barnaba made it her full-time job.

Along with finding your niche, Hoye Barnaba said organization is key. “Secondly, if you intend to hire, have proper training materials and teach consistency to your staff so that your product is the same quality no matter who is giving the tour,” she said.

Hoye Barnaba hopes to become a $1 million tour company in 2024. “We were just shy of it last year,” she said.

Todd Lefkovic, Foods of NY Tours

Based in Greenwich Village, Lefkovic (on the right) originally hails from Cranford, NJ. As a young boy, he became fascinated with NYC, watching the local news and reading the newspaper. Then in the summer of 1977, aged 15, he began making forays into the city to explore.

Lefkovic still fondly recollects exploring 42nd Street for the first time. “There were a lot of peep show shops, XXX theaters, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers and derelicts on the street. Coming from Cranford — a quiet and clean suburban town — this was the best thing ever to experience!”

Lefkovic continued to bring friends, family and girlfriends into the city to explore. All of it was done by hoofing it, never taking a taxi or riding the subway. “The only real way to explore is on foot,” Lefkovic avowed.

His official business started in 1998 and became his full-time gig a year later. They currently run food tours five days a week. While the pandemic dented his business — in 2019 gross revenue was $3 million; it’s now $1.1 million — that’s still no paltry sum.

To build up your business, venture to parts lesser known, the touring guru advised. “Create your own food tour in an area that is not overrun by other food tours,” said Lefkovic.

Stephen Oddo, Walks Tours

While Oddo is based in Boston, his company operates tours in NYC along with 24 other cities in North America and Europe.

The idea for his company began in 2008, when Oddo was living in Rome and working as a tour guide at the Vatican and Colosseum.

“I wanted to show people new ways to experience these familiar monuments, with an emphasis on quality guides, smaller groups and unique itineraries,” he said.

In 2014, Walks expanded to NYC with small group walking tours of the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and 9/11 memorial tours. In 2022, Walks became the official tour operator of Grand Central Terminal.

Last year, Oddo also served as a mentor for the Alliance for Downtown New York’s Walking Tour Incubator Grant Program, which gives money to entrepreneurs starting walking tours in lower Manhattan.

While most of the Walks guides work part time, Oddo also hires many of them to write for its travel blogs and create social media content. “Their local knowledge is incredibly valuable,” said Oddo, sharing that tour guides around the world tend to make between $40 to $80 per hour.

Oddo’s top tips for aspiring amblers? Make sure to collect and publish good customer reviews to build trust with future clients.

“Producing quality social media videos on platforms like Instagram and TikTok can be highly valuable,” he said. And, “especially in New York, you’ll need to find creative ways to reach potential clients that already have a lot of choices when it comes to experiences.”