High-end customer service and a focus on Wine Country have helped San Francisco-based Green Dream Tours carve out a niche in the competitive Northern California tourism space.
Since offering its first Wine Country tours 10 years ago, Green Dream Tours has guided more than 40,000 guests from around the world to Napa and Sonoma valleys. Using 14-passenger buses, the small-group tours visit boutique and family-owned wineries, with a blend of education and fun.
“We are a small operation that focuses on quality over quantity,” says Elie Sasson, owner of Green Dream Tours. “Many companies offer a variety of tours: city tours, Muir Woods/Sausalito, Yosemite, etc. We’ve found that specializing in one area has allowed us to develop the best possible product. It’s easier, in my opinion, to do one thing and do it well than to try to keep too many plates spinning at once.”
Green Dream Tours is regularly recognized for its customer service, including recent qualification for the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame. Based solely on guest reviews, the TripAdvisor Hall of Fame is given for earning the Certificate of Excellence five consecutive years.
Erin Troy is a partner and operations manager at Green Dream Tours. Once a guide herself, Troy has helped shape Green Dream Tours by recruiting tour leaders with personality and passion.
“Our guides are awesome, not to mention experienced and knowledgeable,” says Troy. “It’s incredibly gratifying to receive the continuous stream of amazing feedback and reviews from happy customers.”
Like a fine wine, Green Dream Tours doesn’t rush guides into handling tours solo.
“We want to ensure that they are fully prepared to lead great tours before we send them out on their own,” says Troy. “I don’t know what we would do without our ‘Green Dream Team’ of guides. They are the front and center or our company, and I couldn’t be more appreciative.”
Troy says Green Dream Tours scores high with guests thanks to the Sonoma and Napa wineries the tours visit. Because Green Dream Tours uses smaller, buses, groups are able to visit quaint, off-the-beaten-path vineyards.
“I feel so fortunate that we have developed such great relationships with the wineries over the years,” says Troy. “They take such good care of our customers on a daily basis. We’ve become regulars at wineries and it’s nice to receive special treatment for being reliable customers. You can’t offer a wine tour without the wine!”
While Green Dream Tours has made its mark with Wine Country tours, the company may be ready to expand in other areas to take into account changing desires and requests, according to Sasson. For example, Green Dream Tours is already committed to sustainable tourism and may add an experience that combines tourism and volunteering.
“I think the next 10 years will bring more learning and more growth to the company,” says Sasson. “We expect to broaden the scope of our offerings to include the emerging cannabis market. We also want to capitalize on the growing craft beer industry by offering beer tasting and brewery tours.”
