Taliesin West - Tours

m.perrino · Post by **m.perrino** » Fri Nov 23, 2018 7:37 pm

A great day at T-W. Today kicks off the winter tour season. Running tours every 15 minutes with a maximum of 25 on a tour. Thanks to a great reservation system and a professional group of docents, the flow of traffic went well. The property is looking as best as it ever has. Majority of the guests were pleased, of course, the 70 degree sunny weather helped as well.

FarmerBill · Post by **FarmerBill** » Sat Nov 24, 2018 10:26 am

Mike, are you still giving tours? If so, could a visitor arrange in advance to get on one of your tours, say, in January or February (even at the lat minute if necessary)?

m.perrino · Post by **m.perrino** » Sat Nov 24, 2018 11:58 am

Because I still have a 'day' job ( ha ha ) I don't 'work' a regular schedule at T-W and usually give tours during the summer and generally help out during the holidays. However, are you planning a trip to Phoenix? If so I would be happy, if it can be arranged, to meet and give you a tour - maybe we could even slide a personal tour or a 'free bee'. "chatters" do have SOME benefits ! Send me an e mail with what your plans are: [email protected]

Rood · Post by **Rood** » Sat Nov 24, 2018 12:34 pm

Mike ... what is the current charge for an "ordinary" tour?

m.perrino · Post by **m.perrino** » Sat Nov 24, 2018 6:02 pm

Rood: Current Price: Standard Tour ( 90 min ) - $35.00 / Student: $25.00 / Youth 6-12 yrs: $19.00 The one-hour tour is almost extinct - as they found most visitors opted for the 90 min tour ( garden room, bedroom & OLW's "day room". I think, but could be mistaken, that Senior/Veteran discounts have been eliminated. So, do some math: 25 people / $35 = $875. Volunteers like myself = zero loaded cost. We generally give two tours. = $1750.00 Or as the late Senator Everett Dirksen ( Illinois )said, " A million here, a million there, pretty soon you're talking real money" HA HA

Rood · Post by **Rood** » Sun Nov 25, 2018 3:39 pm

Wow, Mike. Twenty-five on tours leaving every 15 minutes ... would be around $200,000.00 per week. When I started conducting tours we charged 50 cents apiece. And none of that money helps finance the school?

m.perrino · Post by **m.perrino** » Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:48 pm

25 is the most slots on a tour. I don't know what the yearly "average" tour slot count would be. I'm guessing under that - maybe 15 ? And that would be a WAG. Also, there are really only 5 months of intense activity - November to the end of March. Summer months, as you know, have very light activity. So, 50 cents? WOW. I think the first tour I ever took was maybe $5.00 per person. Tours were run out of the entry way to the Cabaret Theater. I am quite certain that Ken Lockhart gave my first ever tour. Must have been May 1974. "the times they are a changing...." Bobby Zimmerman.