Tour Directing Video
Interested in learning more about becoming a Tour Director and if it's the right career for you? Watch a four minute Baby Boomer Lifestyle Video and other insightful tour directing videos.

- Baby Boomer Lifestyle Video
- Other Tour Directing Videos

- 2009 Symposium Brochure for Tour Operators (PDF)
- 2009 Symposium Brochure for Tour Directors (PDF)
- Symposium Photos and Videos
- Preferred ITMI Sponsors Symposium 2008
- Preferred ITMI Sponsors Symposium 2007

ITMI was established in San Francisco in 1976 as the first certified school in the United States designed specifically to train professional tour directors and tour guides. Our passion was then as it is now to train professionals to create their new and exciting careers in the tour industry.

We accomplish this by bringing in the most talented and knowledgeable instructors in the industry. All of our teachers currently make a living leading tour groups around the globe. We also pride ourselves on our thirty plus year relationships with the leading hiring companies in the industry. Our one-on -one attention with students before, during, and after the training helps place our students with the right company.

Choosing to partner with ITMI in training for and planning the next phase of your life is an important decision. Read on to learn about the members of our community who are dedicated to serving you·

ITMI Founders

Ted Bravos CEO / Co-Founder of ITMI About the time I was graduating from California Polytechnic University with a degree in Biology, I remember hearing for the first time President John Kennedy speaking "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." I decided and was accepted to join the Peace Corps to teach high school Biology in Africa. Unfortunately at the same time, the army was calling me to Vietnam. I decided to make my own choice and joined the Marine Corps as an infantry officer. During those life changing 13 months I spent in Vietnam I remember saying to myself, whatever I do the rest of my life had better make sense. When I returned home to the United States my search began to fulfill the promise I made to myself. Not knowing exactly what that was, I decided to spend a year exploring 17 countries in Europe on a 10 speed bicycle. This fueled my love of travel, culture, and history...the joy of just moving. I believe travel is the greatest university in the world. It is a fulfilling yet humbling experience to explore the cultures and history of our planet. For the next 7 years I would travel the globe as a Tour Director. When I returned to Europe leading tour groups, I met a whole new breed of professionally trained tour directors and guides. They could talk about art, food, wine, music, history, culture...they were like modern day Renaissance people. I found that most countries in Europe had national guide schools that trained people to be the "face of their country." In America tour escorting was done mostly by college students as a temporary summer job or by a retired person to obtain a free trip. Starting a school for tour directors in America seemed pre-destined to be a goal that I would pursue. I wanted to ensure that tour directing was a recognized, respected profession and more importantly give others an avenue to pursue their passion for travel. So, in 1976, my friend and colleague Bill Newton and I started the first school in America to train tour directors and guides. I am proud of each one of the graduates that made the choice to follow their dream to teach, learn, and grow into the role of a Professional Tour Director and ultimately be called Ambassadors of Goodwill throughout the world. Even after all this time I still lead a few tours a year, when I am not instructing at ITMI. Tour Directing is still my passion... besides, I'm not going to let my students have all the fun!

Primary Teaching Staff

Randy Hellrung Primary Instructor / Graduate Placement Counselor What do you do when you have been an Air Force officer, worked in the corporate world, helped administer a city government but still feel you do not fit in? Well, Randy's answer came in 1978 when he met Ted Bravos and Bill Newton, the founders of ITMI, and decided that traveling the world as a tour director might be the answer. Since graduating from ITMI, Randy has been leading tours for 27 years by land, air, cruise and rail both domestically and internationally. Even though he has traveled to most destinations worldwide, Randy especially enjoys outdoor adventure tours to places like East Africa, Alaska and the American Southwest. He has also planned tours for major travel companies and coordinated special events for programs such as the Rose Bowl. Randy loves the opportunity not only to share the joy and excitement of travel but also to help travelers become more open minded and accepting of other people and cultures. He remains an active tour director today.

Nicole Kreigenhofer Instructor & Class Coordinator in San Francisco After graduating from ITMI in 1999, she started working right away as a tour guide in San Francisco and tour director in New England & Eastern Canada. She has spent the last 6 years specializing in two of her most favorite places in the world: France and Italy. Nicole will tell you, "There is absolutely nothing else I'd rather be doing! No other career has ever been more fulfilling and rewarding while allowing me to pursue my passion for travel, adventure and meeting fascinating people."

Jackie Nelson Symposium Coordinator and ITMI Instructor Jackie enjoys a very diverse travel career. Since her certification from ITMI in 1994, she has traveled worldwide in many different capacities. She works as a Tour Manager, both domestically and internationally, with many of the leading tour operators. She often conducts groups in the senior market and is re-energized working with student groups in both the performing arts and education divisions. To balance her schedule, Jackie also works in the incentive sector of the industry.

Lee Burch Tour Director/ ITMI Instructor Lee Burch was born in North Hollywood, California, and still resides there. His mother’s family background was in the motion picture business, and his father’s family was in the music business. Before becoming a tour director in 1996, Lee had a varied work background. As a young man he was a singer, songwriter, and musician. After being trained on several instruments, he decided to concentrate on ukulele, banjo, and guitar. Lee worked in almost all facets of motion picture and television production and postproduction. He served as a film editor for almost 40 years in television and movies and has several major credits to his name. Years of playing, singing, and recording in clubs, and traveling on location with films, resulted in his love of meeting new people and exploring new places around the world. As a graduate of ITMI, the transition to full time tour director was made with ease. Lee has found a challenging and rewarding career as a tour director working for many companies, and as an instructor for The International Tour Management Institute.

Pamela Boudrot ITMI Instructor & Class Coordinator in North Hollywood After graduating college I decided to tour for one year, all around the world, with Up with People an international tour group. I truly loved touring and living out of a suitcase. We were in a new city every 3 - 5 days, but I grew tired of doing the same show after 180 times! In 1991 I found ITMI. After graduating, within two months I found I was doing back-to-back tours of the western national parks. My touring has taken me all over the US (including Alaska and Hawaii), Canada, England, China, Italy, France, Switzerland, and Greece. ITMI opened doors to every aspect of the tour travel business from cruise hosting, incentive work, local guiding and student travel, to domestic and international travel. The variety is what keeps me motivated, as well as the people and travel experiences. After 17 years on the road, I have cut back my travel time to spend more time at home with my furry friends while incorporating all the work I enjoy. Because of the flexibility of this career, today I work as a talent agent, and do voice-overs in Hollywood, California. For the travel part of my life, I do local guiding in Los Angeles, student tours in the spring, and a few over-the-road tours for domestic and international travel. What I enjoy most about teaching and being a part of the class is that I still work with new students encouraging them to follow their dreams and then run into graduates everywhere I go!!

Joanne Connors ITMI Instructor When I was a little girl, I truly believed I was going to see all the world and meet all the people in it. I got off to a good start by becoming a flight attendant, and saw a lot of airports and a lot of hotels, but very little of the world. Due to airline rules, my flight career ended when I got engaged. While raising my children, I still dreamed of seeing the world. When my children were grown I was determined to realize at least part of my lifelong dream, so I signed up for a bus tour of the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is one of the most awesome sights in the world, but there at the front of the bus was a sight almost as remarkable, a tour director, a woman being paid to travel. I couldn’t believe it. Shortly after returning from the Grand Canyon, I attended a seminar for ITMI and just about levitated. After graduating from the tour director school, my dream to see all the world came true. I have been on African safaris, climbed the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal, walked the Great Wall of China, stood breathless in front of Machu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes, walked the rice paddies of Bali, floated down the Nile on a barge and been to Europe more times than I can count.

Beth Blackwood
ITMI Instructor
Beth has been ITMI-certified since 1981 and during this time has worked for many major tour operators. She started in New England and the Western National Parks before leading groups internationally, primarily to China, Asia and the South Pacific. Beth has also worked extensively with inbound international groups and coordinating local tours in the San Francisco Bay area. She has a black belt in Aikido and is a member of the American Society of Trainers and Developers.

Patricia Hunting
ITMI Instructor
From Australia to Asia to Europe, Patricia Hunting, CTP backpacked on her own for two years. After an incredible stint working for the Indonesian Pavilion at the World Expo '92 in Sevilla, Spain, she realized that she was destined to work in tourism.

Upon graduation from ITMI in 1997, she immediately began working as a local guide in San Francisco, loving every minute! Patricia thrives on the variety of possibilities the industry offers, from tour directing in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, and California to serving as a local guide for inbound Spanish/Portuguese speaking groups. Combining these different jobs allows her to maintain a balance in her life.

In addition, Patricia is an avid samba and salsa dancer as well as an accomplished silk painter.

Dr. William Newton Scholarship Co-founder of ITMI Information coming soon.