We use our travel experience to make yours memorable

 When you travel, it’s not just the destination that’s important. It’s not just the route or the scenery or the people you meet along the way that are important. Rather, I think you’ll agree, it’s the total experience of the travel that is the important thing. That’s why in 1999 we adopted the motto, “It’s the experience.”

 We feel the motto also refers to the experience we now have in planning and conducting tours. Bartlett Tours is in it’s 16th year offering quality tours to Lake Havasu travelers.

As of February 1, 2008 we have conducted 128 tours with a total passenger count of 5,327 people. Of those 128 tours, 25 have been cruises and 25 have involved travel outside the United States. We have a high number of repeat travelers - nearly 900 have taken multiple tours with us and 455 have earned Frequent Travelers status and earned a dinner at Shugrue's, Barley Brothers or Javelina Cantina in Lake Havasu City.

 We use our experience each year to design new tours that we hope will be of interest to you. We often scout the tour a year in advance to make sure it’s what we want to offer. Your continued support tells us that we are providing something of value to our fellow residents of Lake Havasu. Thank you!

SERVING LAKE HAVASU TRAVELERS SINCE 1993 

A Short History Of Bartlett Tours 

Patty and I spent 20 years, 1972 - 1991, in Tucson. After my retirement from IBM in 1991 as Sales Manager in Tucson, the decision was quickly made to move to “the River”, where we had spent vacations since 1961. The idea to start Bartlett Tours grew from the fact that Patty had served as a tour escort for several years for a senior citizens group in Tucson.

 We began Bartlett Tours in early 1993. Our first tour was to Sedona and the Verde River Train in May, 1993. We had just nine people with us, so we rented a van from Budget Rent A Car and drove it ourselves. We got some experience and everybody seemed to have a good time. We did a total of five tours in vans, one with as few as three people. The people that traveled with us told their friends and neighbors and soon we began getting calls wanting to learn about our tour schedule.

 Our first bus tour was to the Glory of Christmas at the Crystal Cathedral in December, 1993 with 46 people. It was at that point that we began to believe that we were offering something that people in Lake Havasu City wanted. Word of mouth advertising spread the news and during 1994, our first full year, we operated nine tours with an average of 43 people per tour.

 At first, we planned to offer tours just within Arizona and California. We never really thought about the possibility that we would have repeat travelers. Of course, when we began to understand that people would want to travel more than once with us, we realized we needed to offer new tours each season. Rather than develop a few tours that we would repeat over and over, like Gray Line tours in a big city, we realized we would need to offer different tours each year to satisfy our repeat travelers. That became a tremendous challenge that we hadn’t expected. It also was very gratifying and exciting. As we gained experience we ventured farther out and offered longer tours. During our first season, 93/94, we operated 11 tours that involved just 20 days of travel. In contrast, during 2005 we escorted 10 tours and cruises with 70 days of travel.

We continue to try to offer interesting, innovative tours and cruises and our loyal following continues to respond by reserving early and causing many of our tours to sell out months in advance.

 We sincerely appreciate the friendship and loyalty of those who have traveled with us these past years. We hope to continue to offer tours that excite you. We believe our motto says it best - with Bartlett Tours, “it’s the experience”.

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