It’s a cool Thursday morning in Arizona, just across the Nevada border at Hoover Dam.
From the backseat, the enormous rocks, in every shade of brown, unfold in front of you. The majestic, concrete Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge spreads across your view. Bill Cavenagh talks about his tour business, and his red, white and blue Hummer H2 rolls into a mostly empty parking lot.
On his way in, Cavenagh passes a Pink Jeep Tour vehicle — his primary competitor.
Since the beginning of 2011, Cavenagh’s Big Horn Wild West Tours has experienced 20 percent growth. He started seeing an uptick in tour bookings in March.
“This is such a competitive industry locally,” Cavenagh says.
Alongside the numerous bus, van and helicopter tour companies based in Southern Nevada, there are two semi- private, SUV tour businesses. Cavenagh says he fills a void with the H2, because many international tourists don’t have access to them in their home countries because they’re just too expensive. In Australia, for example, the vehicle retails for about $145,000.
“I hit the nail on the head I guess,” Cavenagh says.
Like Big Horn, Pink Jeep has seen an uptick in business since the spring — between a 15 percent to 22 percent increase.
“It’s actually been really good this year,” says Alix Reed, general manager for Pink Jeep Tours Las Vegas. “We all have seen an improvement.”
All of the tour companies are benefitting from the openings of the bridge at Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Since both were unveiled, Cavenagh says there is renewed interest in the landmarks. He estimates that about 500 people each day visited the Grand Canyon before. Now, he says that number has skyrocketed to more than 4,000 visitors each day.
“It’s had a great economic impact on the tour business in Las Vegas,” Cavenagh says.
Reed says the bridge’s construction has cut an hour off the time it used to take to get to the Grand Canyon and back.
After 10 years in the local tour industry, Cavenagh has noticed some trends.
Overseas travelers, for instance, want the full, day-long tours. Conventioneers mostly want a quicker, four-hour tour. Cavenagh and his staff of six give semi-private tours of the Grand Canyon Skywalk, Death Valley and Hoover Dam in their H2s.
For $89, you can see the Hoover Dam in all its glory. If you’re willing to shell out some cash, you can have an all-day adventure at the Grand Canyon that includes a Hummer, helicopter and boat ride for $423. And, Cavenagh will feed you lunch.
Big Horn partners with Sundance Helicopters to provide its Grand Canyon helicopter rides. Cavenagh says if he didn’t offer that extra service, he’d lose about 50 percent of his business.
At Pink Jeep, you can see Zion National Park for $239. A four-and-a- half-hour long Las Vegas city tour costs $81.75 per person.
Challenges for the tour business in recent years have included almost- constant road construction on the way to Hoover Dam. Reed says illegal tour operators, too, become a problem when business starts picking up.
“Nevada busts these people all the time,” Reed says.
Challenges or not, Cavenagh’s just happy his business is continuing to grow and thrive in the city.
“We feel extremely fortunate to be able to do what we do in Las Vegas,” Cavenagh says. “Las Vegas is a land of opportunity. If you treat her right, she’ll treat you right, I’ve seen her kick a lot of people to the curb, and rightly so.”