Behind the Scenes with Old Town Trolley Tours

Interview with John Savage (Operations Manager of San Diego Seal Tours)
By: Victoria Lovato October 23, 2015
Walking for miles it feels, with my heart thumping each time I step. Seeing the beautiful view
of the bay and walking past building after building in Downtown San Diego. The cool breeze and
beautiful sun rays are peeking out of the clouds its a great day to sit and chat with Mr. Savage goes
through my head as we continue to walk and get closer to our meeting spot. As we arrive we are
greeted by a tall , very muscular man with dark shades on. A little intimidated by his biceps that look
like they are going to rip right through his shirt but yet greets all of and says Hello, welcome , happy
to have you here.. John Savage the operations manager for Old Town Trolley Tours has helped keep
the business running for 18 years and 2 years now as the operations manager. Enjoying the joy and
excitement that these tours bring people keeps not only him motivated but the other employees as well.
As the interview continued, my interest level continued to grow as well, it felt like you could
talk all day with John and it would seem more like a conversation rather than an interview. He talked
passionately about how this business is continually looking for ways to become better, There's always
going to be room to grow , John said. He even mentioned with complete honesty that the company
isnt as green as he would like it to be but he is trying to get it to that next level. He even mentioned
some practices that they are doing now to do their part in keeping the environment clean and safe. The
SEAL Tour Duck (the boat) runs on biodiesel fuel that isnt polluting the air or water as much as any
other fuel. They are also very mindful about not causing any harm to any sea animals or creatures that
they see in the water, they keep their distant and move right past them gracefully , just as if you were
tiptoeing out of a sleeping babys room.
Many people come to be apart of these tours and to also feel the California vibes as they are out
in the water, looking over the great views Downtown San Diego has to offer. The SEAL Tours is just
one of many other tourist attractions that hundreds of visitors and even locals are a part in. The
company is always trying to be as successful and eco friendly as it can be because along with John the
organization knows the importance of ecotourism and spreading it around all of San Diego. Seal Tours
main attraction is seeing wildlife out in the bay area and their favorite furry creature that they get to see
are the seals themselves. They are partnered with local wildlife conservation organizations and have
abided by their regulations for the safety of the animals.
After finding the perfect spot to film we set up everything and got all our equipment ready. As
we sat there eager to know about Seal Tours, John was ready to talk about it, and that's where it began.

John Savage Interview

October, 23 2015
Alex: When and how did old town trolley tours form?
John Savage: Well the company is actually three guys that started out in key west and old town, every
city pretty much has an old, so on our thing it is old town key west. When the military left the key town
area was just in blight, it was in economic ruin, and the Swift family had a camera store, the Balan
family, I cant remember what they had, he was a college graduate, he just believed in the area and they
just took every dime they had and they just bought and stayed. If they had two dimes to rub together
they leverage them and buy a building right next door, and they just fixed it up and they created this
great tourist mechanism that you can kinda see today, and then they just started expanding and growing.
They came to San Diego about 25 year ago and it was just the trolley. Started off fairly small, six
trolleys, slowly they grew and they grew, then they saw the popularity of those duck tours, in Boston
and D.C and there wasnt one in San Diego so they started inquiring about if maybe they could do one.
So the Port put out a RFP for a land-sea tour and we ended up winning the bid, and we ended up
opening in September fourteenth 2001. And September eleventh 2001 stopped all the air travel and shut
down the entire country. So it was a little rough beginning. We started off, we would only run on the
summer, we would close in the fall and the winter. Then we got where we would run summer and fall,
then we got to where we ran on weekends in the winter, then where we ran every day year round. We
started off with a couple of vessels and we are up to seven vessels. So it's been a great experience in the
ten years.
Alex: How long have you been the operations manager?
John Savage: Ive been the operations manager for two years now. Ive been with the company for 18
years. I started as a part time driver, then I became a full time driver, then I helped out with training and
got titled as a trainer, was a safety officer for a while, I was a dispatcher for a while then we had a
position as a manager of the day where you fill in for other managers and I did that for a while, then we
have a retail center in old town, and that needed a new manager about seven or eight years ago so I
transferred, out of direct guest service and I did property management there and then this position
opened up and I guess I was a nice fit, so about two years as operations manager. I was on the seal too,
I didnt captain it I was the guide.
Alex: As operations manager what else do you do?
John Savage: Whatever needs to be done to make the business move forward I have hours during the
day where I sit down and plan out the future. Im not very good at this yet, I'm trying to making it
happen. You put those stakes out and you manage to those stakes. So youu know. Ive got through
Veterans day set. Ive almost got all our parade stuffset of mother goose and mother goose and
thanksgiving all of that. So I set some time for that. Ill just tell you a typical day. Typical day is , we

will start with a briefing and we will have everybody come in and we will give them the information
they need. So from la Jolla down to Coronado and on the water we go. So theres road closures theres
events, heres all kinds of thing that the people working need to know. S we provide them that
information. And because we have a lot of people you get sick calls or issues. So work around that.
Then you gotta make sure your vehicles are up and all of that. And you put them in a good mood. The
ar gonna go out and give tours, so they gotta be happen. So we have ways to getting them pumped out
and get our there. So thats usually the mornings. Then Ill have some random appointments like today.
An then I spend some time just trying to plan and manage. And then its gets towards the end of the day
when its just kinda finishing , closing in getting things down, getting stuff entered. Thats kind of it,
thats kind of my day.
Alex: What is unique about the tours compared to other tourist companies like the Duck tours? Is there
anything else unique about it compared to them?
John Savage: Well ours aren't ducks, they are hydra terras. Ducks tend to be World War Two vehicles
that have been reconditioned. They do have some new Ducks that a company out in a hawaii has just
kinda started. Ours are actually F650 pick up trucks that have converted over. So thats a little bit
unique. We go in salt water, Most of the amphibious tours that you see, most of them go in fresh water.
The really big ones like branson and seattle they tend to be fresh water tours. That kinda the big unique
thing. Its not the same vessel
Alex: How many employees does Old town trolley tours have?
John Savage: The seals at the height of summer Ill have just over 20 people. And my that report to
me, Between the Trolley the Seal, and some various positions I have I think this summer we had 77
people and then we had just over 130 in our San diego operation.
Alex: How many tours does each department for each tour give a day?
John Savage: Its very seasonal, THe summer tours we give 18 tours a day and in the winter we will
do 9. So its a super huge challenge to staff for summer with a captain and a guide and have them be
professional and proficient at their job. And then at the end of summer you let them go. You know
Thats the nature of it. It a seasonal gig. and then you wanna hang on to those that will get you through
the off season. So that really a big challenge is trying to manage 18 tours a day down to 9 it's difficult.
Alex: Do you know the comparison from locals to tourists in numbers? How many you get?
John Savage: The Trolley is, I gotta say probably maybe 85:15 outta owners to locals. The seal is
much better at a closer 50:50 ratio. Its probably wrong but Id say we're probably 60:40, 60 Outta town
guests and 40 in the city people.
Alex: Have you ever received a notice regarding any disturbance towards the animals?

John Savage: No, the Sea Lions are the ones are fed really protected. They are the ones that have the
most protection. They are not doing something natural they are we see them they are on a bait barge.
Its not like they are in the rookery or something like that. And the bait barge is a working bait barge.
So fisherman pull up there with their boats open the top of the tanks , get their bait fish and leave. And
the Seal Lions are there because they want in the tanks and get the free food. The fisherman with that
activity are far more disrupted but they are not disrupting them, the sea lions are not in their natural
state. So what we do is we cruise out, our vessel is fairly quiet, we maintain usually somewhere, we
tell them to be a boat length, sometimes the captains cheat and get a little closer. So we usually sat
about 30 feet away. We cruise by, turn around and cruise by again. When we arrive we let people they
are federally protected and not to be molested. So no yelling, no barking, no quaking, none of that
happens while we are out there. They know we are there, you see them look at you and all of that. But
they don't go running into the water scared or anything like that.
Alex: Does your company help the environment in the San Diego port Area?
John Savage: Well, That's a big one.We do from all kinds of ways, large and small. We are biodiesel.
We are adhere to the best practices standards. Not what's legal but the best practices. And I just did the
big bay keep up, I was on the riff raff over here pulling junk for volunteer morning. There are all kinds
ways we do it. We aren't really an eco tour, we are a tour and were are environmentally sensitive but
were not a true eco tour. We don't really make that claim.
Alex: Overall how has experience been working for the tours?
John Savage: I ts been great. !8 years you know. Because I like it not because I have to.
Alex: Is there a way the tours can be improved?
John Savage: I ask myself that every day, all the time. I really do. and appsolutely there are and if your
are gonna ask me what are they . Let e see what's the one Im doing right now I've spent 4 hours in a
seminar on how to continue maintain our safety culture. Not just talk about safely because that is our
motto, our safety first courtesy of most second. But how to make this culture where everyone feels
empowered all the time. Then when they walk by a piece of paper they pick it up or a screw on the
ground they pick it up. So Im constantly looking for ways. There are ways and Im looking for them.
Alex: Whats your favorite part of working here?
John Savage: The people. Appsolutely, the people I work with, the people I serve. Now ask me what
my most challenging part of my job is.
Alex: Whats your most challenging part of your job?
John Savage: The people.
*laughing*

John Savage: Buts Its fantastic. We have this great cast. We use a lot of words in our culture. We- My
daughter comes back from college and works for us in the summers and its funny, she has the
vocabulary down. We have a work culture. We don't have employees, we have cast members. We don't
have customers we have guests. Im not a manager, I'm a leader. There's all of these things that we do
that's part of our culture on guest service.
Alex: Is there a plan to expand the Old Town tours to other parts of San Diego or is it just mainly in
this area?
John Savage: Yeah! We are always looking for something that makes sense and that we can do. We
just recently just rented That kiosk there and we rented another kiosk and created an information center,
we just did that this year. We did add two seals this year. We just received two brand new vehicles so
the fleet grew by two this week as a matter of fact. Were looking at maybe possibly adding some new
tours. We just added a couple of years ago, something call the La Jolla and Beaches of San Diego tour
because we felt like La jolla was an area that was underserved. So we're alway looking you know. We
are kinda looking at a beer tour .were Kind a looking at a night tour. There are other things were kinda
looking at.
Alex: How do you hope the customers feel after their tour?
John Savage: That they had fun, first and foremost. Well, first and foremost they felt safe, then that
they had fun and then maybe that they learned something. And that's kinda what we all share, all the
employes here. Is that they felt safe, had some fun, and they then maybe they learned something.
Alex: Alright I think were finished. Thank you!