About // USA Tour Pros
About USA Tour Pros, LLC
Until now, no single Web site delivered solutions to meet all of the needs of the Professional Tour Director. USA Tour Pros is ready to be your “one-stop shopping” location for anything and everything to do with your career as a Tour Professional.
The USA Tour Pros Web site saves you time — hundreds of hours of valuable time! No longer will you need to search travel Web sites for endless hours trying to find the most basic information that we can deliver to you in one stop. Our goal is to build and nurture a supportive, online community of Tour Professionals to whom you can turn for advice, information, or just to blow off some steam!
As USA Tour Pros develops, we will offer continuing-education classes both on-site and online, a Tour Director resume bank, as well as job opportunities from scores of Tour Operators.
We provide vast amounts of detailed touring information in an uninterrupted manner, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Tom Schoenewald, President & Co-founder
A travel enthusiast of over thirty years with family, friends, schools, summer camps, and sports leagues, Tom Schoenewald earned a Tour Director Certification in December 2003 and became a full-time tour director in 2004. In November 2009 he was named the “Tour Manager of the Year” by USA Student Travel of El Dorado Hills, CA. He is a licensed tour guide for both New York City and Washington, DC. Over the past six years (2004-10) he has led over 7,000 passengers on 160+ over-the-road tours of major US cities and National Parks.
On August 16, 2010, he announced USA Tour Pros will be the first organization in America to offer city-specific USA Tour Pros Certification for individual Tour Pros and Businesses. Members of the web site will be able to qualify for city-specific Certification by taking a test on the web site.
In January 2010 and March 2010 Tom and teaching partner Alice Devereaux led sold-out NYC FAM/Sightseeing Guide License Study Sessions which led to the 100% Licensing of its participants, 95% of which earned the coveted star for excellence.
In February 2008 he launched the World Wide Web’s first, and now busiest, research and social networking Web site for Tour Professionals, USA Tour Pros. In February 2009 he introduced another industry first, Virtual Tour Director (VTD). The VTD videos serve as a training and resource series to acclimate Tour Professionals to the physical layout and ticketing procedures at tour attractions and vendors, as well as tour group policies at vendors (hotels/restaurants) countrywide.
Prior to his development of USA Tour Pros, Tom created and moderated an online community of over 200 tour professionals which is still going strong today! In February 2009 he introduced the USA Tour Pros Facebook page in order to create additional networking opportunities for the Tour Pros community. Tom led summer-camp student tours of the Northeastern US and Canada between 1989-2001.
His educational background includes a BA in Communications from Rowan University and a MA in Public Communication from Fordham University. He has been an instructor of public speaking at St. Peter’s College (Jersey City, New Jersey), and has also taught English as a second language (ESL) in the Bronx, New York, and in both Jungl-li and Taipei, Taiwan. Through the years he has worked in various capacities with IBM (Austin, Texas), Hyatt Hotels (Austin, Texas), the National Football League, National Basketball Association, Sands Hotel and Casino (Atlantic City), San Jose Sharks (NHL), Camp Wildwood (Maine), and Camp Cedar (Maine).
Since 1997 he has been a mentor in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, earning 1998 NBA Volunteer of the Year" award, presented to him by current NBA Commissioner David Stern. He has also volunteered in New York City as an instructor in the Ice Hockey in Harlem organization and with God’s Love We Deliver.
Janet Rose Bright, Director of Operations & Co-founder
Janet brings to the company an extensive background in corporate travel as well as experience as a marketing and sales professional at such high-end retailers as Tiffany’s Jewelers and Lord and Taylor. She understands the importance of consistent and rapid communication between the supplier and client. With managing experience at these and several other establishments, she has made a career of delivering results at every stop.
Janet is the daily business manager of the Web site, overseeing membership applications and renewals, monitoring Website content, and supplying customer service for our online travel shop. She understands that a healthy company involves providing service to our clients on a daily basis, year-round.