May 24, 2012

Entrepreneur Created Hippest Way To See T.O.

WHEN TOURISTS VISIT our fair metropolis, they want to see the major landmarks, take in our collection of colourful neighbourhoods and spend some time out on the water. In starting Toronto Hippo Tours, savvy T.O. entrepreneur Geoffrey Lind set out to combine all three attractions. Today, nine times daily, his hippo-themed “amphi-buses” pick up slews of camera-toting tourists, do a loop of the city, then plunge (with surprising velocity) into Lake Ontario where they complete a 30-minute cruise before returning to dry land. Ten years after he set up shop, Lind explains how he’s managed to keep the whole operation afloat.

THE AMPHI-BUS IS THE ULTIMATE SUMMER VEHICLE. IS IT A TOTAL BABE MAGNET? It turns a lot of heads, for sure. I think the guys are more enthralled, because they’re more interested in buses and trucks, but it’s a head spinner for sure.

HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU TOUR EACH SUMMER? We did 40,000 last year.

HOW FAST DOES SHE GO? On land, 120 kilometres per hour; in the water, eight knots.

IS IT REGISTERED AS A BOAT OR CAR? When we get our licence plate stickers, we are actually branded as ‘Hippo’ in the MTO’s computer because there’s nothing else like it.

HOW MUCH TO BUY ONE? I’ll sell you one for a cool three-quarters of a million [Cdn].

ANY MISHAPS AT SEA? We hit Haida, a Canadian Navy destroyer that was parked at Ontario Place. We were travelling along, and some guy cut us off, and the wind came up simultaneously, and we touched Haida.

WHICH VESSEL WON? Let’s just say that Happy lost a little yellow paint; Haida gained some.

WITH SWINE FLU AND A RECESSION — NOT TO MENTION NAVAL BATTLES — HOW HAS BUSINESS BEEN FARING? Well, actually we’ve prevailed. Last year was our best year ever. In a year that was crappy tourism-wise, our numbers went up 35 per cent. A lot of it I would attribute to online marketing. Our online bookings went from three to 33 per cent in a year.

This article appears in the July 2009 issue of Post City Magazines

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