Organizing Activities for “Out of Town” Guests…

April 13, 2013

If you live in a tourist hot spot like I do, I’m sure you have a lot of guests who visit throughout the year. That is definitely the case with us. Charleston, SC was voted the #1 tourist destination in the world this past year. So as you can imagine, our door is always open. Since we have so many guests visiting, I was in desperate need to find an easier way to let them know what our city has to offer (without telling them the LONG list of things to do, every time a new guest arrived).

 

The first thing everyone always asks is “what is there to do”. So I created this “tourist organizer”. Yes, I get made fun of ALL THE TIME for this one… but it works and after everyone gets a good laugh out of it, they think it’s pretty neat. If you would like to create something similar, all you have to do is visit your local ” tourism welcome center” and collect ALL of the flyers. You never know what your guests may like to do! I collected every flyer in the building! There is a LOT to do in Charleston. You don’t need to live in a “tourist” city to create this. All cities have different things to do. It’s nice to have flyers for those weekends when you’re bored and need something to do. You can get some great ideas.

 

1

 

I found this organizer at TJ MAXX. It’s made for “mail”. It fits the flyers perfectly. It even holds a map of the city & a coupon booklet.

 

Tourist flyers for guests ABFOL

 

I placed the little coupon “tickets” in the front section. There are a lot of “bogo” and discount meal coupons.

 

Tourist flyers for guests ABFOL 3

 

We keep the flyers in my husbands office. Doesn’t it look pretty? Do you have any tips for out of town guests?

 Tourist flyers for guests ABFOL 4

Happy Travels!

18 comments on “Organizing Activities for “Out of Town” Guests…

  1. brenda says:

    Only one photo posted!

  2. Angela says:

    Oh.my.goodness!!!
    How did I not know that you live in only my very favorite place everrrr?!
    We visited Charleston for the first time in ’06 & fell in love instantly.
    We stayed on the Isle of Palms, which we are mad about, & had one of the best vacations we’ve ever had.
    That was the beginning of many trips & beautiful memories.
    I must admit, nearly one or twice every single week, I daydream about living in Charleston, or IOP, or Sullivan’s Island, or …. well, you get the idea 😉
    Our home is full of treasures from our trips.
    Our upper loft is even called our South Carolina room & is decorated with decor that I purchased while vacationing there.
    Ahhh…I’ll smile a little bigger each time I visit your blog now.
    Blessings~

  3. Hi, I can’t see the first three photos? I’m not sure if its just me/my iPad or a technical error?

  4. Andi says:

    Can we come stay at your house on our next Charleston visit??

  5. Daniela says:

    I also fell in Love with Charleston the first time I visited back in ’98. This makes me want to plan a trip. Is it crazy crowded now that it has been voted #1 tourist destination?

  6. Buttons says:

    We have a great walking tour book for the neighbourhoods here in Olympia, it has a lovely mapped out route with points of interest along the way. I used it to play tour guide for the day when one of my friends had family visiting from Germany and it was great! I love your tourist station. I am always collecting those little pamphlets for us to find stuff to do as we are still kind of new to the area, but they get lost so easily! That would be great to sort through when we get a chance for a family outing!

    Cheers!
    Buttons
    The Hot Toddies of Washington

  7. Lindsay says:

    This is such a nice, thoughtful post, I’m sure your guest appreciate the effort! Where did it say that Charleston is the #1 tourist destination in the world? I’d love to read that list.

  8. Mrs. Lopez says:

    What a great idea! Even when my family comes to town they always want to go and see and do things!
    ~Mrs. Lopez of lovinglifeinpink.blogspot.com

  9. girlsaylor says:

    My sister does the same thing, and I need to follow suit, for the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. Only I think I’ll slip the whole kaboodle into the guest bedroom. With each new guest, sis tries to make sure they visit one point of interest that my sis and her family have never been to, during the stay, so that they can give real honest feedback when people ask about this site or that park. It also makes anticipation for out of town guests even more fun for the host family.

  10. Lisa says:

    This is so cool! I don’t know why anyone would tease you. I am a compulsive pamphlet collector so I think this is a great idea. Went to Charleston for my honeymoon and loved it! 🙂

  11. Ashley says:

    How cute would this look on a Guest Room bedside table?
    My mom has her guest room set up like a little hotel room. I’ll have to tell her about this idea! Even if it never gets used (she gets few out of town guests) it’s still so cute!

  12. Linda says:

    We just recently moved to Charleston, SC area. Several family and friends would like to visit us this summer. This is a great idea that came at a great time for me. I will be using this in my home. Thanks

  13. Leah says:

    I love this idea for a guest room.

  14. Lorraine says:

    Such a clever idea that I am stealing for my vacation home in Maine! I saw rattan letter holders in Pier One, so I bought two to organizer my flyers, one for points south of our home, and one for points north. Much better than the folders I have them in currently!

  15. Katie says:

    I also live in the Charleston area. I also have a visitor bin. I made mine out of a cereal box and some contact paper and cut it like a file holder. I probably need to update it. I love your blog!

  16. JJ says:

    Too funny… I was getting ready to hit the “follow” button after looking at several great ideas on your board when I noticed that the idea that was “up” was about Charleston. I also do this for my guests. In Charleston. Like another poster, my guest rooms are a little like hotel rooms, with plenty of the things friends and family might need, but also some things they just appreciate, like a map, a list of restaurants with locations relative to my home, a potential church to visit on a Sunday. For you and the other Charleston posters, The Green Goat just opened about ten days ago where George’s used to be on 17 in WAshley. I’ve tried them, and whether you’re looking for reasonable local fair for yourself or a place where there is a good variety of “Charleston” and “Southern” food on the menu and they are VERY reasonable!

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