About Us

Tourism Champion was founded by Steve Kaverman in 2015. His career in tourism has been a great adventure and the most fulfilling and rewarding work of his life – it’s what he is wired for.

The business name reflects the mission – to be a Champion of Tourism.

For Steve being a CHAMPION has two meanings:

Champions are widely recognized in their field of specialty as among the best at what they do, an expert.

In the Early Years he certainly was no expert, but it was with the ambition to be recognized as one that he pursued his work and immersed himself in the industry. While the story is still being written, Steve is proud of his accomplishments, and the contributions he has made to an industry he loves.

Champions are dedicated and tireless advocates who strive to build favorable impressions of, and shape positive opinions about matters of importance to a cause, business, community, or individuals.

It is in the spirit of this definition that Steve applies his expertise to the benefit of his clients. His work has been dedicated to advocating for tourism and all the good it can do. And what’s good for the tourism business is good for his clients.

Professional Qualifications

EXPERIENCE | EDUCATION & TRAINING | CERTIFICATIONS | AWARDS & RECOGNITION

More than two decades of professional travel, tourism, hospitality know-how, and vast destination knowledge. Experience complemented by invaluable lessons gained through time on the road, with good people of many nations and backgrounds.

The Founder of Tourism Champion, and the professionals we work with, understand, and can relate impressions of destinations, attractions and activities as seen through the eyes of travelers, as spoken in their own words. The genuine and unfiltered impressions we have heard and learned from, can now be applied to inform destinations and tourist service providers about what they can do to create exceptional experiences, increase business, and keep visitors coming back.

Leave No Trace™ Center for Outdoor Ethics

Certified | July 2021
Certified Colorado Concierge

Colorado Tourism Office
Tracks Across Borders Scenic & Historic Byway

Co-Creator
Fremont County Tourism Council Official DMO

The Royal Gorge Region, Chairman & Acting Executive Director | 2014 – 2019
Colorado Tourism Office

Board of Directors | 2012 – 2014
Netherlands Institute of Tourism and Transport Studies Breda University of Professional Education

Diploma in Tour Management
International Association of Tour Directors & Guides (IATDG)

Member | Conference Speaker
Rocky Mountain Guides Association (RMGA)

Professional Member
International Guide Academy International Tour Director | Tour Guide

Twice graduated Top-of-the-Class
Interpretive Guide | Interpretive Guide Trainer

National Association for Interpretation
Chambers of Commerce

President & CEO and Board Member
The National League of Cities Leadership Training Institute

Certificate of Achievement in Leadership Excellence
City and County of Broomfield

Elected Councilmember | 2003 - 2007
PBS & The Travel Channel Location Consultant

Featured in documentary films
University Faculty | Guest Speaker

Webster University
Metropolitan State University | Denver
Trainer | Speaker

Vocational & Corporate Education Programs
Tourism Conferences Speaker
Master’s in Organizational Management

University of Phoenix

Our Clients

Read Client Testimonials

The Early Years

As an undergraduate student, Steve worked three seasons as a Tour Guide, driving horse-drawn carriages on Mackinac Island, Michigan’s Top Tourist Attraction. His future in tourism was also influenced by seasonal work at an Atlantic seaside resort in Maryland and driving ‘dune scooters’ along Lake Michigan’s shoreline.

Upon earning his bachelor’s degree at Michigan State University, Steve promptly moved to Colorado where he pursued a successful career in corporate services management, completed a master’s degree in organizational management while working full-time, became a published author and achieved national notoriety in his field.

Thanks to an early commitment to volunteerism which continues to this day, the tour guide in Steve was reawakened in 1999 while serving as a volunteer Journey Guide at Denver’s then new Ocean Journey Aquarium. At Ocean Journey, Steve rediscovered his natural gifts as a teacher, entertainer, and marketeer. Qualities, as it turns out, well suited for a career move into the tourism industry.

Soon after earning certification as an International Tour Director and Tour Guide from International Guide Academy (IGA), Steve had the good fortune of being contracted as a Tour Leader for the American Orient Express Railway (AOE), a deluxe hotel on the rails. After three seasons aboard the train on routes spanning North America, he settled into dual roles as Assistant Director of Transportation, and Assistant Director of Operations. These roles were globally unique, just as the operation itself. The successor organization, Grand Luxe Rail Journeys relied on Steve as an on-board lecturer, and in other roles before ceasing operations in 2008.

Watch AOE Video

When this early experience is coupled with decades of developing and managing group travel spanning North America aboard private trains, executive railcars, chartered jets, motor coaches, vans, off-road jeeps, ocean liners and excursion vessels plying the nation’s greatest inland waterways, a unique perspective on destinations has come into focus.

Steve’s unique qualifications have been sharpened through the eyes, and by the voices, of the thousands of domestic and international travelers he has accompanied while directing and guiding hundreds of tours. Interactions with countless tourism business owners and service suppliers have also been instructive. Oftentimes, the strengths and weaknesses of those tours were dependent on the destination readiness of those many partners: destination operators, attractions & activities, lodging properties and dining establishments. Businesses like yours that are reliant on tourism or would like to be!

I founded Tourism Champion and have pursued the mission of being a Champion of Tourism for these four reasons:

So that my clients and others can benefit from my experience and lessons learned from it.
To focus on three key business services that are my areas of strength, where I can have the greatest impact.
As an advocate for the economic development benefits of tourism and the positive difference it can make for communities that I care about.
Because I believe that if more people traveled, the world would be a better and much more peaceful place. My work in tourism inspires and supports travel.