experience chattanooga

What experience chattanooga does

Experience Chattanooga is a privately held, founder-owned guided hiking tour company founded in 2018 by husband-and-wife co-founders Ryan and Hope, operating in the greater Chattanooga, Tennessee area. The company offers exclusively private (not group) hiking experiences for couples, families, solo travelers, and small groups of up to 12 participants, departing from downtown Chattanooga with hotel/vacation rental pickup. Tours are conducted in public parks within an hour of the city across four named offerings — Good Morning Mountains ($110/adult, easy), Alpacas & Coffee & Mountains ($130/adult, easy), Soul Therapy ($140/adult, moderate), and The Best of Tennessee ($185/adult, moderate) — plus a Custom Tour option and an annual Women's Outdoor Adventure Day event at Hiwassee Acres in Calhoun, TN.

The company's technology footprint is minimal and commodity-based: the website and booking system run on Squarespace, gift cards are sold through SquareUp, and the Women's Adventure Day uses TicketTailor event ticketing. Discovery and demand generation rely on Tripadvisor, Google Reviews, Instagram, and Facebook, with no proprietary software, mobile application, or AI/ML capability described. The product is fundamentally human-guided, with value created by the founders' in-person leading, local knowledge, and bundled edited photography rather than by any technology layer.

The business model is direct-to-consumer private tour sales priced per adult, with discounts for children, groups of 4+, and military/veterans. All tours bundle transportation, snacks, water, expert local guiding, and a professionally edited photo gallery delivered via email post-tour. Marketing is primarily organic and review-driven — Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards for 4 consecutive years place the company in the top 10% of listings globally, supplemented by word-of-mouth referrals. The company appears bootstrapped with no external funding, no parent company, and headcount limited to the two co-founder guides.

Name

experience chattanooga

Legal name

Experience Chattanooga

Website

https://experiencechattanooganow.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Experience Chattanooga is a husband-and-wife-owned guided hiking tour company founded in 2018 that offers private, all-inclusive tours to waterfalls and mountain overlooks within an hour of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Core offerings include four named tours ($110–$185 per adult) plus an annual women's outdoor adventure event.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chattanooga

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Guided Hiking Tour Fees: The company generates revenue primarily through per-adult tour fees for private guided hiking experiences in southeast Tennessee. Prices range from $110 to $185 per adult depending on the tour selected. Children and groups of 4+ adults receive discounted rates. All tours are weather-dependent and operate year-round.
2. Women's Outdoor Adventure Day Event: A periodic ticketed group event featuring multiple outdoor activities (guided hike, horseback riding, kayaking) at Hiwassee Acres, including breakfast, lunch, and beverages. Sold as an all-inclusive day pass for a limited group of participants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Experience Chattanooga sells fully private (not group) guided hiking tours in southeast Tennessee, led by owners Ryan and Hope. Each tour bundles round-trip transportation from downtown Chattanooga, expert local guiding, snacks, water, rain gear, restaurant discount coupons, and a professionally edited photo gallery delivered by email. Tours range from $110 to $185 per adult across four named itineraries (Good Morning Mountains, Alpacas & Coffee & Mountains, Soul Therapy, The Best of Tennessee) plus custom tours and a periodic women's-only outdoor adventure day event.

Product overview

Experience Chattanooga is a husband-and-wife owned guided hiking tour company offering private (not group) hiking experiences in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. The core product portfolio consists of four named tour products: Good Morning Mountains (easy), Alpacas & Coffee & Mountains (easy), Soul Therapy (moderate), and The Best of Tennessee (moderate), ranging from $110-$185 per adult. All tours include transportation, professional photography, snacks, water, and expert local guides. A Custom Tour option allows personalized itineraries. The company also hosts an annual Women's Outdoor Adventure Day as a special event. Professional photography is included as a standard feature across all tour offerings, distinguishing the service from typical hiking tour companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Good Morning Mountains

Quantifiable outcome

• Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice Awards for 4 consecutive years (top 10% of Tripadvisor listings)
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Rosie Mae's Alpaca FarmminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Alpacas & Coffee & Mountains tour includes a private, after-hours visit to Rosie Mae's Alpaca Farm (closed to the general public during the tour), where customers meet 8 alpacas, enjoy fresh coffee from the farm's shop, and have an exclusive behind-the-scenes farm experience. This partnership enables a unique tour product not available elsewhere.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Chatty Hiker: A Chattanooga-based guided hiking tour company offering small-group and private hikes to similar Tennessee trails. Directly competes for the same visitor segment and Tripadvisor visibility with overlapping tour products.
• Adventures Out Back: Chattanooga outdoor adventure operator running guided hikes, climbing, and water-based excursions in the greater Chattanooga region. Competes for the same tourist customer and overlaps on guided hiking content.
• Outdoor Chattanooga: Chattanooga outdoor recreation organization offering guided hikes, paddling, and biking in the same service area. Directly competes for Chattanooga visitors seeking guided outdoor experiences and serves as a local alternative.

Broad incumbents

• Viator: Global online tour and activity marketplace owned by Tripadvisor that lists Chattanooga experiences including guided hikes. Functions as both a channel where Experience Chattanooga can be discovered and a broader incumbent that aggregates many comparable tour operators.
• GetYourGuide: Major global tours-and-activities marketplace listing Chattanooga outdoor experiences. Comparable as a broad incumbent platform through which visitors book guided tours and which competes for the same tourist mindshare.
• Airbnb Experiences: Online marketplace for bookable local experiences including guided hikes across multiple cities. A broad incumbent that captures traveler demand for private guided outdoor experiences outside the traditional tour-operator channel.
• REI Co-op Experiences: National outdoor retailer running a multi-day guided hiking and adventure experiences program. A broad incumbent in the outdoor-guided-experience space with vastly larger scale and brand recognition.

Regional players

• Asheville Hiking Tours: Guided hiking tour operator based in Asheville, NC using a near-identical bundled-service model (guide + curated itinerary + local expertise) for tourists in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Closest regional comparable outside Chattanooga.
• Sedona Adventure Tours: Sedona-based guided outdoor tour operator running hiking and jeep tours in a scenic destination market. Comparable operating model and customer type (visitors seeking guided nature experiences with bundled logistics).

Others

• Hipcamp: Online marketplace connecting visitors to outdoor stays and experiences on private and public land. Thematically adjacent ecosystem player in outdoor tourism; not a direct competitor but a relevant channel/enabler for outdoor-experience discovery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/experiencechattanooga
• Instagraminstagram.com/experiencechattanooga/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about experience chattanooga