
BLACK LAB TOURS
Marketing & Content Development / Tour Guide
I joined Black Lab Tours as a driver, but quickly carved out a larger role — leading tours, designing new ones, and eventually marketing them.
It became a crash course in storytelling across these formats:
In-person: delivering engaging, narrative-driven walking tours
Social: creating photo and video content for Instagram and LinkedIn
Traditional: generating new leads through flyers and partnerships
Paid media: supporting Meta ad campaigns aimed at boosting awareness
As a Marketing & Content Development Manager, I was constantly trying to find niches in the tourism market. See an example of my competitor analysis here.
Queen St West Pastry Tour
Having found a gap in the tourism market, I jumped on the opportunity to develop and promote a Queen St West Pastry tour that would include Toronto’s iconic Graffiti Alley.
Collaborating with some of the best pastry shops Toronto has to offer, tourists had the chance to rebel against their diets and see one of the best pockets of the city.
I spearheaded the development of a 20 second summary to help buyers pick our tour over the next one.
Credits
Director / Producer / Editor: Thomas Dalton
Producer / Tour Guide: Gareth Chamberlain
DP / Colourist: Mark Schlachta
Short Form
Here are 3 examples of videos I created for Black Lab Tours. They emphasized iconic local spots, fun Canadian stories, and a snippet of local history to generate leads through Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Credits
Editor: Gareth Chamberlain
Writer / Voice: Thomas Dalton
Traditional
Writer: Thomas Dalton
Credits
Editor: Gareth Chamberlain
Testimonials
“Gareth and Tom’s historic renderings were very much appreciated. A dismal grey, rainy day was transformed into a fun, lively event shared by 19 people.”
- Rudy
“We loved the stories about Toronto’s role in the Beatles as well as the connection with Saturday night live! Still in awe over how much better Toronto is now that i know so much more about what makes it special.”
- Patrick
“It was fine.”
- My mum