JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Public walking tours through downtown Jacksonville are coming to an end.
After several months of dwindling interest, Gary Sass, owner of AdLib Luxury Tours, said the business is losing money and the tours must come to an end.
"It's a huge loss for downtown though. We really viewed ourselves as being a big part of the community. That was the fun part," Sass said.
He has spent several years giving tours to thousands of people, taking them high and low, and giving visitors a glimpse into the history of Jacksonville.
Sass believes one reason fewer people are showing up for tours, is the perception that downtown Jacksonville is unsafe.
He says that’s not the case.
"That is very unfortunate. By virtue of the fact, we're doing walking tours down there every day, shows that it is safe. When it's being portrayed as unsafe, that doesn't help," Sass said.
The Jacksonville Walking Tour ran Tuesday and Thursday mornings. On those days, the tours would start at The Landing. These tours are highly rated on TripAdvisor where the vast majority of the feedback was "Excellent".
"The satisfaction that you get when someone learns about your city's history, and enjoys it so much...and at the end, they tell you how much they enjoyed the tour, it's a personal satisfaction," Sass said.
His biggest hope now is to bring the tours back.
The last public tour is next Thursday, Jan. 3. Private tours will still be available, and you can still book those through their website here.
