Business Monday: Big Island VIP seeks to sell tour company to buyer eager to educate visitors

Jodi Kitsell recently sat at the Volcano House at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and watched the steam rise from the active Halemaʻumaʻu crater. For the first time in years, she had no plans to guide visitors through the park.

“It has been a long time since I just sat here and took in the view of the Kīlauea,” Kitsell said. “I don’t think this park could ever get old for me.”

Since 2014, the 60-year-old has been a tour guide with Big Island VIP, the company she owns with her husband, Rob, in Volcano. But about six months ago, they decided to sell the business along with their home.

“My husband has been having health issues on and off, and it is just the two of us, so we came to the decision that it was time to slow down,” Jodi Kitsell said. “We have put everything into creating and growing our business into something we are very proud of. I really want to sell it to someone who would love it just as much.”

The sale of Big Island VIP includes three Mercedes Sprinter vans that carry about 10 people each, 80 hours of hands-on training, other books and training material, weekly one-hour video calls for six weeks, Canon cameras, iPads, cellphones, digital assets, a power washer for the Sprinter vans, and all the permits necessary to operate a tour business.

“I like to say that starting a business is like planting a seed, and buying this business is like acquiring a mature fruit tree that already produces,” Jodi Kitsell said. “But with the business, we are also selling our house, which is where we work from and store the vans.”

The Kitsells’ 2,200-square-foot house is located in the Volcano Golf & Country Club Subdivision neighborhood on a half-acre parcel on a cul-de-sac. The house has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, an office, a carport for the vans, a gym with workout equipment, and a separate guest house that has been housing Jodi Kitsell’s mother.

“I don’t think we would have been as successful with Big Island VIP if we didn’t live near the park and didn’t make sure our house helped cater the tour business,” she said. “We are selling the house and business as one because I am personally ready to move to a place that offers us better farmland and is closer to Hilo for my husband and his medical needs.”

They are asking $1.4 million for the business and the house.

The private tour company now offers three options at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The Kitsells are currently the only guides, and they spend the tours sharing knowledge and information about volcanoes and the rare native and invasive species of animals and plants found within the 550-square-miles park.

“There is so much to explore and when you are visiting, it can be difficult to know exactly where to go and to learn more about what you are seeing in front of you,” Jodi Kitsell said. “We create an itinerary that works best for each group and educate the visitors with as much knowledge as possible and encourage them to take that knowledge home with them.”

The Kitsells are not scientists, but they have spent the past 12 years learning from park rangers and U.S. Geological Survey scientists casually and through workshops held at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park about volcanoes and the environment of the area.

“We have been lucky to know so many people who have worked or are currently working in the park,” she said. “We know that it takes time to gain that knowledge, so I am planning to be available to help the future buyer for two weeks and leave behind videos and documents full of facts that they can share with future visitors.”

Jodi Kitsell has created itineraries that can involve less hiking and hit all the most popular areas, and itineraries that have more hiking and go to the less-known areas.

The tour options include a 3-hour and 5-hour “Meet at the Park” tour that caters to groups of family or friends, and a 6- or 7.5-hour “Hilo to Volcano” tour that caters to a group of visitors from a cruise ship.

“Our most popular tours are the ‘Meet in Volcano’ tours, and we have actually had many repeat visitors who come back with other family members, or who want to see more of the park,” Jodi Kitsell said. “It took us four to five years to really make a name for ourselves, to get good reviews, and become widely recognized as a private tour company on the Big Island.”

She said they already have bookings for 2027 and are averaging about $15,000 a month.

“I feel like this is a rare opportunity for someone who is passionate about educating people about the wonders of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, native wildlife, and the science of volcanoes,” she said. “I really want to see it go to someone who cares about this work and is willing to keep the business going strong.

“We have had people interested in the offer, but their goals for the business do not align, and I can’t agree to what they want to change. Many people are just looking for more profits.”

Jodi Kitsell said that she wants to sell the business to someone who is excited to learn and teach others about the volcano and everything it has to offer. Her favorite visitors are the 7- to 13-year-olds because they engage with the tour, constantly ask questions, and have a desire to learn more.

“With the obsession with phones and technology, it feels special being able to get everyone involved in nature and educating them in something as amazing as volcanoes,” Jodi Kitsell said. “Our goal has always been to turn people into lava detectors, so they can go to other volcanoes and have an established knowledge going forward, or even pursue a future in something like volcanology or geology.”

To learn more about the Big Island VIP and house sale, the listing can be found online along with a video from Jodi Kitsell.