PhotoAtGANYCMeeting-Copy-Copy-1

Tony

DiSante

22 years of experience
New York
United States of America (USA)

Contact Options

About

I am fully licensed by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs since 1998. I have been a member of the Guides Association of New York City (GANYC) since 2001 and have held the position of President and other board positions during the 14 years I served on the board.

I was the lead guide for New York City Vacation Packages (NYCVP) from January 2002 until June of 2020. With NYCVP I created and had been giving The Original Historic Lower Manhattan walking tour at least twice weekly. This tour includes the site of The World Trade Center (also referred to as “Ground Zero“). Since I first gave this tour in January of 2002, I can honestly say that I’ve been doing the tour of the World Trade Center/Ground Zero longer than any other guide. As a result I have been given some media coverage. I was featured on CNN on March 3, 2002 in a segment called “Tragedy and Tourism” and was featured in The London Times, September 6, 2003 in the article titled “Why We’re Drawn To The Roots of Terror” and New York newspaper, The Villager on July 17, 2002, “Walking Tour Offers the Sights and Sorrows of Ground Zero.”

In addition to giving tours with NYCVP, I was also in charge of the hiring, scheduling and managing the guides, and designing the content of the tours for all of their tours and events. This resulted in NYCVP Walking Tours having been given Trip Advisor’s “2013 Certificate of Excellence.”

I started my career with New York Apple Tours, the first double-decker tour bus company in New York City

For Contiki Holidays, which is a worldwide travel company that is exclusively for 18 to 35 year old travelers, I was the sole tour manager for “The Big Apple Explorer.“ This is a three day guided tour of New York from September 1998 through September 2003

In addition to this, I also held the position of New York City Student Convention Manager for UK Connections, of England, a division of Student Travel Services, which was the largest student travel company in the UK. In this capacity I coordinated the activities of the students as well as given tours and presentations about New York City. I held this position from January 2001 until December 2010

I have also been working as a free lance, step-on guide for over 70 different travel companies from around the world since 1999. These companies include 1st Choice Educational Tours, Aberdak, Academy, AFC Vacations, AIC 360, All About Group Travel, Allied T Pro, Americabound Tours, American Cruise Lines, American Travel Group, American Vacation Tours, Armascan, Artist Travel Consultants, Big Onion, Blue Grass Tours, Blue Ribbon Events, Breakaway, Brigg’s, Burke Christian Tours, Capitol Music Tours, Come Together, Consortium Tours of North America, CornerSun Destination Mgmt., Cover NY, Crosswell, DeNure Tours, Dragaud Sojourns, Educational Tours, EF Smithsonian, Ellison Travel & Tours, EPN Tours, Explore New York, First Incentive Tours, Free Tours by Foot, Good News Travels, Group Travel Consultants, Gulliver’s Travels, Hanover Holidays, High Quality Tours, Hospitality Committee for the United Nations, ICC Events, Intercruises, In the Know Tours, Kitt Garrett, Landmark Tours, L.E.A.D.S., Leisure World, Levy’s Unique New York, Maximum Tours, MdT, Mid Atlantic Receptive Services, MJ Tours, National Defense University, NYC Group Tours, People 2 People, PRA, Purpose Driven Tours, Raglin Associates, Rent–A-New Yorker, RMP, Seawind, Shackman and Associates, Small Journeys, Sonshine, Sports Leisure Vacations, Steffan Group, Stewart Transportation Solutions, Straight A Tours, Student Travel Group, Tour America, Tourco, The Travel Group, Travel & Tour Odyssey, Travel Scene Echuca, Tours 4 Students, The Upper Class, UC The Source, UK Connections, UniTravel, US Gateways, WineDineNY, World Cultural Tours, Yankee Line and more.

I also have extensive experience in the area of “incentive” or corporate travel groups. For example I have done numerous “meet and greets” at all of the area airports and railway stations.

In addition to this I have worked part time for over 20 years in New York City hotels such as The Grand Hyatt, The Waldorf=Astoria and The Millenium Hilton.

I holds the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. This is a degree in theater. I am a former actor so my tours are not only informative but very entertaining as well!

 

Tours Offered & Destination Knowledge

Bus ToursExperience HostGeneral Walking ToursLarge Group ToursLocal GuideMulti-Day Tour Director/LeaderPerformance Group ToursPrivate ToursStudent Tour Director

Lower Manhattan Walking Tour

World Trade Center/Ground Zero

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island

Manhattan Bus Tour including Harlem, Theater District, Central Park, Rockefeller Center and more

Fun Fact!
Produced and appeared in my own improv comedy show, "The Loos Scrooz Show" from 1994 to 2003
Hobbies & Interests

Testimonials

From Travel Professionals:
“Tony, thanks for the exceptional work! You did an outstanding job with everything -- the tours, choosing the guides, dispatching the buses…you’re a great, true professional and we’re all impressed!! What a success, and you were so much a part of it! Thank you again!!!!”
--Barry Tenenbaum, Owner/President, New York City Vacation Packages

“[Notre Dame Cathedral Choir] said everything went very well today! They said you were fantastic :)”
--Paula Zacharu, Artist Travel Consultants

“Great Tony! Thanks for taking this group [Awatuchee Show Choir]. They had a wonderful time!!”
--Tish Losure, CSTP, Director of Tour Development, L.E.A.D USA

“Joe [Tour Director] said he received great comments on the way home about your tour and the entire day. Here’s to many more great trips! Thank you.”
--Andrew Erbelding, Owner, The Upper Class

"We had a delightful tour with Tony – with the walking tour, 9/11 Memorial and the Statue of Liberty tour at the end. He did an excellent job and enjoyed personally experiencing your services. Thank you."
--Ginger Minoletti - Owner, Bay World Travel & Tours

"We wanted to take a few moments to let you know how much we appreciated the Freedom Comprehensive Tour-Ground Zero 911 led by Tony. We were very impressed with his knowledge of the many different historical sites that we toured. He did a fantastic job! We are returning with our family and have requested Tony to lead our tour. Thank you for providing such a fantastic guide for our tours."
--Hamp and Cathy Linehan, SBC Global

"Your guide, Tony Disante, for the Private Downtown Walking tour was amazing! He took us to places I never had heard of as well as giving us great information."
--Theadis Damewood, Lisell Travel

On Trip Advisor:
"Our tour guide Tony Di Sante has a great personality and took time at the beginning of the tour to make sure everyone understood the upcoming tour plan. (He) also made sure everyone had directions to their next destination/attraction. Highly recommend."
--Harley S., Waynesboro PA, on the “Statue of Liberty Tour - NYCVP”5 of 5 stars

“Although I had previously been to the 9/11 Memorial site, this seemed to be a more comprehensive look- and boy was it! Tony was a personable, knowledgeable guide to 17 people and kept us together through the subway system and to the destination. Tony gave us such interesting information and facts about the site...I may even go in this tour again!”

“We had a great tour [with] our fun and informative tour guide, Tony, and his helpful tips about everything New York”

“We went on tour to ground zero and statue of Liberty … our tour guide Tony was funny, very knowledgeable and just a great guide”.
--November 28, 2011

From Tour Passengers:
This tour was absolutely “awesome”!! Tony was great; I was very impressed with his professionalism and his friendliness; one can certainly ascertain that he loves doing this type of job…. He answered numerous questions and didn’t seem “rattled” by being asked so many
--Judie Dannenberg, Ellsworth, ME

“…[Tony] was very good at the history, had a good sense of humor. I travel with a service dog and he was very patient with and even liked my dog. I give Tony a 9+ on a scale of one to ten.”
--Bernie, Craig & Spenser F, Seattle, WA

“I wanted to say how great a job Tony did last Sunday, on the Statue/Ellis part of the tour. He was energetic, especially with the four 13 year-olds and the two grandparents with us. He’s a credit to your company!!”
--Gerry M., Des Plaines, IL

“My wife and I took the tour with Tony as our tour guide. We had a very nice time and he was very professional, with an acerbic sense of humor. There was a lot of ground to cover in a relatively short amount of time and it all was very interesting and enjoyable. We have already recommended this tour to family and friends.”
--ROSS FIMOFF

More Testimonials about Tony Di Sante
From Travel Professionals:
“I have to commend you!!!! My group was so impressed with your tour! They LOVED it! Thank you soooooooooooooooooooo much! I hope and pray that they do this trip again next year and if so I will definitely use your services. Ellie is also a guide here in Lexington and she said you were fabulous! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! You helped make my first trip to NYC a great one!”
--Marceline Adkins, Director of Tours, Blue Grass Tours

“Thank you for a great day in your city, New York, and all its areas and the people. All the group have commented how good and interesting your knowledge and arrangements for the day has made their memories of New York just fantastic--and Janice [my wife] also has a note of thanks for the CD!”
--Tod Collins, Groups Coordinator
Travelscene Echuca, Australia

“I feel this is one of the best things we've done to introduce Manhattan to our students and for them to get a ‘flavor’ for the city and its history. You helped make the city come alive for us. We learned a lot and experienced Manhattan ‘up close and personal’ because of you. Thank you!!!!“
--Stan Freisen, Principal, Ogden High School

”I just wanted to tell you that we truly enjoyed having Tony as our guide. He kept the tour entertaining, informative and upbeat. He was very knowledgeable. Both the kids and parents enjoyed him. If we do this tour or any other we would like to have Tony as our guide.”
--Darryl, Executive Director, The Sigma Beta Club

“Tony, I wanted to let you know that the group [Union College Upward Bound] had high remarks for the service you provided last week while they visited New York. I wanted to extend my appreciation for your professionalism and hard work!”
Dee Hollaway, Tour Coordinator
Good News Travels

“Tony, it was such a pleasure meeting you. My group enjoyed having you and they were very pleased with their tour. You really impressed them!!! I look forward to working with you again!”
--Maria Bettis/Group Manager
Candy's Carefree Travel, Inc

“Tony is the guide I used for my group. He did a great job entertaining everyone and was informative in a perfect way.”
--Sue Shefras, Director
BLUE RIBBON EVENTS LTD.

From Tour Participants:
“We went on tour to ground zero and Statue of Liberty…our tour guide Tony was funny, very knowledgeable and just a great guide.”
--Posted on TripAdvisor.Com

“If there was a survey, we'd say 5's across the board. Absolutely terrific. A great mixture of humor, history, and trivia. Tony kept a great pace and answered questions with humor.
--Jerry Rawson

“The tour was superior. Tony shared a lot of interesting information with us and shepherded us around with the patience of a saint and skill of a world explorer. Terrific tour. Thank you Tony!”
--Roberta Messer

“We found Tony to be courteous, professional, enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable. Super job, Tony. Thank you!”
--Sheryl Kane

“Just wanted to pay a compliment for a job well done by Tony DiSante. Not only did he have a great sense of humor, but he was a virtual talking library about NYC history and trivia. I know it sounds corny, but the walking tour he guided us on was probably the highlight of my 2 days in New York! Thanks!”
--PA, Richmond VA

“Tony DiSante was very professional. His tours are well paced and he certainly is most knowledgeable. We would highly recommend him to our friends and family. Thanks for a good time.”
--Julie Hurst

“I had the pleasure of taking the WTC and Statue of Liberty Tour with Tony DiSante. It was a wonderful experience. Tony was a real professional... He offered clear instructions and interesting facts about both locations. He was professional, organized, and funny and made sure everyone had a good time.”
--Tom Rogers

We had a tour to Statue of Liberty with Tony Di Sante. He was absolutely excellent. Very friendly and knowledgeable.
--Janene Johnson

Just a quick e-mail to say how much we enjoyed the tour of the World Trade Center Memorial and our guide Tony Di Sante. The pace of the tour was just about right and Tony did an excellent job of providing the information and background about what we were seeing.
--Martha Karlovetz

Details

Gateway Airport(s)

JFK, LGA, EWR

Licenses

New York City (NYC)

Training

Language(s)

English

Additional Education

General Availability

Generally available. Work as a free-lancer so just ask to see if I am free on any particular date that you need.

Photo Album