PROFESSIONALISM IN TOUR GUIDING
DEFINITION OF TOUR GUIDING
Tour guiding refers to an act that provides assistance, information and cultural, historical and
contemporary heritage interpretation to people on organized tours, individual clients,
educational establishments, at religious and historical sites, museums, and at venues of other
significant interest. It should be done by a person (normally) have a recognized national or
regional tourist guide qualification. ([Link]
Terminologies Used In Tour Guiding
A tour is a pre-arranged (but not necessarily prepaid) journey, which includes accommodations,
transportations, food services and entertainment, to one or more destinations and back to the
point of origin. Tours that include all services for one price are called all-inclusive tours.
An itinerary is a schedule or an arrangement of programmes or events. It is prepared for
designing package tour. The origin, destination and en-route halting points and duration of halts
along with elements of services like hotel rooms, transports, activities and miscellaneous
services are clearly described in tour itinerary.
Package tour is the sum total of variety of services offered to the tourists in one price, which
normally less expensive than that of each individual items. Such tour largely includes the
services of accommodation, transport, food, guide and other ground and miscellaneous services.
The Meaning and Types of Tour guide
Characteristics and Good Personalities of a Tourist Guide
Qualities of an Ideal Tour Guide
1. Enthusiasm - guides should show interest for the subject matter and the travelers. This is
usually accompanied by friendliness and generosity.
2.
An Outgoing and Approachable Nature- since guides are working for strangers, it is
important that they be friendly, open in many types of situations and encourage others to
do the same.
3. Self-Confidence- combining self-esteem with experience. This enable guides to carry on
their tasks effectively, to put people at ease and to help create enjoyable experiences.
4. Proactive Nature- this means to initiate change and the willingness to assume
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responsibility for initiating change.
Sensitivity- wide range of human understanding.
Flexibility- ability to be adaptable and patient.
Authenticity- being genuine and honest.
A Pleasant, Professional Appearance- First impressions are often lasting and are
9.
frequently based on ones physical appearance.
Sense of Humor- this can bring people closer together, put them at ease and help make
travel enjoyable instead of stressful and unpleasant.
10. Knowledge- a well-rounded body of knowledge is very important. It is essential that the
guides investigate the local educational programs of each region.
11. Good Communication Skills- this is the ability to communicate well. This includes
articulation, eye contact, gestures, and a clear pleasant speaking voice.
12. Organization- time management and organizational skills are very important.
13. Decisiveness- a guide must be able to make quick decisions.
14. Good Health- guiding requires great exertion.
15. Personal Integrity- a strong sense of ethics is essential to success.
Roles of the Tour Guide
The tour guide makes or breaks the tour. This is a common statement in the tour and travel
industry regarding the importance of a tour guide. A manager of a tour agency said, Everything
is useless in a tour without competent guide. Another tour operator said, No other factor in a
tour is as important as an efficient guide. Majority agrees on the importance of competent
guides in producing a successful tour.
A recent survey conducted by Kathleen Pond asked guides, employees of guides and travelers on
tours to answer questions regarding the primary role of guides. The wide range of responses in
this survey indicates that they have different perceptions about the specific role of a guide. In
responses to the question, the guide responses included the following:
Maintaining control of a group
Disseminating information
Efficiently getting people to as many sights as possible
Teaching history
Representing a city in a favorable way
Although the respondents differed in their views about the primary role of tour guides, all agreed
on two issues:
The Five Roles of Tour Guides
The Leader
The majority of the employees of guides regard leadership as the most important aspect
of a guides responsibilities. Several tour operators are often more concerned with a guides
effectiveness with people and ability to lead groups rather than with the guides knowledge or
experience.
The guide as leader must have skills such as willingness to assume responsibility, ability
to organize and make wise decisions, ability to respond to emergencies, and the skill to
coordinate several administrative tasks simultaneously.
The Educator
Travel is a powerful teacher. Travel stimulates the exchange of knowledge. It gives the
travelers an opportunity to interact with the local residents. Classroom instruction cannot
compare to the interaction of places and cultures
Public Relations Representative
It is considered the most important as well as the most difficult aspect of a guides work.
As a public relations representative, a guide is expected to project a specific image or message to
visitors and at the same time to answer controversial questions.
The Host
It consists of many special activities since travel is a social phenomenon. These tasks
include those of companion, mediator, advocate, entertainer, concierge, storyteller, and others.
The Conduit
It is the most difficult to understand and describe since it demands that guides
subordinate themselves to the tourist and the experience. It is very difficult to illustrate or teach
because it is the innate understanding of when to be silent, when to encourage, when to step back
and when to move on.
Duties and Responsibilities of the Tour Guide
Discussion question
Define tour guiding, discuss the different of tour guide.
Explain the importance of training evaluation and regulation of tour guides.
Professionalism in tour guiding requires a code of ethics. Discuss
