Overview Tour guide can be a dream job, because it lets you travel and share your passion and knowledge of a city, a site or a culture. However, it’s a seasonal job, often paid per assignment. How can you retain your clientele and employers? A tour guide is a professional, generally independent, who assists a group of tourists throughout their trip. He takes charge of organization, activities and smooth running of the tour. Tour guides who have a strong mastery of key skills and fundamental knowledge of the profession are obviously likely to be more successful than their less trained colleagues whose basic aptitudes are exploited less and have lower value. The essential tasks range from planning a trip to writing the trip’s report and include building a relationship of trust with travellers and consulting local media. If you're hoping to pursue a tour guide position, it's important to understand the essential skills that are required for the job and how to develop them. What are tour guiding skills? Tour guiding skills are techniques that individuals use when giving a guided tour to an audience. Tour guides often use their skills in historical landmarks, museums, parks, resorts and cities, helping travelers and guests learn more about the location they're visiting and answering any of their questions. They can also give different types of tours, including bus tours, walking tours or even tours on boats and horse carriages. Communication tour guides can use during their workday as they relay important information to their audience. It's also important because it can allow tour guides to give clear and concise instructions to the tour group so they know how to follow safety regulations and understand when to turn down a certain trail or road during a walking tour. Improvisation improvisation to give an effective and entertaining tour to their audience. If a tour guide works in an environment they can't always control, it's possible that some things might occur which they need to work around. For example, if a tour guide works in a museum, it's possible that a display may be removed or closed for the day. When this occurs, it's helpful for the guide to change their normal tour and add new information to ensure they meet the tour's promised time limit. impressive memories so that they can give accurate and consistent information. It's also important for tour guides to have a powerful memory when answering the questions of the tour group and providing them with helpful details. Time management because it allows them to time their tours effectively. Sometimes, museums, national parks and other establishments offer guests tours of a specified length, such as thirty minutes to three hours. When individuals take those tours, they expect tour guides to deliver the information they need in that certain amount of time. That's why it's important for tour guides to be aware of the time and how much information they can relay or how many questions they can answer before moving on to a new topic of the tour. Sense of humor be important for tour guides, especially when wanting to deliver an entertaining tour. While delivering their tour, guides might use humor or jokes to help present the information to guests and provide them with a more memorable experience. The jokes can help tourists understand the information a little better, and possibly help create a fun atmosphere. When individuals are comfortable in a fun atmosphere, they might also feel more encouraged to ask questions and participate more in the tour. Passion for knowledge A passion for the knowledge a tour guide is relaying is important for their career because it can help them thoroughly understand the information they're presenting and deliver it with more excitement. It's also possible that some tourists might feel more excited about their tour when they see their tour guide has a passion for the subjects or topics. A passion for knowledge and teaching can also allow tour guides to help guests learn the details of the tour more effectively and answer their questions to increase their understanding. to engage charismatically with numerous tourists. It is a plus to have natural charisma. Each day and every tour will be unique, so tour guides must consistently find opportunities to be charming, interesting, delightful, funny and friendly. This helps groups enjoy one another, which can make the tour more appealing. Multilingual Hands down, when a tour guide delivers a tour in a guest’s first language, it makes a world of difference. Although English has become a universal language and many tourists prefer confident, English-speaking guides, a tour guide who can switch it up depending on the tour group will be much more appreciated than a handheld audio guide. Plus, this versatility is beneficial to the tour operator for plenty of reasons, such as: • it allows them to appeal to a broader audience • it gives guests more choice and personalization • it represents diversity and inclusion Professionalism professional attitude at all times. Even when not working, quality guides exhibit behaviors that are representative of who they are. Professionalism helps audiences see the tour guide as a credible and reliable source. Being professional includes essential attributes such as being honest, well groomed, punctual, attentive and courteous. How to improve tour guiding skills Study the material Before starting your career as a tour guide, it's important to thoroughly understand the information you're presenting. Having a strong understanding of the information can help you present it more effectively and easily answer questions the audience might ask. When studying the material, though many employers provide their tour guides with helpful information to learn, consider performing your own independent research using online resources, videos and books to help you understand the information more effectively. Conducting independent research can also help you learn fun and interesting facts you can relay to tourists to attract their attention more easily. page or form that lists some of the tourists' most commonly asked questions about the subject you're presenting. Creating this document can help you prepare the answers to these questions before you give the tour so you can answer them more effectively when presenting information to the tour's audience. When creating an FAQ document, it's helpful to write down any questions you had when learning the material. If you had questions about some areas of the tour's information, chances are a tourist might need clarification as well. Practice the tour Practicing the tour is a great way to know if you're delivering the information effectively and if it fits within any pre-determined time constraints. When practicing, it's helpful to give the tour to family, friends or colleagues and ask for their feedback. Understanding if the tour was confusing, too long or not charismatic enough can help you make adjustments to your delivery and develop your tour guiding skills. It's also beneficial to ask if they had any questions about the information you delivered. Learning about your family or friends' questions can help you determine what types of questions tourists might ask and allow you to further develop your FAQ document. Take some tours understand how other tour guides structure their material and deliver a quality experience to their audience. When searching for tours to take, it's beneficial to seek a tour that closely resembles your own. For example, if you work or want to work as a tour guide in a national park, it's helpful to take tours at a national park. Understanding how other tour guides deliver their information and interact with tourists can help you develop your own tour guiding skills and structure your tour accordingly. • Delivering safety guidelines: Sometimes or regulations, especially when delivering a tour in a motorized vehicle or boat. When delivering safety guidelines, it's important for tour guides to use effective communication and ensure the tourists understand what rules to follow. • Answering questions: When communication and passion for knowledge to demonstrate excitement use their sense of humor skills to deliver an entertaining answer that individuals will remember after the tour is complete. closed or shut down during a tour, it's important for guides to use quick improvisational skills to redirect the tour group. When improvising, it's also helpful for tour guides to rely on their time management skills to ensure the tour doesn't go over or under the promised time limit. Conclusion With ever-changing public health guidelines, it’s almost certain you will have to change your approach to your business. This may prove more difficult in some instances than others, for example, if you’re running a small boat tour and social distancing may well be near impossible. Be conscious that some of your guests may be more nervous than others in social situations and always keep your guests’ comfort a top