How to be a Tour Guide

Being a tour guide can be a great career option for people who love to travel, enjoy being in front of a crowd, and are masters of multitasking. If that’s you, then start looking for job opportunities online and in your area. You can improve your chances of getting hired by becoming professionally certified or getting a degree. Once you’ve found a job, be ready to meet the challenges of this fun and unique but sometimes hectic position.

There are three ways to become a tour guide :

1.      Method one: Looking for Opportunities

a.      Look online for a variety of job postings. Tour guides work at parks, historic homes, sightseeing companies, cruise ships, and many other locations. Consider where you’d most enjoy working. Narrow your search to those types of positions.

·         To get started, enter something like “Be a tour guide on a cruise ship to the Caribbean” into your favorite search engine. You can then browse through tour guiding jobs with different companies, job requirements, and salaries.

b.     Take tours to see which ones you like. In order to decide where you want to work, attend a variety of tours. Go to museums and historic homes in your area and book a tour on a sightseeing bus. Make note of the pros and cons of different kinds of tour guide jobs.

·         You may need to space these tours out, as some could get expensive. Budget in one tour every two weeks or so. While you’re looking for jobs, go on tours instead of going out to eat or doing other fun activities.

·         Invite friends and family to take tours with you. They’ll be able to share their likes and dislikes with you, which will help you be a better guide once you find a job.

c.      Take notes to record your thoughts about different tours. When you go on tours, be sure to bring a notebook with you to keep track of your thoughts about the experiences. You can refer back to these notes later if you’re weighing different job offers. The notes may also help you develop your own tour guiding style.

d.     Check out tour guide associations’ websites. Many cities, countries, and regions have professional organizations of tour guides. These organizations help guides advance their careers and promote tour guiding as a positive aspect of international tourism. They can help you find educational opportunities, and they may point you in the direction of job openings.

·         For more information and to find a list of associations located around the world, visit: http://www.beabetterguide.com/tour-guide-associations/.

e.      Visit your local travel agency to pick up brochures. Travel agencies may partner up with local sightseeing companies for advertising. Take the brochures they keep in their office, and ask which companies they recommend to their clients most often. Contact the best companies using the information you find in the brochure and ask about openings.

·         Be aware that travel agents may tell you they love a certain company if the two are in a partnership together, even if they know the company has some issues. Be sure to do your own research by going online or visiting the company’s offices.

f.      Contact major sightseeing companies in your area. Especially if you live in a big city or even a larger town, there are probably sightseeing companies right down the road from you. Get in touch with these companies via email or phone and ask whether they’ve got openings. These local opportunities could be a great place for you to start your career as a guide.

·         You can also look online to see if the companies have open jobs, as many will list these positions on their websites.

·         If you’re hoping to become a tour guide to travel, this might not be your favorite option. Remember that doing work locally can help you build your resume and gain experience while staying in your comfort zone. You can always keep looking for travel-oriented jobs while you’re working.

2.      Method two: Getting Hired

a.      Pass any necessary exams for your area. Many cities and countries require tour guides to pass exams before they can lead groups. Some sightseeing companies may require you to pass this exam before you even apply for positions. Search online to see if your area requires you to take a licensing examination, and then pay necessary fees to register for the test.

·         You can also look online to find details about the test, study guides, and registration information. Enter something like “Professional licensing examination for sightseeing guides in New York City” to find everything you need to prepare for and take the test.

·         Take the exam seriously. If you fail, you’ll need to pay the fee again.

b.     Get training to gain experience and contacts. Professional tour guide associations and groups like the International Guide Academy in Denver, Colorado offer classes to professionalize guides. These classes teach public speaking, tourism and travel industry terminology, leadership and teamwork, and other skills valuable to tour guides. They’ll give you a certification when you complete their programs.

·         Be sure to register for courses meant for tour guides rather than tour directors. Tour directors are responsible for logistics and management, while guides lead groups and provide narration about places the group visits.

·         These programs are great for meeting people in the field. Your teachers, in particular, could connect you with people they know are looking for guides.

c.      Take classes in relevant fields to expand your knowledge. If you live near a local university or community college, check out the course listings. If there are offerings in linguistics, leadership, hospitality, and/or tourism, register. These courses will improve your resume and up your chances of getting a job as a guide.

·         Be sure you have the time and money to dedicate to the classes. If you’re currently working a full-time job, look into taking night classes.

d.     Get a hospitality or tourism degree if you can afford it. While a degree like this won’t guarantee you a job as a guide, it’ll show your potential employers that you’ve got some basic skills in the field. If you’re currently a college or university student and you know you want to be a guide, this could be a great degree option for you.

e.      Apply for positions online or in person. Once you’ve chosen a few different companies that you’d like to work for, fill out their applications by going online or picking up a paper application from the company. You’ll need to provide your contact information, employment history, a few good references, and a resume.

·         Most reputable companies will run a background check before hiring you.

·         If they like your application, most companies will contact you for one to two follow-up interviews before hiring you

f.      Be prepared to answer tailored application questions. Tour guiding companies will want your application to show that you’re ready to be a tour guide. Their questions may be designed to see how you’ll handle crises, to check if your personality is right for guiding, and to make sure you’re excited to be a tour guide.

·         These questions could be things like, “What would you do if the bus broke down?” or “What makes you excited to be a tour guide with us?”

g.     Accept the best offer you receive. If you’re lucky enough to receive multiple offers, make a pros and cons list. Consider the locations, work hours, and salaries. Decide which job provides the best balance of fun and financially practical, and go for it.

3.      Method three: Meeting the Challenges

a.      Embrace being around people when you’re working. Being a tour guide means you need to be a people person. Be prepared to answer questions constantly, handle difficult personalities, and herd groups of people around interesting sites and locations. You’ll need to be cheerful and upbeat whenever you’re on the job.

·         You may want to schedule alone time during your days off to balance out your work schedule.

b.     Absorb and memorize lots of information to be a good guide. Your primary job is to give people interesting facts about the places you visit. Take time learning about those places. Get information from your company, the local library, and online to expand your knowledge.

·         Attendees will ask you questions that may be slightly off-topic. Knowing these answers will impress your audience and make you a better guide.

·         If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so. Tell your audience you’re not sure, but that you’d love to know the answer and will be looking for it as soon as you can.

c.      Act fast when something goes wrong. When you’re coordinating people, travel plans, and site visits, there’s a lot of opportunity for crisis! Don’t panic if someone gets sick, your tour bus breaks, or a park randomly closes for the day. It’s your job to think on your feet and deal with situations as they arise.

·         You can always contact your company for assistance in these situations, but you’ll need to keep a cool head. You’re the leader of the group when you’re out on a tour, and they’ll look to you for guidance.

d.     Be prepared to be a freelance worker. One of the hardest aspects of being a tour guide is that you’re usually hired as a temporary worker. If you live in a country that provides health insurance through employers, you may need to coordinate getting private insurance on your own. You’ll also need to be responsible for keeping employment and tax records.

e.      Put your needs last when guiding a group. Remember that your group is on vacation, and you’re at work. Do whatever you need to do to keep the group happy and safe. Stay focused on them whenever you’re on the clock.

·         This might be hard if you’re leading groups in beautiful and relaxing locations, but stay strong! You’re getting paid for this work.

f.      Understand the physical requirements. Being a tour guide requires you to be on your feet and walking around most days. You’ll need to be physically healthy and fit to keep up with the rhythm of this work life.

g.     Be a storyteller to make facts interesting to your audience. To keep your tours moving and engaging, tell stories. Don’t just recite a list of names, dates, and events. Give your audience something to grab onto by narrating short stories at different spots along the tour with beginnings, middles, and climatic endings.

·         You also need to make sure that you and your group respects the environment you’re visiting. You’ll be responsible for enforcing the rules.

·         Always face your audience when giving tours.

Sources:

https://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Tour-Guide

Image taken from google.

Popular Tourist Attraction

1.      Winter Sonata

Location : Nami Island, South Korea

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How it happens :

Nami Island suddenly became popular was the success by filming ‘Winter Sonata’ in December, 2001. Since then, Nami Island was a domestic family destination, has been transformed into a tourist attraction for the world as a popular tourist attraction. Nami Island is renowned as a clean tourist destination with contents of environment, and the forest is well established. Especially, it is a good place to go on a picnic with the trademark Metasequoia road. This Metasequoia road has emerged as the main background of the Winter Sonata and attracts foreign tourists by attracting Japanese “Korean Wave” fans as storms. In addition, the Winter Sonata has been hit all over Asia, and tourists from around the world.

2.      Avatar

Location : Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, China.

Picture in the movie :

Picture in real :

How it happens :

One of these pillars was named the “Southern Sky Column, ”and it stretched 3,544 feet into the air, the length of 78 school buses. In a strange turn of art imitating life imitating art, in 2010 the name was changed to “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” after the highest-grossing film of all time, Avatar, used photographs of the pinnacle as inspiration for the floating Hallelujah Mountains of Pandora. This was part of a successful attempt to bring more tourists into the national park, using phrases like “Pandora is far but Zhangjiajie is near” and “discover the real world of Pandora.”

3.      My Love from the Star

Location : Petite France, South Korea.

Picture in the movie :

Picture in real :

How it happens :

Petite France became popular because of My Love From Another Star, Do Min Joon turned on lights of the Petite France by his supernatural power, and told his love towards Cheon Song Yi. The concept of Petite France encapsulates ‘flowers, stars, and the Little Prince.’ The village contains a memorial hall dedicated to Saint-Exupery, the author of the celebrated French novel, Le Petit Prince (1943) and as such it is called the Little Prince theme park. It also has a gallery displaying sculptures and paintings of le coq gaulois (the Gallic rooster), the national symbol of France; Orgel House where a 200-year-old music box plays a sweet melody; a shop that sells herbal and aromatic products; a souvenir shop; and many other locales where you can experience French culture. The village can accommodate up to 200 visitors with 34 guest rooms that hold four to ten people each.

To provide the romantic date in the drama to tourists, Petite France has expended their operating time to 8p.m for the first time. They help people appreciate stars in night sky by turning all the lights in Petite Prance every 6:55 p.m. And then, one hundred lights which has recently installed make a different mood by turning on at once on 7 p.m.

Sources :

https://www.habkorea.net/nami-island-a-global-tourist-destination-with-free-wi-fi/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/avatar-hallelujah-mountain

https://www.dramafever.com/news/7-shooting-places-from-my-love-from-another-star-where-you-shouldnt-miss/

Images are taken from Google.

Promoting Tourist Attraction Using Movies

1.      The Karate Kid

Location Great Wall of China, China.

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2.      Slumdog Millionaire

Location : Taj Mahal, India.

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Picture in real :

3.      James Bond

Location : Venice, Italy.

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4.      Boys Over Flowers

Location : Namsan Seoul Tower, South Korea.

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5.      99 Cahaya di Langit Eropa

Location : Eiffel Tower, France.

Picture in the movie :

Picture in real :

Source : Images are taken from Google.

How to Promote Tourist Attraction

Looking to attract some new visitors to your town or city? In our current digital age, getting tourists to pay attention to a specific place is more possible than ever. Developing a marketing plan and using tools social media and other promotional materials, can all help to promote tourism in your town or city.

PART 1 Creating a Marketing Plan

1.      Consider what makes your town or city unique. One way to do this is to make a list of all the activities and attractions currently available in the town. Often, tourist are interested in the things they can do and see in your town or city, more than the location of the town or city itself. They will search online for an activity first and then a location. For example: rock climbing Bend, Oregon, or fly fishing Missoula, Montana.

·         Focus on activities or attractions that are specific to your town. Even a small or strange attraction could attract visitors and bring attention to the town, from the world’s largest paper clip to a man made wave in a river. Ask yourself: What makes the town worth a special trip? What do you have that a tourist can’t get or do somewhere else?

·         Work with a tourism planning committee and narrow your focus on the top three things your town has to offer. The more specific, rather than generic, you can be, the more likely your town will be of interest to tourists.

2.      Conduct a survey of the members of the community. A survey is a valuable tool during tourism planning as it helps you collect information on the town and ensures the community can agree on the branding and marketing for the town. Do face to face interviews or phone surveys. Ask questions such as:

·         What do you think attracts a visitor to the community?

·         What type of visitor do you see coming to our community?

·         How can we do to improve the visitor’s experience?

3.      Do a survey of visitors to the town. You can conduct face to face interviews at the local shopping mall. You can also ask visitors to sign up to a mailing list and email them a survey. Ask questions such as:

·         Where does the visitor live?

·         What attracted the visitor to the community?

·         How did the visitor find out about the tourist attractions?

·         What type of businesses or facilities did the visitor use?

·         What kinds of accommodations or services are needed?

·         A third party endorsement from previous visitors to the town or current visitors is a good way to determine how to better serve future tourists.

4.      Create a marketing plan. A good way to do this is to determine target marketing segments. Define market areas that will draw the most visitors, like a well known hiking trail, an important historical site, or a museum. Then, divide these areas into trip length categories, and define the clientele that will be attracted to the community. Create a chart broken into categories such as:

·         Geographic market areas, with a section for day trips, overnight trips, and extended visits.

·         Outdoor recreation activities, if any, such as camping, hiking, fishing, and picnicking.

·         Entertainment, such as historic sites, fairs or festivals, shopping, and dining.

·         Other travel purposes, such as business trips and family visits.

5.      Create a unique slogan. If you come up with a slogan, but its possible to remove your town’s name and plug in another town’s name, it is not a unique slogan. Avoid common buzzwords like “explore” “discover” “center of it all” “something for everyone” “best kept secret”, etc.

·         Think about successful slogans, like Las Vegas’ “What happens here, stays here”, New York’s “The City That Never Sleeps” or Calgary, Alberta’s “Heart of the New West”. They work because they are unique and avoid generic terms or phrases.

6.      Make an action plan. This will be a to do list to make the market plan a reality. It should include:

·         The overall recommendation from the tourism planning committee, including the proposed slogan and branding.

·         The budget of the marketing plan, including the costs of all promotional materials.

·         The source of the funds to put the marketing plan into action.

·         The responsible parties of putting the marketing plan into action.

·         A timeline for the completion and launch of the marketing plan.

PART 2 Using Promotional Materials and Local Media

1.      Create promotional materials. These can be promotional t-shirts, hats, stickers, and flags with the town slogan and branding. Go local and hire a local illustrator or designer to create the promotional materials.

·         Sell these promotional materials at local gift shops located close to popular attractions.

2.      Organize public radio spots and television ads. One of the best ways to promote the town is to create radio and television ads, focusing on the slogan for the town and the points discussed in the marketing plan.

3.      Make a tourist map. Another great way to promote the town is to create a detailed map for tourists and place them in local malls, restaurants, and bars.[8]

·         The map can include a brief description of key attractions and sites, as well as activities tourists can do at these locations.

4.      Do a promotional draw or contest. Get the attention of tourists by offering them a free incentive to explore the town. Create a scavenger hunt around the town and offer a prize to the winners. Offer a complimentary stay at a popular attraction to visitors who enter a draw or a survey about the town.

PART 3 Using Social Media and Other Online Tools

1.      Make a website and keep a blog. If your town or city doesn’t already have a website, make a website with a simple, easy to use template. Be sure to use high quality images and graphics on the site so it looks professional and inviting.

·         A good way to get more traffic to the website is to create a blog section on the site and make sure it is updated regularly. Conduct interviews with locals and post the interviews on the blog, or do a post on the best activities to do in the town based on the season.

2.      Create a Facebook page and post something every day. Creating a Facebook page is easier to do than building a website and allows you to make friends quickly. Posting a new image of the town or a few words about an upcoming event will also ensure your friends notice the page on their Newsfeeds.

3.      Make a Twitter and Instagram account. Promote the town on other social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Post regularly and follow users with lots of followers or a high profile.

·         You can also create a hashtag that uses the slogan for the town and use it often at the end of every tweet or Instagram post. This will help you track if the town is trending among users and improve your posts to get more attention on these platforms.

4.      Start a Youtube page. Youtube is another great way to promote your town and attract more tourists. Keep the page professional and use easy to search terms in the titles of the videos, such as the name of the town and the activity or event in the video.

5.      Use an app to promote events and attractions. Partner with a developer to create a smartphone app and promote local events through the app. The app can be programmed to showcase hotels, restaurants, shopping, and events, as well as other important tourism information like directions, the location of information centers and public restrooms, and suggested itineraries.

Source:

https://www.wikihow.com/Promote-Tourism