Unit 1 Tips for Tour guiding

Unit 2 Travel tips to visit Russia

UNIT 1

Tips for Tour guiding

· How to become a good Guide! · Guides and Tours · Tips for Tour Guiding

How to become a good Guide!

Read the following advice of an experienced tour guide to learn more about the future profession.

How to become a good Guide!

Most guides are freelancers and hired for particular jobs. Tour operators and other people employ guides mainly to inform tourists about the places they are visiting. Therefore a guide has to have a good sound knowledge not only of a particular place but also of other things which are generally relevant - for example, architecture, history, and local customs. During our training we intensively learn a vast amount of information about a whole range of subjects, and we have to be capable of jumping from one topic to another in the same sentence! But the way in which a person conveys this knowledge is the key: you have to be good at judging what your audience is interested in and you have to know how to keep their attention. These are not easy skills, I can tell you!

A guide's commentary should be interesting, lively, and above all, enthusiastic. It shouldn't be too academic and 'heavy', but neither should it be frivolous. A sense of humour is also important, but again one should only be humorous where appropriate. 'Getting the balance right' is the main skill of guiding and commentaries should vary according to each group. A group of schoolchildren and a group of architects require a very different approach.

Tourists ask a lot of questions and a guide should be friendly, helpful, and approachable. Guides shouldn't claim to know everything - we're not superhuman! If you don't know the answer, say so, but add ‘I’ll find out for you'.

Questions can vary. They can be practical ones; it‘s important to know where the toilets are situated as well as the date of a monument! When things go wrong - as they occasionally do - guides should pause and calmly sort out the problem, and try to make sure that the original itinerary is kept to.

A guide takes on a number of roles for the tourists: teacher, entertainer, ambassador, nurse and ‘the boss’. As ‘teacher’ the guide is passing on information, as we’ve discussed. Most tour groups are on holiday, so they want to enjoy themselves and want to be entertained to a certain extent. People also need looking after, so you sometimes have to be a nurse. Some people are jet-lagged or have minor illnesses (sometimes worse!). When we train, we do a basic first-aid course.

As a guide you really are an ambassador for your country and it is your job to promote it. For many people you are the only person from that country that they have any contact with. As an ambassador you also have to know about diplomacy and you are responsible for making sure everyone is happy.

You also have to be ‘the boss’ in order to insure that the itinerary runs smoothly. You’re often in charge of checking in and out of the hotels, taking care of baggage, money and so on. Efficiency is very important in all of this.

Above all as a guide you have to like people. You meet the world in this job, some great people and some awful ones, but you have to try to treat them a as equals. Don't be patronizing, but welcome everyone as if they were a VIP to your country. But most of all enjoy it!

2. Answer the questions:

1. What type of job is guiding?

2. Who employs tour guides?

3. Is it a permanent job?

4. What advantages and disadvantages of being a freelancer?

5. What do you need to learn to be a tour guide?

6. What do you need to know about the audience?

7. What commentaries should a tour guide give?

8. Why is it important to have a good sense of humour?

9. Why is important to vary the commentaries?

10. What questions do people ask?

11. What should a guide do if the things go wrong?

12. What roles of a guide can you name? What is the most important?

13. Why do you need to have medical knowledge?

14. Are guides in charge of checking in out of the hotels? Why?

15. Why is it important not to be to patronizing?

Study the information and answer the questions.

Tips for Tour Guiding

Sightseeing tours

Sightseeing can be done in various ways. Travel companies offer both bus or coach sightseeing tours and walking tours. Aside from coaches, sightseeing tours can also take place on city trams or trolleys adding to the atmosphere of the tour, and even trains.

Escorted Tour

Escorted Tours are our most popular tourist product. Escorted tours are normally conducted by a tour director who takes care of all services from beginning to end of the tour. Escorted tours normally include flights, hotels, transportation, transfers to the airport/hotel, most meals and sightseeing. Escorted tours are conducted by motor-coach and usually no more than 2 nights are spent in each location visited.

Guided Tours

Guided Tours are somewhat similar to Escorted tours but passengers are greeted by a local representative rather than a Tour Director and will not be escorted to all activities and functions. Local guides will be available to answer questions through the duration of the tour. Some meals, accommodations and sightseeing may be included in your tour. This style is ideal for people who want some freedom but still have the comfort of a guide.

Questions

1. How can sightseeing be done?

2. What is the difference between an escorted tour and a guided tour?

3. Who takes care of all the services on an escorted tour?

4.  What do escorted tours normally include?

5. Who conducts a guided tour?

6. What may be included in a guided tour?

7. What kinds of tourists are guided tours ideal for?

A tour guide

A tour guide or tourist guide is a person who leads groups of people around a town, museum, or other tourist venue. The guide provides a commentary on the features and history of the location. Basically, a tour guide is someone who knows the best tourist places and the whole culture of a certain place. They know the in and out of the particular place that they are giving the tour of. Importance is placed on the guide’s knowledge of language, travel documentation requirements and cultural differences. The skills are: communication skills, customer service skills, foreign language, time management, organizational skills, problem solving, product knowledge, presentation skills, public speaking skills and leadership qualities: confident, friendly, polite and helpful, calm under pressure, physically fit, patient, trustworthy, responsible, ability to relate to a wide variety of people hope it helps to you.