Becoming a local guide is easy if you have the heart and the right skills to do the job. Moving forward, if you are looking
to find a job as a local tour guide or want to start your own local guide business from home, it is important that you have your
heart in the right place and that you 100% love what you do. If you know the history of your city and its local tourist
destinations but are currently at home due to health and safety protocols in place, working as a home-based local guide is
the perfect job for you. As mentioned, there are no specific education requirements for a guide, but if you can get trained
or do more research about the most interesting places and facts in your city, it will definitely help you become a better
Guide.
Skills and dedication
Do extensive research to learn about the requirements for a guide and then consider if you have the required skills and if
you want to enter the industry. At the very beginning of the process, you will know if you are up to the challenge and if you
have the skills, personality, and experience to take it on or go through it as a guide. Step 1: Determine if you really need
an international guide and if you have the necessary skills.
You also need to figure out how much experience you need for the tour operator you have your eye on. Your speaking skills
will be tested in a pre-training interview and finally, some operators will be looking for people who have been driving or
touring for at least a couple of years before they even consider you. Of course, different operators will require different
levels of experience and external certifications depending on where their tours go and what kind of experience you would like
to organize as their guide.
As I mentioned, starting with travel companies and learning how they work will give you the knowledge you need to work on
your own. A great way to get started is with “We’re at TripSchool Start a Tour Business Workshop”, but many tour guides only
start down this path after spending a few years learning the basics and how the travel industry works.
Don’t lose hope when it became hard
It may be tempting to start looking for a job as a guide, but it’s important to first understand how the industry works, how
to get the best job as a guide, and whether it’s possible to take an international guide certification course. right for you.
Being a tour guide is tempting if you want to travel and meet people from different cultures, but it’s rewarding to learn and
understand how the industry works and how you can qualify for the job. Being a guide is an exciting and rewarding way to
share your love of travel, see the world, and learn about the culture and history of people from different countries and
regions.
Guides are certified professionals licensed to accompany others on tours or trips. Tourist guides, also known as local
guides, tour leaders, or cultural interpreters, act as ambassadors for guide countries because they are often the first to
greet tourists and the last. As a rule, guides ensure that the needs of travelers are met, they pay bills on the spot and
process all documents. Of course, most tour guides manage to show their favorite places and meet travelers from all over the
world (not during a pandemic, of course), but they also have to work long hours, often on their feet all day, in the heat of
the moment. season, dealing with demanding guests.
Exceptional time management
Guides must have exceptional time management skills and be able to accurately research relevant information. The guide works
in different locations and this determines the type of tours they can offer, such as very informative and detailed tours for
adults or simpler presentations for school children. Now it can be things like helping with transport logistics, passport and
border control, meeting at the airport, taking groups and escorting them to restaurants to their place of residence, and
sometimes tour directors or tour managers will work with several guides. This type of tour guide experience means
guides will be eager to download a mobile booking app, and customizing the dashboard to perform more actions with just a few
clicks will make life a lot easier for tour owners.
Although guides interact with several guests on a daily basis, they can quickly turn a tour from mediocre to extraordinary by
addressing each guest by name so they feel appreciated and not just given a tip. A great guide doesn’t have to be local to
help tourists, but they do need to be passionate about the area.
ITMI
The International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) is a renowned driving program offering a two-week training course in San
Francisco and an annual symposium to connect tour companies with guides. If the company you applied for a job with does a
study tour before going on your first adventure with real paying clients, they will do everything in their power to replicate
every possible difficult scenario you might encounter on the tour.
In the end
When you sign up as a local Showaround, you can define your hourly rate, tour itinerary, and who you want to show in your
hometown. Many extroverts end up talking too much, and while public speaking is an integral part of the job, the real
charisma comes from the conversation when the guide gets to connect with guests, how to ask where they are from and what to
- live about it. Learn more at showaround.com.