Tour Guide

Introduction

Tour guide is basically related to the tourism industries. It is one of the responsible and adventure jobs of the world.

Ones, who wish to earn and want to see the various countries of the world in his or her life,

Ones, who are ok with continuous travelling around the world,

Ones, who have curiosity to know about the historical places and different cultures of the world,

And ones, who have the leadership quality as the additional skill,

If so, this is a perfect career for you. You can do this job as a tour guide and explore your skills through this field and get the smart earning. Your career will start after the completion of your plus two examinations.

“A tour guide leads visitors & group to carry out all information about the location where they wish to visit and satisfy their customers in order to queries”.

Scope of the Tour Guide

There is a vast scope in the profession of tour guide. The scope of tour guide is increasing day by day as the numbers of tourist places are increasing. As we all know, in today’s world, everyone wants to travel the world or interested to know all the places in the world.

So, it is the best opportunities for those who want to travel whole world with some good earnings. In this field one can earn good salary while traveling.

Courses & Duration

To become a tour guide you should have some of the basic requirements like:

• Good customer service skills
• Organizational skills
• Time management skills
• Research skills
• Excellent communication skills
• Safety training

All of these skills can be gained through the courses especially designed for the career in tourism. If you have completed your plus two examinations and wish to build the career in this field, you may go for further certificate, diploma and degree course in the tourism and hospitality.

There are three types of courses:

Certificate courses with the duration of six month to 1 year after 12^th:

• Certified Training Professional (CTP)
• Travel and Tourism Professional (TTP)

Diploma courses with the duration of 1 – 2 years after 12^th:

• Foundation in Travel and Tourism Diploma
• Hospitality Management Diploma
• Hospitality Services Diploma
• Managing the Travel Business Diploma
• Revenue Accounting and Control Diploma
• Travel and Tourism Consultant Diploma
• Travel Sales and Operations Diploma

Degree courses with the duration of 3 years after 12^th:

• BA in history
• BA in archeology
• BA in arts
• B.Sc in geology
• BBA in management
• BA in tourism
• BA in hospitality

Eligibility & Admission

Students have to complete their 10+2 education with minimum 50% marks. There is no maximum age limit to apply for this course.

Tourism Offices of Government of India, are located in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai & Kolkata conducts a tour guide training programme. Students who have completed their graduation can apply for this course.

Apart from this, IITTM (Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management) also imparts short term courses.

Ministry of Tourism provides license to the tourist guides & also organizes Regional Level Tourist Guide Training Programmes.

Many private/ public colleges also offer direct admission into tour guide programme in various disciplines.

Requirements

There is no set requirement for tour guide, but some basics that you should know to become a professional tour guide. You must have the knowledge of English and have some general knowledge. You may know the presentation skills or how to deal with the public. You should have frank nature and be polite in talking while communicating with visitors. It is good for you if you know some other languages such as French, German, Spanish, Japanese & Chinese.

Career & Jobs

Tour Guide career is the growing field which offers good opportunities in the field of tour-packages, tour operations, sight-seeing, etc.

The growth of travel and tourism industry has opened up lots of job opportunities not only in India but also in abroad.

It is necessary to have the training on safety and swimming to become a tour guide and if you have the training on disaster management, it will be beneficial for you. The career or job of a tour guide is very adventurous. He has to go in rain, forest, water sport and sea sport.

A tour guide gets the opportunity to see the world. It is a job with no time limit. You have to work for almost 12 hours in a day and may be more if required.

It is a good career industry but very competitive. New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Sydney, Cairo, Florence, Melbourne, Cape Town and Moscow are some of the country where is the heavy demand of tour guides.

After completing the courses, you can build a career as a tourist guide in both private & public sector organizations.

You can also work in tourism departments and tourism directorates of the union and state governments.

With the experience of tour guide you can also work as a tour operator, as a regional tour supervisor and manager.

Job Roles:

• Tour Operators for Tours &  Travels Company
• Outbound Tour Executive
• Tour Consultant
• Travel Consultant
• Hoteliers
• Restaurateurs
• Freelance Tour Manager/Tour Guide
• Executive-Inbound Tour
• Tour Operations Manager
• Tourism Officer
• Travel Agents

Salary

There is a smart earning in the UK and above said country as a tour guide. In all Europe you can earn more than 1 lakh in a month. If you are in the USA you can also earn between the 1-2 lakh.

There is a big crisis about the salary of a tour guide in India. The salaries are very low for a tour guide in India. If you are working hard, you may expect tip by the foreigners to meet the good ends.

Books for Tour Guide

• UGC NET/ SET: Tourism-Administration and Management by RPH Editorial Board
• Tourism Supply Chain Management (Advances in Tourism) by Haiyan Song
• Tourism Marketing by Manjula Chaudhary
• IITM Tourism Travel Entrance Exam by CBH Editorial
• Tourism Management: An Introduction by Stephen J. Page
• Fundamentals of Travel and Tourism by Arpita Mathur

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