Tour and Travel

Posts Tagged ‘Tour’

If you believe you are up to the challenge and want to charge ahead to achieve this great opportunity, one of the best ways to get started is to become a Certified International Tour Guide.  It requires some upfront effort and perseverance on your part before you can expect to reap its rewards, like many independent contractor opportunities.  As an international guide, or even a local guide within your own city, you get to enjoy all or most of the tour events for free!  In addition, you will receive a percentage of the optional tours you sell to the passengers and will receive tips from them at the end of the tour; the amount above the standard tip tour companies recommend to the tourists goes up if you did well.

How to get certified:  Many international and local travel companies either require or strongly prefer a tour guide be certified.  Research the Internet for International Tour Certification programs which are conducted in various U.S. cities and run anywhere from 2 intensive weeks up to 6 weeks or more.  Certification is achieved through classroom study, hands-on practice and successful passing of tests, video and/or on-site demonstration skills.  The programs include how to manage and coordinate the day-to-day travel and accommodation obligations and event opportunities for tour passengers, dealing with international tour agencies and destination representatives, selling optional tours and events, collecting and disseminating tour venue funds, handling all kinds of emergencies, and giving tour talks or presentations while on the road.  However, as an international guide, you will most likely not be the person presenting to the group in a foreign country; expert local guides will be recruited for whichever country you are in.  You will be there to be sure everyone is comfortable and accounted for, to ensure everything and everyone is on time and that the tour follows as advertised as much as possible.  If you do well, the instructor may forward your name to several international tour companies located in the U.S.  This recommendation is gold.  You may even be lucky enough to be contacted by the company when it needs an alternate or last minute director, as happened to me.

If you plan to sign up with international tour companies, first check with your state business registration office on what is required to become established as an Independent Contractor; this is what your status will be.  In most cases, your employment with a company will be on a part-time or casual basis. Your home base will not likely change unless you move to become a fulltime employee of a specific company, so you will be obligated to the state for taxation and business requirements  You will need to request a taxpayer ID# from the state, will be subject to income tax, and required to file a business tax form annually or quarterly. If you bill yourself as an Independent Tour Operator where you guide groups by yourself with no affiliation to any professional registered company, you should apply for ASTA membership – this is the American Society of Travel Agents, a leading advocate for travel professionals which offers a great deal of benefits for its members.

Prepare your cover letter and resume, focusing on your experience as it relates to leading, managing or teaching groups in any capacity, professional or personal travel experience, experience making travel arrangements, especially for others, experience living and/or working in foreign countries, any foreign language ability and anything else that you feel would promote your international tour capabilities.  If you have worked as a local tour guide in your own city, this is important experience to add to your resume.  If a company has a required application, apply and attach your resume and cover letter and be sure to fill out the application completely even though it may repeat what is stated on your resume.  The application will be the main document reviewed by the company.  Do not be lazy about this.

After you have applied to a number of companies (I would recommend at least 10), follow up with the companies after about 2-4 weeks.  Inquire if there are openings, the status of your application and ask if there is a possibility of an interview or how the company selects its tour guides.  Ask them if they can send you any information on their policies and procedures or how they generally like to manage their tours; having this information is very important if you are eventually selected to guide a tour to avoid any missteps on your first assignment.  Don’t be too concerned if they are reluctant to release this information.  Press on regardless.  Try not to get frustrated; this takes patience and perseverance.  Most companies will have a stack of applications and will select prospects when they need a tour guide in a pinch so luck has a lot to do with it.  Keep in contact with them about once a month or every other month to keep your name “afloat”.  Contacting them more frequently than monthly might have a negative effect.

While you are waiting for that special opportunity to strike, continue to add to your experience and occasionally send an updated resume to companies that you are interested in.  If your city has a local guide service, consider joining their network to gain group guiding experience and to build a good reputation among guides and visitors (a good guide will often be requested by returning visitors and/or destination companies and these recommendations are good to add to your international application).   The company may pair you with a seasoned guide and pay you at a lesser rate for work performed assisting the main guide or they may request you volunteer first to gain experience. Many of the local opportunities include short trips such as a city tour or day trips to sites outside of the city, airport meet-and-greet events where you greet incoming tourists belonging to a particular group (e.g., convention attendees, traveling school groups or bus tour tourists), and groups signed up for planned restaurant, local destination, entertainment or shopping events.

On a smaller scale, organize a group outing for your own work colleagues; coordinate the venue date, space and activities and take care of collecting the required fees and payments.   It is small step but even the smallest level of experience can lead to something bigger.  Consider paying for, and joining some local bus or destination tours and observe how the tour guide manages the tour.  Converse with the guide in spare moments; most guides will be happy to share some ideas and information about guiding if they know you are interested in joining the industry.  Build on your experience and be patient; take it step by step.  There is no overnight success!.

Opportunities for tour guides abound in all major cities, as well as in many smaller towns.  If you are a people person and a history buff, then becomming a tour guide may be one of the most rewarding career decisions you will ever make.

As a tour guide in Niagara Falls, Ontario (one of the world’s most famous addresses), I can honestly say that I believe I have the best job in the world. While others around me feel their moods sink as they begin the countdown to the beginning of their work week, my excitement level steadily increases as I count down the hours before I get to meet my next group of ‘new friends’. However, anyone thinking of embarking on this career adventure should be warned that the early stages of your guiding career can be rife with ‘butterflies’ and ‘knots’ and a fair share of learning by your initial mistakes and oversights. Being forewarned is forearmed and the following are just some of the areas that require some thought to ensure that both you and your guests have the best time possible.

Know Your Stuff-  The more you know and the better you know it, the more comfortable you will feel. Your guests have paid hard earned money for a guide who is an expert on her/his area and they deserve no less than that. Before you even begin to take tours, you need to devour as much information about the subject of your tour as possible. Depending on what company or type of guiding you initially choose, beginners are often given a script with all the basic and necessary facts that they are expected to know. Learn it well…..but by no means, stop there and figure that you’re a ‘master’. Take my word for it, from day one you will be hit with questions that weren’t on that script and limited knowledge can quickly lead to limitied confidence. Start good habits early. Get your hands on local pamphlets and books and read them during breaks or on your off time. No one expects you to know everything, especially as a novice, but make that no excuse. Do NOT succomb to the urge to make up an answer if you aren’t sure. This will only come back to haunt you in the end. There is no shame in being truthful in indicating that you are not sure of the answer. If you can find a way to provide the ‘asker’ with the answer before the end of the tour, even better. At the very least, keep a notepad and jot down every question that you aren’t sure about. Make a habit of going on-line faithfully every evening and finding the answer. When I do my four day charter bus tours, I make a point to begin each day by answering any questions that I didn’t know the answer to the day before. Either way, know that if one person wants to know something, you will undoubtedly be asked the same question again.

Know Your Group- Although your primary responsibility is to educate and entertain guests about your area, any good tour guide is aware that an insatiable curiousity about the people they meet and the places they come from is invaluable in many ways. In many cases, as with pre-booked chartered bus tours, you will receive an itinerary that will provide you with the origin of your group’s trip. Do your homework. Research as much as you can about where they come from before they arrive. Find out what current events are important to them, the demographics of the area, the weather, the major local attractions, any local natives that have become famous. The more you know about the group you will be spending time with, the more rapport you will be able to build. If you are guiding tours that are not arranged and purchased in advance, you do not have the chance to do homework in advance. In these situations, take advantage of all free time to chat individually with the tourists and to ask lots of questions about their home towns. Not only does this build up your ‘library of knowledge’ for next time (and there is always a next time) but your interest in the people you meet does not go unnoticed. Just as you have a passion for your city, your guests are equally as excited to share about theirs. Over time you will find that your knowledge will in turn help you to make appropriate conversations that will inevitably assist in easing those ‘beginner jitters’.

Use of Humor- People love to have a good time and everyone loves a good laugh. Nowhere is this more important than on vacation, where people have left the sometimes mundane routine of daily life and stresses to spend their hard earned money having a good time. A good tour guide wears multiple hats. As an educator, you may be a ‘walking encyclopedia’ but don’t expect to dazzle your audience with that plethora of knowledge if you drone on like a monotone audio recording. When facing your group, if you notice a steady orchestra of yawns, you may want to check your humor content. I’m not talking about off-beat jokes you heard at the bar the night before. Likewise, ethnic, religious and political jokes should be left out of your spiel. The only exception to this are harmless, self depricating interjections of humor on your local area or country. As a Canadian, I joke a lot about the more common stereotypes we face here in Canada. The snow, hockey and moosehunting seem to be harmless enough and can lead to great conversations. Facts are often best remembered and put into perspective with the occasional funny personal story and  give a  glimpse into your personality and experiences.

Be Sentitive To Other’s Feelings- Having a microphone and the lisence to use it should not be taken as a platform to propogate your personal opinions on any sensitive subject.  This should be obvious, but I am amazed at how many stories I hear about tour guides  spouting off on controversial subjects, only to irreversibly alienate their audience. No one wants to know why your religious denomination is superior to theirs or that you think people who wear fur are cruel and ignorant. People are interested in finding common elements with their guide and so you should be too. These biases need not be shared. At best, this can be viewed as an extreme abuse of power, as you and only you are holding the mike and therefore the conversation remains close-ended. At worst, you run the risk of strongly offended or hurting someone’s feelings. Once done, there is virtually no way to win them back and they will not be shy in letting you know this.

Make Your Bus Driver Your Best Friend- There are many different types of tours that you can guide, and I discuss this in a subsequent article. This ‘pointer’ applies to step-on guiding, where you will be embarking on a bus with a professional and trained bus driver. Establishing an immediate rapport with the driver is essential and you will find that the driver can easily be your best friend and ally on your tour. Although you may be hired by separate companies, for the most part you and he are a team. Therefore, your first order of business will be to have an initial discussion with the driver. So it is important to schedule this in. I like to arrive early and meet the driver, giving ample time to gain valuable insights. First on the agenda, it is imperative that you know upfront how familiar your driver is with the area. Of course, it is always fantastic to find out that your driver knows the area like the back of his hand. This makes your day much easier but that isn’t always the case. If your driver is not familiar with the area, find out if he has GPS on board. If he does, you can provide him with the pre-selected destinations to key in. This saves time and confusion. There is nothing more rattling than constantly having to disrupt your spiel to convey directions to the driver. If you are totally engrossed in what you are doing, which you should be, this is a great way to miss a turn. Tourists want to know that everything that be left in your capable hands and if you and the driver are bickering over directions, they feel it and this can lead to them doubting your credibility. If your driver does not have GPS, I have found that it is a good idea to take the time to print out MapQuest maps of all destinations along the way. He appreciates this as a guide. Additionally, with each stop, discuss your next destination with the driver as opposed to leaving him to learn the entire route at once. Often drivers must stay with their bus while you and the bus group are enjoying your free time. Please be sensitive to this fact and always ask if the driver needs something in the way of food or drink, that you can bring to him/her. Also, make sure to offer to stay at the bus if your driver needs a washroom break or some time to stretch his legs. As well, new driver’s may have never had a chance to see the point of interest that your group is seeing. If possible, give them some time to do this while you guard the bus for them. Bus drivers often work long hours and are away from home for extended periods of time. Most do a commendable job and deserve the guide’s utmost respect and consideration. I have found that many of the most interesting and engaging people I have met in this career are the drivers. I can’t stress this enough.

Medical Issues and Information- ‘Touch wood’ your tour will proceed smoothly, with no incidents along the way. Yet, the odds are that if you do enough tours, someone might fall ill or get hurt and this is one area where you want to immediately know the protocol and what to do. Many tour companies will provide the guide with an ‘Incident Report’ template that you can print out. Make sure you have a few of these in your brief case at all times, in case someone becomes sick or gets injured during the course of the tour. Attention to detail is critical when filling out these reports and trying to jog your memory after the tour is over can often lead to inaccurate fact reporting. As well, it is important to be able to provide information on all medical facilities near the group’s hotel or in the vicinity of your destinations. Often, if an injury is minor, it makes more sense to recommend a local clinic as opposed to the emergency room at the local hospital, where waiting times can be less predictable. Most tourists who are traveling outside of their own country have purchased the proper health insurance. However, this often requires an update payment for services, to be reimbursed to the patient at some later time. Having a general knowledge of the upfront costs of some of the more common procedures, such as x-rays, is a good idea. Above all, if someone on your tour is ill, exercise empathy and do not insist that they ‘try’ to push through the day’s activities when they are not at their best. Any good bus driver will allow ‘under the weather’ travelers the option to remain on the bus. Let them know that they should feel comfortable in exercising that option. Also, know that there is a first aid kid on every bus and your driver knows where this is and what it contains. Bandaids, tweezers and antiseptic are readily available in a pinch. Just leave the surgical techniques to the professionals.

Lead Them Not Astray- Anyone who has done a fair share of traveling is no stranger to the ‘money holes’ that await the uninformed tourist. We call these ‘tourist traps’ and every city has their fair share. Herein can lie a very insidious ethical dilemma for the new tour guide. Often, these ‘traps’ provide attractive commission to guides who direct their groups to these destinations. The benefits can really add up and often in the ‘feast or famine’ world of tour guiding, the temptations can prove too much. Usually, these establishments can afford to offer such lucrative incentives because they are ridiculously gouging your group. At the risk of sounding moralistic, I will say that you and you only are the guide of your tour. If you have any choice at all concerning your stops, this is only something that you can decide for yourself. Often, your company will have included manditory stops along the way that are not in your control. These cannot be your concern. However, exercising discretion when it comes to ‘tourist traps’ is a prudent habit to form. Many  attractions often guides perks to bring business their way and most of these are decent, worthwhile and equitably priced stops. By all means, do your homework and learn what’s available to you as a guide. These bonuses can add up in the form of cash or free product and can be a worthwhile addition to your income. That is all in the normal course of business. However, no one appreciates being cajoled into wasting hard earned cash on garbage and make no mistake about it…..Your guests are savvy and will know when this is being done to them.They will appreciate your honesty and sincerity in providing them with upfront and fair price comparisons, so they can make educated purchasing decisions.

Be Aware of  Physical Hazards and Road Blocks- Summertime is full of road construction zones and an unexpected delay can throw your entire tour into turmoil. Find out  the construction zones along your route and have a detour route available. Hot summer days, sweaty passengers, long waits…..you get the picture. Also, be forever mindful of hazards waiting to happen. A slick and rainy day is probably not the best time to suggest that your group takes a trek down a muddy nature path to view a historical plaque. Nor is it wise to advocate that a group climb the 200 steps to the top of a monument when the weatherman has issued a smog alert. Eventually, you will learn where there are broken steps, unsteady terrains and slippery surfaces and it will become second nature to extend this information to your group.

With a good supply of commense sense and a solid knowledge of the ‘what ifs’, tour guiding can be one of the most enjoyable ways to make a living and learn more about the world around you. Preparation goes a long way in smoothing out any potential bumps and keeping a smile on everyone’s face.

Happy Trails.