Tour Guide (how to be a tour guide)
TOUR GUIDE (How To Be
a TourGuide)
Tugas Kepariwisataan 2 softskill ( Universitas Gunadarma)
Group: Danish Girl
Name : Indira
Yasmin
NPM : 13615347
Class : 3SA04
Name : Noor Gita
Fitri
NPM : 15615090
Class : 3SA04
TOUR GUIDE
A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a
person who provides assistance, information on cultural, historical and
contemporary heritage to people on organized tours and individual clients at
educational establishments, religious and historical sites, museums, and at
venues of other significant interest.
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.
1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
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/.
5.
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.
6.
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.
10 tips for being a good tourguide;
1. Face the crowd, not what you’re talking about. Tour
guides often get so wrapped up in their subject they forget to face the peple
they are addressing. One secret to avoid this is to “deputize” somebody in the
crowd to interrupt you if they can’t hear you.
2. Be personal. No matter how much we love buildings, it’s a
fact that people connect with people. So it’s good to have a few personal
anecdotes ready, even if they’re just about past tours you've done. You’ll
build a more personal connection to your group and create a memorable tour.
3. Tell a story (historical or contemporary). Make sure you
have a few fun and compelling stories to tell about the buildings and sites
you’re looking at. People are more likely to feel engaged when they are
listening to a story, rather than a list of dates and names.
4. Get moving right away. Tours often get bogged down before
they ever begin with tour guides doing the “big wind-up”―introductions, setting
the theme, providing context, etc. Plan to scrap 90% of it. Hint: If you have a
script, the first line should tell you: “Move thirty feet up the street before
you say anything.”
5. Don’t worry about being perfect. People don’t expect you
to be perfect. Set the stage for human imperfection by acknowledging that
people who may know more than you should speak up and share their knowledge
with the group. The more interactive the tour is, the better!
6. Get help to get organized. Try to get a volunteer to
check people in so you can chat with tour goers. People give tours for many
reasons, but a big one is to meet new people, and the time before the tour is a
great chance to get to know your group. Hint: If you don’t have a volunteer
beforehand, ask somebody on the spot. (They’ll love it!)
7. End on time. (Or try very hard to.) Try like crazy to end
on time. Nobody wants to feel like they are in tour jail. Tours on paper always
seem too short and on the ground are always too long. Two hours is the absolute
maximum. An hour to an hour and a half is better.
8. Limit your number of speakers. It’s hard to talk for just
five minutes, so when you have multiple guides talking about different subject
areas, it’s easy to lose track of time. Avoid it if you can, but, if you do
have several different guides with you, designate one as the lead guide and the
others as experts in a specific area.
9. Send a follow-up email. Follow up with an email―it can be
as simple as a “thank you” note. If you can follow the tour with another
contact, by email or otherwise, that’s another step towards creating a better
link between the tour taker and your organization.
10. Avoid these traps:
“12 (or 20…) people on the tour is the max.” Rather, let the
space and tour guide set the scene.
“You MUST plan everything out ahead of time.” In fact, a
little spontaneity is good.
“Don’t do outdoor tours in the winter.” People will still
come, even in the snow.
“Always have a backup plan in case it rains.” Don’t worry,
people will come out in the rain, and it’s much easier than rescheduling.
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