How to Find the Tour Guide Job of Your Dreams

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By tourtraining
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Amazon Rainforest

Have you always dreamed of traveling to interesting places and getting paid to do so? As a professional tour guide or tour director, this dream can become a reality. But how do you get started as a tour guide or tour director? How do you find travel jobs? Where is work available for this type of career? Below are some helpful tips to help you find the tour guide job of your dreams.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A love of travel.

Step 1

Forbidden City in China

What is a Tour Guide?

Before seeking a job in this field, you should have a clear understanding of the job and its requirements. A tour guide is not merely someone who leads a group of people around at a particular site. They are highly-skilled at what they do. They understand how to communicate and work with people. They know the rules and expect the group to follow those rules. Tour guides study hard to learn all they can about the site or attraction so they can answer questions along the way. They understand the importance of safety and are trained to handle emergencies when they arise.
Step 2

Australia's famous Koalas

Types of Tour Guide Jobs

Tour guide duties vary according to the type of job. There are adventure travel jobs where you'll go along with a group of travelers by bus or plane to adventurous places and remain with the group for the entire trip. With this type of job, you must have skills in tour management, knowing tour procedures for handling large groups worldwide. As a tour director for multi-day tours, you'll be responsible for managing arrangements, brefings, procedures, working with suppliers, handling emergencies, documentation and more. On international tours, you'll have a local guide to deliver interesting and informative narration. You might become a tour director for African safaris, mountain hiking, winery tours, walking tours - whatever your desire. So, whether you want to travel abroad or find a tour guide job or tour director job in your local area, there are plenty of opportunities.
Step 3

Helicopter in Brazil

Tour Guide Training

A smart first step in finding the travel job of your dreams is learn the required steps for leading local, domestic and international tour groups. This is available for tour guides, tour directors, and cruise hosts. With tour management training, you'll learn about safety procedures for various travel methods and destinations. You'll also learn about working with tour operators, suppliers, handling emergencies, documentation, delivering informative narration, giving important tour briefings, type’s employers, getting hired and specific tour operations that hire tour director, tour guides, travel staff and cruise hosts. Both tour guide training and tour director training will help you prepare to work with people, become a great speaker, get organized, and be able to act immediately when emergencies arise. It is an important first step for most professional tour directors and guides.

Comments

ahahee said

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on 6/17/2009 article lacked substance! no specific suggestions on getting a job. not good for serious job seekers! great for airheads and skunk users!