How to become a professional tour guide?

Summer is coming and we are entering peak holiday season in Europe, Americas and Asia. There are big demands of professional tour guides. Big events like the Fifa World Cup in South Africa and Expo in Shanghai have brought more tour guide job opportunities and relevant jobs in tourism and travel.

If you are interested in a tourism career, becoming a local tour guide can be a good start. Ask youself – do you have the passion to show your city and is your personality fit? Although tour guide job requires various skills, it is a job to have face-to-face communication with travelers. When you don't have the passion to show your city, people, customs and life in this city, you would easily get bored going the same routes again and again. If you prefer dealing with computer/numbers to real people, a tour guide job will not fit you. Being passionate and fit for the job, you can go on the next step to get qualified as a tour guide.

How to become a licensed tour guide? The requirements vary with different cities and countries. The best way is to check with your local tour guide association or tourism department. It usually requires passing the exams (written and/or oral), or certain training programs. WFTGA.org (World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations) has members of official tourist guide associations in many countries around the world.

In many countries, the qualified tour guide will acquire a license/certificate to go on daily guiding jobs. Practical experience is important to develop your career as a tour guide. You learn how to deal with different clients and needs, get mature on addressing to various questions, grow experienced to handle emergent situations… Day-to-day guiding work will distinguish excellent tour guides from poor-performing ones. Tour guide job requires as well continuous learning. The information is changing and the city is growing. A professional guide needs to be equipped with the latest information, so that you can show your travelers in an up-to-date way.

Think over your career prospect as a tour guide. Career prospect applies not only to tour guide, but to any one who is seeking personal development in his/her job. For a tour guide, what can be your career prospect? You can focus as a tour guide, and become expert in the field. For example, in China there are different guide qualification levels of junior, middle-level, senior and superior tour guides. Kenya safari guides are noted with bronze, silver and gold levels. Another development is mastering other languages to be a multi-lingual tour guide. If you want more adventures in this career, you can turn to a tour leader for overseas trips. With your first-hand experience as a tour guide, you can design unique sightseeing tours with your specialty. In this way, you are shifting to a tour manager or marketing person for your own tours.

There are many tour guiding jobs in tourism and travel. Start learning to be a licensed tour guide first, and practice to be a top excellent tour guide in your career.