Tour Guide as a Career: Choose a Road Less Travelled !

Does tuning into the adventures of real world excites you and you have that zeal to show others an awe-inspiring destination? If yes, then tour guide as a career is the best that will suit your personality. Through tour guide as a career, one can not only unravel the mysteries of different locales but enjoy the immense satisfaction associated with introducing others to an amazing world. So pack your curiosity and get ready for the game of big bright and unexplored life.

Tour Guides: The Eyes and Ears of a Tourist !

The biggest challenge for a tour guide is to present a tourist destination in such a way that his clients fall in love with the place and the scene in general. The aspirants must keep in mind that a tourist has feelings of dependency and complete trust on its guide. This is due to the fact that the guide is the sole provider of information about a given place. A guide must enjoy interacting with people and a good knowledge of the area is of utmost importance. However, a tour guide must not overburden the tourist with too much information as the tourists have come to enjoy themselves. Therefore the guides must have a good sense of humor and lighten the conversations as far as possible.

Tour Guides: The Must Haves

The biggest expectation of people from a tour guide is, someone who can explain in simple common language the striking features of the area and in an entertaining manner. Apart from this, a guide must break people's pre-conceive notions and tell them facts, they otherwise might not have known. Some of the other skills and knowledge required of a tour guide is as follows:

• Extensive knowledge of local history, buildings, artifacts, and amenities
• Secondary school diploma
• Good communication skills
• Knowledge of a second language will prove to be an asset
• Excellent time management skills
• Tour Guide certification (can prove to be highly beneficial)
• Safety training required
• Creative methods of communication
• A research bent of mind
• Excellent organizational skills
• Good conflict resolution
• Good customer service skills

Responsibilities of a Tour Guide

• Assemble and check required supplies and equipment before departing for tour
• Arrange for transportation for visitors
• Describe points of interest along the tour and answer questions promptly
• Guide visitors while operating a vehicle, traveling in a vehicle or on-site while providing commentary
• Keep a check on visitors' activities. This helps in ensuring and establishing tour regulations and safety practices
• Plan or conduct itineraries and activities

Professional Courses

Following are some of the courses, which are available for aspirants in this field:

• Masters in Tourism administration (MTA)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Tourism Management (PGDTM)
• M.A in Tourism ( Benaras Hindu University)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Tourism (PGDT)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Travel and tourism Industry Management (PDDTTM)
• Diploma in Destination Management
• Diploma in Airlines
• Diploma in Cargo Operations and Management

Colleges offering courses in Travel and Tourism

An aspirant in this field, must have the habit of extracting as much information from dozens of resources including public libraries, tourist associations, local museums, community archives and books published by local authors.

There are also numerous colleges that offer professional courses in tourism. Some of these are:

• Christ College, Bangalore, India
• Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) Institute of Hospitality Management, Delhi
• Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi
• Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM), Gwalior
• Indira Gandhi Institute of Aeronautics (IGIA), Jaipur
• Pondicherry University, Pondicherry
• Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel, Triuvanthipurum
• Garware Institute of Career, Education and Development, University of Mumbai
• Jiwaji University, Vidya Vihar, Gwalior
• Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management
• Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra
• Lucknow University, Institute of Tourism Studies, Lucknow
• Indira Gandhi National Open University, School of Social Sciences, New Delhi

Avenues Ahead: Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep

There are n-number of myths and taboos attached especially with this profession. But the truth is that no other career can be as exciting, informative and fulfilling as Tour Guide as a Career. There is immense opportunity in this field as India is a big tourist destination, with lack of qualified and experienced tour guides. The profession of a tour guide thrives on daily challenges of communicating with people, who want to learn more and more about the place they are visiting. So at the end of the day, a tour guide must have the satisfaction that his clients have found the worth of their holidays in a right person.

Source: Prachi Srivastava (Shiksha Team)