How to become a tourist guide?

how to become a travel guide

When you love travel and adventure, it is not surprising to be tempted by the job of tourist guide. But sometimes we dream about it without really knowing what this activity consists of. If this is your case, you will discover in the following lines what the job of tourist guide implies, and the qualities necessary to excel in this field.

Presentation of a guide for tourists!

The profession of guide sightseeing consists of taking a group of travelers under one’s wing to ensure the smooth running of their visits. Thus, this implies having a perfect mastery of the places that must be visited. And beyond making visits, there is an administrative aspect which determines the success of the project.

This involves, among other things, preparing the routes in advance and working in close collaboration with various travel agencies. This job requires meticulous thinking to successfully organize. You will have several people counting on you to have a good time. This requires delicacy and good training will be of great help.

Tourist guide, what training?

Although it seems surprising, to become a tour guide you do not need any special training. We are not going to ask you for a certain diploma to carry out this activity. However, you should have at least a minimum Bachelor’s degree. This could be history, art, geography or even foreign languages.

Other courses such as Local Tourism Animation and Management at BTS level also offer openings to the profession of travel guide. At the end of these two years of training, you obtain a regional tourist guide card. And to increase your chances of finding a job, sign up for tourism training organized by certain institutes such as INFA and AFPA.

Succeed in tourism and the guiding profession

Working as a tourist guide requires you to be quite active and available, so you will rarely have any rest. It should be noted that school holidays are times when tourism is in high demand. And as a tourist guide, your skills will be in greater demand. Which means you’re going to have to sacrifice your family life a little.

On the other hand, you must express yourself in one or two foreign languages. Courtesy, sympathy, curiosity and ingenuity are qualities that will help you succeed. Keep in mind that some travelers will be a little difficult and in response, you will have to be very patient and understanding. So, no matter what situations you face, your challenge is to remain professional.

In France you can be recruited full-time by tourist offices, museums, travel companies and others. Some people who choose this profession think that they will always be traveling and exploring different places: but this is not the case. Indeed, you are not always going to be on the ground. Given the importance of the administrative part, you may spend weeks in an office preparing for a trip and ultimately not participate in it.

In other words, when you are a tourist guide, it will often happen that you mobilize your knowledge to develop a travel program. This will allow you to showcase your ingenuity and sometimes in tourism marketing.

Conclusion & Review!

The profession of travel guide can also be called tourist guide, tour guide or guide interpreter. In all these cases, the main tasks performed are the same. It requires that you have knowledge of the art of travel and that you master a foreign language. A remarkable level of general knowledge is also appropriate, because you will be confronted with individuals coming from various worlds, with various cultures.

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