A tour guide is a person who takes visitors on a tour of a location, using their extensive local knowledge to share the area with them. Tour guides are hired to assist people in navigating unfamiliar areas and to make trips memorable, as a good tour guide sets a positive tone for a trip and shows people things they might not have seen otherwise. Using a tour guide while traveling can also be beneficial because tour guides are extremely knowledgeable and can provide facts and information that assist visitors in interpreting and comprehending the sights they see.
Some tour guides work primarily in their local communities, focusing on providing services to tourists on demand. They may work in museums or other similar establishments, or they may work for or with companies that take tourists on day trips around a particular area. Visitors may be led on tours of local religious sites, castles, gardens, or other points of interest tour guides who tailor the tour to the visitors’ interests. Local tour guides can also open doors that would otherwise be closed, and their local knowledge can be useful for people who are unfamiliar with a region’s culture and traditions.
Other tour guides accompany their clients on their journeys, guiding them to, around, and from different locations. A group of people who want to go on a rainforest hike, for example, might hire a tour guide who travels with them, guides them through the forest while providing information and assistance, and then returns with them. This type of tour guide frequently collaborates with travel agents, with the agent taking care of the logistics of transportation, lodging, and so on, while the tour guide focuses on the clients.
Guided group tours range in price from free tours provided public service organizations in many cities around the world to much more expensive organized trips such as treks in Nepal. It is also possible to hire a private tour guide who will work with a client or group of clients to create a customized tour, which is more expensive but includes personalized and detailed attention, which some people appreciate while traveling.
A tour guide’s knowledge of multiple languages is advantageous because they may work with multilingual clients or must translate for clients while traveling in a country where a foreign language is spoken. In addition to language abilities, tour guides must have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work tirelessly for their clients from the start of the engagement until they are safely seen on their way.