Tour Guides offer company and interesting information to individuals or groups of people in the travel industry, so guides must know all about the places that will be visited on a walking tour as your clients will ask questions to help them make the most of their visit. These will include knowledge of your local history and historic sites, museums, cultural centres and nature attractions.
Tour guides need to be fit and healthy, confident and energetic, and have good interpersonal communication skills. Knowledge of other languages and basic first aid, especially CPR, is advantageous. At all times, stay calm!
It is advisable to work out a pre-designed route for the walks and to be up-to-date on all the places to be visited. Your clients’ ages may be variable, as well as their countries of origin. Learning the names of your clients, memorising their faces and always checking on the number of people if it is a group walk are very important. Make sure that the group stays together and is safe until the end of the walking tour. You can always use name badges to make it easier. If there are any emergency procedures that they need to know, then make sure they understand these. Assisting tourists with special needs like senior citizens, people with disabilities, and people with small babies may apply to a particular walk.
To start a walking tour business you need to design a walking tour and test it in terms of how long it takes for a specific tour and that there are no walking obstacles. Prepare some marketing flyers and hand these out to local hotels and B&Bs, then launch and grow your business. Make sure if there are any legal obligations in your area that need to be addressed first.
Requirements
- Start-up Capital: Nil
- Space required: Nil
- Equipment: Nil
- Specific skills: A desire to educate people and knowledge of your chosen area
Free Online Courses & Information
- https://www.mooc-list.com/tags/tourism
- https://study.com/articles/List_of_Free_Tourism_Courses_and_Classes.html