The Power of Tourist Feedback

We all understand the power of feedback. It is especially important in hospitality industry. With the quick-development of online communities and review systems, tour guides are easier to collect or share tourist feedback.

For a long-term career development, receiving feedback is better than no feedback. Negative feedback, or complaints in another word, can help a tour guide find areas of improvement. Do not be afraid of complaints. Even the top guides can not guarantee 100% satisfaction. It matters how you handle the case. Be quick to reply and address the issue. Most clients would understand from an honest and sincere explanation.

Positive feedback is great. It becomes a strong sales tool for tour guides to convert prospects into clients. Why not share it on your own website, web page, blog or social network?

How do you gather client feedback then? Do not just wait for the feedback. Everyone is busy, and you can not take it for granted that your clients could offer a feedback after the tour. You may ask for a review/feedback at the end of the tour. Or kindly remind your clients for a review/feedback in email. However, do not bother your clients if you haven’t heard back after two reminders. Otherwise it is more considered as a spam.

If you build up client feedback on third-party platform, like ourexplorer tour guide profile page, offer a simply way for your client to reflect. For example, an email reply address or a link of review page.

How do you deal with tourist feedback, positive and negative? Welcome to share.

Tour Guides: Mind Road Safety

Transportation makes part of the sightseeing tours. Depending on the group size, it can be a private car, bus, or taxi. While the driver is responsible for safe driving, tour guides need to remind travelers of road safety.

Remind passengers of the seat belt. People from some countries are cautious of road safety, while others might neglect. After boarding the vehicle, a tour guide needs to inform clients where the seat belts are. Ask them to put on the belt for safety reasons, especially when there are kids on the vehicle. Take extra attention to see if the kids are safely fastened.

Mind your own security on the vehicle. If you are standing while it is driving, hold on to something in case of emergency. There is a place for the guide in front of a bus. If you are sitting, put the seat belt on. For one thing, the guide is often taking the front seat which has higher risks at accidents. On the other hand, a guide may need to turn back and talk to clients along the way.

When doing walking tours, tour guides also need to mind the traffic when crossing the street. Travelers are new to the destination, some even from foreign countries. The traffic rule and customs can be very different. As a tour guide, it is necessary to remind your clients of road safety. Watch out for the traffic when necessary.

Would you like to share your experience with us on road safety? We are listening.

Dressing Code for Tour Guides

How do you dress as a tour guide at work? It depends on what type of guiding you carry on. For example, mountain guides need different clothes from city guides. Adventure guides wear differently from museum guides. Walking guides may require more comfortable shoes than tour bus guides. Yet there are some general rules in dressing for tour guides.

Dress comfortably for your guiding work. Tour guiding is a physical work requiring a lot of walking, standing, and climbing etc. Sometimes when clients are at rest, tour guide is still busy preparing the next stop. Thus, comfortable clothes and shoes are important for a guide to complete the work.

Wear clear and neat, casual but not too loose. Guiding is a way of presentation. Clear and neat dressing provides a good first impression to your clients. As most tour guides meet clients on vacation and trips, casual dressing is recommended. It is awkward if you wear formal suits while the travelers are on T-shirts. On the other hand, because the guide is at work, it is not professional to wear too loosely like slippers.

Do not wear shinning but do stand out if necessary. If you are taking a ghost tour, or guiding for Halloween, abnormal costumes may add to the fun nature of tour. In the case of busy tourist spots, you may choose clothes with outstanding colours. It will be easier for clients to identify you during the sightseeing tours. Otherwise, casual smart dressing is recommended.

Do you have a brand or logo? Wear it on your clothes, hats, umbrella, bags… This contributes to your branding. Not only remind your clients of who you are, but also shows other people along the tour.

How do you dress when working as a tour guide? Let us know if you pay attention to any particular things.

How to present your sightseeing tour itinerary upon meeting?

Tour guides often communicate with travelers via email, telephone, fax, etc. to confirm sightseeing tour details. When you actually meet travelers on the day, it is good to present the printed itinerary. Clients will be clearer of what they are going to do with you. Some travelers might print out the sightseeing tour details already, while many more do not. A simply one-page itinerary will show your care on clients. Moreover, it can be a tool for promotion.

Why one-page? This is like a resume. Most people do not have the patience to read if it is overloaded with content. Just put the essential information, not everything. As a tour guide, you probably will talk through the information during the sightseeing tour. A neat and clear one-page itinerary is ideal.

What to include on that one-page?

The itinerary is the basic. When and where to meet, what to see, what to do… Depending on the tour nature, notes can be added on dressing or things to bring.

Add a receipt of payment details, or the tour quote agreed by you and the clients. This is to remind them of the total amount of payment. If you are guiding foreign clients who use a different currency from yours, it is helpful to include the amount in their currency. It saves the trouble of clients to convert by themselves.

Include tour guide contact details. This is to promote yourself and your guiding services. Easy for your clients to keep in touch with you or refer your service to other people. Better if you give your business card together with the itinerary. Branding is important, even though you just brand for yourself as a tour guide.

What do you include in the tour itinerary when meeting clients? Welcome to share your tips that will contribute to a successful sightseeing tour.

How to handle client booking long before the tour date?

Some travelers make last-minute tour bookings, while others plan their trip way in advance. Many airlines offer great discount for flight booking in advance. Cruise plans are settled for sometimes a year ahead of departure date. Hotels market special promotions for low season. Once the dates are settled, many travelers tend to book their destination tour guide and sightseeing tours together at the same time.

Q. How shall a tour guide manage client bookings much earlier than the actual tour dates e.g. half a year in advance?

Communicate with the clients about tour arrangements immediately. No matter if the tour happens in the same week or six months later the itinerary shall not change largely. Do communicate with your clients about tour details when you confirm your availability.

As a private tour guide that offers personal sightseeing tour, it is good to keep the options open. Your clients may find new places of interest or have some new requests before arrival. Be consistent and accommodating if the client requests are reasonable.

Notify the clients when any tour changes need to happen. It is unprofessional to cancel the tour because of another big group booking. However, there may be changes required due to personal reasons, weather conditions etc. In such cases explain to your clients in full and they will understand. Also provide alternative choices if possible. Try to minimize changes to your client’s travel plan.

Mark down the tour date on your calendar in OurExplorer or personal notebook. It is recommended to set a reminder one week before the tour date. Contact your client to welcome them for the coming visit. Meanwhile, confirm that all tour arrangements are going on as planned. Re-check if all tour arrangements have been confirmed, e.g. car/van rent, tickets booking, etc.

After above professional communications, travelers will enjoy a great vacation while you will have a successful sightseeing tour as a tour guide.
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Win client bookings - Critical Information

When you create your tour guide profile on OurExplorer.com, you have input a lot of information e.g self introduction, tour guide license, tour guide services, sightseeing tours... This is all necessary information to let clients know you and trust you. The more information, the more trust you will build up with potential travel clients but do you know which elements are critical to win a final client booking?

From OurExplorer client feedback, they usually choose the tour guides with a personal photo, highest "tours booked" number and some positive ratings/reviews given. As we know, most important elements shall be put at the top position of the page. You can see that tour guide photo and tours booked are displayed above the fold of the webpages. Moreover, a most recent client review has been presented directly following the tour guide self introduction. Thus, visitors don’t need to scroll down to the bottom of the page reading important client testimonials. In most cases, web surfers do not finish all the page contents to the very end of the page. That’s why we design the tour guide profile layout as you see now.

What can a tour guide do with these fields to win more client bookings?

A happy smiling photo is best to give a good first impression to your clients. You can display a welcoming smile photo like tour guide Diana in Athens, or a cheerful photo of you with happy clients like Nairobi tour guide Paul. It is also fun to display you in your working environment. See Kasane tour guide Clive playing with the elephant.

"Tours booked" numbers and client reviews are closely related to each other. The more bookings a tour guide receives, the more client reviews after the sightseeing tour is completed. When a tour date and terms are agreed, ask the clients to confirm by booking at your profile webpage. When the tour is finished, ask your client to rate your service on OurExplorer.

The clients also have more confidence in booking a tour guide with a license and video presentation. A scan of your tour guide license/certificate builds more trust. What can be better than a brief video of you taliking passionately about your job? It adds great value because clients like to see and hear the tour guide. With a live video, tour guides can present their character and language skills. See Istanbul tour guide Nesrin and Bangkok tour guide Choojai .

If you are a tour guide, do you agree with the critical elements mentioned above? Any tips to better present yourself for more client bookings?

Benefit of saying "thank you" at the end of sightseeing tours

It is nice to be nice and it costs nothing

Do not hold back your gratitude at end of the sightseeing tours. As a tour guide, you are probably a very hard working person. Surely you deserve the warmest thanks from everyone on your tour. You definitely will receive it if you have done an excellent job. Yet remember, a great successful tour can’t be completed by you alone.

If it is a private sightseeing tour just between you and your clients, thank them for their support and cooperation. For them being on time, listening to you attentively, following the rules in specific sights. Your clients also appreciate your gratitude and will think highly of you for offering it to them.

If it is a big tourist group, you need to publicly thank more people. Thank the driver for his safe driving and punctuate delivery. Thank the tour leader and organizing company, so that you have the opportunity to meet each other. Thank the national guide for his help and support during the tour. Any other parties that are relevant and deserve your appreciation? Please do.

What’s more, if you had a great time with your clients and co-workers, why not sing a farewell song to express your feeling?
A sightseeing tour closing speech with thanks can be quite sentimental.
Do you have anything special to show at end of the tour? Share with us.

Directing your clients during sightseeing tours

When you are still seated in the car/coach before entering a site during sightseeing tours, what should a tour guide inform her clients about? You need to leave enough time to inform them of the basic information and rules of the site you are going to enter. Let’s take a real example and see what your clients need to know.

Sightseeing Tour: Yaolin Wonderland, limestone caves in Hangzhou, China.

Time of Visit: July.
Tour Guide Commentary:
Hello everyone, we will arrive at Yaolin Wonderland in 15 minutes. (Inform them of where you will visit and the time of arrival)
The visit will take around 1.5 hours. (Inform the length of visit.)
It is composed of several limestone caves with an average temperature of 18℃. As it’s 30℃ outside, you may need a coat with you. Take some water with you. You can leave your luggage and umbrella on the car/coach. (Inform what to bring and what’s not necessary - limits grumy and complaining clients after the tour.)

But do not leave your valuables. Bring with you your passport, wallet, mobile, camera, and other valuable things. (Always remind about safety concerns)

Yaolin Wonderland has its own sightseeing tours guides. They are knowledgeable with the history and formation of the caves. We will have a site guide for our group. So please stay together and follow that guide. I will also accompany you during the visit.
(Explain if the tour is self-guided, guided by you, or guided by a specific site guide. Make clear to the clients who to follow in the coming visit.)


When you are in the caves, it’s a one-way path. You can not go backwards. Just move forward and you will find the exit. Our car/coach will wait in the parking space at exit. You will have free time after we finished the main caves. It is 13:00 now, and we will leave at 15:00. Please do not miss the time. Reach our car/coach in the parking space before 15:00. (Make clear of the departure time and pick up location. Make a special note if drop-off and pick-up are in different places. Do repeat the departure time and location, especially when you are guiding a big group of travelers.)

Have you any sightseeing tours stories you would liek to share with us?

Sightseeing Tours with Foreign Languages

Language is the key communication between a tour guide and sightseeing tourists. When guiding foreign clients for sightseeing tours, fluent spoken language is very important to ensure a satisfactory experience. Even better, if you can use proper guiding languages.

Avoid using ambiguous pointing words like “here”, “there”, “in front”. A tour guide should point out more clearly to your clients. Perhaps try this method instead - “Look at XXX on your left side.” “You can see XXX next to the clock tower.” If you are facing your clients, be aware that your left side is their right.

Use descriptive languages when talking about something. For instance, don’t simply say “look at the building on your left.” You can present in a higher quality by saying “Look at the tall red brick building with the USA flag, on your left.” The clients will be clearer as to what you are going to talk about.

We all know that language is often associated with culture background and regional characters. Your commentary in guiding will receive a better result if you refer to what would be familiar to your clients. When introducing the Lujiazui Financial Centre in Shanghai, a guide may refer to “Manhattan” in New York with American travelers. Easier for them to know the function and importance of Lujiazui in the city if they have something to relate it too.

Some tour guides can speak several foreign languages in their sightseeing tours, especially with European guides. Usually a tour guide shows around in only one language at a time with one group but there may be exceptional sightseeing tours that require introducing in two languages. If this is the case, balance the time you talk in the two languages. Alternate the starting language each time you speak so that the clients feel equally valued. Have a short break when you change to another language.

Fluent in a language is one thing, while mastering the language of guiding needs more effort. Good tour guides can speak the language of clients, and make their sightseeing tours a great experience in a local way.

Perfect timing in sightseeing tours - It's in the delivery

Being a tour guide, the content of your sightseeing tour introduction is a kind of art. Is it accurate, vivid, humourous, easy to understand? That’s all important for the travelers with your group. There’s also one more critical thing – the time you deliver the words of wisdom to your clients. Timing can be positive as well as negative to what you say. Manage the art of timing marks your success on your sightseeing tours.

The basic rule is to comment when all clients can see you so you engage them in the conversation. Of course, a brief mention is necessary at the itinerary introduction. You may also do a pre-intro to arouse the interest of traveler. OurExplorer suggest you save the best for on-the-spot commentary during the actual sightseeing tours. When people see in their own eyes, they will have a more vivid memory of what you said.

There are often sceneries or interesting things on the road if you are travelling with the client group. In this case, be prepared for it in advance and proactively point out the event before passing. Travelers may easily miss the scene as they are new in the location. By introducing it in advance, a tour guide has actually shown his knowledge of the place and familiarity with the route. However, don’t point out if you have already passed the site. Never say “we just passed … and it is …”, as you won’t turn around and the client will feel they missed something nice in your sightseeing tours.

Another timing management tip is the time on the coach, car, or any other vehicle. Know how long is takes from one stop to the next and prepare your length of talking in accordance. Avoid talking of the last item when you arrived at the next new destination. Also avoid long silence on the way but do give the clients a break from all your information and knowledge.

Do you manage your timing well as a tour guide? Please share your top tips...

What not to do when giving bus/coach sightseeing tours

Best Sightseeing Tours by Coach/Bus

When you are guiding coach sightseeing tours, there are things a tour guide should avoid to ensure your professionalism. Here are the tips.

Do not act like a pop singer or presenter. You are a tour guide it is great to be humorous and knowledgeable but bad to be over-entertaining as that is not your main function to these clients. As many people say, “Tour guide is the unofficial ambassador of a city”.

Do not have things in your mouth e.g. any gum or candy. Small things make the difference to giving the best sightseeing tours. Even though you might be close to your clients after some time together, it’s not polite nor professional to talk while chewing.

Do not talk without testing the microphone. It’s not a must, but highly recommended as noise interference will give all a headache and noone the great wisdom you are trying to share. Check if the microphone works ok. Ask if people at the back can hear you clearly. Do not talk under the amplifier for it will cause feedback.

Do not talk to the driver with the microphone on. Likely wise, whenever you are not addressing to the group, turn it off. It happens that the microphone is left on carelessly.

Any tips of DO-NOTs you want to share from your coach/bus sightseeing tours experience?

Crisis on a sightseeing tour - Ensure happy endings

One charm of traveling is that the journey is full of mystery. Unfortunately, these include small accidents too on the rare occasion. An experienced tour guide is usually quick to respond and tries to turn such accidents into a happy ending. Let’s share some stories from OurExplorer sightseeing tours over the last 3 months.

Anne was visiting Shanghai on a business tour. First time in China, so she wanted to see more during the half-day sightseeing tours. She loves taking photos but unfortunately the camera battery was broken. There is no electronic shop nearby. Luckily the tour guide had a digital camera with her and with a simple solution of changing the memory cards the sightseeing tour was able to continue as normal.

Mary booked a cooking class while visiting Bangkok, but forgot to bring the school address on the day. Instead of heading back to hotel for the piece of paper and wasting precious time, the Bangkok tour guide with her called a friend to confirm the address on internet. Thus Mary made it to the cooking class on time without missing anything.

Kevin booked a Luxor tour guide for a sightseeing tour. He has communicated with the guide before hand and planned a great two-day itinerary. However, due to the accidental delay of arrival, Kevin had only one day in Luxor. The tour guide had a quick change of plan. A longer day tour, but Kevin saw what he most wanted to in Luxor. Happy that the delay did not result in much disappointment of his visit.

These are not big issues, but as a tour guide, you can help your clients with a better memory if you deal with crisis easily on the go.

Tips to get client to book your sightseeing tours

What is the moment you were most excited to hear from OurExplorer? For most tour guides, it’s the email in your inbox “Excellent news, you have a confirmed booking on OurExplorer”.

The client found you on the internet, was happy about your profile details + offer and decided to book your service for sightseeing tours. To reach this exciting moment, here are some tips and next steps after receiving a client booking enquiry.

Be prompt to reply. This is very important. Imagine yourself as a client who is looking for sightseeing tours. It’s great to get a reply in 24 hours, even in 48 hours at the most, but quite disappointing when there is no reply after three days. Quick reply builds up good first impression. You also have higher possibility to get a booking as the client may check with several providers/competitors. So check your email regularly if you can. Do look at spam/junk folder in case of blocked Emails. If you change to a new email address, update relevant partners you are working with.

Be honest. Be honest and sincere in your replies. This is a flat world that people can get information from various channels. Don’t presume travelers know little even though they come from the other end of the world. Moreover, it’s good to get long-term benefits with a client rating after the sightseeing tours.

To the point. Every traveler is unique. They look for different things. So when replying to the client’s query, stick to the specific queries asked by the client. Do not include all your knowledge in one email reply. You may frighten them away with too much information. Many clients prefer the right answer, rather than an all-inclusive standard reply.

Offer more than they expect. Most people like extra free things. It is like the cream on the cake. Offer your clients some free service within your ability, e.g. a free drink, a local souvenir, free entry to a popular destination, a discount to a local activity/performance etc. These are the little nice things as an extra.

Do follow up and confirm the details. If you didn’t receive any message after your first reply, then send on a kind follow-up after 2 days. See if the previous reply was well-received, if the client had any further queries, or any decision on the tour. When the client showed clear interest in your service, ask them to make a booking for the day directly on OurExplorer.

What’s next? The booking email you have been waiting for - “Excellent news, you have a confirmed booking on OurExplorer”
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