International Tourist Guide Day - February 21st

Today is the International Tourist Guide Day! You can send in pictures and a short description of what you did to mark this occasion. OurExplorer would love to publicize them and show the world what wonderful things tourist guides are doing!

South Africa Tourism Authority is offering an event under the theme “Culture as a unifying guide”. “Media is invited to experience Pretoria as a tourist destination under the guidance of a deaf tourist guide on 21 February 2011”. View Event Details

Zagreb Tourist Guide Association offers “free city tours in Croatian on Saturday 19 February. Tours start at 11 am and 12 in front of the Tourist Information Center”. View Tour Details

The Advisory Committee of the Tourist Guides in KSA have organized various activities including “training courses, workshops, information on tourism, and free tourism trips to a number of tourism and historical sites”. View More Info

What is International Tourist Guide Day?
According to World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA.org) – “February 21st. an initiative of WFTGA, the International Tourist Guide Day is held on 21st February each year. In 1990, Mrs. Titina Loizides, president of the WFTGA was involved when it was held for the first time, 15 countries participated. Since then, tourist guides in an ever growing number of countries have been giving help to their local communities, conducting tours for disabled persons, disadvantaged persons, for children, industry partners, officials and the general public. Events are also held for local tourist guides including presentations and retraining courses. It is a public relations event par excellence, drawing the attention of local authorities, fellow citizens and the media to the quality and value of the work of professional tourist guides. Each member country contributes to the success of the day in its own way; coach companies have contributed complimentary coaches, attractions and museums have opened their doors without charge. Each year, awareness grows and there is an increasing contribution by both regional and national governments to the International Tourist Guide Day. The Day is coordinated by the World Federation.”

Set up your New Year targets

It is approaching a New Year 2011. This is a season for greetings as well as setting up near year targets. For development in your tour guide career, you can set up your new targets by looking back into the past days in 2010.

How busy were you and are you happy about the workload? Have you had a busy year with lots of client bookings? If yes, congratulations. If not, you need to look for more channels to develop your business. Internet is a good platform to approach clients, as most travelers seek information online nowadays.

Reflect on client feedback. Do you have happy clients or clients with complaints? It is great if you receive all positive feedback from your past clients. Your focus is then to maintain your service level. Complaints can also be helpful as they tell your weakness. You can improve accordingly in the new year.

Learn something new. Tour guiding is the work that requires continuous learning. Try to learn something new to help with your career. It can be a new language, a new skill, a new area to study, a new route in your destination of guiding …… Choose anything that interests you and can assist guiding in some way.

Do write down your targets and timeline for completion. You may refer to it from time to time, so that the targets can be achieved at end of the year.

Happy holidays and wish you a prosperous year 2011!

The 14th WFTGA Convention 2011

The 14th WFTGA Convention (World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations) will take place in Tallinn during January 29 - February 4, 2011.

According to Laura Taul, president of Tallinn Guide Association, “For the 2011 Convention we have suggested a comprehensive programme both for the participants in the Convention and for those accompanying them under the Theme Culture as a Unifying Guide. In 2011 Tallinn will be the European Capital of Culture, and naturally this became the underlying idea for our whole programme.

Our intention in drafting the programme has been to meet the expectations of members who want to learn and experience something new to enhance their professional skills, and also to provide a good experiential background to the training and discussions during the workshops organised together with the WFTGA."

The convention programme covers
Monday – Medieval Culture
Tuesday – National and Traditional Culture
Wednesday – Contemporary Culture
Thursday – Alternative Culture
Friday – The Role of the Culture Guide in Today’s Changing World

Viator (OurExplorer.com) has taken a sponsorship package at the upcoming Convention of the World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations. We will have an exhibition stand during this event and hope to meet those of you attending in person and to share more with you about our ongoing efforts to promote and support tourist guides. We'd love to hear from you at the 14th WFTGA Convention.

How to arrange meals in sightseeing tours?

For many travelers, trying local foods and cruise is part of the fun during sightseeing tours. How should a tour guide choose dining places when there are several options? What to recommend and what to avoid for travelers? Safe and clean is the basic rule when tour guides pick restaurants. Below are some other tips to help arrange great dining experience.

Choose venues close to the scenic spots. Some restaurants can be great. However, if they are not along the route, it would be a bad choice. Travelers are limited with time, different from local residence.

Recommend restaurants with specialty. It can be a restaurant famous for local signature dishes. Restaurants with nice views are also a good choice. Travelers can enjoy the view as well as the foods. Try avoiding repetition during multi-day sightseeing tours. Choose different restaurants or styles unless your clients want to visit the same restaurant again. This is for travelers to try a variety of things during the short stay.

Help travelers with ordering. When visiting a restaurant of local style, a tour guide needs to explain briefly on the menu. It can be hard for tourists to choose as the foods or cooking might be unfamiliar. The guide can introduce the popular dishes, the materials used, or how the foods are cooked. Choose dishes with local flavor or uniqueness. Mind also the seasonal foods. If your clients are visiting among the season for some special dishes, why not introduce to see if they are interested? For example, October/November is the season for hairy crab dishes in Shanghai every year. Take an extra notice to the eating habits of foreign visitors. Are there any table manners that travelers need to pay attention, or can they handle the dining tools like chopsticks or fork?

Some travelers are adventurous with foods while others are very conservative. Ask about client’s preference of flavor and budget before choosing the restaurant. Give more recommendation if they are interested in local foods. If your clients prefer their home-style meals, a tour guide only needs to refer relevant restaurants.

What are your tips of meal selection in sightseeing tours? Share with us.

How to handle extra requests from clients?

When tour guides actually meet travel clients, they may be asked of extra service during the sightseeing tours. How do you handle those last-minute requirements professionally? You do not have to run desperately to meet every request from your client. If it is a reasonable and practical requirement, try providing the service for a better travel experience. If it is impossible to carry out, explain to the travelers and they would understand.

What can be asked extra on a tour guide?

Extra guiding day. The clients are so happy about your guiding service that they would like to spend more time with you. Check your availability. If you are available, why not extend your service? Discuss for the extra tour arrangements and itinerary with your clients. Thus, both of you are clear of what to do in the coming tour.

Extra places of interest. Sometimes travelers read about new places of interest outside the itinerary. They may ask to visit these extra places. As a tour guide who is more familiar with the area, you shall check possibility first. Do you have enough time to cover the extra place? It shall not affect the agreed itinerary. Do you have resources to visit the extra place? For example, if extra transportation arrangement is necessary. Is the place worth visiting? Talk with your clients to see what they expect on the new spot. You do not want to make extra efforts, only to find them disappointed.

Extra activity or entertainments. It can be an extended night tour, local performances, or a local signature meal... Again, tour guides need to weigh if the new requirements are practical. If possible to arrange, it is good to help your clients for greater fun. Communicate clearly on any extra costs. If it is unreasonable request, tour guide shall be confident to say “No”.

Any other requests did you receive from your clients? Have you handled the extra requests successfully? Welcome to share with us.

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.

What are expected from your travel clients?

Client feedback is great for a tour guide to improve services. No matter it is a testimonial to confirm what you have done well, or a critic to mention the unsatisfactory parts through sightseeing tours. We are always happy to hear from our “Explorers”. Below is a feedback from Ms. G. Once a tour guide understands the expectation of clients, he/she can create a memorable trip for travelers.

Feedback from Ms. G.
I wanted to take the opportunity to provide OurExplorer with some general feedback which could be considered as part of your standard operations/ processes.

1. Initial Meeting with Clients: It would be very helpful if the OurExplorer guide presented participants with a city map and city guide/ What's on in XXXX
It would also be very useful to provide a brief outline of things to note when visiting e.g. personal safety; shopping/banking information
[Note for tour guides: Why not provide a welcome pack including itinerary, city map and relevant info to your client’s visit upon meeting?]

2.Payment to Guide: OurExplorer should develop a sample form which requires the guide to sign that he/she has received the amount of XXXXX which is full payment for services as agreed. NB. We used a guide for 4 days and that meant a large amount of cash was handed over and we therefore had to ask him to sign that he had received the required amount in full payment.
[Note for tour guides: A receipt of payment to your client will be appreciated.]

3.Travel arrangements:
• OurExplorer should advise potential clients to discuss the pros and cons of transport arrangements with the guide so that there are clear expectations about how certain venues can be reached and what the approximate costs might be. For example, some clients may not realise that a visit to certain sights might involve considerable walking distances and therefore this needs to be made clear from the outset.
• OurExplorer guides need to be clear about what clients needs might be when day trips are involved e.g whether clients want to have quick snacks and drinks while "on the road" on a longer period for drinks and or meals.
[Note for tour guides: Pay attention to details. Private guiding services include all arrangements along the road.]

I hope the above suggestions are useful. We used other agencies during our 8 weeks in eastern Europe and found some practices worked well - if combined these would result in far better services all round.

Please feel free to contact me if you are unclear about the points raised. These are not intended as criticisms but merely suggestions for improving on what is done.
[Thank You, Ms. G.]

Build up your own client base

When you work as a private tour guide for travelers, you have the opportunity to know more about your clients. In many cases, a happy client and the tour guide can turn out friends after a trip. Therefore, build up a client base is important for guides to continue the friendship.



Why is it important to have a client base? You can not keep everything about your clients in mind. Popular tour guides especially need written records as they may meet different travelers on daily basis. You do not want the mess, trying to find out one client contact through thousands of mails. Records of client preference will help to grow your future business.



How can you build up your own base? It can be as easy as a collect of emails. You may save them by date or by country origin. A better way will be setting up a spreadsheet to centralize information. So you can easily sort out client info from various fields. If you have a mature business and want to have a more efficient client base, you can check out customer service software. There are many choices on the market. You just need to compare and pick up the one that fits your needs.



What to record in your client base? Basic contacts including name and email are critical for you to keep in touch. Personal backgrounds of your travel clients are useful to design a customized tour for their return trip. Some travelers do pay a return trip to the destination they like. If the tour guide has noted their preference, e.g. culture, adventure, foods, entertainments…, your client will acknowledge your personal service and become a loyal customer. Places visited during the sightseeing tour. It is similar with each tour, but not exactly the same. On one hand, you can avoid repetition of route for a return client. On the other, noting down the route helps the guide to remember tour details with different clients. It is also helpful to track client’s country of origin or source of the client booking. Country of origin helps to settle a targeted market, while the guide can decide promotional channels with data on booking sources.



Have you already had an existing database of clients? What other fields do you think are important for a better service? We would like to hear from you.

Client segmentation - Family Travelers with Kids

Have you ever guided family travelers with kids? The kids deserve special attention as they have different interest from adults.



If the family is traveling with infant, tour guides shall pay attention to physical matters. Find easy paths for baby carriage. During the trip, take more breaks if the family needs to take care of the baby. On the vehicle for transportation, make sure the baby is safely seated.



For kids who can take the trip as adults, a tour guide needs to mind his/her interest. Some children enjoy culture and history, but many will get bored after a while. Try to make the sightseeing tour more interesting with a mixture of facts and anecdotes. Explain things easier for the kids to understand. If there are special toys or games local children play, why not play with the kids?



Remind the kids of what they can do and what not. For example, in the museums, are they allowed to touch exhibits? In most cases, no. Boys can be naughty and make noises some times. Extra attention may be required if visiting religious places like temples or churches.



Consider the child price when designing a sightseeing tour. Many scenic spots offer discounts or free entry for kids. Similarly, if meals are calculated in the package, kids may enjoy a separate price.



Do you have any particular tips dealing with kids? Share with more tour guides around the world.

Client segmentation for OurExplorer tour guide – senior travelers

We have mentioned senior travelers when talking about cruise passenger. Many senior travelers prefer a relaxed sightseeing tour. For a tour guide, you’d better not rush or push during the tour.

What other areas need tour guides pay attention to when showing senior travelers around?

Be prepared with the variety of topics. As senior travelers gain more life experience, they may be interested in many aspects of local life. How to cook local foods, how people live, how long do people work normally …

Listen to senior travelers and discuss the aspects they are mostly interested. Senior travelers would love to share their own experiences and knowledge. So listen to them. This is also the fun part being a tour guide. You meet various people, hear their stories and learn from their life wisdom. If you find any particular topic they are interested in, why not expand the discussion along the way? You will ensure senior travelers a great personal sightseeing tour.

Pay attention to your client’s physical strength. While senior travelers can be very active and energetic, as a tour guide, you shall pay attention to their physical strength. Consider more small breaks during the sightseeing tour. Mind if they have problems with stairs or climbing, and if elevators suit better. If your clients have mentioned illness or inaccessible activities in advance, do put it into consideration when designing the tour itinerary.

Pre-booking issues. More and more senior travelers now plan their tours online. They are getting used to online bookings. However, you shall not presume every one is internet savvy, senior and young. If your service requires pre-booking online, provide clear instructions on how to complete the booking. It also benefits a tour guide to reduce client cancellation because of technique issue.

Do you have any experiences or tips to share on guiding senior travelers?

Client segmentation for tour guides – business travelers

As a tour guide, especially foreign-language tour guides, you are meeting travelers with various needs. Business travelers belong to a specific group. Their main purpose of the trip is on business e.g. a company visit, business cooperation, market investigation etc … Sightseeing can make up part of the trip but is secondary in importance.

So how can you design an ideal sightseeing tour for business travelers?

Be accommodating to their business needs. Business travelers usually have a short time in one destination. The free time for sightseeing is often their holiday time. Are they expecting an evening tour? Do they want some local exploration between business meetings? It is helpful to know their available time and pick-up/ending locations. Thus a tour guide can provide the itinerary most accommodating to the work plan.

Be flexible with the schedule. Business trips are not as flexible as a vacation visit. For a vacationer all the time belongs to them personally. For business travelers there may be a temporary meeting, an extra plant visit or a dinner with partners... The clients would appreciate you as the tour guide being flexible with the schedules. Of course the guide cannot always stand by. Flexibility works only when both parties are available. It reduces full cancellation in some cases.

Maximize the experience to personal interest. As the tour time is limited, you can not show business travelers everything in the destination. Sometimes, you may not even cover the most famous spots. Ask your clients about their personal interest. Let them choose the places they would like to visit, and help you make a customized sightseeing tour itinerary. This will maximize the trip experience. Some people are frequent travelers to one destination. They could have known part of the city very well, e.g. area nearby the local office. It is necessary to ask in advance, avoiding duplicate visit.

Get prepared with some industry-related queries. Business travelers may be interested to get some industry information from different people. This time, from you as a local guide. You are not expected to be an expert in the industry. However, if you know your clients’ area before meeting, it is recommended to read some relevant news or search for some industry background. This will contribute to your communication with clients during the trip.

What is your tour guiding experience with business travelers?

Tour Guide Survey with Jose in Acapulco

1. What is the best thing you like being a tour guide?

The best thing be a tour guide is to have the opportunity to meet people from other countries and tell them about the history and customs of our people.

2. What is your most memorable moment in guiding so far?

The most memorable moment well there are many ones, I had great experiences when we had big groups of tourist coming and we didn’t stop doing tours all day long for six months.

3. What is most challenging for you in this career? Have you coped with it?

It’s a challenge to take the same tourist to different tours and still they enjoy them.

4. What is your favorite place/thing that you want to show your travel clients?

My favorite place is the cliff divers show, the tehuacalco archeological ruins and the museum of san diego fort.

5. What if you were not a tour guide? What do you imagine yourself to be?

I don’t know my first job was a taxi driver at the age of 18 years old and I loved the experience.

See more on tour guide Jose in Acapulco

OurExplorer started a Tour Guide Photo Contest!

Have you got some memorable travel experiences with your local tour guides?
Did you take fun pictures of your guide during your overseas trip?

OurExplorer present you a great opportunity now to win 5 free private tour guides for your next overseas trips - you can activate them anytime.

Join Tour Guide Photo Contest 2010 – OurExplorer Now!
Submit a photo of you with your tour guide or just the tour guide on his/her own. Put in a phrase what best describes your tour guide in the photo.
Example = “my best tour guide”, “my funniest tour guide”, “my most clever tour guide”...

The deadline is 31st August 2010. Waiting for your great photos!

With a private tour guide, you can have an authentic yet customized adventure overseas. OurExplorer has now over 2,100 local tour guides in 140 countries.

Tips for Cruise Passenger pick up by tour guide

Cruise passengers are a big group of clients for tour guides in coastal cities around the world. Some tour guides targeting luxury travelers focus on cruise ships only. Cruise pick-up is similar to meeting at the airport but has its own situation. It is different from meeting clients at the hotel lobby or other venues. Here are some tips for cruise ship pick up.

Check the cruise port, especially when there are two ports at your destination city. Sometimes there will be a cruise port in city centre, while another far out by the sea for bigger ships. Check with the cruise port as well as your cruise passengers. Avoid missing your clients and wasting your effort.

Re-check the cruise stop and weather on the day. It is recommended to re-check the cruise stop on the day or one day in advance. It happens that the cruise ship changed the port of their original plan. Or they cancel the stop because of cruise itinerary changes. Sometimes, extreme weather like big fog prevents the ship from docking on time. One solution is giving your full contacts (mobile especially) to the cruise passenger. Thus, as a tour guide for pick-up, you can be notified of any sudden changes.

Confirm the cruise ship people exits. Are there several exits at one dock? Some ports are very busy that they provide several exits for passengers from different cruises. Make sure you are waiting at the right exit. Do your clients need to get outside the port to meet you? There are many ports where only big travel agents can get close to the ship. If yes, inform your clients in advance so that they know where to find you. Do hold a clear sign with the client’s name. Cruise ships are usually big with several thousand passengers.

Any experience you want to share about meeting cruise travelers?

Getting your sightseeing tours to be client perfect

When it comes to private sightseeing tours, the tour guide can be challenged to provide an interesting initial program. How can you design great sightseeing tours program that is desirable to your specific clients everytime?

Ask and listen

You may have guided the classic/common sightseeing tours in your city hundreds of times but remember, every person has their own travel needs. Especially with clients who require a private sightseeing tour. So take the effort to confirm: Is it your first time to the city? Do you have any special interests e.g. art, history, nature, local market? Are you ok with long-hour walking or alert to any foods ……

Q. Do listen to your clients’ needs, otherwise you won’t be successful with the sightseeing tours proposal.


Design the sightseeing tours program

Now that you know your clients interests and requirements, you can start to design a tailor-made program. Here are some tips when putting together the “things to do”. Try to put all information on one page. It is like resume, simple and clear is the best. Make a short note besides the scenic spot name e.g. (Shanghai, China) Yuyuan Garden, traditional Chinese garden established 400 years ago. A tour guide is familiar with all sites. Yet your client may not.

Do not put very similar sites or activities in the same day tour unless your client required so E.g. visiting the history museum in the morning and art museum in the afternoon may be too much museum activity in the same day. Balance walking with driving time. Long hour walking will fatigue travelers as well as the tour guide. Too much time on transportation will make people boring. Do the distant sites first and nearby sites later. It is not clever to visit far away sites while your clients are catching a flight/train on the same day - stress in not fun for any person.

Leave the evening free. You may suggest activities, but do not make a program detailed into 24 hours. Leave some free time for the travelers to enjoy themselves. Tour guides also need a break and prepare for the next day - refreshed and full of energy.


Alternatives and Cancellation

Offer alternatives. People like to have choices. E.g. select their preferred local performance among several options. Tour guides also need to consider activities limited by weather or other conditions. E.g. the outdoor activity not fit for raining days. Notify your clients of cancellation rules if any. It is better to inform in advance, avoiding conflicts or displeasure.


Confirm signtseeing tours in advance

When you are responsible for a sightseeing tour with everything included, do confirm all the details in advance. Confirm with travel clients the program details in full. Book the car and driver earlier when required. Check with restaurant availability and order the table if it is a popular place.


No. 1 = Clarify the needs of clients.

No. 2 = Then build the tour towards meeting these needs.

Then you will come out with a great and workable sightseeing tours program.

Client Feedback - How to ensure a superb sightseeing tour

Happy clients recommend great tour guides and sightseeing tours to friends. How can you ensure you have a happy client willing to recommend your services after the sightseeing tours are complete?

ACTUAL FEEDBACK FROM A REAL CLIENT

Before the sightseeing tour

As previously mentioned, the tour guide did contact me within a few hours of me sending a question and booking the tour. This seemed very professional to me.
I also mentioned that she contacted me via Instant Messaging soon after the booking. You may want to recommend this to other tour guides as it did help made build trust in her as a tour guide and the fact that she was going to turn up on the day … definitely help me feel that I was not going to get "stood up" on the day of the tour.

Another good point is that she promised to call my hotel the day before the sightseeing tours to confirm the meeting place and time, which she did.



At the start of the sightseeing tours

The tour guide was punctual, which is very important.As soon as we met, the guide was instantly very friendly.
The tour guide had the good sense to first sit with me, before we went out, to confirm what I wanted to do and we discussed a rough itinerary. Again, good another tip to suggest for tour guides, because if she did not know my expectations, then I might not be satisfied at the end.

The tour guide also confirmed that my clothing was suitable, since we were visiting temples etc. Another possible hint tip is to get guides to recommend appropriate clothing etc before the day of meeting.

The tour guide also allowed me to decide if I wanted them to pay for things along the way (and I pay at the end) or if I simply wanted to pay as we go. It was nice that they offered this option.

[Advise Summary: Be punctual. Attentive to details. Mind the cultural background of your clients.]


During the sightseeing tours

The tour guide did seem to know her city and was quite confident in showing me around. She was constantly talking and telling me information and was answering most of my questions.

In fact, I think she was so enthusiastic to tell me what she knew, that she often quickly dismissed or brushed over what I really wanted to know. Tip: tell your tour guides to "listen" to the customer as it will be the customer that that will ultimately evaluate them on the website and with their tip.

A tip might be how to handle the situation when the sightseeing tours finishes early (not getting the full value) or if the guest wants to spend more time … I guess an hourly rate could be suitable in this case.

[Advise Summary: Be knowledgeable but not overwhelming with everything. Listen to your clients and focus on their interest.]


At the end of the sightseeing tours

The next day (after the tour), the tour guide called my hotel room at approximately 8:30am to follow up and see if they could help in any other way. Some people may have found this very professional, but since I had a very big night in Bangkok the night before and arrived to the hotel late, I was a little annoyed that they rang me so early on my holiday when I was actually relaxing and sleeping in.


[Advise Summary: Follow up in the right time. Provide your full contacts to your clients, so they can find you when they need. Offer further help at end of the tour when you are with the clients. An email follow up with thank and feedback request is a good option.]

Knowledge Preparation for City Sightseeing Tours

City sightseeing tours are different from safari travel or mountain trips. On one hand, it has less physical requirements on travelers but on the other, it demands a tour guide of a deeper knowledge level about the city and sights.

So what shall a tour guide prepare before offering city sightseeing tours? Place names and local terminologies are the basics. You are familiar with the local name of a place, but be aware that your clients may call it differently based on their knowledge. For instance, the famous steel bridge in Shanghai with over 100 years history was known as “Wai Bai Du Qiao” among citizens. However, it was originally named as “Garden Bridge” by the British. Do some research in advance, and try to avoid a misunderstanding for such cases. For basic background information like the name, location, establishment date, history, etc. - a tour guide needs to stick to facts and be as accurate as possible.

But the travelers are not coming for a lesson, are they? Therefore, a great tour guide tells interesting stories and anecdotes during the sightseeing tours. These stories may be true or partly true. They help to arouse interest of travelers and make the place fondly remembered.

City sightseeing tours can not be complete without noticing people and the life in and around the city. At the sightseeing spot, or during transportation in the city, tour guides can introduce how people live and work here. Local traditions and customs are often welcomed. It is best to combine such introduction with what you see along the way. Offer some fair and mutual opinions by yourself, as you are a local fully engaged in the daily life.

There is other general knowledge a tour guide should prepare, either for city tours or other sightseeing tours. For instance, toilets in each stop, taxi stands or public transportation you need to take, entrances/exits of scenic spots…

Good tour guides welcome all questions from travelers. The more knowledge you have, the better travelers will experience your city tours. But don’t worry. Rome was not built in one day. With proactive study and practical experiences, you will be a great city tour guide.

Have you any top tips to share with OurExplorer please?

Tour Guide Industry trends & Events Update

Here are a selection of tour guide and sightseeing tours trends

First Tour Guide in Xitang (China)
Xitang, the thousand-year old town located in eastern China's Zhejiang Province had just started to develop tourism in that year.
"People asked who that girl was and why she was always shouting with a loudspeaker, followed by a group of strangers," she said, recalling the first year of her career life as a tour guide when reporters from CRI interviewed her on Monday.
The reaction was understandable since before 1997 only peddlers who collected used bottles and old newspaper used loudspeaker to attract new business. Tour Guide details

Get paid to travel (Malaysia)
How many of us dream of having a fun job where we get to travel to interesting places, make new international friends and get a healthy sum of money for doing so?
"But overall, it's a fun, rewarding and an eye-opening job, so I'd give it a try if I were you!"

Australia's most eccentric tour guides (Australia)
Sometimes on a tour, it's not about the where or the what, but the who. A good, entertaining tour guide can make all the difference, and some of them become legends in their own right.

Responsible Tourism Day (Worldwide)
WTM World Responsible Tourism Day, the only global day of action of its kind, is being supported by the UNWTO and leading industry associations. The day is vital – for business, for profitability and for our planet. It means taking care of a world that we seek to promote, preserving our heritage and cultures and taking into account the views and needs of local communities.

How Search Is Key To Booking Travel Plans (Worldwide)
The majority of personal travelers still plan to travel just as much or more throughout 2009, compared with 2008. Booking behavior has changed, however. Travelers will shop around more and wait for the best deal before they book.

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?