Ghost Tour Guide & Storyteller Job Description

What is a Good Tour Guide?

A good tour guide is not just anyone. Tour guides are responsible for making the guest experience memorable, entertaining, informative, and seamless, as they are both front line and back line of the operation. The job is more than just reading.

Communication is a must for a tour guide. Tour guides provide direction, share facts and information and keep guests entertained during the tour. A tour guide must speak clearly and concisely.

Not to mention, be able to command attention even if you are surrounded by sights and sounds. It is not hard to see why aspiring actors and comedians would want to be tour guides. Tour guides become masters at delivering performances that come across as natural, rather than being scripted.

Tour guides should be good at remembering names and faces, unlike their actor counterparts who sometimes forget. Tour guides can transform a tour from average to extraordinary by addressing every guest by name, so that they feel valued and not just another tip. Learning names on the fly is a difficult task.

Tour guides can memorize names before the round of introductions with the Daily Manifest. Tour guiding is dependent on delivery. An exceptional tour guide can add a little bit of flair, make it their own, and take guests on a journey through stories, even if they can't read.

A Trainable Tour Guide for the UK

As a tour guide, you will be introducing tourists to the UK's unique and popular attractions, such as historical monuments, botanical gardens, Royal Parks, museums, art galleries and other areas of cultural interest. You must be registered with a local, regional or national tourism regulation board to work as a freelancer. Some tour guides are employed by tour operators, travel guide companies, the National Trust and local councils.

Tour guide salaries are usually low, ranging between $12000 and £20,000, but you can supplement your income by receiving tips from tourists or by getting commission from tourist attractions. Travel and irregular work schedules are important parts of working as a tour guide. Once the tourist season is over, you will be able to take a lot of time off.

It is possible to work as a tour guide in other countries during the low season of the UK, as the peak tourist seasons in different countries will understandably differ. You will need to be willing to travel outside of the UK in order to do this. The Institute of Tourist Guiding has a training programme for tour guides that is structured into four levels, each with a different duty and service that a tour guide can provide.

Level one allows tour guides to offer their services for a single site, while level two allows tour guides to provide commentary on a single route or a defined area. Tour guides have no career path. As you progress, you may decide to start your own tour guide company or move abroad and use your charm, presentations skills and expert knowledge elsewhere.

A Social Group of Guides

Tour guides give tours to groups of visitors. They are experts on the history of the location and can give tour groups interesting or enlightening information about points of interest. There are many ways to see the river, from walking tours on a boat to bus tours.

Tour guides are usually hired by visitors' bureaus or travel companies and are usually from the region in which they give tours. A tour guide's job duties are dependent on their location. They will usually give tours of public accessible travel destinations if they are self-employed.

Those who work for a visitor's bureau or corporation can offer tours of cities, industrial locations, or other points of interest. There are three main areas of specialization within the guiding industry. Large companies that are well-known for their travel destinations and are often required by non-profit organizations to have corporate tour guides.

They lead groups through factories, explaining the manufacturing process or history of the business. Tour guides who lead visitors on tours of a museum within the park that documents the company's history are often employed by theme parks. Visitors to zoos, wildlife refuges, or animal reserves may be educated on animal behavior and the company's goals.

Tour guides have their own quirks. They are kind, generous, cooperative, patient, caring, helpful, empathetic, tactful, and friendly, which is why they are social individuals. They help others and teach.

A Survey of Tour Guide Jobs in New York City

Tour guides show groups of people around points of interest. They can work for art galleries or public buildings and the goal of the tour can be to educate or entertain. Unless there is a compelling reason to hire a college graduate, it is best to not mention education in your tour guide job specifications.

You want to make sure you know if the new hire will have expertise already. New hires would learn the facts on the job, and then take a factory tour of their own company. Wineries tend to hire tour guides who have general knowledge of wine, while city tours usually call for jobseekers who are already knowledgeable about the specific city.