Tour Guide and Sightseeing Tours Learning - OurExplorer

Share your knowledge with articles

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 05:02:00 +0000

Good tour guides are experts with local knowledge. You shall know not only information about the scenic spots, but also various aspects of local life. Do your clients often ask you about featured restaurants, nice bars, entertainments, shopping area…? It is beneficial to share your knowledge by writing articles.

Why is article a great way of tour guide promotion? You are established as an expert in the area by sharing knowledge. You get more exposure on the internet with articles. People viral good content online among friends and networks. It builds up client trust as your articles show your guiding style and language skills.

What to write in the articles? You can write anything about your area of guiding, from local customs to special foods, from scenic spot introduction to entertainment recommendation, from the latest event to historic topics. It is better to write content that inspires travelers to visit your destination. To establish yourself as an expert tour guide, top-10 list can be a good topic. For example, the top-10 restaurants serving local cuisines, the top-10 must-see for travelers, the top-10 not-to-do in the city.

Where to publish your articles? We are talking about online publication here, not print-out on offline media. Online contents are mostly user-generated content. Just pay attention to the rules of each platform before your submission. You can publish on your own blog. There are article directories like EzineArticles, allowing author to submit articles. Websites like HubPages offer an interactive page for articles. Many tour guide platforms also encourage guides to share their knowledge. OurExplorer tour guides can now publish article on Viator.com to increase online presence. Tour guide Gavin in London writes interesting up-to-date articles on London with fantastic photos while Marta in Budapest writes a fun-filled article on the coming of spring.

Have something to share? Demonstrate your knowledge on the internet now.

How to cope with festivals and events?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:11:00 +0000

There are festivals and events throughout the year. Traditional festivals can be a reason to attract travelers to a destination, while different events may feed the interest of various travelers. Tour guides shall consider such special cases to promote unique sightseeing tours.

Firstly, a tour guide needs to be well equipped with the latest news. You shall know what is going on this year. How long is the festival period? What celebration will take on and where? Is there anything new this time? Then, you can design a special holiday sightseeing tour. If there are big events in the city, e.g. Xi’an Horticultural Exposition in 2011, it is recommended to combine the event with routine tours. Travelers will therefore have more choices during the visit.

Secondly, take negative factors into consideration. Are there a lot more visitors into your destination during the festival? If yes, arrange transportation, hotel or activity bookings in advance. Think proactively to provide a vivid tour while avoiding the crowds. During the holiday period, do shops and restaurants still open as usual?

Thirdly, mind the local tradition and customs. Mind this especially for traditional or religious festivals in your destination. Do local people welcome foreign visitors to join the celebration? Will it bother your clients who hold a different religion? As a tour guide, it is necessary to understand both the local custom and client needs.

Lastly, target the right market. Effective marketing will help you to receive more travel clients. Think before you promote the festival tour - will my clients be interested in this festival/event and is the timing right? For example, it is hard to promote Christmas tour to people who spend the same period at home with families.

What is special or unique this year in your place of guiding? Share with us.

Guide your clients to be a responsible traveler

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 02:55:00 +0000

One social responsibility of a tour guide is to help with the sustainable development in local tourism. Guide is one of the links in tourism (others including scenic spots, natural and cultural legacy, transportation, hotel, entertainments…). Your contribution to the local travel environment will benefit yourself in the long term.

Help with the natural environment. This is especially important for guiding in natural sceneries. Inform your clients what they can do and what they should not. For example, can travelers feed animals in the wild? In most cases “No”. Do not step on the plants or grass for a better picture. Tour guide need to inform general rules in advance. Then during the sightseeing tour, mind the behavior of your clients and gently point out misbehavior.

Respect local culture, people and customs. Each destination has its own culture and customs. Local people speak the same language and live with their tradition. For a foreign visitor, it is important to recognize the difference and respect the local way of living. Tour guide performs as a bridge between local people and foreign travelers. Travelers are new to a place so your guidance is necessary.

Contribute to the local economy. Inbound tourism is a way that makes contribution to the local economy. Traveler’s spending on dining, shopping, sightseeing…all help the economic growth. As a tour guide, why not introduce more local foods, brands, and unique projects? On one hand, things with local characters appear more interesting to travels. On the other hand, you made your contribution to the local society. A win-win situation.

Have you realized your social role as a tour guide and what have you done to guide more responsible travelers?

Tour Guide Survey with Anna Benaki

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 05:24:00 +0000

Tour Guide Anna Benaki in Athens
http://www.ourexplorer.com/tour-guide-anna-benaki-2163.aspx

1. What is the best thing you like being a tour guide?
What I like best from being a tour guide is the fact that I get in touch with many people of different nationalities, age, culture and I learn from them as much as they learn from me.
In order to become a tour guide I studied the history of my country and travelled in all sites and museums so I truly discovered the beauties of Greece and I now have the opportunity to show them to foreigners.
I enjoy very much the fact that every day of work is different, there is no routine and I contribute to the holidays of my clients.

2. What is your most memorable moment in guiding so far?
I have many memorable moments in guiding: august 2004 when I was working for the Olympics in Athens with coca cola company and I attended the opening and closing ceremony along with many games. All the special occasions I celebrated with my clients, such as birthdays, wedding anniversaries, making me feel part of them. Sailing in the Aegean sea, watching the sunrise and sunset, are just a few of them.

3. What is most challenging for you in this career? Have you coped with it?
Most challenging for me in this career is dealing with problems that may occur, such as accidents, health problems, difficult weather conditions, matching different people in a group, creating a good atmosphere for them.
I have already coped with all of the above, successfully I can say, judging from the feedback of my tours.

4. What is your favorite place/thing that you want to show your travel clients?
I have many favourite places and things I would like to show to my clients. Such as family owned tavernas so as to taste the local cuisine, hiking on mountains so as to get the best view of the sun that sets in the sea, trails to follow so as to run into goats, donkeys and wild flowers away from the touristic areas.
Fortunately Greece still has many hidden treasuries off the beaten track...

5. What if you were not a tour guide? What do you imagine yourself to be?
If I was not a tour guide, I imagine myself working with many people, public relations maybe, as a diplomat, organizing events, but I cannot imagine if any of these would give the same pleasure as from my present work.

How to be personal in customer communications?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:58:00 +0000

A private tour guide may express yourself personally during the sightseeing tour. How can you be personal in pre-tour communications? You can sound personal on a phone call. But nowadays, more bookings by overseas clients are communicated via emails or websites. How would you present your personal attitude in emails?

Treat every tourist as an individual client. The sightseeing tour itinerary may be identical covering similar scenic spots. Yet a lot of factors vary, e.g. days of stay, arrival or departure location, number of people in the group, demographic background of the visitors, public transportation vs. private vehicle...And personal interest matters for sure. Considering these facts, your itinerary to each client will be more personalized. You can differentiate yourself from a standard offer in travel packages.

Talk in the language of your client. It is more than using the language they speak. Quote in the currency they are familiar with or with both the local currency and the currency your clients use. Use less local name/description in the itinerary, so that it is easier for clients to understand the visits during the sightseeing tour.

Address to the specific queries. Make sure that all enquiries from your client are properly answered. If certain requirements need extra time to arrange or involves third-party suppliers, tour guides shall inform when a reply can be expected.

Offer something more if noticing the interest of your clients. It can be special scenic spots, e.g. art gallery to tourists with an art-focus. Restaurants with nice local cuisines are also good recommendation to people who would like to try local foods. Suggest fun places for families with kids.

Encourage feedback or further queries. Always ask your clients to give comments freely. A tour guide can be more prepared when clear about client’s preference. Therefore, the sightseeing tour would be conducted with great success.

Do you have any tips on a personal communication with clients before the actual sightseeing tour? Share with us!

International Tourist Guide Day - February 21st

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:22:00 +0000

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.”

The Power of Tourist Feedback

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:22:00 +0000

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.

WFTGA president awarded the OBE for services to the tourism industry

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:22:00 +0000

Source: http://wftga.org

Mrs Rosalind Newlands WFTGA President and a pioneer for professional Tourist Guide Training, proudly collected her OBE from a snowy Buckingham Palace. She was awarded the OBE for services to the tourism industry. A Scottish Tourist Guide (aka Blue Badge Guide) since 1983, Ros, as she is known to over 100,000 professionally trained Tourist Guides worldwide, is an active Scottish Tourist Guide and President of the World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations, representing over 65 countries. In addition to her tourist guide activities and her global role, Ros is also Course Director for the 2-year Scottish Tourist Guide Training Course at the University of Edinburgh.

Ros says “Qualified tourist guides are ambassadors for their countries and are often the only people that visitors really talk to and engage with. A Guide can make or break a destination. In the current global economic climate, it is even more important that those who travel receive the best quality products and services. Some unqualified guides work mostly through commissions and tips and do not offer a professional service to visitors.

Members of the World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations (WFTGA) are all professional qualified tourist guides who adhere to a Code of Practice and Quality Charter. It is a great honour for professional Scottish Tourist Guide training to be recognised in this way.”

Tour Guides – take along for guiding

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 08:48:00 +0000

What do you usually take along with you while guiding? Tour guides need to get prepared when meeting your travel clients. One preparation is your take-along materials. There can be two categories of things to bring – the necessity and the value-adding.

The necessity refers to the basic things that help you complete a tour. Pick-up sign with client’s name, sightseeing tour itinerary for the day, guide license, water supply, mobile phone for communication, rain coats for the weather, etc. If you are showing a big group, microphone is needed to make sure all travelers can hear you. A flag may also be necessary to lead the group forward.

Depending on the different natures of guiding, tour guides can create your own list of necessary take-along. Mountain guides may need supporting equipments. Adventure trip requires medicine preparation. Take a torch if you will process in the dark.

The value-adding things assist tour guides to practice his work more vividly and successfully.

Some materials help to explain what you see. For example, a map of the area so that you can offer a geographic idea of the tour coverage. Pictures for vivid explanation of certain history or cultural backgrounds. As we are entering an information era, electronic products now allow tour guides bring more information than they can carry.

Carry something with your company logo. It can be your bag, hat, T-shirt… The sign helps your clients to recognize you during the tour. Moreover, it reminds your clients of your company in a subtle way. By doing this, you are also a walking advertisement while guiding. Small complimentary gift of the visited spots is also a good choice.

What other things do you carry when you guide the tour? Share with us.

OurExplorer website take on a new look

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 05:32:00 +0000

Check out the new OurExplorer site design today! The improved design of the OurExplorer.com website has made tour guide profile page more attractive with a new feature allowing guides to upload more than one photo.

Better search page of Find a Tour Guide and Private Sightseeing Tours. Customers now can sort their search results by tourist guide language, licensed, top rated and bookings

Clearer tour guide listing page for clients to view 10 tour guides on one page. You can see critical information like tour guide license, personal skills and most recent client review.

Check out more at http://www.ourexplorer.com.

How to promote sightseeing tours via twitter?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:36:00 +0000

Twitter is a new and quick-developing method for online marketing. Think first, is this a platform to show your personal characters or to present your sightseeing tours. If it is a personal stage for you, then you can tweet anything you like. But if you want to make it a marketing channel, how can tour guide use this word-of-mouth to get more clients?

Create a profile with clear business info. Choose a user name relevant to your business. Your user name will appear in the URL and be mentioned through communication with other users. It can be your company name e.g. http://twitter.com/ViatorTravel. Show your key service is also a good choice, e.g. http://twitter.com/tour_guide for OurExplorer. Take some time to complete your biography info including profile photo, location, web and bio. This is one-time effort and tells visitors who you are. If you want to do more, you can edit the background picture of your twitter page, matching your website or business.

Connect twitter with other platforms to maximize your tweets. Twitter has applications for user to choose. On the other hands, many websites provide option to include your tweets directly. For example, you can add twitter to your network profiles for more automatic viral. You may combine twitter with your blog, to maximize the effects of single post.

What can you tweet to promote sightseeing tours? New available sightseeing tours, seasonal promotion for certain tours, client testimonials on your tours, updates in the popular sightseeing tours… Use your creativity to viral in 140 characters.

Twitter is also a social network platform. You can connect with other people by following or being followed. Your sightseeing tours would enjoy word-of-mouth all over the world with successful viral marketing.

Update regularly to keep it live. Twitter is a mini-blog, as some people call it. Like blog posts, regular updates are recommended.

OurExplorer twitter - http://twitter.com/tour_guide. Welcome to share your twitter experience here or @tour_guide.

How to promote tour guide services via blog?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 05:31:00 +0000

Blogging is popular nowadays on the internet. It can be an efficient marketing method to promote tour guide services. Have you considered using a blog to drive more clients? If you had a blog already, is it active enough to get more readers and clients? Here are some tips on tour guide blogging.

How to start a blog? You can start a blog within minutes through third-party platforms. There are existing platforms like blogger, wordpress, etc. You just need to create a profile and use their tools and applications. If you have an existing website on tour guide services, you can incorporate third-party blog into your own website. For more sophisticated website owners, you can ask your IT to create a blog page specifically to your requests.

What to write in the blog posts? For a tour guide, you need to first clarify the purpose of blogging. Do you want to show your passion for the destination you guide, or you want to drive more clients and expand your business? You can share your knowledge and recommendation in the guided area. Or introduce the scenic spots together with your sightseeing tours. You also need to think about your readers. Be reader-oriented and write what may interest them.

How frequent do you need to update your blog? There is no fixed number how frequent a blog guide shall be updated. It is better you write regular blog posts. Your blog then looks fresh to both readers and search engines. Do not write everything at the beginning and run out of topics after months. Once a week or twice a week can be a good frequency. Sure you can update every day when you have plenty of things to share.

Have you had a nice blog for your tour guiding service or have you come across any good blogs by tour guides? Welcome to share here.

2010: Top Rated Tour Guides on OurExplorer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 13:23:00 +0000

At the end of year 2010, we would like to share with travelers our top booked and rated tour guides. They have provided excellent services to travelers from around the world.

Shanghai Tour Guide - Jean Liu
Reviewed by Michael Hirai - "Our trip to Shanghai was wonderful thanks to Jean. We were impressed with her professionalism and her knowledge of Shanghai's history. We booked her for a full day to go to Zhujiajiao (a water town) followed by a tour of Shanghai. We asked her to show us Old Shanghai the next day and fortunately, she was available to do so. We also really enjoyed our time with her. She is a lovely young lady and both my husband and I would highly recommend her."

Bangkok Tour Guide - Irene K.
Reviewed by Marco Ramos - "Thank you so much for the excellent tour ever! It was such a beautiful honeymoon for us. Bangkok Highlights and Floating Market programs are absolutely fabulous. Will contact you again when we come back to Thailand."

Athens Tour Guide - Diana Stefanou-Huttinga
Reviewed by Robert Costello - "Our family of four (including two teenagers) toured the Acropolis and Athens with Diana in late August, and couldn't have been more pleased. Diana is outgoing, funny, and has great knowledge of the city and historical sites. She customized the day to accommodate our wishes, and found a great, non-tourist restaurant for lunch. A perfect seven hour excursion for our day in port!"

Kota Kinabalu Tour Guide - Grace Leong
Reviewed by Paula Olymbios- " Grace is a national treasure. She is personable, very knowledgeable regarding the history, flaura and fauna of Sabah. She is passionate about tour guiding and this comes through during your interaction with her. She is enthusiastic energetic and devoted to the tour participants. Our teenage children voted Grace our best guide while in Sabah. An absolute pleasure."

Istanbul Tour Guide - NESRIN ULUPINAR
Reviewed by Norman Steinberg - "It was so wonderful to have you guiding us through Istanbul. We saw far more with you than we had on our past visits. Your choice of lunch restaurants was fantastic. We would recommend you to any of our friends. Thank you for making our stay so memorable. Regards Rosslyn and Norman (Calgary Canada) PS. some of our friends will be contacting you shortly"

In the coming year 2011, OurExplorer will connect more travelers with qualified tour guides in 140+ countries. Happy Exploring!

Set up your New Year targets

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 14:43:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 12:17:00 +0000

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?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 14:09:00 +0000

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.

Tour Guides: Mind Road Safety

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 12:14:00 +0000

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.

How to handle extra requests from clients?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:28:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:53:00 +0000

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?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 06:20:00 +0000

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 keep your sightseeing tours fresh?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:52:00 +0000

As a private tour guide, do you design your sightseeing tours yourself? If yes, it is important to keep it fresh. Tour guiding is not repeating what’s written on the guide books. It is to introduce the local scenic spots vividly with your own culture, customs and history. That is to say, a tour guide adds his/her own knowledge and wisdom into the sightseeing tours. It is how one can differentiate from others. Therefore, the best way to keep a sightseeing tour fresh is to keep learning as a guide.

Learn the latest news of your place of guiding. Travelers are interested to hear what is happening in the destination. It helps to learn more about the local life. History facts will not change often but people are changing in the daily life. With the up-to-date information, a tour guide is not repeating himself all the time.

Keep an eye on industry related information. You are not working alone as a tour guide. When leading a sightseeing tour, many parties are involved. E.g. transportation, restaurants, scenic spots, hotels… A professional guide needs to be well equipped with industry related information. It is no good taking the clients somewhere only to find out the place is closed under maintenance, isn’t it?

Expand your knowledge on what’s going on in the outside world. For a foreign language tour guide, you may pay particular attention to news of your major client sources. It contributes to wider topics at guiding. Also, when a tour guide understands more of other cultures, you can present your own culture in a better way and make easy for foreign travelers to learn.

Note the seasonal changes. Some destinations vary a lot in different seasons. For example, lakes in the city of Beijing (China) freeze in winter time. Local people do skating and ice activities on the lake. Such scene can not be seen in the summer time. When a tour guide is showing around in the winter season, the remarks shall adjust along with the seasonal change. This way helps the travelers to remember a more lively city.

By keeping the sightseeing tours fresh and interesting, a tour guide makes his own career a lot more fun. It is not only for the benefits of travelers, but for the growth of a guide as well. Now, are you ready to take a new look into your sightseeing tours?

What are expected from your travel clients?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 13:42:00 +0000

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.]

Tour Guide Survey with Irene K in Bangkok

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 03:12:00 +0000

1. What is the best thing you like being a tour guide?
Get to know people from all over the world.

2. What is your most memorable moment in guiding so far?
Being invited by many tourists to visit them back home which I did a couple of time in Australia, Germany. My tourists took very good care of me and I felt part of their families as I was there.

3. What is most challenging for you in this career? Have you coped with it?
Arrange tours for big groups (30-40 people). No problem. Experience teaches me. The more people, the more fun.

4. What is your favorite place/thing that you want to show your travel clients?
Fishing Village and Train Market.

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

Bangkok Tour Guide Irene K.

Build up your own client base

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 05:49:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 05:03:00 +0000

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.