Tour Guide Jobs
Let’s start with some good news. The overall number of tour guide jobs is growing globally, and the UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) reports that global tourism continues to be one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy! When asking how to get a job as a tour guide, I believe there are at least 7 questions you will need to ask yourself first. This video will go through those questions one by one!
I also share some insights into looking for a tour guide job, discuss some of the advantages of working for a smaller or larger tour company and how you can work as a guide internationally or locally.
How to get a job as a tour guide – Resources
First:
Our amazing Be a Better Guide Team put a lot of effort into researching a list of the largest tour guide employers on the planet. There are over 63 companies on this list that hire guides from all over the world! Use it to research what they are up to and reach out if you are interested in their hiring process. This free PDF can be downloaded right here .
Second:
Here is another one of our videos that will help you understand the distinction between ‘tour guides’ and ‘tour directors’. You’ll need to decide which has more appeal to you, as it will mean approaching different companies to get your tour guide career underway!
Third:
Here is a list of 101 different tour ideas from our friends over at Tourism Tiger. This list is not only amazingly long, but it also shares company websites for each different tour type. Scroll through for inspiration, or maybe even reach out to some of the companies to find your dream job.
Fourth:
Another list from Tourism Tiger that shares over 92 different places where you can list your tours and activities online. This list will be a big help to you if you are interested in becoming a freelance guide or starting up your own tour company! Furthermore, I highly recommend checking out these listing sites and services, as you can find out what other guides and companies are doing in the area you want to work.
Holy cow… that’s a lot of resources!
I know that the getting a job as a tour guide is not easy, and sometimes it can be discouraging. Hopefully, these resources will help you on your way to finding that perfect tour guide job.
As always, be sure to join the Be a Better Guide community for more videos, helpful tools and thoughtful discussions on what it means to lead unforgettable tours.
All the best and happy hunting!
Kelsey T
Finished watching ‘How to Get a Job as a Tour Guide’?
In the comments below, share any other resources or websites that you found useful when looking for a tour guide job! And if you haven’t yet, grab our free PDF: 63 Tour Companies that Hire Tour Guides right here.
Transcript:
Just before we get started, here’s a few things that you’ll never hear on a job hunt. “Boy! I can’t wait to start my job search today.” “Gosh! I wish I could work all of these jobs at once.” “Fulltime mustache model needed, pay is generous.”
Hi! Kelsey Tonner here from beabetterguide.com. Perhaps, you’re here because you’re searching for a tour guide job or maybe you just want to learn a little bit more about the industry.
Either way, I can tell you that there are hundreds and thousands of different tour guide jobs all over the world, and there’s more and more every year. The World Tourism Organization recognizes that global tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global economy, so that’s good news.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that the job hunt is going to be easy or even that there’s necessarily guiding jobs in the place you want to work.
That being said, I put together this video with a few questions that you want to ask yourself when looking for tour guiding jobs. Plus, at the very end, I’ve got an awesome bonus for you to help on your job hunt.
1) Do you want to work in your own country or travel internationally?
This is a pretty big question and it’s going to depend on factors like is there actually tourism in the area you’d like to work.
But as a general rule, it’s easier to get hired as a guide, as a local or national, from the country in which you’d like to work and this makes sense too.
If you think from the traveller’s perspective, somebody who grew up here and spent their whole life here is going to have all kinds of insights into the history, the culture, and etcetera.
But that being said, there’re lots of opportunities where you can work internationally. I’ve had tours in Paris that were delivered by New Zealanders who were studying in Paris, or people from Poland who are working in Croatia or the Czech Republic.
Sometimes, I’ve met national guides who escort groups say from South Korea, so there would be Korean guides who escort them on trips around the world. Those opportunities exist as well.
2) Do you want to be a tour director or a tour guide?
Now, I made a previous video that explained this distinction which I’ll put a link to below.
But very briefly, I think of tour guides as the folks who are with travelers and guests for shorter periods of time, like an afternoon tour or maybe a tour that lasts a couple of days.
Tour guides will tend to have a sort of specific knowledge on a particular topic, let’s say wine making if it’s a wine making tour, or architecture of a city if it’s an architectural tour of a city, or something like the Coliseum if you happen to be leading tours there.
Tour guides can also have specialized skills. If you think of a whitewater rafting guide, they’re probably going to have some paddling skills and rescue skills that go along with that guiding job.
Tour directors or tour managers on the other hand will generally facilitate the logistics of a longer tour or an event, something like a conference.
Now, these can be things like helping with the logistics of transportation, passport and border controls, airport pickups, getting groups and escorting them to restaurants to their accommodation, and often times, they’ll work with multiple guides.
If I’m facilitating a group or leading a group through an itinerary, we might have a wine making tour with the wine making guide, the local guide, on Monday and on Tuesday, we’ll go have that tour of the Coliseum.
Now, much like a tour guide, being a tour director, you can work internationally escorting groups on international itineraries or you can do it in your home country. Most major cities will have something called the destination management company.
If there’s a big event or a conference happening, they’ll work with tour directors and tour managers to help people get out and see the highlights of their country.
Now, you want to think about this distinction, but don’t get too hung up on the terms. There’re lots of companies that use those terms pretty interchangeably and there’re sometimes roles that you can get hired for, they’re kind of a blend of both of them.
3) What type of tours would you like to lead?
Because the tourism industry is so diverse these days, there’re lots of options when it comes to guiding. If you get a job as a brewery tour guide, you’re going to have a very different job than if you’re a fly fishing guide working in some remote wilderness camp.
When it comes to your job hunt, think about what experience you would like to facilitate or what you would enjoy doing on a day-to-day basis and also what skills might make you a good candidate for that job.
Now, to give you some ideas, I’m going to put a link below to 101 different tour ideas. This is going to give you a sense of just how many different tours are operating out there right now, and under each one of those headings there’re some links to actual companies who lead tours in that area.
4) Do you want to work for yourself or work for someone else?
There are pros and cons to both choices. Now, working for yourself, you are most certainly going to have to put in more effort, but the tradeoffs of having more freedom, flexibility, and control over your own business might be worth it to you.
Now, if you’re freelancing and doing this yourself, you will need to be the one responsible for things like licensing, insurance, marketing, sales, and customer service.
But these days, it’s becoming easier and easier to partner with people like TripAdvisor and Viator, getyourguide.com, and Peek just to name a few of the big players who are online tour agents basically who will market and sell your tours for you for a small commission.
There are also peer-to-peer marketplaces, think of Airbnb but for tours and activities. There’re all kinds of websites that are popping up; some of them working, some of them not working.
But I’ll put a link below to another resource which is over 90 different websites where you can list your tour or activity online.
But if you’re interested just in guiding and sort of facilitating that experience and you think that’s what you would enjoy the most, it’s probably the best bet just to work for another company and let them handle the rest.
5) Do you need a license to work where you want to work?
In many highly touristed areas, you actually need a permit or a license to be a tour guide. These are sometimes controlled by national governments or sometimes by municipal or city governments.
Now, in other places, in other parts of the world, it really varies quite a bit. Sometimes you don’t need a license at all. For example, here in Canada, you can work as a guide in Vancouver, in Toronto, and the vast majority of Canada without any kind of license.
However, if you want to be a guide in Montreal or the City of Quebec, you do need a permit.
The best thing to do is to look into your local situation. A good place to start is asking other guides who are already working in that space, and two, try and contact a national tour guide association because they can help with these types of questions.
6) Would you prefer to work for a smaller tour company or a larger tour company?
Smaller tour companies tend to offer more seasonal employment. There tends to be a lot more options to choose from because there are just more smaller companies out there.
And lastly, you tend to have closer relationship with your employers, with your bosses, and even your fellow employees.
Now, larger tour companies can sometimes provide more stability, more work, sometimes better pay, and they can also occasionally provide opportunities for promotion or developing your career.
Now, if you’re interested in working internationally as a global guide, then these large multinational companies are definitely the way to go.
7) What skills can I work on that will make me a strong candidate?
Companies are always looking for enthusiastic, personable, and pleasant people to hire as tour guides.
If you’re a great presenter, if you are organized, and you’ve got a good memory, those are all traits that help and if you’re comfortable leading towards multiple languages, well, that is going to be a huge asset for you as well as any experience you’ve got in the service industry.
If you’re interested in developing those skills or learning more about what makes an incredible tour guide, you should definitely check out www.beabetterguide.com. I hear that site’s amazing!
Now, I can’t quite help you with your local job search just because there’re so many tour guide companies out there, but as a bonus I’ve assembled a list of 63 of the largest tour companies that hire guides and tour leaders every single year.
You absolutely want to check out this list if you’re interested in working for one of the larger tour companies and I think it’s going to be an amazing resource to help you find a job of your dreams. Now, to get that PDF, just use the link below and join up to Be a Better Guide community.
Thank you so much for tuning in today. In the comments below, please share any other advice you would have for job seekers out there, websites that you found useful or resources, please post them in the comments and share this video if you’re inspired.
Thank you so much for being here. I wish you all the luck in the world with your job hunt and I’ll see you next time.
