8 Skills and Qualities That A Good Tour Guide Should Have

When you go on a trip to a place you don’t know, one of the best options you can count on is the help of a tour guide.

They are in charge of offering you a whole tour full of information, entertaining activities and safety to a specific place.

They are the ones who are there to help you in case you need it and who will do everything possible to make your vacation the best, they are in charge of your safety from the moment you decide to hire a guide until the moment you return to the hotel.

Tour guides must have a series of skills to be able to work with the tourist in an adequate way.

The 8 skills and qualities that a good tour guide should have are mentioned below

1. Speak several languages

As you would expect, on a tour, you will see people of different nationalities, each with their own language.

The most ideal thing is that the tourist guide knows how to speak different languages so that, he can communicate in an adequate way with the people who make the tour and thus be able to give instructions and explain to them about the different activities and places they visit.

Being able to communicate properly with tourists is essential for a successful tour.

2. To have charisma and positivism

This is probably one of the most important features that every tour guide should have, especially at the time he comes into contact with visitors.  All the people who decide to take a travel tour, do so with the aim of learning and knowing, but above all, they do it to be able to have a good time and have fun.

This fun will depend entirely on the tour guide, who is responsible for providing a happy and enjoyable environment while the tour takes place.  A sense of humor should also be part of the guide’s qualities and to a certain extent it is fundamental, little jokes along the way will be useful to see how tourists in charge feel.

3. Have adequate knowledge of the subject matter

No matter how charismatic the tour guide may be, if he doesn’t know about the place, the history, art and the gastronomy of the place they visit, the tour will be a failure.

It is the guide’s job to be able to provide information about the tourist’s destination to all the people who take the tour, and also, he must answer the questions in case any tourist has a doubt.

4. Know how to communicate with tourists

To be able to communicate properly with the tourist is very important.  If the guide does not interact correctly, it is likely that the tourist will get bored and give bad recommendations regarding the tour.

Talking in a pleasant way, polite but funny at the same time, are fundamental characteristics that every tourist guide should have.

5. Punctuality

This aspect is considered one of the most important because he should always be first in the meeting point of tourists.  Need to make sure with lists, that the tourist group is complete, and this must be done in each stop that the excursion makes.

You must make sure that the visiting times in the different tourist destinations are compiled on time in order to avoid delays.  The punctuality is a fundamental part so that the tourist can have an enjoyable experience and can enjoy the best vacations of his life.

6. Tolerance

The tourist guides have in their hands a great quantity and variety of people, which have different characteristics and personalities, this is why the guide must learn to tolerate others.

This includes respect for tourists regardless of religion, belief, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation or physical abilities.  With proper tolerance, the guide will be able to foster friendship in the group and thus everyone can enjoy a pleasant trip.

7. Adequate appearance

By this we do not mean that the tour guide should go on the tour with a jacket and tie, but he should wear comfortable clothes trying to show the image of a clean, clean and educated person.

The clean clothes as well as the shoes will make the tourists feel that they can trust him because they will see him confident.

The guide in charge of the tour must always show a smile on his mouth, must let the tourist know that he is passionate about what he does, and there is no better way than smiling.

The voice tone with which the guide speak to the group is also important because through this, shows the group interest and willingness to help them in whatever they need.

8. Knowledge of the place

Finally, it is very necessary that the tourist guide knows the different places where an excursion will pass.

There cannot be an adequate tour if the guide forgets where he is.  It is for this reason that you should also focus on studies of geography and history, and thus have adequate information to evacuate the possible doubts of tourists.

These are the 8 main characteristics that every tourist guide must have to guarantee that you will be able to live the best vacations of your life.