Experience, Skills, and Personality Traits
Any experience one can obtain in customer service or leading local tours will be useful.
Successful tour guides are outgoing, friendly, patient, and confident. They must be aware of the typical travelers' needs and the kinds of questions and concerns travelers might have. As a tour guide, they should be comfortable being in charge of large groups of people and have good time-management and organizational skills. They also need to be resourceful and be able to adapt to different environments. Tour guides need to be fun-loving and know how to make others feel at ease in unfamiliar surroundings. Tour guides should enjoy working with people as much as they enjoy traveling.
Related Professions
- Adventure Travel Specialists
- Amusement Park Workers
- Anthropologists
- Archaeologists
- Archivists
- Artists
- Bicycle Mechanics
- Book Conservators
- Campaign Workers
- Caterers
- Conservators and Conservation Technicians
- Cruise Ship Workers
- Education Directors and Museum Teachers
- Environmental Education Program Directors
- Ethnoscientists
- Event Planners
- Exhibit Designers
- Farmers' Market Managers/Promoters
- Flight Attendants
- Fund-Raisers
- Gallery Owners and Directors
- Gaming Occupations
- Grant Coordinators and Writers
- Historians
- Historic Preservationists
- Hosts/Hostesses
- Inbound Tour Guides
- Lifeguards and Swimming Instructors
- Museum Attendants
- Museum Directors and Curators
- Museum Technicians
- Music Venue Owners and Managers
- National Park Service Employees
- Park Rangers
- Parking Attendants
- Pilots
- Recreation Workers
- Reservation and Ticket Agents
- Resort Workers
- Restaurant and Food Service Managers
- Ship's Captains
- Ski Resort Workers
- Spa Attendants
- Spa Managers
- Space Tourism Managers
- Sports Facility Managers
- Sports Instructors and Coaches
- Stadium Ushers and Vendors
- Strength and Conditioning Coaches
- Swimming Pool Designers
- Taxidermists
- Travel Agents
- Wedding and Party Consultants
- Yoga and Pilates Instructors
- Zoo and Aquarium Curators and Directors
- Zookeepers
- Zoologists