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THE TOUR GUIDE

Types of Tour Guide
• On-site guides conduct tours at a specific attraction or building. The tour may be short as it is confined in
the vicinity only. Museums and galleries, theme parks (e.g., Disneyland), cathedrals, and historical
churches have on-site guides.
• Docents are volunteers who do part-time service in establishments. Some institutions hire tourism
students or on-the-job trainees as docents, which is a good training ground for them. An example of this
is a tourism student who is taking his/her internship at the National Museum.
• City/Urban guides take people on sightseeing and excursion on a limited duration around the city.
Usually, the tour participants are in a motor, a coach, a minibus, or a van. Other times, they go on a
walking tour, which is generally an outdoor type of tour. For example, a trip to the Great Wall of China is
normally led by a city guide who shares about the history of the place.
• Driver-guides bring their tourists around and drive for them as well. They do commentaries or narration
and explanations about the sites or attractions. In the city of Malabon in Metro Manila, for example, the
mayor’s office launched the tricycle tours where tricycle drivers are given an alternative source of income
by being driver-guides to the visitors of the city.
• Specialized tour guides are service tourists with specific interests like diving, snorkeling, water rafting,
safari, or trekking. These guides are expert in certain skills.

KNOWING THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TOUR GUIDE

• Supervisor – Tour guides must have the authority to instruct, herd, caution, and manage the whole group
of tourists. They oversee the whole tour and make sure that all inclusions of the tour are given.
• Educator – Tour guides are educators who teach their participants. They present the place, tell
commentaries or explanations, and do these by telling stories and interpretations in the most engaging
way. Tour guides are like teachers who educate their students with new knowledge and discovery.
• Coordinator – Tour guides socialize and coordinate with tourists, suppliers, and tour operators. They
make sure that their guests are well taken care of. Constantly checking with them during the tour gives a
good impression of genuine concern for them. In addition, it is important for tour guides to coordinate
with tour operators, the ones who designed the itinerary, for further clarifications and endorsements.
Lastly, it is also equally important to keep in touch with the suppliers to ensure a smooth tour.
• Host – Tour guides are also excellent hosts. They show hospitality, warmth, and care. They are sensitive
to the needs of their guests. All tour guides look forward to delighting their guests, and part of this task
is entertaining them by sharing jokes, anecdotes, and simple games.
• Interpreter – Tour guides are not only language interpreters, but also interpreters of culture, history, and
objects. It is in the tour guides’ hands on how they present the destination or object. Furthermore, tour
guides can turn a simple object into an awe-inspiring masterpiece or historically impressive artifact by
telling its story.
• Guardian and support – Tour guides ensure the safety of tourists. Just like a guardian, tour guides are
always alert in making sure that the guests are away from harm or any danger. They provide support to
certain needs and also function as a rescuer, problem-solver, referee, giver of care, nurse, and assistant
among others.

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• Tour manager – Tour guides may have dual roles or dual duty. They may act as a tour manager, commonly
known as a “tour coordinator” or “tour escort.” They are also travel professionals, but their
responsibilities are more extensive than those of tour guides.

Qualifications of a Tour Guide

The following are the basic qualifications of a tour guide:
• Filipino resident or permanent resident foreign national
• Minimum of 18 years old
• Physically and mentally fit
• Not have been convicted with finality of any crime by a court of justice or dismissed for a cause by any
organization, whether public or private.
Like other professions, guiding requires one to have an educational background so that they can perform their
role well, especially that this needs someone who can communicate effectively. Local, regional, and national
agencies governing guides may have different implementation as to the educational and other qualifications
of tour guide. Whatever these are, guides must have the skills required in dealing with travelers with utmost
sincerity and professionalism.

UNDERSTANDING CLIENT AND ESCORT PSYCHOLOGY

There are reasons why a person travels or would not want to travel. Tour guides need to understand their
reasons so as to provide the best travel experience.

Travel Motivators (Versoza, 2016)

• Physical motivators – These include wellness, health enhancement, and physical enjoyment.
• Cultural motivators – When educational tours are required by schools, the purpose of this is basically
to learn more about the culture and people of a certain destination. This allows travelers to learn more
about the peoples’ way of life.
• Interpersonal motivators – Some travelers would like to go back to the places they have been in the
past to meet family, relatives, and childhood friends, while others would like to meet new people and
make friends.
• Status and prestige motivators – For some travelers, traveling is a source of self-fulfillment. When
they travel, they feel good that people see them as tourists who can afford to visit places.

Travel De-motivators
• Cost of travel – It is a big reason why some cannot go on tours. Traveling may be very costly so if a
family has no extra savings, it is quite challenging to experience it.
• Lack of time – Traveling needs to be planned and scheduled. Those who cannot leave their jobs or
business cannot engage in leisure trips.
• Poor health – This is one of the reasons why some people cannot travel. It may be difficult for them
to enjoy leisure activities.
• Family stage – Traveling with small children may be difficult. That is why for some parents and
guardians of these children, tours may not be possible.
• Lack of interest – People will only be enticed to go to destinations if they are well-informed about the
beauty of a place. If they have no knowledge about certain destinations, there will not be any travel.

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• Fear and safety – This is a big factor for most tourists. If a place is given bad publicity, especially on
safety, tourists would not even consider traveling to that destination.

Other Factors that Influence Travel

• Age – It is a great factor that will determine traveling. Young ones prefer to be very adventurous and
like more activities. The middle-aged travelers are more concerned about their comfort. Senior citizen
travelers prefer not to be very active and just stay at home or in their hotels.
• Gender – This is another major factor for traveling. Males think differently from females. Men would
like to schedule time for family, business, work, and leisure than women. When mothers travel with
the family, they give attention to the whole family especially to small children, thinking more of their
enjoyment.
• Education – Those who are better-educated and have high economic status normally earn more than
less educated ones. Therefore, they can have more choices when traveling.

References:
Baltazar, J. P., & Verzosa, R. F. (2016). Local guiding services. Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House Inc.
Versoza, R. F. (2016). Travel services. Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House.

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