With the increasing number of tourist destinations and tourists visiting, there is the need for tourist guides that can help the tourism department to sustain their work regularly. Some students usually think of opting for the career option that can help them explore various places and are passionate about traveling across different destinations. This can help them gain experience by traveling, thereby developing the required skills. Also, this is a very interesting option that can make you enjoy every moment and realize the perfect choice that you made while choosing the career option.
Now you must be thinking that what are the eligibility criteria for becoming a tourist guide?
So there is no such maximum age limit to be a tourist guide. You should have completed your graduation from any discipline and the general exam is conducted for the recruitment that includes general knowledge, history, culture, heritage, and many other subjects. If you get selected then the Ministry of Tourism provides you license and training for working under them in various states. You can work as a tour operator, travel agent, adventure and leisure tourism provider, marketing souvenirs, etc.
What skills are required to be a successful tourist guide? Besides eligibility, you should possess certain skills that can make you confident enough for your interview and can convince the interviewers that you are the only person eligible. Let us have a glance at the skills required:
COMMAND ON LANGUAGE: Your command of language can reflect your overall personality to be the tourist guide. It can help you communicate with different people worldwide and can remove the linguistic gap between the tourists and you. Language skills are like a mirror that can boost your confidence with every step that you take forward in your professional career.
KNOWLEDGABLE: A student should have a piece of complete knowledge regarding the various monuments and heritage sites so that you can guide all the tourists in a better way than others. This can enhance your self-confidence so that you can perform your best every day.
BE PATIENT: You should be patient enough while handling your clients. Never hurry as the tourists want to enjoy every moment where they have visited. Also don’t wrap up the topic very fastly, always try to make a historical story so that it can be engaging to all and the tourists can enjoy it completely.
BE PERSONAL: While telling the history or anything about a particular spot you should be personal by taking narrating personal experiences to the people and try to develop a connection with them so that their tour can be memorable enough.
Right Skill = Bright Future
LEARN AT LEAST 1-2 FOREIGN LANGUAGES: Make your command on the frequently used foreign languages so that you can satisfy the foreign tourists in their language and make them understand everything in a better way.
BE PLANNED: Make a mind map and do the required planning for the visits. You should think of all the things in a particular order so that the tourists enjoy their experience while visiting the specific destinations in the particular city.
DON’T WORRY FOR BEING PERFECT: Always give your best and do justice to your profession. Never worry to be perfect, it is often said that perfection comes with experience. So don’t focus on that and try to be unique in delivering your knowledge to others.
Which Skill Should You Master?
BE ETHICAL: A person should be ethical and respect all the tourists irrespective of caste, creed, color, race, etc. You should always take care of the most popular epithet, “ATITHI DEVO BHAVA”, while treating the tourists, whether Indian or foreigner. Also at that time, you do not forget that you are the only identity of the entire country that can build the image of the country.
END ON TIME: Always take care that you should not take much time as it can create boredom among visitors and sometimes this can hinder them from grasping the various things appropriately. You should innovatively channelize things so that you can complete all the things on time.
Now let us put the lid on the topic by saying that though the job of a tourist guide appears to be very simple, actually it can prove to be very difficult to convince people on a common topic. Many different techniques are required to make them understand the various things about history, and making their tour memorable. So if you also have the passion to travel and introduce various places, this career option is best suited for you.
