How to See the World as a Tour Guide

Becoming a Tour Guide Is an Attractive Career Choice

 

Many people today positively long for an extraordinary job that lets them travel a lot. Especially if you'd like to see something of the whole beautiful world because you have a fondness for many countries, that can contribute to turning your own hobby into your career.

After all, you already spend a lot of time in the most varied cities all over the world. So the perfect opportunities exist to be a tour guide, so that the many experiences you've been able to gather on different trips can be passed on to others. Being a tour guide would therefore be the perfect option for you, since you love to travel and tell others about the beautiful things. If your heart is in it, don't hesitate. However, don't forget beforehand that in Germany it isn't an officially recognized profession, though there are now plenty of certifications for tour guides. So don't let that hold you back; do what you enjoy and blossom as a tour guide.

How You Can Actually Become a Tour Guide

As already mentioned, a so-called tour guide is not a normal vocational training occupation. Still, there is of course a way to make your wish come true. There are institutes that offer training to become a tour guide, also called a hiking guide, which companies require. There are different categories here. The so-called basic seminar comes first. As a rule, you have to spend five to eight days for this in the Münsterland region, in Turkey, or on Mallorca. Various topics such as rhetoric and teaching strategies, engaging knowledge transfer, communication techniques, conflict management, and also travel law are taught to you in an exciting and varied way. Different exercises help you assess yourself properly. If you want to be a tour guide and decide you'd rather work in the outdoors, you can complete the tour guide training with an outdoor focus. Here you learn things like hiking leadership and trekking in groups, trip preparation, group dynamics and conflict management, and the use of aids such as map and compass or similar. You'll also learn to handle equipment such as stoves, tents, sleeping bags, clothing, and outdoor cooking. Of course, there are also higher-level qualifications you can earn here in order to be a guide. Furthermore, you have the option of deepening everything with intensive courses. Naturally, there are many other further trainings where specific skills can be learned.

How to Find the Right Job When You Want to Become a Tour Guide

Once you've completed the many different courses and further trainings, the prerequisites for being a tour guide are of course in place. Now, though, the question arises of how you'll get the right job at all. On the one hand, the organizations can place you with various tour operators right when you finish the courses. The best opportunity, however, comes when you draw attention to yourself and offer yourself online. That way you can be sure that nothing stands in your way of becoming a tour guide.