After you retire, keeping yourself busy doing things you love to do is best. Not just that, but it is also important that you stay as productive as possible to allow you to make the best use of your time. If you like discovering places and traveling, becoming a tour guide can be a great idea.
Being a tour guide means you have a huge responsibility to shoulder- you must make the guest experience extremely memorable. You have to be in it with your heart to ensure the guests are involved in the experience with you. In this guide, William Schantz takes you through a few tips to help you become a good tour guide.
How to Become a Tour Guide by William Schantz
Here, you will find several tips to help you start with this journey. Using these, you can slowly work towards becoming better at it too.
1. You Must Have Excellent Communication Skills
To be a tour guide, you need to have excellent communication skills. Remember that it is all about being around people and making them comfortable while at it. You need to make sure that you are audible enough and that everyone is involved in the process. Remember that the people with you rely mainly on you to give them information and share facts with them. You must be one to speak fluently and pay attention to detail as well.
2. You Must Have a Customer Service Mindset
As a tour guide, you are part of the hospitality industry. This means you need to work towards giving people an experience they remember. For that, you need to have a customer-oriented mindset. William Schantz says that you must be hospitable and ensure that everyone is comfortable. No amount of knowledge you have counts if you can’t create that experience for them. Even if you are having a bad day, you must focus on what you are doing and come off as very professional.
3. You Must Know Which Type of Tour Guide You Want to Be
There are several types of tour guides– walking tour guides, city tour guides, museum guides, and so on. To know what works best for you, you need to know what is required from you. You should choose what works best for you based on your area of interest. You will only be able to do justice to your job when you have a detailed know-how of what is required of you.
4. Get Training
You must get the required training and licenses that are needed here if you wish to get this done correctly. Remember that this is a professional career path you are venturing onto, so it is essential that you establish credibility, says William Schantz. This only comes when you get the training you need.
Final Words by William Schantz
So with these valuable tips by William Schantz, you can work on becoming a tour guide. If you like being around people and curating experiences, then this will surely be something you will love to do.