A tour guide is a person who helps visitors explore new places. They share facts, stories, directions. They make sure visitors are safe and enjoy their trip. You need customer service skills. Their schedule can change without notice. Tour guides work weekends. The global tour guide system market size is USD 253.7 million in 2022. It is projected to be USD 302.9 million by 2028.
The business of tour guide is one of the finest professions. Tour guides travel the world and discover places. They interact with different cultures. They meet people from different origins. Tour guides have the chance to see the world uniquely. Traveling is a sought-after perk. Tour guides need communication skills. They know routes like the backs of their hands. They set guests at ease. You work with different people from cultures, languages and religions. You see the world differently with more opinions. You make global friends and networks.
Entry-level positions start at R 240,000 per year, while most experienced workers make up to R 266,100 per year. Generally speaking, tour guides can earn between $50 and $150 per day taking into consideration factors such as experience, locations, training, type of tour, and others. Aside from this, many tour companies encourage their passengers to tip the tour guides, so this can bump up your salary dramatically. Long working hours – Many tour guides work from 8 to 12, sometimes even 15 hours a day, and this continues every day. Many guides do get 2 or 3 days off in between tours, but there are month-long tours that will require you to work all the time and get very little sleep.
There are no formal education requirements for tour guides, though most have at least a high school diploma.