Tour Guide Rob McElroy and Dublin sightseeing tours

1. What is the best thing you like being a tour guide?

Firstly, as I'm an expressionist, it gives me a chance to convey and impart what I know and have experienced in my life in Ireland. But in addition, because I'm a poet and a writer and also like to sing, it allows me the opportunity to use these skills and augment a tour and a commentary for clients. I also love telling and narrating a story so what better way than incorporating all of these things and joining them together like a thread to a needle!

I also feel that as I've studied many subjects and visited and been to many places in my land, tour guiding is the best format to bring them all out AND AVAIL OF THEM!



2. What is your most memorable moment in guiding so far?

I think I would have to go back to the time when I started out: I first worked on an Open Top Bus and by the nature of that service, many people Hop On Hop Off every day - one such person was a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz. We had a chat - which in itself - was memorable – and he said that ''I was the best Tour Guide in any of the places he had visited on his vacation of European cities because in places that weren't interesting, I still made them interesting!''. Then he gave me his autograph!



3. What is most challenging for you in this career? Have you coped with it?

The most challenging thing is, that one is dealing with human beings with different moods, feelings, interests, motivations, incentives, expectations, and one has to meet them - essentially it's being adaptable - I've coped quite well but life is a learning curve and there's always room for improvement!



4. What is your favorite place/thing that you want to show your travel clients?

Tara, Co Meath, because it was the ancient capital of Ireland – a special place which links history, mythology, legends, archaeology, folklore together. Unfortunately, it's not that easy to get to.



5. What if you were not a tour guide? What do you imagine yourself to be?

I'd be a Travel Writer because it'd incorporate my writing and my travel/tour knowledge!

A sample of Rob's dublin sightseeing tours

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