The 14th WFTGA Convention 2011

The 14th WFTGA Convention (World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations) will take place in Tallinn during January 29 - February 4, 2011.

According to Laura Taul, president of Tallinn Guide Association, “For the 2011 Convention we have suggested a comprehensive programme both for the participants in the Convention and for those accompanying them under the Theme Culture as a Unifying Guide. In 2011 Tallinn will be the European Capital of Culture, and naturally this became the underlying idea for our whole programme.

Our intention in drafting the programme has been to meet the expectations of members who want to learn and experience something new to enhance their professional skills, and also to provide a good experiential background to the training and discussions during the workshops organised together with the WFTGA."

The convention programme covers
Monday – Medieval Culture
Tuesday – National and Traditional Culture
Wednesday – Contemporary Culture
Thursday – Alternative Culture
Friday – The Role of the Culture Guide in Today’s Changing World

Viator (OurExplorer.com) has taken a sponsorship package at the upcoming Convention of the World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations. We will have an exhibition stand during this event and hope to meet those of you attending in person and to share more with you about our ongoing efforts to promote and support tourist guides. We'd love to hear from you at the 14th WFTGA Convention.

How to arrange meals in sightseeing tours?

For many travelers, trying local foods and cruise is part of the fun during sightseeing tours. How should a tour guide choose dining places when there are several options? What to recommend and what to avoid for travelers? Safe and clean is the basic rule when tour guides pick restaurants. Below are some other tips to help arrange great dining experience.

Choose venues close to the scenic spots. Some restaurants can be great. However, if they are not along the route, it would be a bad choice. Travelers are limited with time, different from local residence.

Recommend restaurants with specialty. It can be a restaurant famous for local signature dishes. Restaurants with nice views are also a good choice. Travelers can enjoy the view as well as the foods. Try avoiding repetition during multi-day sightseeing tours. Choose different restaurants or styles unless your clients want to visit the same restaurant again. This is for travelers to try a variety of things during the short stay.

Help travelers with ordering. When visiting a restaurant of local style, a tour guide needs to explain briefly on the menu. It can be hard for tourists to choose as the foods or cooking might be unfamiliar. The guide can introduce the popular dishes, the materials used, or how the foods are cooked. Choose dishes with local flavor or uniqueness. Mind also the seasonal foods. If your clients are visiting among the season for some special dishes, why not introduce to see if they are interested? For example, October/November is the season for hairy crab dishes in Shanghai every year. Take an extra notice to the eating habits of foreign visitors. Are there any table manners that travelers need to pay attention, or can they handle the dining tools like chopsticks or fork?

Some travelers are adventurous with foods while others are very conservative. Ask about client’s preference of flavor and budget before choosing the restaurant. Give more recommendation if they are interested in local foods. If your clients prefer their home-style meals, a tour guide only needs to refer relevant restaurants.

What are your tips of meal selection in sightseeing tours? Share with us.

Tour Guides: Mind Road Safety

Transportation makes part of the sightseeing tours. Depending on the group size, it can be a private car, bus, or taxi. While the driver is responsible for safe driving, tour guides need to remind travelers of road safety.

Remind passengers of the seat belt. People from some countries are cautious of road safety, while others might neglect. After boarding the vehicle, a tour guide needs to inform clients where the seat belts are. Ask them to put on the belt for safety reasons, especially when there are kids on the vehicle. Take extra attention to see if the kids are safely fastened.

Mind your own security on the vehicle. If you are standing while it is driving, hold on to something in case of emergency. There is a place for the guide in front of a bus. If you are sitting, put the seat belt on. For one thing, the guide is often taking the front seat which has higher risks at accidents. On the other hand, a guide may need to turn back and talk to clients along the way.

When doing walking tours, tour guides also need to mind the traffic when crossing the street. Travelers are new to the destination, some even from foreign countries. The traffic rule and customs can be very different. As a tour guide, it is necessary to remind your clients of road safety. Watch out for the traffic when necessary.

Would you like to share your experience with us on road safety? We are listening.

How to handle extra requests from clients?

When tour guides actually meet travel clients, they may be asked of extra service during the sightseeing tours. How do you handle those last-minute requirements professionally? You do not have to run desperately to meet every request from your client. If it is a reasonable and practical requirement, try providing the service for a better travel experience. If it is impossible to carry out, explain to the travelers and they would understand.

What can be asked extra on a tour guide?

Extra guiding day. The clients are so happy about your guiding service that they would like to spend more time with you. Check your availability. If you are available, why not extend your service? Discuss for the extra tour arrangements and itinerary with your clients. Thus, both of you are clear of what to do in the coming tour.

Extra places of interest. Sometimes travelers read about new places of interest outside the itinerary. They may ask to visit these extra places. As a tour guide who is more familiar with the area, you shall check possibility first. Do you have enough time to cover the extra place? It shall not affect the agreed itinerary. Do you have resources to visit the extra place? For example, if extra transportation arrangement is necessary. Is the place worth visiting? Talk with your clients to see what they expect on the new spot. You do not want to make extra efforts, only to find them disappointed.

Extra activity or entertainments. It can be an extended night tour, local performances, or a local signature meal... Again, tour guides need to weigh if the new requirements are practical. If possible to arrange, it is good to help your clients for greater fun. Communicate clearly on any extra costs. If it is unreasonable request, tour guide shall be confident to say “No”.

Any other requests did you receive from your clients? Have you handled the extra requests successfully? Welcome to share with us.

Dressing Code for Tour Guides

How do you dress as a tour guide at work? It depends on what type of guiding you carry on. For example, mountain guides need different clothes from city guides. Adventure guides wear differently from museum guides. Walking guides may require more comfortable shoes than tour bus guides. Yet there are some general rules in dressing for tour guides.

Dress comfortably for your guiding work. Tour guiding is a physical work requiring a lot of walking, standing, and climbing etc. Sometimes when clients are at rest, tour guide is still busy preparing the next stop. Thus, comfortable clothes and shoes are important for a guide to complete the work.

Wear clear and neat, casual but not too loose. Guiding is a way of presentation. Clear and neat dressing provides a good first impression to your clients. As most tour guides meet clients on vacation and trips, casual dressing is recommended. It is awkward if you wear formal suits while the travelers are on T-shirts. On the other hand, because the guide is at work, it is not professional to wear too loosely like slippers.

Do not wear shinning but do stand out if necessary. If you are taking a ghost tour, or guiding for Halloween, abnormal costumes may add to the fun nature of tour. In the case of busy tourist spots, you may choose clothes with outstanding colours. It will be easier for clients to identify you during the sightseeing tours. Otherwise, casual smart dressing is recommended.

Do you have a brand or logo? Wear it on your clothes, hats, umbrella, bags… This contributes to your branding. Not only remind your clients of who you are, but also shows other people along the tour.

How do you dress when working as a tour guide? Let us know if you pay attention to any particular things.

How to present your sightseeing tour itinerary upon meeting?

Tour guides often communicate with travelers via email, telephone, fax, etc. to confirm sightseeing tour details. When you actually meet travelers on the day, it is good to present the printed itinerary. Clients will be clearer of what they are going to do with you. Some travelers might print out the sightseeing tour details already, while many more do not. A simply one-page itinerary will show your care on clients. Moreover, it can be a tool for promotion.

Why one-page? This is like a resume. Most people do not have the patience to read if it is overloaded with content. Just put the essential information, not everything. As a tour guide, you probably will talk through the information during the sightseeing tour. A neat and clear one-page itinerary is ideal.

What to include on that one-page?

The itinerary is the basic. When and where to meet, what to see, what to do… Depending on the tour nature, notes can be added on dressing or things to bring.

Add a receipt of payment details, or the tour quote agreed by you and the clients. This is to remind them of the total amount of payment. If you are guiding foreign clients who use a different currency from yours, it is helpful to include the amount in their currency. It saves the trouble of clients to convert by themselves.

Include tour guide contact details. This is to promote yourself and your guiding services. Easy for your clients to keep in touch with you or refer your service to other people. Better if you give your business card together with the itinerary. Branding is important, even though you just brand for yourself as a tour guide.

What do you include in the tour itinerary when meeting clients? Welcome to share your tips that will contribute to a successful sightseeing tour.

How to keep your sightseeing tours fresh?

As a private tour guide, do you design your sightseeing tours yourself? If yes, it is important to keep it fresh. Tour guiding is not repeating what’s written on the guide books. It is to introduce the local scenic spots vividly with your own culture, customs and history. That is to say, a tour guide adds his/her own knowledge and wisdom into the sightseeing tours. It is how one can differentiate from others. Therefore, the best way to keep a sightseeing tour fresh is to keep learning as a guide.

Learn the latest news of your place of guiding. Travelers are interested to hear what is happening in the destination. It helps to learn more about the local life. History facts will not change often but people are changing in the daily life. With the up-to-date information, a tour guide is not repeating himself all the time.

Keep an eye on industry related information. You are not working alone as a tour guide. When leading a sightseeing tour, many parties are involved. E.g. transportation, restaurants, scenic spots, hotels… A professional guide needs to be well equipped with industry related information. It is no good taking the clients somewhere only to find out the place is closed under maintenance, isn’t it?

Expand your knowledge on what’s going on in the outside world. For a foreign language tour guide, you may pay particular attention to news of your major client sources. It contributes to wider topics at guiding. Also, when a tour guide understands more of other cultures, you can present your own culture in a better way and make easy for foreign travelers to learn.

Note the seasonal changes. Some destinations vary a lot in different seasons. For example, lakes in the city of Beijing (China) freeze in winter time. Local people do skating and ice activities on the lake. Such scene can not be seen in the summer time. When a tour guide is showing around in the winter season, the remarks shall adjust along with the seasonal change. This way helps the travelers to remember a more lively city.

By keeping the sightseeing tours fresh and interesting, a tour guide makes his own career a lot more fun. It is not only for the benefits of travelers, but for the growth of a guide as well. Now, are you ready to take a new look into your sightseeing tours?