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Source: http://wftga.org
Mrs Rosalind Newlands WFTGA President and a pioneer for professional Tourist Guide Training, proudly collected her OBE from a snowy Buckingham Palace. She was awarded the OBE for services to the tourism industry. A Scottish Tourist Guide (aka Blue Badge Guide) since 1983, Ros, as she is known to over 100,000 professionally trained Tourist Guides worldwide, is an active Scottish Tourist Guide and President of the World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations, representing over 65 countries. In addition to her tourist guide activities and her global role, Ros is also Course Director for the 2-year Scottish Tourist Guide Training Course at the University of Edinburgh.
Ros says “Qualified tourist guides are ambassadors for their countries and are often the only people that visitors really talk to and engage with. A Guide can make or break a destination. In the current global economic climate, it is even more important that those who travel receive the best quality products and services. Some unqualified guides work mostly through commissions and tips and do not offer a professional service to visitors.
Members of the World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations (WFTGA) are all professional qualified tourist guides who adhere to a Code of Practice and Quality Charter. It is a great honour for professional Scottish Tourist Guide training to be recognised in this way.”
Saturday 12 February 2011
Monday 31 January 2011
Tour Guides – take along for guiding
What do you usually take along with you while guiding? Tour guides need to get prepared when meeting your travel clients. One preparation is your take-along materials. There can be two categories of things to bring – the necessity and the value-adding.
The necessity refers to the basic things that help you complete a tour. Pick-up sign with client’s name, sightseeing tour itinerary for the day, guide license, water supply, mobile phone for communication, rain coats for the weather, etc. If you are showing a big group, microphone is needed to make sure all travelers can hear you. A flag may also be necessary to lead the group forward.
Depending on the different natures of guiding, tour guides can create your own list of necessary take-along. Mountain guides may need supporting equipments. Adventure trip requires medicine preparation. Take a torch if you will process in the dark.
The value-adding things assist tour guides to practice his work more vividly and successfully.
Some materials help to explain what you see. For example, a map of the area so that you can offer a geographic idea of the tour coverage. Pictures for vivid explanation of certain history or cultural backgrounds. As we are entering an information era, electronic products now allow tour guides bring more information than they can carry.
Carry something with your company logo. It can be your bag, hat, T-shirt… The sign helps your clients to recognize you during the tour. Moreover, it reminds your clients of your company in a subtle way. By doing this, you are also a walking advertisement while guiding. Small complimentary gift of the visited spots is also a good choice.
What other things do you carry when you guide the tour? Share with us.
The necessity refers to the basic things that help you complete a tour. Pick-up sign with client’s name, sightseeing tour itinerary for the day, guide license, water supply, mobile phone for communication, rain coats for the weather, etc. If you are showing a big group, microphone is needed to make sure all travelers can hear you. A flag may also be necessary to lead the group forward.
Depending on the different natures of guiding, tour guides can create your own list of necessary take-along. Mountain guides may need supporting equipments. Adventure trip requires medicine preparation. Take a torch if you will process in the dark.
The value-adding things assist tour guides to practice his work more vividly and successfully.
Some materials help to explain what you see. For example, a map of the area so that you can offer a geographic idea of the tour coverage. Pictures for vivid explanation of certain history or cultural backgrounds. As we are entering an information era, electronic products now allow tour guides bring more information than they can carry.
Carry something with your company logo. It can be your bag, hat, T-shirt… The sign helps your clients to recognize you during the tour. Moreover, it reminds your clients of your company in a subtle way. By doing this, you are also a walking advertisement while guiding. Small complimentary gift of the visited spots is also a good choice.
What other things do you carry when you guide the tour? Share with us.
Monday 24 January 2011
OurExplorer website take on a new look
Check out the new OurExplorer site design today! The improved design of the OurExplorer.com website has made tour guide profile page more attractive with a new feature allowing guides to upload more than one photo.
Better search page of Find a Tour Guide and Private Sightseeing Tours. Customers now can sort their search results by tourist guide language, licensed, top rated and bookings
Clearer tour guide listing page for clients to view 10 tour guides on one page. You can see critical information like tour guide license, personal skills and most recent client review.
Check out more at http://www.ourexplorer.com.
Better search page of Find a Tour Guide and Private Sightseeing Tours. Customers now can sort their search results by tourist guide language, licensed, top rated and bookings
Clearer tour guide listing page for clients to view 10 tour guides on one page. You can see critical information like tour guide license, personal skills and most recent client review.
Check out more at http://www.ourexplorer.com.
Monday 17 January 2011
How to promote sightseeing tours via twitter?
Twitter is a new and quick-developing method for online marketing. Think first, is this a platform to show your personal characters or to present your sightseeing tours. If it is a personal stage for you, then you can tweet anything you like. But if you want to make it a marketing channel, how can tour guide use this word-of-mouth to get more clients?
Create a profile with clear business info. Choose a user name relevant to your business. Your user name will appear in the URL and be mentioned through communication with other users. It can be your company name e.g. http://twitter.com/ViatorTravel. Show your key service is also a good choice, e.g. http://twitter.com/tour_guide for OurExplorer. Take some time to complete your biography info including profile photo, location, web and bio. This is one-time effort and tells visitors who you are. If you want to do more, you can edit the background picture of your twitter page, matching your website or business.
Connect twitter with other platforms to maximize your tweets. Twitter has applications for user to choose. On the other hands, many websites provide option to include your tweets directly. For example, you can add twitter to your network profiles for more automatic viral. You may combine twitter with your blog, to maximize the effects of single post.
What can you tweet to promote sightseeing tours? New available sightseeing tours, seasonal promotion for certain tours, client testimonials on your tours, updates in the popular sightseeing tours… Use your creativity to viral in 140 characters.
Twitter is also a social network platform. You can connect with other people by following or being followed. Your sightseeing tours would enjoy word-of-mouth all over the world with successful viral marketing.
Update regularly to keep it live. Twitter is a mini-blog, as some people call it. Like blog posts, regular updates are recommended.
OurExplorer twitter - http://twitter.com/tour_guide. Welcome to share your twitter experience here or @tour_guide.
Create a profile with clear business info. Choose a user name relevant to your business. Your user name will appear in the URL and be mentioned through communication with other users. It can be your company name e.g. http://twitter.com/ViatorTravel. Show your key service is also a good choice, e.g. http://twitter.com/tour_guide for OurExplorer. Take some time to complete your biography info including profile photo, location, web and bio. This is one-time effort and tells visitors who you are. If you want to do more, you can edit the background picture of your twitter page, matching your website or business.
Connect twitter with other platforms to maximize your tweets. Twitter has applications for user to choose. On the other hands, many websites provide option to include your tweets directly. For example, you can add twitter to your network profiles for more automatic viral. You may combine twitter with your blog, to maximize the effects of single post.
What can you tweet to promote sightseeing tours? New available sightseeing tours, seasonal promotion for certain tours, client testimonials on your tours, updates in the popular sightseeing tours… Use your creativity to viral in 140 characters.
Twitter is also a social network platform. You can connect with other people by following or being followed. Your sightseeing tours would enjoy word-of-mouth all over the world with successful viral marketing.
Update regularly to keep it live. Twitter is a mini-blog, as some people call it. Like blog posts, regular updates are recommended.
OurExplorer twitter - http://twitter.com/tour_guide. Welcome to share your twitter experience here or @tour_guide.
Sunday 9 January 2011
How to promote tour guide services via blog?
Blogging is popular nowadays on the internet. It can be an efficient marketing method to promote tour guide services. Have you considered using a blog to drive more clients? If you had a blog already, is it active enough to get more readers and clients? Here are some tips on tour guide blogging.
How to start a blog? You can start a blog within minutes through third-party platforms. There are existing platforms like blogger, wordpress, etc. You just need to create a profile and use their tools and applications. If you have an existing website on tour guide services, you can incorporate third-party blog into your own website. For more sophisticated website owners, you can ask your IT to create a blog page specifically to your requests.
What to write in the blog posts? For a tour guide, you need to first clarify the purpose of blogging. Do you want to show your passion for the destination you guide, or you want to drive more clients and expand your business? You can share your knowledge and recommendation in the guided area. Or introduce the scenic spots together with your sightseeing tours. You also need to think about your readers. Be reader-oriented and write what may interest them.
How frequent do you need to update your blog? There is no fixed number how frequent a blog guide shall be updated. It is better you write regular blog posts. Your blog then looks fresh to both readers and search engines. Do not write everything at the beginning and run out of topics after months. Once a week or twice a week can be a good frequency. Sure you can update every day when you have plenty of things to share.
Have you had a nice blog for your tour guiding service or have you come across any good blogs by tour guides? Welcome to share here.
How to start a blog? You can start a blog within minutes through third-party platforms. There are existing platforms like blogger, wordpress, etc. You just need to create a profile and use their tools and applications. If you have an existing website on tour guide services, you can incorporate third-party blog into your own website. For more sophisticated website owners, you can ask your IT to create a blog page specifically to your requests.
What to write in the blog posts? For a tour guide, you need to first clarify the purpose of blogging. Do you want to show your passion for the destination you guide, or you want to drive more clients and expand your business? You can share your knowledge and recommendation in the guided area. Or introduce the scenic spots together with your sightseeing tours. You also need to think about your readers. Be reader-oriented and write what may interest them.
How frequent do you need to update your blog? There is no fixed number how frequent a blog guide shall be updated. It is better you write regular blog posts. Your blog then looks fresh to both readers and search engines. Do not write everything at the beginning and run out of topics after months. Once a week or twice a week can be a good frequency. Sure you can update every day when you have plenty of things to share.
Have you had a nice blog for your tour guiding service or have you come across any good blogs by tour guides? Welcome to share here.
Monday 27 December 2010
2010: Top Rated Tour Guides on OurExplorer
At the end of year 2010, we would like to share with travelers our top booked and rated tour guides. They have provided excellent services to travelers from around the world.
Shanghai Tour Guide - Jean Liu
Reviewed by Michael Hirai - "Our trip to Shanghai was wonderful thanks to Jean. We were impressed with her professionalism and her knowledge of Shanghai's history. We booked her for a full day to go to Zhujiajiao (a water town) followed by a tour of Shanghai. We asked her to show us Old Shanghai the next day and fortunately, she was available to do so. We also really enjoyed our time with her. She is a lovely young lady and both my husband and I would highly recommend her."
Bangkok Tour Guide - Irene K.
Reviewed by Marco Ramos - "Thank you so much for the excellent tour ever! It was such a beautiful honeymoon for us. Bangkok Highlights and Floating Market programs are absolutely fabulous. Will contact you again when we come back to Thailand."
Athens Tour Guide - Diana Stefanou-Huttinga
Reviewed by Robert Costello - "Our family of four (including two teenagers) toured the Acropolis and Athens with Diana in late August, and couldn't have been more pleased. Diana is outgoing, funny, and has great knowledge of the city and historical sites. She customized the day to accommodate our wishes, and found a great, non-tourist restaurant for lunch. A perfect seven hour excursion for our day in port!"
Kota Kinabalu Tour Guide - Grace Leong
Reviewed by Paula Olymbios- " Grace is a national treasure. She is personable, very knowledgeable regarding the history, flaura and fauna of Sabah. She is passionate about tour guiding and this comes through during your interaction with her. She is enthusiastic energetic and devoted to the tour participants. Our teenage children voted Grace our best guide while in Sabah. An absolute pleasure."
Istanbul Tour Guide - NESRIN ULUPINAR
Reviewed by Norman Steinberg - "It was so wonderful to have you guiding us through Istanbul. We saw far more with you than we had on our past visits. Your choice of lunch restaurants was fantastic. We would recommend you to any of our friends. Thank you for making our stay so memorable. Regards Rosslyn and Norman (Calgary Canada) PS. some of our friends will be contacting you shortly"
Shanghai Tour Guide - Jean LiuReviewed by Michael Hirai - "Our trip to Shanghai was wonderful thanks to Jean. We were impressed with her professionalism and her knowledge of Shanghai's history. We booked her for a full day to go to Zhujiajiao (a water town) followed by a tour of Shanghai. We asked her to show us Old Shanghai the next day and fortunately, she was available to do so. We also really enjoyed our time with her. She is a lovely young lady and both my husband and I would highly recommend her."
Bangkok Tour Guide - Irene K.Reviewed by Marco Ramos - "Thank you so much for the excellent tour ever! It was such a beautiful honeymoon for us. Bangkok Highlights and Floating Market programs are absolutely fabulous. Will contact you again when we come back to Thailand."
Athens Tour Guide - Diana Stefanou-HuttingaReviewed by Robert Costello - "Our family of four (including two teenagers) toured the Acropolis and Athens with Diana in late August, and couldn't have been more pleased. Diana is outgoing, funny, and has great knowledge of the city and historical sites. She customized the day to accommodate our wishes, and found a great, non-tourist restaurant for lunch. A perfect seven hour excursion for our day in port!"
Kota Kinabalu Tour Guide - Grace LeongReviewed by Paula Olymbios- " Grace is a national treasure. She is personable, very knowledgeable regarding the history, flaura and fauna of Sabah. She is passionate about tour guiding and this comes through during your interaction with her. She is enthusiastic energetic and devoted to the tour participants. Our teenage children voted Grace our best guide while in Sabah. An absolute pleasure."
Istanbul Tour Guide - NESRIN ULUPINARReviewed by Norman Steinberg - "It was so wonderful to have you guiding us through Istanbul. We saw far more with you than we had on our past visits. Your choice of lunch restaurants was fantastic. We would recommend you to any of our friends. Thank you for making our stay so memorable. Regards Rosslyn and Norman (Calgary Canada) PS. some of our friends will be contacting you shortly"
In the coming year 2011, OurExplorer will connect more travelers with qualified tour guides in 140+ countries. Happy Exploring!
Monday 20 December 2010
Set up your New Year targets
It is approaching a New Year 2011. This is a season for greetings as well as setting up near year targets. For development in your tour guide career, you can set up your new targets by looking back into the past days in 2010.
How busy were you and are you happy about the workload? Have you had a busy year with lots of client bookings? If yes, congratulations. If not, you need to look for more channels to develop your business. Internet is a good platform to approach clients, as most travelers seek information online nowadays.
Reflect on client feedback. Do you have happy clients or clients with complaints? It is great if you receive all positive feedback from your past clients. Your focus is then to maintain your service level. Complaints can also be helpful as they tell your weakness. You can improve accordingly in the new year.
Learn something new. Tour guiding is the work that requires continuous learning. Try to learn something new to help with your career. It can be a new language, a new skill, a new area to study, a new route in your destination of guiding …… Choose anything that interests you and can assist guiding in some way.
Do write down your targets and timeline for completion. You may refer to it from time to time, so that the targets can be achieved at end of the year.
Happy holidays and wish you a prosperous year 2011!
How busy were you and are you happy about the workload? Have you had a busy year with lots of client bookings? If yes, congratulations. If not, you need to look for more channels to develop your business. Internet is a good platform to approach clients, as most travelers seek information online nowadays.
Reflect on client feedback. Do you have happy clients or clients with complaints? It is great if you receive all positive feedback from your past clients. Your focus is then to maintain your service level. Complaints can also be helpful as they tell your weakness. You can improve accordingly in the new year.
Learn something new. Tour guiding is the work that requires continuous learning. Try to learn something new to help with your career. It can be a new language, a new skill, a new area to study, a new route in your destination of guiding …… Choose anything that interests you and can assist guiding in some way.
Do write down your targets and timeline for completion. You may refer to it from time to time, so that the targets can be achieved at end of the year.
Happy holidays and wish you a prosperous year 2011!
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