How to Become a Tour Guide: Career Guide, Courses, Jobs, Scope, Salary

Types of Tour Guides

Check out the various types of Tour Guides below.

Inbound Tour Guides

• Inbound Tour Guides or Inbound tour operators, work on bringing tourists to a specific country, either as a group or through individual tour packages.
• They are responsible for regulating the plans in the host country.
• The types of tours conducted by the Inbound tour operators are particularly for the non-residents, who come to a tour in that country.

Outbound Tour Guide

• Outbound Tour Guides also handle the work of taking tourists to other countries.
• They are a specific kind of tour operator who market their international destination tours. It can either be leisure travel, or related to business.

Domestic Tour Guide

• Domestic Tour Guides or operators supply tour and travel packages: that is in a tourist’s native country.
• The tours that domestic tour operators coordinate, primarily includes the residents of a particular country, who will travel within their country.

Receptive Tour Guide 

• Receptive tour operators or RTOs, supply tourism products in other markets.
• These tourism products are either sold to a tour package, or alone, or they can also be sold to travel agents as well as to the normal tour operators.

Ground Tour Guide 

• Ground Tour Guides or operators are basically local companies, providing the travel services necessary for a specific destination.
• They own employee guides, vehicles, hotels with negotiable rates, and some other elements to provide a full-service experience to the travellers.

Steps for How to Become a Tour Guide

The following steps state a generalized guide to become a Tour Guide.

Decision Making 

Before selecting a Career as a Tour Guide proper research should be done regarding the pros and cons of this Career Profile. The job prospect along with the annual salary packages should be noted too before one selects the career.

Subject Choice 

There is no requirement of selecting a particular stream or subject for this career at the 10+2 level. However, coursework relevant to Travel and Tourism must be done for getting the job of a Tour Guide. Candidates with a higher degree are more preferred.

Entrance Exam Preparation

Scores in a particular Entrance exam preferred by the institute are necessary for taking admission in the Travel and Tourism course. For an MBA degree, the qualifying scores in CAT, MAT, XAT or GMAT are required. For a Doctorate, a NET score is necessary.

Selecting Correct College/ Institute

Aspirants must do proper research regarding ranking, placement, faculty, internship etc. before joining the institute. After qualifying the entrance exam, candidates must select the college and follow the admission guidelines in that institute.

How to become a Tour Guide in India?

Indian Students are allowed to pursue different courses in Tourism ranging from Certificate Courses to PhD courses. Students can take admission to courses in specializations like Travel and Tourism Studies, Hospitalities and Tourism Management and many more. A student who wishes to pursue this career must train their mind and start preparing after their schooling. A short description of how to be a Tour- Coordinator is as follows-

School level Preparation

Students having 50% score in 10+2 level can pursue certificate, diploma and various degree courses in Travel and Tourism studies and many more after completing 10+2 degree from a recognized board. A student who wishes to go for higher studies should start preparing for the entrance exams like CAT, GRE, GMAT etc from his UG stage.

Graduation level preparation

For PG courses, a bachelor degree with 55% aggregate marks in the same branch is very essential to earn an MBA degree with a specialization in Hospitality and Tourism Management. Entrance exams like CAT, MAT etc. are needed for admission to the MBA course. Students who wish to pursue PG from abroad should try to prepare themselves for the exams like GRE, TOEFL, GMAT etc so that it becomes easy to crack those exams without a year gap.

Post Graduate Level Preparation 

After completion of the postgraduate degree, a student matching the eligibility criteria can enrol for PhD Courses after qualifying for the relevant entrance test. An Aspirant must start his preparation for PhD entrances from their PG stage so that it becomes easy to qualify it in time.

Courses to become a Tour Guide

A Tour Guide manages the requirements of staff and professionals from different parts of the world involved in a tour. Degrees in business, eco-tourism, accounting, communications are preliminary criteria for a Tour-Coordinator. Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Business, Hotel Management are essential eligibility. Moreover, additional education and certificate courses in a foreign language can enhance the strength of the resume.

PGD in Travel and Tourism

Post Graduate Diploma in Travel and Tourism is a 1-2-year program. The course admits students on a merit basis.

BBA in Travel and Tourism Management

BBA in Tourism and Travel Management is a 3 years undergraduate degree course that is conducted in semester mode. The basic eligibility is that a student must have completed their 10+2 with a minimum of 60% marks.

MBA IN TRAVEL AND TOURISM MANAGEMENT 

MBA in Tourism is a two-year postgraduate program that helps the student to pursue a career as a Tour Guide. Students must be graduated with 50% aggregate marks in any stream from a recognized university

How to Become a Tour Guide Abroad

The following section enlists the various courses and colleges in the UK and Australia to become a Tour Guide abroad.

Tour Guide in UK

• Universities in the UK are probably the most exceptionally respected in the world..
• The duration for UG Course is 3 years and the PG course is 2 years.
• The average course fees range from INR 16 to 38 lakhs.
• Candidates must necessarily submit an English Proficiency Test

Top Colleges to Pursue Tour Guide Courses in UK

Tour Guide in Australia 

Australia has several courses related to Tourism at UG and PG level. Candidates can choose any course out of B.A. in International Hospitality and Tourism, MBA in Tourism, BBA in Tourism etc.

• The average course fees range from INR 20 to 39.8 lakhs.
• Course duration can be from 3 to 2 years.
• Candidates must submit an English Proficiency Test.

Top Colleges to Pursue Tour Guide Courses in Australia 

Tour Guide in the USA 

There are several courses for tourism in the United States. A master degree in tourism is especially famous in many of those colleges, and also at an affordable cost.

• The average course fee for tourism in the colleges of the USA are 25 lakhs.
• Course duration is generally 2 years here.
• It is necessary for all the candidates to submit an English proficiency test score.

How to Become a Tour Guide: Top Recruiters

Aspirants pursuing Tourism courses are selected in different companies. Some are as follows:

Benefits of Career as a Tour Guide

Tour Guide is a career that gives immense pleasure along with the struggle for survival. However, numerous benefits can be enjoyed through this field. Some of such benefits are as follows.

• Salary: The pay is equally attractive and increases with experience. The average pays for the Tour Guide ranges between INR 2 to 10 LPA. The highest salary is dependent on the amount of skill and experience.
• Job Security: Tour Guides with years of work experience and a good portfolio are in much demand. Candidates having more than 15 years of experience can earn 12 LPA
• Positive Impact of the Career: Tour Guide is a field that requires a lot of negotiations and communication skills. The travel coordinator handles trip-related tasks. As one handles more projects their credibility increases.
• Higher Studies: For candidates who are working, there are short term diploma and certificate courses. Full-time degrees include Management courses in Hospitality and Tourism. However, a person can also earn a doctorate.
• Unique Experience: Tour Guide is a unique career and full of responsibility. Tour Guides get to travel to various places and get to meet attractive clients.

Skills Required to Become a Tour Guide

Tour Guides must have certain skills to stand out in the job market and attract more customers. The table gives a glimpse of the skills that a Tour Guide must possess.

Salary of a Tour Guide 

Besides being hired by travelling agencies a Tour Guide is also hired by some MNCs, specialist firms and international business travel management companies. A Tour Guide with 2 to 4 years of experience can expect a salary of 3-5 lakhs. The job opportunities for a Tour Guide can be understood from the graph below-

Average Annual Salary in India 

Experience wise Salary