Profession guide pros and cons. Emelyanov B.V. Guided tours. Training for the profession of a tour guide - courses, educational institutions, self-study

3.2. The personality of the guide

A person as a harmoniously developed personality combines spiritual wealth, moral purity and physical perfection. Each personality has its own characteristics. There are three such features:

1. Stability of personality traits.
2. The unity of the individual as the unity of certain properties and qualities.
3. The activity of the individual, which is reflected in multilateral activities.

Moral requirements for a person are compliance with general principles and norms of behavior, adherence to certain ideals.

Main personality traits: rationality - the ability to perform reasonable, meaningful actions; responsibility - understanding the results of their actions; personal dignity - behavior related to the protection of one's rights; individuality - uniqueness, personality trait; a set of features that distinguish this person from others.

Active life position- the way a person participates in the activities of society. The life position of a person is expressed in his attitude towards society, work, state and private property, other people and towards himself. When assessing the degree of activity of a person's life position, not isolated facts are considered, but the totality of all possible types of activity: social, labor, moral, ideological and cognitive.

Sociological research and everyday practice show that there are different levels of activity in the life position of people: high, medium and low. The level of an active position depends on the formation of the views of the individual, the education of the worldview and conviction, the development of professional skills. The level of activity of a life position depends on the quality of a particular person, his aspirations and desires, the ability to carry out this or that work.

The educational process is aimed at the formation of the inner world of the individual, the formation of the qualities that underlie the activity of the life position: loyalty to one's duty, high responsibility for the assigned work, collectivism, unity of word and deed.

The guide, due to the peculiarity of his profession, is placed in conditions conducive to the manifestation of an active life position. His task is to make the fullest use of these conditions for his daily activities.

In the activities of the guide, all three levels of life position take place. A high level of life position is characterized by social activity, creative activity, good work, and a sense of moral responsibility. The average or low level of activity of the employee's life position does not allow him to conduct excursion work efficiently. This is how these levels are characterized: the life position of the average level of activity is one-sided in nature, does not go beyond the normative tasks - "from" and "to". The life position is characterized by a low level of activity, passivity, personal inexperience, lack of knowledge, skills, and abilities.

In addition to the three levels of activity of a person's life position, there are others: passive and negative life position. A passive life position is formed on the basis of life failures and disruptions in work, moral instability. A negative life position is characterized by activity in the interests not of the collective, but of the individual, careerism, biased criticism, violation of labor and production discipline, and immoral behavior.

Development of the inclinations and abilities of the individual. A great role in the formation of the personality of the guide is played by the inclinations.

Makings - congenital anatomical and physiological features of the nervous system, brain. The inclinations form the natural basis for the development of human abilities.

Continuous development of the inclinations is one of the important foundations for improving the professional skills of the guide. The inclinations of any person - memory, observation, imagination, ingenuity during their development, can become the basis of outstanding abilities. It is characteristic that on the basis of the same inclinations, depending on the type of activity chosen, different abilities can develop - a teacher, a lecturer, a guide. It should be borne in mind that the same person may have developed abilities that are characteristic of several similar professions. For example, every guide must have the ability of a methodologist. It is no coincidence that the opposite is true: most of the methodologists of excursion institutions are good tour guides.

Under the influence of practical activity, the guide forms special abilities... Abilities are defined as individual personality traits, which are subjective conditions for the successful implementation of a certain type of activity. They are found in the speed, depth and strength of mastering the methods and techniques of any activity.

Human abilities are divided into two groups: general and special. General abilities necessary for mastering all types of activity (mental activity, hard work, observation, perseverance, quick orientation, focused attention). Special abilities are the basis for mastering the skills and abilities of a particular profession, and ensure the achievement of high results in any particular area of \u200b\u200bactivity. These are features - musical, literary, artistic, mathematical, technical, etc.

Everything that positively characterizes the guide (knowledge, abilities, skills) is primarily based on his ability to perform the work entrusted to him. Whatever it was about - developing a new topic, preparing an essay, giving a lecture at courses, listening to an excursion on the route, choosing methodological techniques - the methodologist and the head of the methodological section proceed from the fact whether the given guide will be able to do this work efficiently, i.e. take into account that he has certain abilities that are necessary for this. An important part of the guide's work is preparing and conducting the next excursion.

Excursion preparation is divided into three parts:

1. Repetition of an individual text.
2. Recalling the requirements of the methodological development.
3. Restoration of the route in memory.

The preparation ends with a self-examination, during which the guide asks himself several control questions: where to start the story at the monument? How, for example, will the logical transition from the sub-theme "Theatrical life of the city" to the sub-theme "Everybody do sports"? What is the best way to use visual reconstruction in the disclosure of the subtopic "City in the days of fascist occupation"?

Regardless of how much the guide has learned the topic, he prepares for it every time. The success of the preparation depends on the abilities of the guide, that is, the individual characteristics of the personality - speed and organization when performing all the necessary operations. The concept of "preparation" also includes psychological preparation - strengthening self-confidence, that the next excursion will be conducted at a high enough level that the tourists will be satisfied with what they see and hear.

For a guide, as well as for a teacher, four types of abilities are characteristic: constructive, organizational, communicative and analytical.

Constructive ability find their expression in the ability to select and correctly arrange excursion material, present it clearly and convincingly, and, if necessary, restructure the excursion plan, the scheme of using the methodological method. This type of ability serves as the basis for the guide's mental activity.

Organizational skills are expressed in the ability to manage the excursion group, direct the attention of tourists to the necessary objects, as well as in the ability to ensure the implementation of the program of tourists and excursionists who have arrived from another city.

Communication skills are expressed in the ability to establish business relations with the group, preserve them for the entire period of communication with tourists, correctly build relationships with the bus driver on the route, museum workers, exhibitions visited by tourists, with bureau methodologists, the head of the methodological section, other guides, leaders of tourist groups , travel and excursion organizers.

Analytic skills serve as the basis for a self-critical analysis of their work, an objective assessment of the quality of the excursion, the effectiveness of the use of methodological techniques. Not all guides are equally proficient in these abilities.

An important role in the development of the abilities of a guide is played by studying on courses, working in methodological sections, independent studies near objects, deep assimilation of the methods and techniques of conducting excursions.

The tendentiousness of the guide. An inherent quality of a tour guide as a person is conviction. When conducting an excursion, presenting a topic, the guide must show tendentiousness: clearly and directionally formulate thoughts, correctly, from the standpoint of science, reveal events and phenomena, be persistent in their interpretation. The tendentiousness of the guide is a clear direction in his views and actions, the desire to bring his point of view to the excursionists and not only bring, but also convince them of its correctness. He helps tourists see what he sees himself, persistently directs their attention to those aspects of events and phenomena that should be reflected in their minds. The conviction of the guide plays an important role in this. It is based on his knowledge, ideological and active life position. His conviction is a firm belief in the truth of the communicated knowledge, confidence in the correctness of their interpretation and the correctness of the path he has chosen to follow to the goal.

The role of the temperament of the guide in the conduct of the excursion. The nature of the excursion, its features depend on the temperament of the guide, which manifests itself in his behavior and is characterized by greater or lesser strength of feelings, the duration of experiences, stability or a quick change of emotions. Depending on the type of person's temperament (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic), his behavior is characterized by a certain depth of emotions: hot temper, hot temper, calmness, different reactions to stimuli.

The manifestation of temperament is the result of the general culture of a person, whose behavior can and should be subordinated to his will and depends on the ability to manage his emotions. This is important in relations with tourists during excursions. Emotions arising from him under the influence of external and internal stimuli, his bad mood (excessively uplifted or depressed) should not affect the course of the excursion. The ability to pull yourself together, to provide the necessary tone in the group is an important component of the guiding skills.

An important place in the educational work of methodological sections, advanced training courses, in the independent work of a guide should take the formation of the necessary qualities, overcoming those character traits that interfere with correctly organizing work with tourists. Work to improve the professional skills of guides should be built taking into account the characteristics of a particular temperament. A sanguine guide, for example, is characterized by a fast pace of speech, frequent mood swings, and a quick reaction to the actions of tourists. A choleric person, in the absence of proper control, is unbalanced, quick-tempered, touchy, hurried in the story. The phlegmatic, on the contrary, is slow, not sociable, has monotonous gestures and facial expressions. The melancholic is characterized by isolation, insufficient activity, lethargy of movements.

Each guide needs to have a clear idea of \u200b\u200bthe types of temperament, its manifestations, the essence and nature of emotions, the source of their birth, their role in the formation of conviction among tourists. Understanding this allows him to evoke emotions in his listeners that affect the effectiveness of the perception of excursion material. Just as the playwright and director make sure that the viewer is always captured by the developing action, so the organizer of the excursion should always take care that the excursionists maintain interest and emotional uplift during the entire excursion.

Emotions and feelings of the guide should be objective. The guide tries to make the emotions of the tourists acquire the character of empathy, personal involvement in the events that are shown and characterized in the process of revealing the topic.

The highest level of perception of excursion material is achieved in cases where empathy is something common in the emotions of excursionists. Often, the guide meets with the fact that in a group that is heterogeneous in its composition, not all participants of the tour will have the same reaction to the same message. This is because the emotions that arise depend on the individual characteristics of people, the type of temperament, their mood, interest in the topic, the motives that prompted them to take part in the excursion.

Depending on the topic under consideration, the guide must take into account the level of general education of people and their aesthetic development. Excessive explanation of the material and attempts to simplify it harm the appearance of emotions among tourists. Facilitating the mental activity of his listeners, the guide loses contact with them and thereby destroys the topic. Simplified material, hackneyed examples, lack of novelty in the knowledge communicated, do not evoke any emotions even in those cases when the guide tries to save the case with his personal emotions.

The level of the excursion, the effectiveness of the perception of the material by the excursionists depend on the mental state of the individual, which manifests itself in an increase or decrease in activity (attention, emotions, will) and is directly dependent on the specific conditions of life and work, the microclimate in the team, the state of health, atmospheric processes ( weather, pressure, etc.).

There are several types of mental state of a person - general mental state, emotional state (mood), intellectual creative state, volitional state (readiness for active actions). For the success of the excursion, it is important to provide the necessary mental state of the personality of the guide. When the guide turns to the audience, both a state of lethargy, uncertainty, and increased excitability, irritability, tension in the voice, facial expressions, and gestures are equally unacceptable. The tone of the story should be cheerful, convincing, captivating.

The perception of materials on excursions is based on a combination of three types of mental processes: cognitive (sensation, presentation, thinking, imagination); emotional (experiences); volitional (efforts to maintain attention, work memory, etc.). These mental processes are closely related to each other and are determined by the properties of the personality, her mental state, as well as external influences to which she is exposed at the moment.

Personality traits are the main regulator of human mental activity. These personality traits and mental processes are grouped according to the same characteristics: intellectual (observation, mental flexibility); emotional (sensitivity, tenderness, passion, efficiency); strong-willed (perseverance, determination, self-control). All these properties are combined in a certain way and on their basis a person's character is formed.

The guide cannot be indulgent to himself, his work, relationships with people, his own and their behavior. He should not forgive himself for a poorly conducted excursion, any deviations from the requirements of the methodology. The guide constantly monitors himself, his actions. For example, during an excursion, he asks himself the questions: "Am I doing it this way? Do I show the object well? Am I convincing enough about it"? After finishing the excursion and parting with the group, he latently asks himself: "Did it work out? Have all the requirements for the excursion been met?"

In training and advanced training courses, in methodological sections and in daily work with guides, it is necessary to instill in them the skills of self-control, that is, the ability to organize independent regulation of their behavior, their motives and impulses.

Self-control, being the inner side of a person's activity, unites such steps in her actions as introspection, self-criticism and self-restraint in behavior. The level of self-control, constancy and effectiveness of his actions depend on the development of such personality traits as worldview, ideological conviction, consciousness, culture.

Self-assessment by the guide of the achieved results is a comparison of his activities and the work process itself with certain norms that are established by instructions, regulations, methodological developments and other directive documents. A guide's self-assessment of his activities should be based on a comparison of the results achieved by him with the results of other experienced workers. At the same time, it is important to avoid overestimating the results of one's activities, since such an assessment leads to high conceit and arrogance, an intolerant attitude towards criticism of one's shortcomings. It is necessary for each guide to strengthen a sense of interest in identifying their shortcomings in the process of preparing and conducting excursions and activities included in the individual plan. He must not only see the existing shortcomings and mistakes in his daily work, but also identify and eliminate their causes, thereby contributing to the improvement of his individual skills.

Formation of the personality of the guide. The formation of the personality of the guide takes place throughout the development of the profession of a guide. The process of personality formation begins long before the guide is hired to work in a travel agency, museum, or exhibition. The formation of a comprehensively and harmoniously developed personality takes place throughout a person's life: while studying at a secondary school, technical school or university, in a team where his labor and social activities take place, in everyday life, at training courses for tour guides, in the course of relationships with tourists.

The optimism of the guide. An obligatory personality trait is optimism, cheerfulness, cheerfulness, desire and ability to see good, bright sides in the environment. The guide's optimism is expressed in benevolence, friendliness, a kind smile, attention to people, the ability to create the necessary microclimate in the team of tourists, bring the spirit of conviviality into the audience with their presence, and correct the bad mood of the audience. This is greatly facilitated by the sound of the story (the tone of the guide's voice), his conviction in the usefulness of the knowledge communicated, possession of a sense of humor, and belief in the success of the excursion.

Moral satisfaction of the individual. One of the qualities of a guide is the ability to receive moral satisfaction in the performance of his official duties. He should work in such a way that the work being done is a source of joy, so that each newly prepared topic, abstract, lecture, and excursion will bring moral satisfaction. Summing up the results of the work done, he looks at himself as if from the outside and critically evaluates the quality of what has been done. These short moments of "contentment" with oneself instill in a person confidence in his abilities, push on new thoughts, contribute to the development of creative principles in his activity. In those cases when, having evaluated his activities at the moment, the guide does not feel moral satisfaction, sees omissions, innuendo in characterizing the object, recalls forgotten details in showing the monument, he draws important conclusions for himself and improves his subsequent activities.

The individuality of the guide. Each person has his own individual characteristics that distinguish him from other people (speech, presentation style, gestures, facial expressions). Listening to the story of the guide on the route, you can catch that he in his own way expounds certain details, examples, uses other sayings, brings certain specifics to the use of gestures and smiles. There may be other differences as well. One guide likes to refer to memoirs, another reads poems on excursions, the third reads documents, the fourth skillfully uses pauses. Tour guides with extensive experience develop their own individual manner of conducting excursions. It consists in the fact that each of them has his own favorite techniques, which he masters perfectly and uses them with pleasure, both separately and in combination with other techniques.

The individuality of the guide is characterized by the nomenclature of methodological techniques that he owns. This nomenclature is not the same for everyone. Some use in practice all or almost all of the known techniques, others limit themselves to two or three of the most popular techniques, others - beginners, as well as guides who are poorly proficient, do not use techniques in excursions, which reduces the quality of the excursions.

The authority of the guide - this question is directly related to the problem of personality. The authority of the guide is based on his knowledge, abilities, skills, moral merits, and practical experience. This authority is a collection of several sides:

a) the authority of the position, which is determined by the fact that the guide is the leader of the excursion, leads the group of excursionists and directs their activities;
b) the authority of his knowledge. In the vast majority of cases, he knows the topic of the excursion more deeply than any of its participants. And this strengthens his authority;
c) the authority of the skill. It is created by the experience of a guide in conducting excursions (skills in using the methods and techniques of their conducting);
d) one of the important foundations of the guide's authority is the culture of speech and non-speech means of influence;
e) relationships with tourists, the ability to create the desired microclimate in the group. The basis of the guide's authority in this regard is a high culture of behavior and speech.

conclusions

Consideration of issues related to the guide as a person takes a large place in the guide. This is especially important because in the activities of some excursion institutions, the guide is not considered as a creative, proactive, original person in the nature of his activity and a set of features that characterize this person. Therefore, the practicality prevailing in the relationship between the leaders of excursion institutions and guides, methodological services and tour guides causes significant harm to the excursion business. Underestimation of the approach to the guide as the central figure of the excursion business influences the selection of personnel in this category. That is why guides appear on excursion routes who do not have the properties and qualities necessary for this profession. They lack those personality traits that distinguish experienced tour guides.

test questions

1. Harmonious development and personality traits.
2. Formation of the personality of the guide.
3. Basic personality traits.
4. Life position of the individual.
5. Development of the inclinations and abilities of the individual.
6. The temperament of the guide.
7. Emotions and feelings of the guide and sightseers.
8. The individuality of the guide, its manifestation.
9. The authority of the guide as a combination of several sides.

The training lasted two months, master classes and practical exercises were conducted by the best professionals of the capital.

On April 4, the first graduates of the guide's school received their diplomas at the Nashchokin House. 28 people graduated from the courses. Classes were held in Shekhtel's mansion on Bolshaya Sadovaya, Narkomfin House, Presnya Museum, Nashchokin House - in a word, in important cultural heritage sites in Moscow.

The brightest guides in Moscow - Denis Romodin, Pavel Gnilorybov Helga Pataki, Ayrat Bagautdinov - became the teachers. They conducted master classes and practical exercises. Each of them introduced the audience to a specific topic - local history, the history of architecture and others.

The best specialists of the city gave lectures on specialized subjects. For example, Vera Kamyshnikova, head of the department of stage speech at GITIS, taught here, Semyon Fomin from the Internet Initiatives Development Fund spoke about business analytics.

The school also hosted round tables with the participation of potential employers - representatives of the historical and cultural project “Moscow, which does not exist” and tour operators organizing excursions around Russia. The training lasted for two months - February and March.

Develop a route and conduct an excursion

At the end of the courses, future guides developed their own original routes in four directions. For example, we have created a cycle of interesting one-hour excursions for children from eight to 13 years old. The idea of \u200b\u200bwalking is to imagine the city as a reflection of the starry sky. The authors of this cycle are confident that in this way abstract thinking will be formed in children, as well as an interest in astronomy.

The first walk is “Around Suvorovskaya Square”. Before the start of the excursion, the children will be given route sheets. They will mark each passed object with a point on their map - the result will be a drawing of a known constellation. Children will see the monument to Suvorov, the Saltykovs' estate, the Theater of the Russian Army, Durov's Corner, the Slavyanka Hotel, the Church of John the Warrior, Catherine's Park, the Neglinnaya River, and a planetarium.

Interesting routes have also been created in non-tourist places, including the banks of Moscow. It is supposed that during this walk the listeners will be told about the buildings in which the banks were located earlier or are now. There are also several routes associated with engineering Moscow. One of them is in Gorky Park.

The students of the school had to not only develop, but also conduct their own excursion. Moreover, the route had to include at least one architectural monument, and each walk had to last at least an hour. This assignment became a kind of final exam.

How to get to school

Those who want to become a student of the school of guides on the next stream will be able to enroll in courses closer to autumn.

Classes of the second stage are planned to begin in September this year. The term of study will remain the same, but the number of students will increase - each master can have up to 15 wards. Thus, the maximum school can accommodate 60 people. If listeners show interest, then the number of directions will also increase.

He created the school of the guide together with the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments. It appeared on the basis of the popular metropolitan projects "Entering the city" and "Moscow through the eyes of an engineer."

“Since 2011, we have been implementing a project to provide citizens with access to cultural heritage sites, the purpose of which is to acquaint the general public with significant capital buildings, architectural styles and authors of these masterpieces. As a result, over the past five years, 328 thousand people have visited the monuments of history and culture, 6655 events of excursion, cultural, educational and interactive-game formats have been held, ”said Alexei Yemelyanov, head of the Department of Cultural Heritage of Moscow.

Going on vacation to an unfamiliar country, each of us wants to get as much positive emotions as possible from the trip. Therefore, many people prefer to entrust their acquaintance with the sights to a professional guide who will not only tell about the history and culture of the Aboriginal people, but also show the most significant places, help in difficult situations, and give some valuable advice on how to behave and what to avoid.

Going on vacation to an unfamiliar country, each of us wants to get as much positive emotions and impressions from the trip as possible. Therefore, before the trip, someone carefully studies all available information about the chosen country and plans excursion routes on their own, while someone prefers to entrust their acquaintance with the sights to a professional guide who will not only tell about the history and culture of the Aboriginal people, but also show the most significant places. will help in difficult situations and give some valuable advice on how to behave and what to avoid.

As you probably already understood, this article will focus on guide profession, whose representatives can be safely called "guardian angels" of unlucky tourists who manage to "get lost in three pines" and get into the most ridiculous situations "out of the blue."

Who is a guide?

A guide is a specialist who accompanies a tourist (or a group of tourists) on excursions, hikes, car tours, etc., and introduces him to local sights, culture and traditions. Quite often, the responsibility of organizing leisure activities is also assigned to the guide.

The name of the profession comes from the French guide (leader, guide), which almost completely reflects the essence of the guide's work. It is not known for certain when the first guides appeared, but there is an assumption that the need for them arose simultaneously with the ability to travel long distances. It is known that the services of the crowned specials who made foreign trips were always provided with the ones from the receiving party, who not only introduced the high-ranking guests to local sights, but also provided them with any assistance they could.

Over time and as a result of the development of tourism, there was a need for professional guides, as a result of which this profession appeared. Today's profession guide includes several narrow specializations, among which the guide-translator, guide-guide and naturalist guide are in special demand.

The duties of a modern guide include: meeting tourists upon arrival, organizing excursion tours, accompanying during excursions or walks, getting to know the peculiarities of local culture and customs, ensuring the safety of tourists, etc. That is, for a tourist group, the guide becomes a real leader, on whom the overall impression of the trip and the place of rest largely depends.

What personal qualities should a guide have?

It is not difficult to guess that since guide work involves communication with a large number of people, a representative of this profession must necessarily be not just sociable, but a very interesting interlocutor, capable of captivating listeners with his stories and delivering valuable information to them. In addition, the guide must have such personal qualities as:

artistry;
responsibility;
punctuality;
equilibrium;
good memory;
erudition;
benevolence;
tact;
patience;
resourcefulness;
intelligible and competent speech.

Since the guide has to deal with a variety of people while working, it will not be superfluous to know the basics of psychology and the ability to neutralize any conflict. If we talk about the requirements for the physical training of a guide, then a representative of this profession must be hardy and not get tired during long walks. The guide will also come in handy with an excellent sense of humor, which will help him always be in a good mood, regardless of the difficulties and difficulties that have arisen. And most importantly, the guide must love not only his job, but also the area with which he introduces tourists.

Benefits of being a tour guide

Talking about the benefits of being a guide, first of all, it should be noted that there is no routine at work. In contrast to the related specialization of a guide, where a specialist sometimes has to conduct the same excursion from year to year, the guide draws up the route himself, in which tourists often make their own changes. Also, the advantages of this profession include:

communication and acquaintance with a large number of people;
the opportunity to practice foreign languages \u200b\u200bwith native speakers;
decent level of remuneration;
the opportunity to travel a lot and discover new tourist destinations;
work in the fresh air;
great prospects for the development of their own tourism business.

Disadvantages of the profession of a guide

Disadvantages of the profession of a guide not less than advantages. What is the need to work at any time of the day and in any weather? The well-known saying “the wolf’s feet are fed” is the best suited to this profession, since the salary directly depends on the quantity and quality of the tours: I went to work - I got paid, I didn’t come out - I didn’t get it. Do not forget that the guide:

very often left without breakfast or lunch (while the tourists are having lunch, the guide often has to either solve organizational issues, or look for tourists who are lagging behind the group);
must answer any questions of tourists with a smile, even if they, in his opinion, are stupid and tactless (that is, one cannot demonstrate a bad mood and irritability);
responsible for the safety of tourists, who, by the way, are not always distinguished by prudence and discipline;
she talks and talks almost all day, and this is a very heavy load on the vocal cords.

Where can you get the profession of a guide?

To become a guide it is not at all necessary to receive special education. It is enough to complete special courses, pass an aptitude test, and you can start working. Practice has shown that the knowledge and skills gained in the courses are quite enough for the first time. Further career and, importantly, the level of the guide's salary entirely depend on his ability for self-improvement and the desire to constantly improve his qualifications.

At first glance, a guide and a guide are exactly the same concepts. But the origin of these words is different, as are the professional duties of people working in such areas. The guide (fr. Guide - a guide, leader) directly conducts excursions for guests of the city and shows beautiful local attractions. The tour guides (lat. Excursio - trip), in turn, deal with absolutely all the problems that people may have in the process of making a tourist trip to the city.

Differences in the work of a guide and a tour guide

Duties of the guide	Responsibilities of the guide
Hiking or bus excursions to beautiful places and popular tourist sites according to the excursion plan	Willingness to change a previously prepared route and tell about the sights of another area
Professional familiarization of tourists with all visited sites	Providing tourists with a comfortable environment during a walk: searching for parking lots, places to rest, etc.
	Responsibility for the safety of people during the excursion

Guide specializations also differ in the context of the excursion location:

city \u200b\u200bguides;
mountain guides;
field guides;
guides in museums and other historic buildings.

Step 1

When choosing the profession of a tourist guide, the first and main step will be the choice of a field of work, because a person physically simply cannot conduct an excursion in the morning in a museum, at lunchtime in a castle, and in the evening in a field.

Features in the work of a guide or tourist guide

A person who will lead people and acquaint them with the historical and cultural features of a particular area must not only have excellent knowledge of history, but also have some kind of charisma so that people want to follow him.

On a note! This work is suitable, first of all, for active communicative and open people who are constantly striving for communication and learning new things. A real guide should be an interesting conversationalist, as well as have a set of moral qualities, among which stress resistance, good nature and tolerance occupy an important place.

Step 2

You need to become an easy and open person with a flexible character without obvious speech defects and physical disabilities. If necessary, engage in self-development, improvement of communication skills.

Pros and cons of being a tour guide

Like any other activity, working as a guide is also a serious and responsible task, which has its advantages and disadvantages.

pros	Minuses
No daily chores	Violation of diet and rest
High earnings in major tourist centers	Work in any weather
Improving linguistic skills when dealing with foreign tourists	Responsibility for the lives of people for whom excursions are held
The ability to travel, learn new things	Constant physical activity (legs, vocal cords)
Free work schedule	In some regions, the possibility of reducing earnings in the autumn-winter period
Feeling financially stable when working for developed companies	High competition
Prospects for further development in the tourism sector

Read the best options + tips for choosing vacancies in a new article -

Profession training

Professional agencies that organize tourist excursions in big cities are constantly recruiting both experienced employees and energetic talented newcomers to their staff. If you are engaged in conducting excursions as a part-time job or a hobby, then you may not receive a special education. However, in case of seriousness of intentions, you should still acquire a diploma in the relevant direction, and then go to additional advanced training courses.

Step 3

To get higher education.

The process of obtaining an education consists of several stages and takes a rather long period of a person's life.

Higher education. It will be enough to get any higher education in the humanities. It would be great if it would be the Faculty of Foreign Philology, since English, German, French and now Chinese are in great demand in the tourism sector. Perhaps one should also engage in serious study of the English language separately from basic education, which does not guarantee the possibility of future work in the field of tourism.
Courses for guides and guides. Such trainings and lectures are often held at higher educational institutions or museums. The advantages of such lectures are that they are often organized by government agencies, and at the end of the course, the student receives a corresponding document in the form of a certificate or diploma. The form of study at some universities is no different from listening to ordinary lectures. By the way, at the end of any course, a teacher of a state university is obliged to control students' knowledge in the form of a test, exam or credit.
Improving linguistic skills... After a newcomer has managed to get a job in some travel company, you need to start taking advanced training and language improvement courses as soon as possible. The employer is also interested in such events, which may well organize additional training.

Step 4

The next big step will be taking the aptitude test and obtaining the appropriate document. You will need a guide card to get a job abroad.

An alternative path to becoming a tour guide

Indeed, getting higher education, learning additional languages, taking advanced training courses and passing the required exams takes a very long time. Not all people are ready to wait that long, and not everyone is ready to devote their lives to excursions. This method is suitable for young people who decide to earn extra money in the summer or for those who decide to go abroad and somehow change their lives.

Work within your country

To find a seasonal job as a guide in your city or region, you just need to contact any small travel agency that recruits newcomers with training. Here you can get basic knowledge and in a few weeks start working officially in the chosen direction: travel, hiking, excursions to museums, etc. Documents certifying the passage of any specialized courses in a foreign language, fire safety or various communication technologies will also not be superfluous.

On a note! With a temporary job as a tour guide in a small resort town for a modest fee, it is not at all necessary to have a higher education.

Tour guide abroad

Oddly enough, a similar situation develops for those leaving for Western Europe and the United States, because diplomas of the republics of the former USSR simply do not work there. Once in a foreign country, you should be ready to work as a freelancer, since such people are usually hired once and not always with the same frequency.

When applying for a job as a tour guide abroad, it is recommended:

learn the language before leaving and get the appropriate certificate;
translate all documents into the language of the country in which the person is going to work;
upon arrival in the host country, take first aid courses and receive an appropriate certificate (the employer often requires such documents when working with people);
familiarize yourself with the main legal acts governing labor relations in a foreign country;
put all documents in order and not violate laws;
constantly study the culture, traditions, habits of the people of a foreign country;
be tolerant of other nationalities, religions, convictions;
take an active social position, trying to communicate with foreigners as much as possible in order to improve the language and accelerate general socialization;
to put the interests of the company above personal needs and problems;
be prepared for great physical and emotional stress.

How much does a tour guide earn

According to general statistics, more than 7 million people visited St. Petersburg alone last year. In Moscow, this figure will accordingly be even higher. Therefore, it is foolish to doubt the demand for specialists in this area.

The whole point is to find high-paying jobs. And for this you need to either have your own company for the provision of tourist services in your region, or have a very serious training and get a job for a large company. The most popular regions for work as a guide are usually the capital and the Moscow region, followed by the Krasnodar Territory, St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, Kaliningrad, etc.

A good guide gets about 2,000 rubles a day. per shift, working for a large travel company. But these figures are roughly taken for the capital regions of the country. The average salary of a tour guide is 35,000 rubles. per month. With a free work schedule, independent work or work for a foreign company, earnings increase significantly.

Career growth also takes place to work in this area. When a guide cooperates with companies, the next position may be the position of a manager in the excursion department. If a person works as a guide as a private person, then after a certain time he will be able to establish his own small excursion company.

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Tour guides are people who conduct excursions for tourists and local people. Their well-paid work, filled with interesting moments, is devoid of monotony and monotony. The profession of a guide, the description of which will be presented to your attention in this article, can be perfectly mastered only by those who have deep knowledge of art, history and geography.

Labor responsibilities

The main labor duties of the guides are as follows:

Accompanying tourists and providing them with informative information about the history of any attractions.
Search and in-depth study of historical information.
Development of programs and selection of routes for excursions.
Coordination of actions of tourists during emergencies.
Filling in the necessary documentation.
Performing the work of a translator.
Control over the actions of the participants of the excursion until its completion.

Representatives of the profession of a tour guide also acquaint tourists with safety rules and have the skills to provide first aid. They are obliged to answer any questions from the participants of the excursion that do not touch upon personal topics.

Requirements for applicants

People who decide to connect their lives with this profession must have a whole set of business skills and abilities necessary for this.

They must be proficient in one or more foreign languages.
Have a higher education in the humanities and appropriate accreditation
Quickly find a common language with people, be communicative
It is good to know the topic of the chosen excursion.
Have knowledge in the field of cultural studies, local history, ethnography and other sciences.

Specific speech requirements

Representatives of the profession of a tour guide simply need to have the talent to correctly express themselves and clearly formulate their thoughts, because without mastering the art of speech, it is impossible for them to do their job at the proper level. The speech of people conducting various excursions must meet certain requirements, which are:

Right. The guide should know the rules of pronunciation, stress setting, style, use of words and their formation.
Comprehensibility. He needs to express his thoughts in an accessible and understandable way, not to resort to terms and words that complicate information.
Accuracy of information transfer. When conducting an excursion, you should not use words that have lost their semantic value.
Expressiveness. A representative of the profession of a tour guide, in order to arouse increased interest among tourists, needs to resort to the help of epithets, allegories and metaphors.
Purity (you cannot use words that contradict the literary language).

Tour guides should also pay attention to the brevity of their presentation. The use of unnecessary words and phrases can significantly reduce the attention of the audience.

Necessary personal qualities

According to many theorists of the excursion business, a tour guide must have the following personal qualities and characteristics.

Excellent imagination and ability to think in images. A good professional is able to describe an object that is not nearby in such a way that tourists begin to imagine it in their imagination in reality.
Tendentiousness. The guides, following the planned plan, are able to skillfully convey their point of view to the audience.
The ability to instantly find the right words and find a way out of non-standard situations.
The desire to constantly improve their professional level.
Good working capacity, physical and speech endurance.
Artistry and excellent memory.
A sense of humor and others.

The characteristic features of the microclimate of the excursion are often directly related to the temperament of the representatives of the profession of a tour guide.

Sanguine people are distinguished by quick speech, mood swings, instant reaction to the actions of tourists.
Hot-tempered and unbalanced choleric people - a hasty presentation of the material.
Slow phlegmatic people - monotonous facial expressions.
Persistent melancholic - fluctuations in the emotional state.

However, the emotions inherent in a particular temperament can always be kept under control.

Tour guide profession: where to study

There are cases when people who graduated from a regular high school or special courses begin to work independently as guides. However, they are usually observed in small settlements, in which the qualifications of a representative of this profession do not attach much importance.

If you want to become a professional and receive decent remuneration for your work, then you should go through the following stages of training.

It is necessary to graduate from the relevant university (academy or institute of international tourism) and get a higher education in the humanities. In parallel, you should study foreign languages.
Having a diploma in hand, you can go to special advanced training courses that function at museums and universities.
A successfully passed aptitude test and obtaining a license are the final stages of training a newly-made guide.

Profession benefits

The advantages of the profession of a guide, of which there are many, are as follows:

Representatives of this profession can independently plan excursion routes and adjust excursion programs. Their work is completely devoid of routine and boredom.
They are constantly meeting and meeting new people.
They have the opportunity to travel and carry out their work in the fresh air.
The knowledge of foreign languages \u200b\u200bis constantly improving.
The tour guides work on a free schedule and receive a decent remuneration for their work.
Representatives of this profession have a chance to open their own tourism business.

Cons of the profession

The profession of a tour guide also has its drawbacks, which are considered to be:

Long stay on your feet.
The need to carry out their work in any weather conditions.
Snacks on the run (very often the guides have to spend their lunch time on solving organizational issues).
Responsibility for tourists.
High competition.
Decrease in earnings in autumn and winter.

The prestige of the profession of a guide is directly related to the professional level of its representatives. However, its moral component does not automatically apply to every guide. Any representative of this profession gains the prestige of personality and constantly confirms with his professional activity. The highest point in the career of a guide is considered to be the opening of your own excursion bureau or other business in the field of tourism.

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