Profession guide pros and cons. Emelyanov B.V. Tour guidance. Teaching the profession of a guide - courses, educational institutions, self-study

3.2. Tour guide personality

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

Moral requirements for the individual - compliance general principles and norms of behavior, following certain ideals.

The main personality traits: reasonableness - 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 - originality, personality trait; a set of features that distinguish this person from others.

Active life position- a way of participation of the person in activity of a society. A person's life position is expressed in his attitude to society, work, state and private property, other people and himself. When assessing the degree of activity of a person's life position, they consider not single facts, but the totality of all possible types of activity: social, labor, moral, ideological and cognitive.

Sociologists' research and everyday practice show that there are different levels of activity of people's life position: high, medium and low. Level 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 qualities that underlie the activity of a life position: loyalty to one's duty, high responsibility for the task assigned, collectivism, unity of word and deed.

The guide, due to the peculiarities of his profession, is placed in conditions conducive to the manifestation of an active life position. His task is to make the most 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 life position of an employee does not allow him to carry out excursion work in a quality manner. This is how these levels are characterized: the life position of the average level of activity is one-sided, does not go beyond the normative tasks - "from" and "to". Life position is characterized by a low level of activity, passivity, inexperience of the individual, 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 team, 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. Inclinations play an important role in shaping the personality of a guide.

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

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

The guide, under the influence of practical activities, forms special abilities. Abilities are defined as individual personality traits, which are subjective conditions for the successful implementation of a certain kind 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 activities (mental activity, diligence, observation, perseverance, quick orientation, focused attention). Special abilities are the basis for mastering the skills and abilities of a particular profession, ensure the achievement of high results in any particular area of activity. These are features - musical, literary, artistic, mathematical, technical, etc.

Everything that positively characterizes the guide (knowledge, skills) is primarily based on his ability to perform the work entrusted to him. Whatever it is about - development new topic, preparing an essay, giving lectures at courses, listening to excursions on the route, selecting methodological techniques - the methodologist and the head of the methodological section proceed from whether this guide will be able to perform this work in a quality manner, i.e. take into account the presence of certain abilities that he are needed for this. An important part of the guide's work is the preparation and conduct of the next excursion.

The preparation of the tour is divided into three parts:

1. Repetition of an individual text.
2. Recall the requirements of methodological development.
3. Restoring 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, would a logical transition from the sub-topic "Theatrical life of the city" to the sub-topic "Everyone goes in for sports" sound? What is the best way to use visual reconstruction when revealing the sub-theme "City in the days of fascist occupation"?

Regardless of how much the guide has mastered 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 individual - 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 held at a sufficiently high level, that the tourists will be satisfied with what they saw and heard.

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

Structural Ability find their expression in the ability to select and correctly arrange the excursion material, present it clearly and convincingly, and, if necessary, rebuild the plan for the excursion, the scheme for using the methodological technique. This type abilities serves as the basis for the mental activity of the guide.

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

Communication skills expressed in the ability to establish business relationship with the group, to keep them for the entire period of communication with sightseers, to properly build relationships with the bus driver on the route, employees of the museum, exhibitions visited by sightseers, with bureau methodologists, 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 tour guides are equally skilled in these abilities.

Important role in the development of the abilities of the guide, study at the courses, work in methodological sections, independent studies near objects, deep assimilation of the methodology and technique of conducting excursions play.

Guide bias. An integral quality of a guide as a person is conviction. When conducting an excursion, presenting a topic, the guide must be biased: clearly and purposefully formulate thoughts, correctly, from the standpoint of science, reveal events and phenomena, and be persistent in their interpretation. The guide's tendentiousness is a clear direction in his views and actions, the desire to bring his point of view to the sightseers and not only to bring, but also to convince them of its correctness. He helps sightseers see what he sees himself, persistently directs their attention to those aspects of events and phenomena that should be reflected in their minds. An important role in this is played by the conviction of the guide. It is based on his knowledge, ideology and active life position. His conviction is a firm belief in the truth of the knowledge communicated, 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 tour. The nature of the tour, its features depend on the temperament of the guide, which is manifested in his behavior and is characterized by greater or lesser strength of feelings, duration of experiences, stability or rapid change of emotions. Depending on the type of human temperament (sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic), his behavior is characterized by a certain depth of emotions: ardor, irascibility, calmness, various 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 control his emotions. This is important in the relationship with tourists during the tour. Emotions that arise under the influence of external and internal stimuli, his bad mood (excessively high 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 part of the guide skill.

An important place in the educational work of methodological sections, advanced training courses, in the independent work of the guide should be occupied by the formation of the necessary qualities, overcoming those character traits that interfere with the proper organization of work with sightseers. 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 sightseers. Choleric, in the absence of proper control, is unbalanced, quick-tempered, touchy, hasty in the story. Phlegmatic, on the contrary, is slow, not very sociable, has monotonous gestures and facial expressions. Melancholic is characterized by isolation, lack of activity, lethargy of movements.

Each guide needs to have a clear idea of the 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 the excursion material. Just as the playwright and the director make sure that the viewer is always captured by the developing action, so the organizer of the excursion must always make sure that the excursionists remain interested and emotionally uplifted throughout the entire excursion.

Emotions and feelings of the guide must be objective. The guide seeks that 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 the excursion material is achieved in cases where empathy is something common in the emotions of the tourists. Often the guide meets with the fact that in a group that is heterogeneous in composition, not all participants in the tour will have the same reaction to the same message. This happens because the emotions that arise depend on the individual characteristics of people, such as temperament, their mood, interest in the topic, and 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 ruins the topic. Simplified material, hackneyed examples, lack of novelty in the reported knowledge, 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 tourists 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 a person's mental state - general mental state, emotional state (mood), intellectual creative state, volitional state (readiness for action). For the success of the tour, it is important to ensure the necessary mental state of the guide's personality. When the guide addresses the audience, both the 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, representation, thinking, imagination); emotional (experiences); volitional (efforts to maintain attention, memory work, etc.). These mental processes are closely interconnected and are determined by the properties of the individual, her mental state, as well as the external influences to which she is currently exposed.

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 the character of a person is formed.

The guide cannot be condescending to himself, his work, relationships with people, his own and their behavior. He should not forgive himself for a poorly conducted excursion, any deviation from the requirements of the methodology. The guide constantly controls himself, his actions. For example, during the tour, he asks himself questions: "Am I doing it this way? Am I showing the object well? Am I talking about it convincingly enough"? After finishing the tour and parting with the group, he implicitly asks himself: "Did it work out? Were all the requirements for the tour met"?

At training and advanced training courses, in methodological sections and 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 motives.

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

Self-assessment by the guide of the results achieved is a comparison of their activities and the labor process itself with certain standards that are established by instructions, regulations, methodological developments and other policy documents. The guide's self-assessment of his activities should be based on a comparison of the results he achieved with the results of other experienced workers. At the same time, it is important to avoid an overestimation of 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. Each guide needs to strengthen the sense of interest in identifying their shortcomings in the process of preparing and conducting excursions and activities included in individual plan. He must not only see the existing shortcomings and errors 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 formation of the profession of the guide. The process of becoming a person begins long before the guide goes to work in a travel agency, a museum, or an exhibition. The formation of a comprehensively and harmoniously developed personality occurs throughout a person’s life: while studying at a general education school, technical school or university, in a team where his labor and social activities take place, at home, at training courses for guides, in the course of relationships with sightseers.

Tour guide optimism. A mandatory quality of a person is optimism, cheerfulness, cheerfulness, desire and the ability to see good, bright sides in the environment. The optimism of the guide finds expression in goodwill, friendliness, a kind smile, attention to people, the ability to create the right microclimate in the group of tourists, to bring the spirit of festivity into the audience with his presence, to correct the bad mood of the listeners. This is largely facilitated by the sound of the story (tone of the guide's voice), his conviction in the benefits of the knowledge communicated, possession of a sense of humor, faith 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 must work in such a way that the work he is doing is a source of joy, so that each newly prepared topic, essay, lecture, and excursion gives moral satisfaction. Summing up the results of the work done, he looks at himself as if from the outside and critically assesses the quality of what has been done. These short moments of "satisfaction" with oneself instill confidence in one's abilities, suggest new thoughts, and contribute to the development of creative principles in one's activity. In those cases when, having evaluated his activity at the moment, the guide does not feel moral satisfaction, sees omissions, understatement in the description of the object, recalls forgotten details in the display of the monument, he draws important conclusions for himself and improves his subsequent activities.

Tour guide personality. 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 sets out certain details, examples in his own way, uses other sayings, introduces certain specifics into the use of gestures and smiles. There may be other differences as well. One guide likes to refer to memoirs, another reads poems on the tour, the third reads documents, the fourth skillfully uses pauses. Tour guides with a long work experience develop their own individual manner of conducting excursions. It consists in the fact that each of them has his favorite tricks, which he masters perfectly and uses them with pleasure both separately and in combination with other tricks.

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 known techniques, others are limited to two or three of the most popular techniques, others are beginners, as well as guides who are not fluent in professional skill, they do not use tricks 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, skills, moral virtues, practical experience. This authority is a combination of several aspects:

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 tourists and manages 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) skill authority. It is created by the guide's experience in conducting excursions (skills in using the methods and techniques of their conduct);
d) one of the important foundations of the authority of the guide is the culture of speech and non-verbal means of influence;
e) relationships with tourists, the ability to create the right 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 occupies 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, initiative, original person in terms of the nature of his activity and the totality of features that characterize this person. Therefore, the practicality that prevails in the relationship between the heads of excursion institutions and guides, methodological services and guides causes significant harm to the excursion business. The underestimation of the approach to the guide as the central figure in the excursion business has an impact on 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 the personality traits that distinguish experienced tour guides.

test questions

1. Harmonious development and personality traits.
2. The 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 parties.

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

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

The teachers were the brightest guides in Moscow - Denis Romodin, Pavel Gnilorybov Helga Pataki, Airat Bagautdinov. They held master classes and practical classes. Each of them introduced listeners to a specific topic - local history, history of architecture and others.

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

Within the framework of the school, round tables were also held with the participation of potential employers - representatives of the historical and cultural project "Moscow that does not exist" and tour operators organizing excursions around Russia. The training lasted two months - February and March.

Develop an itinerary and conduct a tour

At the end of the course, the future guides developed their own original routes in four directions. For example, a cycle of interesting one-hour excursions was created for children from eight to 13 years old. The idea of walking is to imagine the city as a reflection of the starry sky. The authors of this cycle are sure that in this way abstract thinking will be formed in children, and an interest in astronomy will also appear.

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

Interesting routes have also been created for non-tourist places, including banks in Moscow. It is expected that during this walk the audience will be told about the buildings in which banks used to be 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 not only to develop, but also to conduct their own tour. Moreover, the route had to include at least one architectural monument, and each walk had to last at least an hour. This task became a kind of final exam.

How to get to school

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

Classes of the second stage are planned to begin in September this year. The training period will remain the same, but the number of students will increase - each master can have up to 15 wards. Thus, the maximum school will be able to accept 60 people. If listeners show interest, the number of referrals will also increase.

He created the guide school 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 ensure citizens’ access to cultural heritage sites, the purpose of which is to familiarize the general public with significant buildings in the capital, architectural styles and the authors of these masterpieces. As a result, over five years, 328,000 people visited historical and cultural monuments, 6,655 excursion, cultural, educational and interactive game formats were held,” said Alexei Yemelyanov, head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage.

Going on vacation to an unfamiliar country, each of us wants to get as many 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 natives, but also show the most significant places, help in difficult situations and give a few valuable advice about how to behave and what to avoid.

Going on vacation to an unfamiliar country, each of us wants to get as many positive emotions and impressions from the trip as possible. Therefore, before the trip, someone carefully studies all available information about the chosen country and independently plans sightseeing routes, 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 natives, 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, in this article we will talk about guide profession, whose representatives can be safely called "guardian angels" of unlucky tourists who manage to "get lost in the three pines" and get into the most ridiculous situations "out of the blue".

Who is a guide?

Guide - a specialist who accompanies a tourist (or a group of tourists) on excursions, hiking, car tours, etc., and introduces him to local attractions, culture and traditions. Quite often, the guide is also responsible for organizing leisure activities.

The name of the profession comes from the French guide (leader, conductor), 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 special ones who made trips abroad were always provided with the representatives of the receiving side, who not only introduced high-ranking guests to local attractions, but also provided them with any possible assistance.

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 profession guide includes several narrow specializations, among which a guide-translator, a guide-guide and a naturalist guide are in particular demand.

The duties of a modern guide include: meeting tourists upon arrival, organizing sightseeing tours, accompanying them 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 which 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, able to captivate listeners with his stories and convey valuable information to them. In addition, the guide must have such personal qualities, how:

artistry;
a responsibility;
punctuality;
equilibrium;
good memory;
erudition;
goodwill;
tact;
patience;
resourcefulness;
clear and fluent speech.

Since during the work the guide has to deal with the most different people, 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 preparation of the guide, then the representative of this profession must be hardy and not get tired during long walks. The guide will also need an excellent sense of humor, which will help him to 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 guide

Speaking of the benefits of being a guide First of all, it is necessary to note the lack of routine in work. In contrast to the adjacent specialization of the guide, where a specialist sometimes has to conduct the same excursion from year to year, the guide himself makes a route, in which tourists often make their own changes. Other benefits of this profession include:

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

Disadvantages of being a guide

Disadvantages of the profession of a guide no less than the benefits. What is the need to work at any time of the day and in any weather. The well-known saying “feet feed the wolf” is the best fit for this profession, since the salary directly depends on the number and quality of the tours: went to work - received payment, did not go - did not receive. 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 have fallen behind the group of tourists);
must answer with a smile any questions from tourists, even if, in his opinion, they are stupid and tactless (that is, one cannot show a bad mood and irritability);
is responsible for the safety of tourists, who, by the way, are not always distinguished by prudence and discipline;
almost the whole day he says and tells something, and this is a very big load on the vocal cords.

Where can you become a guide?

To become a guide it is not necessary to receive special education. It is enough to complete special courses, pass the aptitude test, and you can start working. Practice has shown that the knowledge and skills acquired in the courses are quite enough for the first time. Later career and, importantly, the level of the guide's salary depends entirely on his ability to improve himself and the desire to constantly improve his skills.

At first glance, the guide and 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 - conductor, leader) directly conducts excursions for city guests and shows beautiful local sights. 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

Guide duties	Duties of a tour guide
Hiking or bus tours to beautiful places and popular tourist sites according to the tour plan	Willingness to change a pre-arranged route and talk about the sights of another area
Professional acquaintance of tourists with all visited objects	Providing tourists with a comfortable environment during a walk: finding parking lots, places to rest, etc.
	Responsibility for the safety of people during the tour

Specializations of guides also differ in the context of the location of the excursions:

city guides;
mountain guides;
field guides;
guides in museums and other historical buildings.

Step 1

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

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 charisma so that people want to follow him.

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

Step 2

You need to become an easy and open person with a flexible character without obvious defects in speech and physical defects. 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 routine	Violation of diet and rest
High earnings in major tourist centers	Work in any weather
Improving linguistic skills when communicating with foreign tourists	Responsibility for the lives of people for whom excursions are conducted
Opportunity to travel and learn new things	Permanent physical load (legs, vocal cords)
Free work schedule	In some regions, the possibility of reducing earnings in the autumn-winter period
Feeling of financial stability when working in developed companies	High competition
Prospects for further development in the tourism sector

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

Profession training

Professional agencies that organize tourist excursions in big cities are constantly recruiting as experienced staff, and energetic talented newcomers. If you are engaged in conducting excursions as temporary part-time jobs or a hobby, then you may not receive a special education. However, if you are serious about your intentions, you should still acquire a diploma in the relevant direction, and then go for additional advanced training courses.

Step 3

Get higher education.

The process of obtaining education consists of several stages and takes a fairly long period of human life.

Higher education. It will be enough to get any higher education in the humanities. It's great if it will be the faculty of foreign philology, since English, German, French and now Chinese very popular in the tourism industry. Perhaps you should also do some serious research of English language separate from basic education, which does not guarantee the possibility future work in the field of tourism.
Courses for tour guides and guides. Such trainings and lectures are often held at higher educational institutions or museums. The advantage of such lectures is that they are often organized government agencies, and at the end of the course, the student receives the appropriate document in the form of a certificate or diploma. The form of education 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 test.
Improving linguistic skills. After the newcomer managed to get a job in some travel company, you need to start taking refresher courses and improving the language as early as possible. The employer is also interested in such events, which may well organize additional training.

Step 4

The next big step will be to pass the aptitude test and obtain the appropriate document. You will need a tour guide card to apply for a job abroad.

An alternative path to becoming a tour guide

Indeed, getting higher education, learning additional languages, taking refresher courses and passing the necessary exams takes a very long time. Not all people are ready to wait so long, and not everyone is ready to devote their lives to conducting 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 own country

To search for a seasonal job as a guide in your city or region, just contact any small travel agency that recruits beginners with training. Here you can get basic knowledge and in a few weeks start working officially in the chosen direction: trips, 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 the countries of Western Europe and the USA, because the diplomas of the republics former USSR they just don't 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 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 obtain 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, beliefs;
take an active social position, trying to communicate as much as possible with foreigners in order to improve the language and accelerate general socialization;
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 last year alone. In Moscow, this figure will correspondingly 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 have either your own firm to provide tourism services in your region, or have a very serious training and get a job big company. The most popular regions for working 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 receives about 2000 rubles daily. per shift, working for a large travel company. But these figures are roughly taken for the capital regions of the country. Medium wage guide guide is 35,000 rubles. per month. With a free work schedule, independent work or work for foreign company earnings are multiplied.

For work in this area, there is also a place to be career. When the 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 the local population. 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 only be mastered by someone who has deep knowledge in the field of art, history and geography.

Job responsibilities

Main labor obligations tour 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 excursion routes.
Coordination of actions of tourists during emergencies.
Filling in the required documentation.
Performing the work of a translator.
Control over the actions of the participants of the excursion until its completion.

Representatives of the tour guide profession also acquaint tourists with safety rules and have the skills to provide first aid. They are obliged to answer any questions of the participants of the tour that do not affect 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 fluent in one or more foreign languages.
Have a higher education in the humanities and relevant accreditation
Quickly find a common language with people, differ in sociability
It is good to know the topic of the chosen excursion.
Possess knowledge from the field of cultural studies, local history, ethnography and other sciences.

Special requirements for speech

Representatives of the profession of a guide simply need to have the talent to correctly express themselves and clearly formulate their thoughts, because without mastering the art of speech it can be 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 must know the rules of pronunciation, stress, style, use of words and their formation.
Clarity. He needs to express his thoughts in an accessible and understandable way, not to resort to terms and words that complicate the information.
Accuracy of information transfer. When conducting an excursion, one should not use words that have lost their semantic value.
expressiveness. A representative of the profession of a guide, in order to arouse increased interest among tourists, needs to resort to the help of epithets, allegories and metaphors.
Purity (you can not use words that contradict the literary language).

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

Required personal qualities

According to many theorists of excursion business, the 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. Tour guides, following the outlined plan, are able to skillfully bring their point of view to the audience.
The ability to instantly look for 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.
sense of humor and others.

Characteristics The microclimate of the excursion being conducted often has a direct relationship with the temperament of the guide-guide profession representatives.

Sanguine people are distinguished by rapid speech, mood swings, and an instant reaction to the actions of tourists.
Hot-tempered and unbalanced choleric - a hasty presentation of the material.
Sluggish phlegmatic - monotonous facial expressions.
Stable melancholic - changes in the emotional state.

However, the emotions inherent in a particular temperament are always able to keep under control.

Tour guide profession: where to study

There are times when people who have graduated from the usual high school or special courses. 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 a decent reward 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) 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 operate at museums and universities.
Successfully passed the aptitude test and obtaining a license are final stages training for a new tour 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 constantly meet and communicate with new people.
Have the opportunity to travel and carry out their labor activity outdoors.
Constantly improve knowledge of foreign languages.
Tour guides work according to a free schedule and receive 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 guide also has its drawbacks, which are considered to be:

Long stay on your feet.
The need to carry out their labor activities in all weather conditions.
Snacks on the run (very often, 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 guide profession is directly related to the professional level of its representatives. However, its moral component does not automatically apply to every guide. The prestige of the individual, any representative of this profession wins and constantly confirms his professional activity. The highest point in the career of a guide is considered to be the opening of your own tour desk or other business in the field of tourism.

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