ESSENTIAL TOURIST GUIDING TECHNIQUES

ESSENTIAL TOURIST GUIDING TECHNIQUES

TABLE OF CONTENTS  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

1 THE TOURIST GUIDE PROFESSION

2 THE NECESSARY QUALITIES OF THE TOURIST GUIDE

3 TOURIST GUIDE’S CODE OF CONDUCT

4 STRUCTURE OF A COMMENTARY

5 ANALYSIS OF A GOOD COMMENTARY

6 BALANCING AND PLANNING A COMMENTARY

7 DELIVERY OF A COMMENTARY

8 VOICE AND VOCABULARY

9 DEALING WITH NERVOUSNESS

10 DEALING WITH QUESTIONS

11 VISUAL AIDS

12 THE TOURIST GUIDE’S ITINERARY

13 SPECIFIC TASKS OF THE TOURIST GUIDE

14 GENERAL ORGANISATION

16 PRESENTATION OF A MUSEUM/ (OR CULTURAL CENTRE) TOUR

17 PRESENTATION OF A COUNTRY TOUR

18 EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

19 SECONDARY TASKS OF THE TOURIST GUIDE

20 FINAL REMARKS

FOREWORD

We are supposed to be responsible for developing and promoting tourism in Indonesia. Our tourism stakeholder has recognized the need to provide better and more professional advice to tourism industry members on how to develop tourism products and services.

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The SKKNI (Standar Kompetensi Kerja Nasional Indonesia) offers a step-by-step approach to foster greater understanding of tour guiding operations. It provides some vital tips on how to communicate and guide tourists. It provides some guiding principles which help tourism industry members to avoid frustrations, high expectations and other pitfalls that come with impromptu and ad hoc tourism products and service development.

INTRODUCTION

The SKKNI is designed in the form of simple and easy-to use check lists of ideas and handy advice. Many of these points may seem obvious at first. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the SKKNI

  • Try to read one section or topic each week and work on that before moving on to the next topic
  • Take time to discuss each new topic with your family, community or business partners and see how it can be applied to your business

1 THE TOURIST GUIDE PROFESSION

What is a Tourist Guide?

The tourist guide’s main job is to escort groups or individual visitors from abroad, or from the guides own country, around the sites, monuments, and museums of a region or city, interpreting inspiringly and entertaining in the visitor’s own language, the cultural and natural heritage and environment.

From the visitor’s point of view, the tourist guide  is a person employed directly by the traveler, an official or a private tourist organization or a travel agency, to INFORM, IMPART, DIRECT, and ADVISE the tourist before and during his journey.

The tourist guide also has the additional role of an INTRODUCER and must help his listeners understand andappreciate his country. Everything the tourist guide speaks about should come alive and present the realities of his country in the best possible way.

The job of the tourist guide is therefore not simply to repeat a list of facts giving the information like a cassette, but to create the image of the country for the visitor in an appropriate manner.

The tourist guide must be qualified in various ways, particularly in language ability and in terms of wide general knowledge of the history, geography, art and architecture,  economics, politics, religion and sociology of his country and region.

There are several kinds of tourist guides:

  • A local tourist guide is a person who accompanies visitors during their visits to a particular site or small region of his country, giving information on culture, archaeology, history, religion, flora and fauna, etc, related to that particular small region.
  • A local tourist guide is also a person who gives information during a visit to a museum, monument or other sites at which he is based.
  • A national tourist guide is a person who gives information on culture, archaeology, history, religion, flora and fauna on the whole territory of his country.
  • A general tourist guide covers many types of tours such as city sightseeing, excursions, and general visit to a museum or historical monuments.
  • A specialist tourist guide covers visits to museums, archaeological or historical sites of which he has a wide and deep knowledge.

Most tourist guides find that they are able to do all these

kinds of jobs as their experiences and knowledge grow.

Remember to INFORM, IMPART, DIRECT and ADVICE.

Please let me know if you are not sure.

2 THE NECESSARY QUALITIES OF THE TOURIST GUIDE

The tourist guide is unlike any other job, it is far more than a person who just informs, introduces, impart knowledge, guides and gives advice during visits. For the majority of foreign visitors, the tourist guide is the person, native to that country, with which they have the most contact.

The tourist guide is an unofficial ambassador of his country. In order to present his homeland in the most favorable light, he must possess moral, intellectual and professional qualities.

  • Moral Qualities: honesty, modesty, pride, genuineness and sense of humor, dignity and trustworthiness.
  • Intellectual Qualities: interest in information and cultural matters.
  • Professional Qualities: Planning, Organizing, coordinating, ability to communicate and direct with ease.

The tourist guide has to present his country in best possible way. He must therefore have an excellent knowledge of his country and of the psychology of his visitors.

The most important points are:

  • To know how to speak well.
  • To have a good command of his subject.
  • To be able to adapt the level of his commentary according to the needs and tastes of the visitors.
  • To be able to give a varied, balanced commentary linked to what the visitors are seeing.
  • Physical Appearance:

Proper dress is essential. It is best for the tourist guide to dress in a discreet manner, neat, clean and tidy. In general the clothes of a tourist guide should be appropriate for the tour itinerary, which she/he is guiding.

The visitors’ first impression of the guide is important in establishing her/his role as a leader.

  • Pleasant and Lively Character:

The tourist is supposed to have: a lively character, capable of creating gaiety and cheerfulness, an agreeable personality, a respectful manner, a sense of humor.

Remember: Unless you SMILE the rest of your day is spoilt

3 TOURIST GUIDE’S CODE OF CONDUCT

To carry out their duties efficiently and successfully, the tourist guide must be a diplomat. By exercising diplomacy and tact they will ensure smooth and pleasant relationships with their participants.

This can be achieved by following these rules of conduct:

1 Remember that your behavior contributes to the country’s image.

2 Be tidy, well dressed

3 Show good manners and avoid nervousness, no matter what unexpected events occur. DON’T PANIC; KEEP COOL, CALM AND COLLECTED.

4 Maintain a sense of humor in all situations.

5 Do not allow your conduct with clients to be over familiar.

6 Obey the laws, regulations, customs and traditions of your country and encourage your clients to do the same.

7 Avoid making negative judgments about other countries, their beliefs, customs, politics and refrain from discussing controversial subjects.

8 Make sure that equal attention is given to all clients and not only to young, wealthy or attractive persons.

9 Answer questions with care, honesty and politeness.

10 Admit your ignorance rather than give misleading information or lying.

11 Avoid recommending people or places of doubtful reputation.

12 Avoid discussing your personal problems with clients.

13 Avoid accompanying tourists to restricted areas and places of which respectable people disapprove.

14 Never ask for gifts or tips.

4 STRUCTURE OF A COMMENTARY

How Does a Tourist Guide structure a Commentary?

STRUCTURE: How to pull it together.

  • Link ideas and associations:
  • With homeland.
  • Tropical matters.
  • Current events.

Establish threads:

  • Refer back to what they have seen, what you have said.
  • Plant seeds ahead and harvest; prepare them for later sights and experiences.

Tell people:

  • What they are looking at.
  • What they have seen.
  • What they will see.
  • Repeat and remind tourists of things they have seen earlier in the tour.
  • Do not overload them with facts.

KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE

Re-assess your group

Are you sure they are still interested and are you still entertaining them?

Ask yourself, would I enjoy my own commentary

Explain things so tourists understand

Remember: No BORED and PREACHING sessions

5 ANALYSIS OF A GOOD COMMENTARY

For a commentary to be an effective one you need to know the following thing in advance.

Details about your Audience

  1. Nationality.
  2. Age/Socio-economic group.
  3. Special interests.
  4. Where has the tour been?
  5. Where is the tour going?
  6. How long is this visit?
  7. Any previous visit?

This information is obtained from the tour operator and from the visitors themselves.

What do Visitors expect from their Tourist Guide?

Information & Entertainment:

Information and entertainment are of equal importance.

They also expect you:

I’ll write down my special interests.

  1. To fulfill their itinerary
  2. To provide practical information, i.e. shops, postcards/stamps, banks, toilet facilities, etc.
  3. To care for them during their tour and make it trouble –free.

What are the aims of a Tourist Guide?

As guides we also have other objectives. These are:

  1. To promote our country, our province or island.
  2. To involve the visitor.
  3. To inspire confidence.
  4. To be a credit to the tour operator who employs us (or to ourselves, if self-employed).

How many languages do you have in Indonesia?

6 BALANCING AND PLANNING A COMMENTARY

How can the Tourist Guide create a Balanced Commentary?

We have already said that the visitor expects to be informed and entertained. To make sure that our commentary is both of these we should make it:

Informative:

  • Factual.
  • Accurate.
  • Simple.
  • Concise.
  • Structured.
  • Relevant both to the people and the route.
  • Varied by including history, “today people” news, architecture, natural history, geography and geology, etc.
  • Cross-reference to their own homeland.

Entertaining:

  • Include anecdotes (very short interesting and amusing true stories about people and places)
  • Be humorous.
  • Be cheerful.

Planning a Specific Commentary

A tourist guide should prepare in advance if a tour is to run smoothly.

The following information is required before setting off:

Checklist:

  1. Your itinerary.
  2. Timing and route.
  3. Current and events.
  4. Payment vouchers or method of payment.

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