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Tourist Guide

Do you want to become a Tourist Guide? Here is some information to help point you in the right direction:

Job Description - Print Page

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Tourist guides accompany British and overseas visitors around cities, religious sites, historic buildings, industrial heritage sites, gardens, museums and other places of interest.

• Some guides are based in one place, such as a cathedral, castle or historic house.
• Other guides accompany individuals or groups on day trips on foot, or travelling in coaches and other forms of transport.
• Guides give detailed talks about places of interest.

Hours vary, but many guides work 40-60 hours a week during the tourist season. Much of the work is seasonal. Guides may work indoors or outdoors, and some spend periods away from home.

Employed guides can earn between £6,000 and £25,000, but most are self-employed and earnings vary. 'Blue Badge' guides in London can earn around £140 per day plus allowances.

Tourist guides should:

• be self-confident
• have excellent spoken communication skills
• have wide-ranging interests
• deal well with emergencies
• be fluent in other languages, for some jobs.

Opportunities to work as a guide are limited; there are probably fewer than 6,000 paid guides nationally.

Guides do not need qualifications, but a good general education is required, particularly knowledge of history. Most guides in Britain train for the 'Blue Badge' qualification. Training for this is part time and lasts between six months and two years. There are also relevant NVQs/SVQs.

Most people start this work between the ages of 30 and 50.

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