Tour Guiding – About The Tourism Industry (Preview)
Tour Guiding 
Contents
Chapter 1 – About the Tourism Industry
- Structure of tourism industry
- The impact of tourism
- What is a tour guide and how do they fit into the tourism industry?
- How tour guides fit in the Tourism industry
Chapter 2 – Tourism Attractions & Activities
- What is an attraction
- What is an activity
- Examples of each
- Their importance in the industry
Chapter 3 – The Tour Guiding Role
- Tour guiding role
- Types of tour guides
- Where can you work as a tour guide?
- Role overview with variety from place to place
Chapter 4 – How to become a tour guide
- Personal attributes
- Qualifications
- Experience & Contacts
Chapter 5 – New Zealand Tour Guide Requirements
- Information for New Zealand tour guiding roles
- Website for specific information & qualifications
Chapter 6 – Customer Handling Skills
- Communication skills
- Positive attitude
- Excellent customer service
Chapter 7 – Health & Safety + Handling Emergencies
- Medical issues and other emergencies
- Safety precautions
Chapter 8 – Presentation Skills for Tour Guides
- Planning and delivering tour commentary
- Guiding duties
- PA system
- Walking tours
Chapter 9 – Summary
Chapter One
About the Tourism Industry
Tourism is big business. Last year more than 1 billion international tourist arrivals took place around the world and these tourists spent more than $1 trillion US dollars! In some countries tourism is THE most important industry earning more than any other type of activity and providing vital employment for local people.
Checkout this image that lists the ‘Top Ten’ of countries visited by tourists:
- France
- USA
- Spain
- China
- Italy
- Turkey
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- Russia
- Thailand
Tourism is about people travelling INTO a country or destination. For example, if you live in New Zealand and travel to the UK you will be regarded as a ‘tourist’ while you are there. Visitors to the country where you live are engaged in tourism, and if you work in the tourism industry you will have a job such as a tour guide or Visitor Information Consultant, helping tourists to access and enjoy the attractions and activities available in your area.
When Did Tourism Start?
People have always travelled – for the purpose of war, religious pilgrimages and trading. Wealthy people have always travelled – to see great buildings, works of art, learn languages, experience new cultures and to taste different foods. Even in Roman Times there are records of people travelling to coastal areas or mountains for leisure time. The word ‘tourism’ was first used in the 1800’s, and a tourist has since been defined as somebody who ‘travels abroad for at least 24 hours.’
Tourism as a recognised industry is generally regarded to have started around 250 years ago with the first official travel company formed in the UK – Cox & Kings, who are still operating today.
Click the link here for the history of Cox & Kings
The first ‘packaged tour’ took place in 1949 when a group of British tourists travelled to Corsica on a pre-arranged tour on a jet powered passenger aircraft – the first known example of jet aircraft being used purely for leisure tourism. The advent of the Jumbo Jet in 1969, an aircraft that could carry 500 passengers, saw the launch of new airlines using large jet aircraft and an expansion of routes to new tourism destinations. This allowed the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to new and exciting places and put such travel within reach of large numbers of people who previously had not been able to afford to travel beyond their own country.
Types of Tourism
Heritage or Cultural Tourism: is one of the most popular types of tourism, focused on visiting people and activities that represent the stories and people of the past, particularly if the visitor has distant family roots or connections to that place.
For example, visitors flock to places such as Jorvik in York (UK) to experience what life was like as a Viking
Adventure Tourism: is becoming mainstream tourism, with an emphasis on visiting a destination in order to take part in adventurous activities such as rock climbing, bungee jumping, river rafting, caving and glacier skiing.
Culinary Tourism: involves travelling to places specifically to enjoy the food of an area, and even to take part in organised cooking lessons. Gourmet Safari is a good example of a culinary tourism operator, offering cooking trips to European destinations such as France, Italy and Spain.
Medical Tourism: describes the rapidly-growing practice of travelling overseas to obtain health care or a medical procedure that may be cheaper or more readily available in countries other that where you live. This could include anything from dental procedures to cosmetic surgery, hip replacements or even heart surgery.
Educational Tourism: has developed because of the growing popularity of teaching and learning outside the traditional classroom environment. The main focus of the tourism includes visiting another country to learn about the culture, and usually includes the chance to learn a new language or skill.
Religious Tourism: includes pilgrimages to religious sites such as Lourdes in France, or Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Space Tourism: is expected to ‘take off’ in the next 20 years or so but because of the high costs of participation is not expected to be a major sector for many decades yet!
Pop-culture Tourism: involves travelling to places or locations featured in films, videos, music , or other forms of entertainment. For example, visits to Hollywood in USA to see where movies are made.
Wildlife Tourism: focuses on visiting destinations where animals/birds can be seen in their natural habitat. This could include safaris in Africa, or visits to the Galapagos Islands to see the giant tortoise. There are significant environmental issues associated with this type of tourism and governments are increasingly introducing measures to control this type of tourism in a way that doesn’t threaten the very wildlife that drew the visitors there in the first place.
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