Tour Guide Jobs in India: Everything You Need to Know

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A tour guide is a well-informed person, who gives important information about culture, history, and heritage interpretation to individuals, groups, and educational institutions among other clients. Tour guide jobs in India are increasing day by day as evident from the fact that the tourism industry envisions to create over 46 million job opportunities in the travel and tourism sector by the year 2025. India holds great potential in this field which is why professionals working in this industry should possess those skills that are important in this profession.

What are the requirements to take a job as a tour guide?

This important question helps you determine your eligibility when it comes to finding tour guide jobs in India. Clearly, listed below are the desired traits in an applicant:

An aspirant’s innate passion for traveling plays a crucial part in identifying his/her inclination towards the job.
An ideal candidate also showcases his/her prowess in grasping new languages and an ardent interest in tracing the history of tourist spots.
An aspiring tour guide also takes up adventure sports to satiate his craving for thrilling sports.
Having good soft skills also come in handy.
Tour guides should have that intrinsic quality of making the tourism spots aesthetically appealing, be it a dilapidated medieval fort or modern architectural marvel using their art of story-telling.
Tour guides should have that knack of engaging clients by sharing interesting anecdotes and trivia about a spot, which enhances the overall tour experience.

Job Opportunities

Tour Guide Jobs in India

Mostly, tour guide jobs in India are contractual in nature, which depends on the number of tour projects undertaken by the guide. Salaries in this field vary based on an individual’s ability to guide and communicate with the client, customers’ feedback, and local popularity. Predicting the earnings of a travel professional is not easy, sometimes. Generally, they get paid on a daily basis; in addition to that, they may be presented with generous tips from satisfied travelers. It comes as no surprise that during peak seasons, a well-rounded tour expert can earn just much more than his usual days.

What are the responsibilities of travel professionals?

They must cater to the client’s needs by arousing and satiating the client’s curiosity, keeping them informed, motivated, and inspired throughout the journey.
They should be multi-taskers and capable of even finding a traveler’s lost possession such as a purse or a briefcase.
Their utmost priority is customer’s satisfaction.
They are good at organizing accommodation, booking event tickets, and making table reservations.

What are the key functional areas?

Tour guide jobs in India are available across domains that include:

Highly south-after nature expeditions
Cruises
Resorts
Outdoor activities (biking, paragliding)
Government projects

An explorer’s mindset and a street-smart attitude are some of the basic requirements for this job. Having a good sense of humor is a quality that can spread popularity among the groups fast like a wildfire. This quality can help sightseers stay engaged without getting affected by the monotony. Here, the knowledge and educational background of the guide also plays an important part, not to mention the prerequisites like good communication skills, crisis handling tactics, and sharp memory. It is expected of tour guides to accompany visitors on their trips and give them interesting bits of information about their trips.

The Final Word

If you are planning to build a career in travel and tourism, it is not mandatory to have a degree. However, it could add more weight to your resume if you have a vocational certificate or a degree pertaining to the hospitality industry, mastery in subjects like travel, tourism, language and more is always an added advantage. Believe us; tour guide jobs in India are available in plenty, and all you need is to stay atop the latest trends in the travel industry to land your dream job.