Tour Guide

Overview:

Working as a tour guide you’ll be the contact person for tourists during their visit to Ireland – someone whose advice they’ll depend on – and so you will be an ambassador for Ireland and the company you work for.

You’ll be constantly with people, so you have to be very sociable if you plan to be a guide. You also need to be able to recognise tourists’ different cultural backgrounds, ages and interests and respond with the type of information and presenting style that suits them best.

The Workplace:

There are different types of guides and the type you are will dictate your workplace. Site Guiding is where you work at a specific site or visitor attraction.

Generally you‘ll be employed by the site or attraction directly, on a part time basis. You’ll be spending your days talking about the attraction in a confident way, answering any questions that may arise and making it sound interesting for the visitors.

 
Walking or Cycling Guiding is taking tourists on walking tours around a town like Kilkenny or a city like Dublin, or cycling tours around an area such as the Ring of Kerry, explaining places of historical, social or cultural interest.

The Career Path:

If you start working as a tour guide at a visitor attraction, you’ll be given a script of the basic information you need to transmit to the visitor and you will be conducting a very similar tour each time.

If you’re guiding walking or cycling tours or coach parties, as well as giving information on lots of different places, you’ll be involved in organising the transport, supplies and equipment and sometimes even accommodation.