Tourist guide
Entertain visitors with facts and stories as you show them around places of interest.
Also known as: tour guide
About the job
A day in the life – Tourist guide
What it's like
Are you passionate about a place of historic, artistic or cultural interest? As a tourist guide, you'll spend your days bringing those areas to life for visitors.
You'll entertain your visitors with a potted history, facts and interesting stories. You'll also answer people's questions about the place and its people.
Some tour guides specialise in one particular area. Others accompany groups on tours to a number of places or sites.
The places where you might do tours include:
towns and cities
historic buildings
gardens
religious sites
museums
art galleries
Tourist guides escort groups around the site or area. From memory, you'll talk clearly about its history, purpose, architecture and other points of interest. You'll keep your audience engaged and help them understand why the place is significant.
Your tasks might include:
planning and preparing for your tours – you'll tailor information to suit the audience
sharing stories, history and local knowledge in an entertaining way
balancing facts with humour and anecdotes to keep people interested
making sure your group stays together, moves safely and keeps to time
responding to visitor queries and giving them recommendations for other things to visit locally, such as restaurants or attractions
staying calm under pressure and adapting your plans when things go wrong – this could include bad weather, closures or delays
Your work may involve sightseeing or themed walks. You could also host customised tours for special interest groups. Some tourist guides offer driving tours – taking small groups of tourists to places of interest in a car, minibus or boat.
Explore more information about this job
Here are some useful links to learn more about this career:
National Trust for Scotland – explore the organisation that protects areas of historical interest across the country
Scottish Tourist Guides Association (STGA) – learn about specialist training you could do
Like the sound of this career?
Browse courses in Scotland related to 'Tourist guide'
Select qualification level(s)
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Related industries
Many jobs can be done in lots of different industries. We've highlighted the ones we think are most important for this job.
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Tourism and hospitality
Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- recalling
- developing a plan
- attention to detail
- respecting
- empathising
- verbal communication
- supporting
- cooperating
- positive attitude
The joy of storytelling
Meet the team from Mercat Tours
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
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Modern Languages
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Cantonese
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English and Communication
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French
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Gaelic (Learners)
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Gàidhlig
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German
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History
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Italian
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Mandarin
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Modern Studies
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Skills for Work: Hospitality
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Social Subjects
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Spanish
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Skills for Work: Travel and Tourism
Technically, you don't need any qualifications to become a tourist guide.
Although, earning qualifications can increase your chances of landing a job. Let's explore all the routes you can take to launch your career.
College
Getting qualifications at college, such as an HNC or HND, could help you find a job. Useful subjects include:
Travel and Tourism
Highland Heritage for Tourism
Use the My World of Work course search to find HNCs or HNDs.
Apprenticeships
Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) mean you learn on the job. You get paid and work towards a qualification at the same time. You might want to consider an MA in Customer Service, Retail and Travel.
Work
Sometimes, you can apply for tourist guide jobs without any relevant qualifications. For example, many university or college students become tourist guides during holidays.
Experience of customer service, giving presentations and speaking in public can help your application stand out.
If you have a special interest in a particular area or topic, this can also help when you apply for jobs. Those with amazing knowledge often make the best tourist guides. You can build specialist knowledge of a topic or area through studying, writing reports or articles and volunteering.
Use the My World of Work job search to look for vacancies.
Private training
A few companies offer specialist training for tourist guides. Check out National Trust and the Scottish Tourist Guides Association (STGA) to see what's available.
Volunteering in a relevant role can help you build the skills and experience you’ll need to become a tourist guide. Search for opportunities on Volunteer Scotland.
A second language or a history qualification can be useful for this type of work. Although this is not essential!
If you have an outgoing and friendly personality, this'll give you an advantage when applying for jobs.
You should have strong knowledge of the history and geography of the area you want to work in.
Find the right course for you
Browse courses in Scotland related to 'Tourist guide'
