Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Tour Guide Course, and how do I take it?

In this online course, you have around 100 lessons about every aspect of tour guiding, managing, leading, supervising and directing.

This Tour Guide Course is divided unto 5 modules:

Safety on tour
Leadership on tour
Responsibilities on tour
Communication on tour
Emergencies on tour

You will be tested on each module
Questions will be multiple-choice and marked by computer
There are 12 questions for each module, with a choice of 4 answers for each. Only one answer is correct. You can retake the test as often as you need until you pass

Will I get a certificate?

Your Certificate

You will be issued with a certificate showing your competency statements. It can be printed in many languages

Is the certificate recognised in all countries?

It is impossible to guarantee that employers worldwide will recognise this certificate. However, the course content is international. Anyone in the tour operating business will know that the skills taught in the course apply to any country. Remember, we are not teaching destination-specific material. Individual countries will have their own standards for that knowledge. The Tour Guide Course is about the skills all tour guides need, regardless of the country they are working in. The idea is that you can demonstrate that you know what to do, and how to behave, in the many different situations a guide might have to deal with on tour.

Remember, the course is recognised by the Institute of Travel and Tourism for its standards and good practice

Do I need any previous experience or qualification?

You don’t need any particular qualification to start the course, but it’s better to have a school leaving certificate or equivalent, and a basic level of general knowledge is essential. If English is not your mother tongue I may be able to help you as I have other languages among my skill sets. Please let me know.

What kind of jobs can tour guides get?

As well as leading guided tours, there are dozens of other tour guide jobs. You might work in a museum, a wildlife reserve, an amusement park, and soon, even a space ship! You might be driving a truck through the desert, walking around a city centre, cycling, hiking, giving a narration on a coach, showing newcomers around a campus – the variety of places and type of work is unbelievable

What’s the money like?

Some tour guides get very well paid, but most get an average to low salary, with free accommodation, travel and local transport, at least one meal a day and often, tips and / or commissions.

What’s the best part of being a tour guide?

For me, every part is the best part! Well, okay, maybe getting woken up in the middle of the night to deal with someone ’emergency’ is not so great, but most of the job is fun and stimulating.

Every guide has their own favourite aspect of the job. I love being with people, hearing about their lives and sharing knowledge about the places we visit, laughing and joking with them and watching them enjoy their holiday, also seeing them do things they always wanted to do.

Apart from the travelling, what other career benefits are there?

Making friends with people of all nationalities and backgrounds
Learning about other countries and cultures
Learning new languages or improving your foreign language skills
Being a leader
Developing quick thinking and adaptability.

I’m really bad at studying. Do you have any advice to help me?

This course has been designed for ease of use. You will find lots of short sentences with bullet points, as the brain can hold short sentences in memory for more time than long ones. Also, the fewer blocks of text there are on the page, the less tired the eyes get and the easier the information is to read. You’ll also notice that the sections of each module are short, for the same reason. Main points have been underlined to help you, but the best way to learn is to write these down yourself, in your own words. Learning takes place when you are thinking, not merely transcribing, and if you have to write something in your own words you have to understand it first, which is where the thinking comes in.

How many times have you read to the bottom of a page then found you had to go back to the beginning and read it all over again?

That’s because you didn’t set yourself a target before reading. Ask yourself a question and the brain will automatically look for the answer, and what’s more, will remember it more easily!

For example, if the chapter is called ‘Ideal background of a Tour Leader’, ask yourself, ˜What is the ideal background for a tour leader?’, then begin to read the page. After each section, look away from the page, then repeat to yourself what you’ve just read. Note down what you thought then check it against the text, especially any underlined sections. These notes will be the basis of your revision before you do the end of module test. Instead of re-reading the whole module just read through your notes, and memorise them by repeating without looking. Because you’ve produced the notes you will both understand them and be able to remember them more easily.

Three great tips to help you study:

Ask yourself a question about the topic to set a reading goal
Read, look away, repeat, make notes
Refer to notes when revising

What happens after I pay for the course? Can I get my money back if I am not satisfied?

My promise is to return your payment in full if you are not happy with the course. You are also protected if your payment is made through PayPal, who have a dispute facility you can use within 180 days of payment.

If you live in a country using a different currency, please make sure the amount you send is enough to cover any taxes or transfer fees. Using PayPal, please check the ‘sending money to friends and family’ option, otherwise you will have to add the small fee that I will have to pay to PayPal.