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Tour Guide - Personal requirements

Kaiārahi Rōpū Haere

Skills & knowledge

Tour guides need to have:

knowledge of the route to be covered and attractions of interest to tourists
knowledge of New Zealand culture, history, society, geography, flora and fauna
research skills, to collect information about the tour route and/or destinations and attractions
leadership skills
communication and public speaking skills
problem-solving and conflict resolution skills
knowledge of safety procedures, and crisis and risk management skills
an understanding of appropriate behaviour when dealing with people from other cultures
an understanding of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992
planning, organisational and time management skills
sales skills
basic maths skills.

Tour guides who manage a company need to have business skills.

"You need to have very good research skills, otherwise you are just hopeless. Tourists don't want to just know the height of a mountain, they also want that little anecdote about New Zealand. You need to have your eyes and ears open all the time."

Claudia Duffy - Tour Guide

Personal Qualities

Tour guides need to be:

friendly, outgoing and able to put people at ease
polite and patient
responsible and trustworthy
helpful and perceptive of visitors' needs
able to work well under pressure
able to remain calm in an emergency
able to pay attention to detail
able to relate to people from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds.

"It’s such a learning curve this job, learning how to read people and how to handle people. Some people can be quite toey at first – jet-lagged I guess – and want to throw their weight around."

Karen Thompson - Tour Manager

Physical Requirements

Tour guides need to be reasonably fit as they may do a lot of walking or other physical activity. They may also need to lift heavy luggage onto buses or coaches.

Tour guides also need to have clear speech, good hearing and a neat and tidy appearance.

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Updated September 2009

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