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Tour Guides and Escorts

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Escort individuals or groups on sightseeing tours or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, and art galleries.

Related: Park Naturalists Reservation & Transportation Ticket Agents & Travel Clerks Travel Agents Travel Guides Ushers, Lobby Attendants, & Ticket Takers

Industries: Arts & Entertainment Administration & Support Services

Summary
Details

Provide directions and other pertinent information to visitors.
Distribute brochures, show audiovisual presentations, and explain establishment processes and operations at tour sites.
Research various topics, including site history, environmental conditions, and clients' skills and abilities to plan appropriate expeditions, instruction, and commentary.
Greet and register visitors, and issue any required identification badges or safety devices.
Provide for physical safety of groups, performing such activities as providing first aid or directing emergency evacuations.
Distribute brochures, show audiovisual presentations, and explain establishment processes and operations at tour sites.
Train other guides and volunteers.
Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions.
Conduct educational activities for school children.
Greet and register visitors, and issue any required identification badges or safety devices.
Speak foreign languages to communicate with foreign visitors.
Teach skills, such as proper climbing methods, and demonstrate and advise on the use of equipment.
Collect fees and tickets from group members.
Provide information about wildlife varieties and habitats, as well as any relevant regulations, such as those pertaining to hunting and fishing.
Select travel routes and sites to be visited based on knowledge of specific areas.
Assemble and check the required supplies and equipment prior to departure.
Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions.
Perform clerical duties, such as filing, typing, operating switchboards, or routing mail and messages.
Solicit tour patronage and sell souvenirs.
Solicit tour patronage and sell souvenirs.
Speak foreign languages to communicate with foreign visitors.
Escort individuals or groups on cruises, sightseeing tours, or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, or art galleries.
Monitor visitors' activities to ensure compliance with establishment or tour regulations and safety practices.
Drive motor vehicles to transport visitors to establishments and tour site locations.

Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.

Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

48830/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

23.48/hr

Currently Employed

1,360

Yearly Projected Openings

320

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

Optimism
Social Orientation
Cooperation
Dependability
Adaptability
Self-Control

Busses
Desktop computers
Electronic charts or maps or atlases
Laser fax machine
Microphones
Mobile medical services first aid kits
Mobile phones
Passenger or automobile ferries
Personal digital assistant PDAs or organizers
Touring bicycles

Computer based training software
Customer relationship management CRM software
Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Mobile location based services software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Video conferencing software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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