During the Renaissance period, the Grand Tour pulled young European aristocrats across Europe to experience art, culture, and history. Local scholars, known as “Cicerones,” were hired to guide these travellers, providing in-depth information on the sites they visited. Cicerone is an old term for a guide who conducts visitors to museums, galleries, and other places of interest, explaining matters of archaeological, antiquarian, historic, or artistic importance.
The arrival of railways and steamships during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century made travel more accessible. Thomas Cook, a British entrepreneur, organized the very first package tour in 1841, which included travel, accommodation, and guided tours. This marked the beginning of organized tourism and established tour guiding as a profession.
Today, tour guides play a pivotal role in the tourism industry, leading in a multifaceted role that extends beyond guiding tours. They are key to promoting cultural understanding, imparting knowledge, stimulating local economies, ensuring sustainable tourism practices, and enhancing the overall tourist experience.
Tour guides serve as cultural ambassadors, providing information and insights into local traditions, customs, and history, helping tourists appreciate and respect local culture. By fostering a deeper understanding and connection, they ensure that cultural sites are not just visited but valued, respected, and protected. As environmental caretakers, tour guides play a crucial role in preserving landscapes by promoting eco-friendly practices. They educate tourists on minimizing their environmental impact, adhering to principles like “Leave No Trace,” and supporting conservation efforts.
As community connectors, tour guides often serve as the bridge between tourists and local communities. They facilitate interactions that are respectful and mutually beneficial, ensuring that tourism boosts local economies. Ensuring the safety of tourists is another primary responsibility of tour guides. This includes managing risks, providing first aid, and making informed decisions to avoid safety hazards. Their knowledge and preparedness are crucial in safeguarding the well-being of travellers, whether on a wildlife safari or trekking at 4,000 metres in the Himalayas. Professionalism in conduct, appearance, and communication is essential for tour guides. They represent not only their employers but also the broader tourism industry and the nation.
The Tourism Guides Association of Nepal (TURGAN) recently organized the 8th National Tourist Guide Conference, which was inaugurated by the Tourism Minister of Nepal. The key objective of the conference was to engage, revitalize, and inspire its members. Mr. Thaneswar Devkota, President of TURGAN, highlighted the importance of tour guides as cultural ambassadors. He also demanded periodic refresher training and acknowledged the contribution of tour guides to the local economy while ensuring the rights and respect of cultural ambassadors. TURGAN, founded in 1989, is a member of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA), which has members from more than 70 countries, representing well over 200,000 individual tourist guides.
Despite the significant roles of tour guides, they face several challenges in their profession. Tour guides must be updated with information and adapt their competencies. The rise of digital technology and AI in tourism necessitates that tour guides stay updated with the latest technology, digital tools and social trends. They must integrate these to enhance the tourist experience while maintaining personal engagement.
Like an experienced Toastmaster, a good tour guide will gauge the room, read the audience and adapt accordingly. If it’s 9 am after an overnight stay, guests are probably ready for a bit of history; if they’ve just had lunch with wine, they’ll prefer a brief story and a chance to doze.
Barnaby Davies, Founder of EastguidesWest
Tourists come with varied expectations, backgrounds, and needs, the motivation to travel varies from one tourist to another. Tour guides must be culturally sensitive, inclusive, and adaptable to cater to diverse groups, including those with special needs or disabilities. Additionally, tour guides need to be compensated with fair wages, job security, and professional development opportunities. The industry must support them through policies that ensure equitable treatment and continuous learning.
Like other destinations, tour guides in Nepal play a pivotal role in the tourism industry, balancing the dual objectives of competitiveness and sustainability. Their responsibilities as cultural ambassadors, environmental stewards and safety managers are integral to the tourist experience. However, they face significant challenges that require adaptive strategies, continuous education, and industry support. By addressing these challenges, tour guides can continue to thrive, fostering a tourism ecosystem that benefits travellers, local communities, and the environment alike.
The quality of tour services is demonstrated in part by the quality of guides during tours. Tour guides are not only critical characters in the progress of package tours of DMCs but are also essential representatives of the tourism business, as their services are primarily dependent on their performance and technical expertise. Promoting cross-cultural understanding through transformative learning has long been regarded as one of the advantages of international travel, as it can lead to changes in tourists’ perceptions of themselves, their countries, and the world in terms of self-discovery, rediscovery of their home country, and globalized ways of thinking.
