Private guide in any city in the world. The benefits of a guide profession. Guide them. Patrice Lumumba

In an independent trip, many consider the search for a guide an optional and even superfluous task, because a map of the city can be taken at any hotel, and Wikipedia can find out the history of the Colosseum. And the guides, in the end, did not stop releasing, now even in the form of applications for smartphones. But an excursion is not necessarily an old-fashioned move from cathedral to museum and from museum to cathedral. A good guide will allow you to set priorities in planning a visit to a city or country, look into places that guidebooks don’t write about, and just learn more about the place you arrived in. Editors along the way   I tested in my experience several ways to get on a tour in Russian and English in an unfamiliar city, and here are our recommendations.

Where can I find a good guide

• on a free group tour of the city;
• on the Internet on sites of online booking of excursions;
• on a paid group or individual tour, which can be purchased directly on the spot.

1. Participation in a free group city tour

In almost any city that attracts a more or less stable tourist flow, there are free group tours in local, English and sometimes other languages \u200b\u200bpopular in the region (all of a sudden you know them better than English). Somewhere to participate in them, you need to pre-register online, but often it’s enough to come to the right place at the right time, which Google and colleagues can easily tell you by the query “city” + “free tours”. For example, every day at 11 a.m. a man with an orange umbrella will be waiting for you in London at the Churchill Monument for an excursion to the royal palaces, and every Saturday at 10 a.m. you can join a tour of the New York quarter of Greenwich Village, where they lived, drank and created hipsters and rock stars of the 60s. At the end of the tour, participants are usually invited to independently evaluate the work of the guide and determine the cost of the tour.

In addition to the obvious economic attractiveness, it is also worth noting the high quality of such excursions. As a rule, guides are really in love with the city and spend extremely fascinating tours. The organizers are also interested in the fact that free tours do not disappoint tourists, since such tours are an excellent marketing tool.

The downside of free tours is the lack of flexibility. If the tour time or route does not suit you, you will have to choose another option for exploring the city. Also, you will not be able to enjoy the tour if you do not speak English at a sufficiently high level.

2. Booking excursions on the online service

Over the past few years, several platforms have appeared that act as intermediaries in the search for a guide. When organizing a trip, we recommend that you study and compare the offer in the city you need on several sites. If you are satisfied with the tour in English, you can use international resources:

We will consider the main services focused on the search for a Russian-speaking guide:

• Experts.Tourist.

The slogan of the Tripster project: "Unusual excursions from local residents." In fact, on the site you can find both quite standard sightseeing tours, and truly outstanding offers for travelers who are no longer interested in a walk around the main attractions. At the time of publication of the article (June 2015), more than 2 thousand excursions in 307 cities were presented on the website. Tripster is simple and convenient to use. To organize a trip you need:

• choose a city;
• choose a tour (description of the tour and reviews from other travelers are available);
• place an order with the date and any additional questions to the guide;
• receive confirmation and answers to questions from the guide;
• pre-pay 16% of the cost of the tour.

After confirming the order, it becomes possible to communicate with the guide by phone or e-mail. We also note the presence of special projects and offers. We were especially captivated by the Moscow course "Six meetings on architecture for people who are not used to being interested in it." There is also a section "Community of Travelers", where you can get an answer to a question from local residents and other tourists.

Editors along the way   I used Tripster services on one of my recent trips and was pleased with both the service and the guide. At the time of preparing the material, the service had only one drawback we noticed - a small coverage.

Experts.Tourist

The “Experts” project is part of the multi-functional Tourist resource, on which you can find everything in a row on the theme of travel: from travelers' blogs to taxi reservation services from the airport. According to the creators of the service, the “Experts” project allows you to find not only a guide, but simply “your own person in Havana”: an interpreter, shopping guide, expert. According to information on the site as of February 2015, the service offers more than 12.5 Thousands of excursions in 114 countries. Verification by the editors along the way   in selected areas, it is doubtful whether these figures are realistic. So, for example, the service says there are 32 excursions in Zagreb, although there are no companies or private guides from this city registered on the site. However, some destinations are indeed presented much better than on Tripster - for example, the countries of Southeast Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia).

Unlike Tripster, which is primarily aimed at travelers who are interested in unusual excursions, the Experts project. The tour operator is organized in such a way as to become an attractive promotion tool for travel agencies and private guides. Each guide has its own page, as in a social network, which contains a list of excursions, reviews of other tourists, the guide’s story about himself, contact information, copies of licenses and certificates. Having chosen a destination, the user sees a list of guides and travel companies offering services in this city, and a brief reference about each guide: the number of excursions and reviews, knowledge of languages, the availability of documents confirming professional suitability. Description of excursions can be seen only after going to the guide page. You can send a message to the guide through the website or contact directly - the contact phone number and email address are usually indicated on the guide pages. The service also allows you not to choose a guide immediately, but to place a request for a tour specifying the city, date and number of participants.

Advantages of the Experts service. A tourist is a large selection of standard sightseeing tours, a large amount of information about guides, the ability to immediately contact the guide directly by phone or email.

In our opinion, Experts. A tourist is less attractive for experienced travelers who are interested in non-standard excursions, but they will definitely not let you get lost in a strange city.

In addition to these sites, there are several more similar with Russian-language excursions:,.

3. Acquisition of individual or group excursions on site

For those who do not like to plan every day in advance, there is always the possibility of acquiring a tour on the spot. Booklets with advertising of excursions can almost always be found in hotels and hostels, the main tourist places of the city. Travel agencies' offices are often located on the main streets of the city and near attractions. As a rule, you can sign up for a group excursion in a day or two. Editors along the way   thus went on day trips around the city and to neighboring cities, and even to neighboring countries. Sometimes with the help of booklets in the hotel you can find unusual offers - for example, bicycle or themed tours. Having abandoned the preliminary planning of excursions, the following risks should be considered:

• a small number of tours in Russian (with the exception of destinations with a large flow of tourists from the CIS countries);
• low availability of private tours during periods of high tourist season due to the large number of preliminary applications;
• an incomprehensible situation with the quality of such tours - guides are not motivated by either reviews on the Internet or payment on the basis of "liked - did not like"; ask about the quality in fact no one.

Summing up, we note that none of the options considered is better or worse than others. Choose the one that is most convenient for you.

Affiliate links:

• Look for custom tours on;
• Book your accommodation on Booking;
• Book flights on UIA website;
• Book ready-made tours for;
• Rent bikes at.

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Irina Davydova

Reading time: 9 minutes

A a

The profession, known today as a "guide-guide", until the end of the sixties, we can say, practically did not exist. Usually volunteers undertook this work - and, most often, absolutely free of charge. Caring for the excursions was assigned to the staff of museums and universities. As for full-time guides - there were few.

The development of an excursion destination in tourism in the USSR started only after 1969. And today this profession is considered fashionable, profitable and prestigious.

Features of the guide-guide - where and how does the guide work?

So, after all, a guide or a guide? How right? And is there any difference?

There is definitely a difference.

The first, in addition to direct duties, accompanies guests on tours, as well as on hikes or even cruises, ensures their safety and solves their everyday problems. And the second only guides tours (usually the same ones) along a specific route or to an object chosen by tourists (program), telling guests about the history of the object or area.

Where do tour guides work?

Most often, a tour company (as well as museums, etc.) becomes the guide’s place of work. But, upon reaching a certain level of experience and skill, often the guides go "free swimming", preferring to work for themselves.

What does the guide do?

Among the duties of a guide can be noted the following:

• Escort of tourists and their informing about the history of certain sights.
• Search and thorough study of history.
• Development of unique (and not very - who will succeed) excursion programs.
• Coordination of tourists during an emergency.
• Conducting safety training.
• First aid if necessary.
• Performing the functions of a translator.
• Filling out excursion documents.
• Checking participants' documents, organizing their departure and controlling them until the end of the tour.

Necessary skills, personal and business qualities for working as a guide-guide

Among the main requirements that are put forward to the applicant for this profession:

1. Higher humanitarian education.
2. Knowledge of one (minimum English), and preferably 2-3 foreign languages.
3. Grammatically correct speech.
4. Inner charm and artistry.
5. Sociability, ability to get along with people and quickly find contact.
6. The ability to correctly, clearly and interestingly tell people about certain facts of history.
7. In most cases (in reputable companies) - the presence of accreditation.
8. Knowledge of museum / sightseeing and local history, Russian language and literature, history and ethnography, cultural studies.
9. Knowledge of a specific excursion destination, in accordance with the chosen one (history, weapons, local history, etc.).

Personal qualities and talents, without which it is impossible to successfully master the profession:

• Acting abilities.
• Good memory.
• Love of history, local history.
• Talent to quickly find the right words and instantly find a solution in the most delicate situations.
• The ability to concentrate people's attention, captivate them with interesting information and completely capture attention.
• The desire to improve.
• Love for your work.
• Speech endurance.
• Tolerance, the ability to communicate with a variety of tourists and groups of tourists, including those that in ordinary life you go around a kilometer.
• High linguistic literacy and culturological erudition.
• Talent of psychologist and teacher.
• Ability to do without a translator (high level of foreign spoken language).
• High performance and physical endurance.
• A sense of humor (you can’t do without it in work).

Who needs this job?

Most of this profession is suitable for young, hardy and attractive boys and girls with a high level of intelligence and perfect knowledge of English, with leadership qualities, collected and responsible, extremely energetic and active in life, in love with the land where they take excursions.

Profession guide-guide - pros and cons of work

Of the advantages of the profession, which are many, we can especially highlight ...

1. Lack of routine in their work. If the guide's excursions remain the same from year to year, the guide is free to independently plan the routes and excursions themselves, as well as make changes.
2. Constant communication and meeting new people.
3. Constant language practice when communicating with foreign guests.
4. Decent salary.
5. A boring job that you can really go to with pleasure.
6. An opportunity to travel and work in the fresh air.
7. Prospects for the development of their business in tourism.
8. Free schedule (unless, of course, you are not a full-time employee at the museum, for example).
9. The stability of earnings when working in cities attractive to tourists.

Disadvantages of the profession:

• Constant work on the feet.
• The need to work in any weather.
• Meals "on the fly" (often instead of lunch you have to solve various organizational issues or even look for your confused guests).
•   . The guide is responsible for his tourists.
• The need to smile even for those to whom you would never smile in ordinary life.
• Decrease in profit in the autumn and winter seasons (not everywhere).
• Extremely serious competition.

Teaching a profession guide - courses, educational institutions, self-study

Of course, you can try to become a guide on your own with a normal secondary education, completing any courses - or just listening to a few lectures at the local museum. But this is possible only in small towns or villages where the flow of tourists is low, and no one thinks about the quality of the guide's work.

If you are serious about this profession, and you are going to earn good and stable income on it, then you should approach the matter with all responsibility.

1. University    One cannot do without a higher humanitarian education (note - history, philology, cultural studies, etc.). There are enough specialized faculties in modern universities. Naturally, foreign languages \u200b\u200bshould be studied in parallel. You must be fluent in English at the highest cultural level. German, French and Chinese will also not be superfluous.
2. Courses.   Lectures and trainings are held at universities and museums. After completing the courses, participants receive the relevant documents. Courses are suitable for those who already have a diploma.
3. Training   (you can’t do without it if you want to move forward, and not stand still until the very old age).
4. Proficiency Test and obtaining a license.

Where to go to study?

• University of Management and Economics in St. Petersburg.
• International Academy of Tourism in Moscow.
• Russian State Humanitarian University.
• Institute of International Tourism in Irkutsk.
• University of Tourism and Resort in Sochi.
• Training Center for Guides and Guides.
• Association of guide-translators and guides.

Features of the career and salary of the guide - how much does the guide guide receive

In St. Petersburg alone, more than 7 million guests visited 2016. Therefore, the question of the demand for the profession in large cities is not even worth it: guides and guides are needed wherever there are tourists.

Average earnings will depend on the region and place of work. The average salary in the country is about 35,000 p.   In Moscow and St. Petersburg in the season you can earn up to 80,000 p and more.

The most profitable regions for guides are:

• Moscow region and Moscow.
• Petersburg and the Leningrad region.
• Krasnodar region.

As for the level of salary, it remains the highest today in Moscow, after which comes the Kemerovo region, then the Republic of Tatarstan and St. Petersburg.

It is worth noting that when working for a travel agency, the guide's salary is, on average, about 2,000 rubles per day per season, plus tips. When working for himself, such an employee naturally receives all the profit for himself.

Is career growth possible?

Of course, yes - as in any profession.

And the highest point of a career is not just self-employment, but opening your own excursion bureau or other business in this market area.

  tour guide from scratch?

The path to success for the future guide is as follows:

1. Obtaining appropriate education and learning a foreign language (s).
2. Courses (average cost of quality training programs - about 50,000 p.) - 2-4 months.
3. Internship and exam at the museum.
4. Obtaining accreditation, without which you will not be able to get a really good job and conduct excursions (fine - up to 25,000 for individuals).
5. Arrangement in a travel company, museum, hotel, etc.

Accreditation - how to get it, and what is it?

Accreditation is a special permission of the state standard, which gives the right to conduct excursions for foreign guests.

These permits were introduced to improve the quality of service for tourists arriving to us.

In total, 3 levels of accreditation are known:

• 3rd category - trainee (term of permission - 1 year). Requirements: a diploma from a university, a certificate of completed courses (or faculty) for a guide or a guide, a document on listening to lectures on conducting excursions in the museum and (optionally, but it will be a plus) experience in conducting excursions in the workbook.
• 2nd category - for professionals with experience of 2 years or more. The term of permission is 3 years.
• 1st category - for professionals with experience of 7 years. Accreditation is perpetual and does not require renewal.

You can get a license only after training, and what future place to choose for it - each future guide decides for himself.

Accreditations for work in Moscow and St. Petersburg (for example) are various, and there is no uniform certification of guides in the country.

For example, in St. Petersburg you can get such accreditation in the city tourist information bureau, and in the capital - in the Association of guides-translators and guides.

Important:

Finding a job with accreditation is easy if you have your own interesting itineraries. It is enough to come in person or send to where you would like to get a job.

If you liked our article and you have any thoughts about this, please share with us. It is very important for us to know your opinion!

Friends, not so long ago I was doing a Russian-language review. This is a real library of knowledge for everyone who is going on the road! What can I say, the daily attendance of the site tourister.ru more than 50 thousand people speaks for itself)).

Experts.Tourister.Ru - this is a service search for private guides. It makes it possible to find a Russian-speaking guide for an excursion in an unfamiliar country, a shopping guide for shopping, an interpreter, etc. - in short, experts in their field of tourism-related services.

In fact, guiding in a foreign country almost always saves a lot of time, effort and even money. It’s one thing to spend time working out a route, exploring the sights, then looking for streets on a map, etc., and it’s quite another thing when a person leads you on the optimal route, he tells and shows everything. Beauty and only))

The service has an impressive expert base: 227 private guides are ready to provide their services in 46 countries! By the way, the figures given are increasing every month.

Each expert has his own personal page on the service. So, for example, one of them looks like:

On the guide page you will find the following information:

• in what country of the world and cities does he provide services (section "geography of excursions")
• what kind of services he is ready to provide (section "specialization")
• detailed description of guided tours and tours (time duration, cost, what is included, etc.)
• guide contact details
• guide’s employment calendar, which immediately shows information on which days he’s busy or free

All independent travelers are different, but they have one problem - judging by the tourist forums. There was not enough time, it turned out to be uninteresting, they got lost, did not know ... The questions are also the same: how to find, how to get there, expensive or not, is it worth the time? And half of these problems can be solved if you find a good private guide. Where to find him and how to find out?

To someone, a personal guide will seem a whim - there is the Internet, with it you can independently create a route and find out details about the city or country. However, a private guide company has important advantages. For instance:

• no need to shovel a mountain of literature and sites, so as not to disappear in a strange city;
• lack of a language barrier with local residents;
• the guide knows local features - prices, tricks and potential dangers;
• a private tour may be cheaper than an organized tour;
• access to places where they are not allowed without an accredited guide is opened;
• individual approach - the route will be tailored to your desires and interests;
• accompanying not only tourists, but also those who came to the city for work or treatment.

In short, a good guide will turn a looking tourist into a connoisseur of the city, make sure that you have a delicious lunch and are not exhausted in the search for decent souvenirs.

And where to find such a guide?

1. Using word of mouth

Trite, but - contact your friends, ask on forums and in thematic groups of social networks; good specialists are usually heard.

2. At the exchange of translators

It would seem that the professions are different, but there are always people on such sites who are ready to introduce customers to the city (they charge hourly fees for services).

3. On specialized resources

In the catalogs of excursions and guides you will find unique routes across hundreds of cities - sightseeing, museum, gastronomic, extreme - as well as people who lay them. Often, registering a guide on such a platform is a paid pleasure, which allows the resource to filter out people with frivolous intentions. On the guide’s personal page you can see what services and where he provides, description and cost of excursions, as well as reviews. The disadvantage of this method is that the resource commission will be included in the price of the excursions.

There is an online platform that simply “brings you” with the guide: you only see his photo and the cost of services, the rest you will already know when communicating. Airbnb's startup is focused on recreational activities and various local events where locals will take you. And on this site guides offer not only excursions, but also master classes.

4. On the spot

The method is suitable for popular tourist cities and travelers who are ready to take a chance. You need to go to the most tourist place, find a Russian group with a guide and ask him for recommendations - you will probably be immediately offered a familiar specialist. The disadvantage of this method is that you do not choose your guide, so it is more likely that your ideas about the ideal excursion diverge with him.

How to find a good guide on the Internet?

So, you looked after the guide in the right city, went to his website, blog or page and are trying to determine whether you will find a common language by greeting and publications. Here are a few criteria for a good guide:

• the presence of a license (in itself does not promise a great tour, but opens up access to some castles, palaces and parks, and adds a professional points guide);
• prices are not lower than average (too small amounts should alert you);
• politeness, literacy and neatness;
• the guide has video and photo reports about excursions;
• interestingly tells;
• can meet you at the airport or train station;
• does not ask for an advance payment;
• offers non-standard excursions and non-tourist routes;
• knows local prices and cuisine and can tell where it is tastier and cheaper;
• offers excursions on various modes of transport - on water, on a tram, a bicycle or even a segway;
• shares reviews of tourists and photos with them;
• tells not only about the beauties that you will see, but also about how to dress for the tour and what to bring with you;
• works with a microphone.

Compliance with all these points does not guarantee that you have found a good guide, but it says that a person loves his job and knows the needs of tourists. Good luck with your acquaintances and interesting trips!