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WHO ARE OUR MEMBERS?
Some Tour
Guides, Tour Directors, Driver-Guides
and Meet and Greeters work as employees for companies, but many also
work as independents on a free-lance basis for anyone who needs
group-handling services. This also includes work at conventions, incentive
tours or for special interest groups or individuals, etc. Arrangements for
any specific employment conditions, if needed, and for remuneration will be
made by each of our Members.
Our Members do
participate in our numerous association meetings, fam trips and educational gatherings, plus reading our e-mails
and Member's Only site to constantly improve and up-grade their many skills.
MEMBER BENEFITS
+ Professional
development (good guides made even better) through the various educational
events, including guest speakers, a variety of different tourism related
meeting locations and trips that we offer (day trips and overnight) between
October and May
+ Discovering
different areas where you might do other tours within Vancouver, BC and
beyond
+ Our closed-circuit E-group e-mail system and our
new Member's Only website,
both of which include guiding and tourism related news and
information (including short commentary updates, route delays or changes and
various job offers)
+ Our
"Upcoming Events/Festivals" page on this website (when you've just got to know what are
the dates of this years fireworks, or which plays are running at "Bard On
the Beach," etc.)
+ Passes from
various local attractions
+ Providing a
voice for tour guides and a place to exchange information with other
professional members
+ Letting others
know about us so they will recognize tour guides as a valuable asset in the
tourism and service industry
+ Knowing that you
are part of the guiding community or "family"
+ Networking and getting to know better those Members
you are familiar with, plus meeting the many new Members who join
CTGA of BC each year
FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
The information on this website, especially this page, has
been designed to help those of you who are new to the guiding profession. By all
means, please feel free to Contact the CTGA of BC either by telephone or e-mail if
you require further information.
Please be sure you've read the above "Job Definitions" about 'guides.' In some
of the answers below, the term 'guide' means a local step-on guide,
driver-guide, on-site guide, or long-distance guide (Tour Director), etc.
Q-1: To become a sightseeing guide, do you need to have a licence?
A: In Canada there are only two places that require a licence to
provide a local sightseeing tour, in Montreal and Quebec City. Both of these
cities are located in the Province of Quebec. This is subject to change as other
jurisdictions may implement similar requirements in the future. There is no
where in the country where you need to have a licence to conduct a sightseeing
tour between cities and towns (long-distance guiding [Tour Directing] or
multi-day trips or tours).
Q-2: Is it necessary to take any kind training to become a guide?
A: At the present time this is only a requirement in Montreal and
Quebec City, but we understand other cities may be contemplating introducing
such a requirement. However someone who is new to this profession would find it
difficult not to seek out some form of training before beginning. There is more
to being a guide other than knowing what commentary to deliver.
Q-3: If I were to find a job as either a local or long-distance guide,
doesn't the employer train me?
A: Yes and no. It depends on the company, some will train you with
the necessary skills and commentary and others expect you to not only already
have the training but to be experienced as well.
Q-4: In the Province of British Columbia, where can I get training?
A: There are some colleges or universities and some private trade
schools that offer training in tour guiding (both for local and long-distance
[Tour Directing]), and you should contact them. In the Vancouver Yellow Pages
look under the various listings of "schools."
Someone could also train by learning from an existing guide - if that person were
willing to do this.
It may be possible to even find a few books available on the subject. One local
book that deals with long-distance guides is called "Start and Run a Profitable
Tour Guiding Business" by B. Braidwood, S. Boyce & R. Cropp -- 2nd edition, year
2000, through Self Council Press Business Series.
In the 1990's The Canadian Tour Guide Association of BC helped to write a
program on local and long-distance guiding / certification... For more
information on this please contact "Go 2" (the resource for people in tourism)
in Vancouver, BC at 604-633-9787.
www.go2bc.ca
Being a Member of a guiding association, such as the CTGA of BC, is another way
to learn about what it takes to become a guide. With the number of members,
meetings, events, guest speakers, seminars, newsletters (via our closed-circuit
E-group e-mail service) and field or Fam (familiarization) trips and tours to
various venues that we offer, someone can learn a fair amount of information
about becoming a guide and possibly how to find employment.
Be sure to see our "Next Meetings" page...Click onto the "2007", "2006"
or "Historical Listing of Meetings / Functions" buttons to gain a better
perspective of the CTGA's activities.
Q-5: How do I become a local or long-distance guide?
A: Please also read the question and answer just above and the
"What's a Tour Guide?" statement located just a little further down this page...
Keep in mind that there are different types of guides and be sure to read the
part about "Most tour guides work during the peak of the tourist season from May
to October..." etc.
You need to figure out what kind of a guide you'd like to be. Or start off as
one type of guide and proceed to become another over time and with experience.
Sometimes in this profession, it's best to lay the groundwork out this year,
start networking to learn 'the ropes', and then try to get working in the
following year (either part time or full time). Most employers start seriously
looking at their needs and who to hire in January or February, but this is not
always the case.
Local step-on guides usually also learn how to do "meet and greets" at
airport, train, and cruise ship terminals plus convention centres. This is
because there isn't always a steady flow of local tours, so also being able to
work for one of the many DMC's, or destination management companies, helps to
supplement a guides ability to gain additional work with visitors.
In the off-season, most guides take on other types of jobs.
To get a job as a step-on guide, you would need to network with other guides or
contact our association for further information. Unfortunately, you can't get
much info from trying to 'look it up' in a telephone book.
Suppose you wanted to learn how to do a standard 'city tour.' You need to learn
where the tourists like to go and how they get there (i.e. what route is most
commonly taken by other guides)? What commentary is given from block to block,
point to point. Before you let passengers go into an attraction, what is it they
are going to see there, what background information should you give them? How
much time is spent at this stop, etc?
Your employer will have certain rules and policy that they'll also want you to
follow, especially about your appearance and type of clothing. This and much
more knowledge of handling of people, communication skills, what do to before,
during and after a tour plus many other topics is needed before you can start
off.
Most large cities have at least a few companies that hire driver-guides.
Some of these companies run year round daily tours for individual tourists or
those traveling in a group. In the lobbies of most hotels, or at a visitor
information centre run by places like Tourism Vancouver or Tourism BC, you can
find a selection of brochures from these companies.
These brochures list the various type's of local tours, when and where they go,
duration and costs. Most companies that hire driver-guides will also help with
the driver training, unless you already know how to drive a van, mini-bus or
full size coach. Some will also help you with getting the correct class of
drivers licence.
Work as a driver-guide tends to be very steady once the tourist season is under
way.
To become a Tour Director for long-distance tours...while it isn't
always necessary to first have been a local step-on guide, it is usually a good
idea to have done this type of work first. Once you've learned to do a local
city tour, it becomes much easier to learn to do the job of a Tour Director. A
TD needs to know what commentary to give, how to run a tour that is stopping for
sights, snacks, lunches and hotels, how to deal
with the passengers, their luggage, the bus and the driver, checking into and
out of a hotel, optional tours, paperwork and a list of other duties.
To get a better idea of how a multi-day tour runs, a day by day account, go into
a travel agency and ask for a couple of different company brochures on bus trips
that go to the Canadian Rockies or some other place of interest to you.
Those companies have set up the dates, route, some of the meals, the hotels and
sometimes even the flights at the start and end of the trip. They then either
use their own drivers and buses and Tour Directors, or contract out to a bus
company and a freelance TD.
Work as a Tour Director involves long hours and many days away from home. Many
experienced TD's will no sooner end one trip, then go right out on another --
turning days away from home to weeks, or longer. Newer freelance TD's tend to
receive a few tours for the season, till they become better known, however they
can work for more than one employer which can increase the amount of trips. A
newer TD who begins working for a company may or may not get a full set of tours
or trips, it all depends.
In spite of the long hours and time away from home, the job is quite rewarding
in many ways.
Whether working for a company or as a freelance TD, your meals and hotel
accommodations are taken care of. If the trip starts or ends in a different city
from your own, the flight is also looked after.
Q-6: What is the pay scale like for a local or long-distance guide?
A: This depends on many factors. A company will usually have a set pay
scale (by the hour, day or type of tour / trip), but it usually includes
different rates of pay for certain types of tours / trips, if a foreign language
is to be spoken, years of experience, etc. Freelance guides negotiate their
services based on many of the same things.
Driver-guides would learn their rate of pay during the interview process.
If you're working for a company, they'll deduct the usual federal taxes off your
pay cheque, but as a freelance (or self employed) guide, you turn in an invoice
and no federal deductions are made. To pay your taxes, you must hold back some
of your earnings. You must also declare all of your earnings at federal tax time
in April.
Once again, the information on this website, especially this page, has been
designed to help those of you who might be new to the guiding profession. By all
means, please feel free to still "Contact Us" either by telephone or e-mail if
you require further information.
What's a Tour
Guide? - by Mary Stewart-Hazelton & Jeff Veniot
Tour guides are
responsible for the care, education, and entertainment of tourists who want to
experience and learn everything they can in a limited amount of time. A
great tour guide never tires of visiting and talking about the same places day
after day, no matter how many times they have done it before.
A tour guide has
enormous curiosity, likes to research material and share what they have learned
with others. A tour guide works out in the field, independent from the
office, and must deal with a variety of personalities, problems and challenges.
Most tour guides
work during the peak of the tourist season from May to October. That's why
professional tour guides plan their finances to stretch over the 'low season' by
seeking other temporary or seasonal work. Guides who work 12 months a year
often move with the seasons or work for larger companies that offer tours in
many parts of the country or the world.
Some tour guides are
local; they remain within the city and provide tour commentary for that specific
area. Other guides travel with their groups. Sometimes called a tour
director, tour leader or tour manager, these guides stay in the same hotel, dine in the same
restaurants and experience the same trip as their group.
Generally, no
special licenses are required to be a tour guide, except in certain US cities,
Montreal and Quebec City. There, guides are required to pass a written
test which covers all the facts about the sights of the city before licenses are
issued. The industry supports well trained guides throughout the
entire tourism industry.
Guides: the
face of the city -by Steve Braverman (Vancouver
Echo newspaper; February 21, 1996)
The title on Jeff
Veniot's business card doesn't just read "tour guide."
He also calls
himself a "local historian" to discern additional job skills necessary for a
front line worker in Vancouver's growing tourist industry that attracts
thousands of curious travelers every year. Part ambassador and host, a
good tour guide these days knows more than the mere location on the city's
landmarks. The next challenge, explains Veniot (pronounced "VEE-no"), is
delivering that information in the time it takes to drive by in a bus doing the
speed limit.
"You have to know
what's in Time magazine - and give the Reader's Digest version," he said during
a sight stop near the Stanley Park totem poles on a West Coast City and Nature
Sightseeing Tour that he guided.
And for his effort
to make guests feel welcome enough to tell their friends what a wonderful city
Vancouver is to visit, Veniot and more than 200 other tour guides in the
province will be recognized today (Wednesday) as the city proclaims it
International Tourist Guide Day. Members of the Canadian Tour Guide
Association of B.C., including Veniot are giving away balloons and answering
questions to the public in front of Canada Place from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to
promote a profession that highlights many places and monuments most local
residents take for granted unless experienced on an informative guided tour.
And considering the unsettled Vancouver weather clouding over the spectacular
scenery that usually speaks for itself, tour guides in this city are frequently
pressed to hold their audience's attention with only the spoken word to colour a
grey image.
"On your right is
the Westin Bayshore hotel where Howard Hughes and company once rented a floor
and stayed for six months," Veniot told a bus load of tourists. "Actually,
it was one day less than six months, he would have had to pay residency taxes so
he left."
These kind of
trivial tidbits and historical facts often make the difference between a good
tour guide and a bad one. They can also make the difference between a good
and bad vacation memory that both have long-term economic spin-offs once word
gets around back home. And judging by the tourists, Vancouver's reviews
should be positive as far away as Australia when Sue Alexander completes her
eight day vacation.
"I personally think
it's important what tour guides do," said the Brisbane resident. "There
are lots of things you can look at, but you don't know anything about them."
Renting a car rather
than riding on a guided tour proved to be a frustrating and uninformative
experience on a previous vacation in Orlando, Florida, says fellow Aussie Annell
Scherrenberg. A third member of the Down Under delegation was impressed by
Veniot's performance.
"He's casual and
informative at the same time," says Anne Ward of Toowoomba in the state of
Queensland. "But it's not like a recorded message. And I liked how
he asked us all who we are and where we're from. We felt more at ease."
On the subject of
recorded messages, foreign speaking travelers usually listen to a tour guide on
tape if they don't speak the country's first language. Unless, of course,
you're one of the many thousands of German tourists who visit Vancouver annually
and take a tour conducted by West Coast guide Holger Bednarik. The tourism
industry sophomore gets Europeans around the language barrier by doing a special
tour in Deutsche.
"They love it," said
Bednarik.
And that's the
future of the tour guide profession in B.C., says Veniot, with an increasing
demand for multi-lingual guides to make Vancouver visitors feel even more at
home than they are already.
Members of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (www.wftga.org),
The Vancouver AM Tourism Association (www.vancouveram.ca), and Tourism Vancouver (www.tourismvancouver.com).
Professional recognition and initiatives with Go2, the resource for
people in tourism (www.go2hr.ca). |
