Adventure Travel, Land Tour & Tour Guide Employment FAQs

What are tour guide jobs?

You’ve probably seen tour escorts or guides at work. Think back to the last time you visited a national park or metropolitan city. Remember the tour buses and throngs of camera-toting tourists who poured out the doors of those buses en route to the nearest tourist attraction? Those people were on an escorted tour, and the companies that brought the people to these attractions hire escorts to lead groups all over the world. Of course, bus tours are only one of many types of tours that employs guides and escorts.

Tour leaders come in many guises and go by several names. Although these terms are often used interchangeably, tour guide is a generic term that is used to encompass all forms of tour guiding. It can refer to someone who guides a group of people on anything from a short walking tour to a motor coach ride to an overseas vacation. A tour escort is a tour guide who only leads groups of travelers on long, overnight trips, while a tour director usually denotes someone with duties in addition to acting as guide, such as arranging lodging, entertainment, and booking travelers.

What are adventure travel guides?

Adventure travel guides can be anything from mountain guides to canopy tour guides. Many people opt for an active vacation (a vacation based around an adventurous physical activity) and with the new demand a wealth of new adventure travel companies have been formed.

Adventure travel varies in length, location and skill. Cycling, river rafting and mountain trekking are among the popular favorites. A guide in these disciplines typically requires previous experience, various forms of emergency aid certifications and in many cases skill specific certifications (white water rescue, avalanche course certifications etc.).

Why should I work as a tour guide?

Touring for a living? Getting paid to show people around town? Receiving an all-expenses-paid trip around the world? How can that be possible? Believe it or not, there are thousands of people happily doing just that and more. They’re the tour guides, escorts, tour managers, and directors, all of whom are at the forefront of a growing segment of the travel industry.

Can I work just the summer months?

Yes, you can. It depends on the location, but a general rule of thumb is that there are tour guide jobs in places where cruise ships and tourists go? Most jobs are available during the peak season for that particular region. For example, in the summer there are lots of tour guide positions in such locations as Alaska and the Mediterranean, to name a few.

How can I find a tour/adventure travel guide job?

We have put together resources available for finding a tour/adventure travel guide job. In the Members Section of CruiseJobFinder you will find detailed information on working as a guide and strategies for finding a good job. We also profile the employers and provide information on how to apply for your job.

Start your tour guide, adventure travel, land tour job search today, join CruiseJobFinder!