People who work as tour guides, work in the travel industry and provide guidance and direction to tourists. Tour guides work both in the terrestrial and coastal and marine tourism subsectors of the broader tourism industry. Key to their work in these sub-sectors is an expert knowledge of the specific areas they are operating in. This knowledge includes tourist destination sites such as monuments, exquisite natural features, historic sites and many more.

The key tasks of a tour guide are:

• Provide or give directions to tourists;

• Guide tourists on where to find exciting tourist attraction sites; and

• Transport tourists either by boat on the coast or by motor vehicle.

Requirements:
To become a professional tour guide, short courses on tour guides are offered by various training institutions. To be admitted on the courses, at least basic knowledge and understanding of the area, good communication skills and the ability to speak more than one language are required.

Career advancement:
Tour guides can start their own entrepreneurial initiatives such as becoming a travel agent to link, plan and organize trips for tourists.