Summary Report for:
39-7011.00 - Tour Guides and Escorts
Escort individuals or groups on sightseeing tours or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, and art galleries.
Sample of reported job titles:
Tour Guide, Docent, Historical Interpreter, Museum Guide, Interpreter, Discovery Guide, Guide, Museum Educator, Science Interpreter, Museum Docent
Tasks | Tools & Technology | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Education | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment | Job Openings
Tasks
- Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions.
- Escort individuals or groups on cruises, sightseeing tours, or through places of interest such as industrial establishments, public buildings, and art galleries.
- Conduct educational activities for school children.
- Monitor visitors' activities to ensure compliance with establishment or tour regulations and safety practices.
- Provide directions and other pertinent information to visitors.
- Greet and register visitors, and issue any required identification badges or safety devices.
- Distribute brochures, show audiovisual presentations, and explain establishment processes and operations at tour sites.
- Research various topics, including site history, environmental conditions, and clients' skills and abilities to plan appropriate expeditions, instruction, and commentary.
- Select travel routes and sites to be visited based on knowledge of specific areas.
- Drive motor vehicles to transport visitors to establishments and tour site locations.
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Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Electronic charts or maps or atlases — ActiveMap Tour Guide software; Intelligent Spatial Technologies iPointer Tour Guide software |
| Emergency medical services first aid kits — First aid kits |
| Microphones |
| Mobile phones — Cell phones |
| Touring bicycles |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Customer relationship management CRM software — Centaur Systems Centaur Travel Business Management System TBMS software; IBS Software Services Tour Partner; Softrip Travel Software System; TourTech Systems TourTools software |
| Electronic mail software — Email software; Microsoft Outlook |
| Mobile location based services software — Global positioning system GPS software |
| Office suite software — Microsoft Office software |
| Spreadsheet software — Microsoft Excel |
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Knowledge
| Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. |
| English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar. |
| History and Archeology — Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures. |
| Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. |
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Skills
| Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
| Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. |
| Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
| Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people. |
| Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions. |
| Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. |
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Abilities
| Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. |
| Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. |
| Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you. |
| Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem. |
| Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. |
| Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. |
| Far Vision — The ability to see details at a distance. |
| Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). |
| Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). |
| Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. |
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Work Activities
| Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests. |
| Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. |
| Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. |
| Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. |
| Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Training and Teaching Others — Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others. |
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Work Context
| Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? |
| Deal With External Customers — How important is it to work with external customers or the public in this job? |
| Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? |
| Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? |
| Public Speaking — How often do you have to perform public speaking in this job? |
| Work With Work Group or Team — How important is it to work with others in a group or team in this job? |
| Structured versus Unstructured Work — To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? |
| Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company? |
| Physical Proximity — To what extent does this job require the worker to perform job tasks in close physical proximity to other people? |
| Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? |
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Job Zone
| Title |
Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed |
| Education |
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. |
| Related Experience |
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job. |
| Job Training |
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations. |
| Job Zone Examples |
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include food service managers, electricians, agricultural technicians, legal secretaries, interviewers, and insurance sales agents. |
| SVP Range |
(6.0 to < 7.0) |
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Education
Percentage of Respondents |
Education Level Required |
29   |
High school diploma or equivalent |
| 20 |
Some college, no degree |
| 20 |
Bachelor's degree |
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Interests
Interest code: SE
| Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others. |
| Enterprising — Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business. |
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Work Styles
| Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. |
| Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. |
| Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. |
| Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical. |
| Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations. |
| Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. |
| Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. |
| Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. |
| Social Orientation — Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job. |
| Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. |
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Work Values
| Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service. |
| Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. |
| Independence — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy. |
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Related Occupations
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Wages & Employment Trends
National
| Median wages (2012) |
$11.51 hourly, $23,940 annual |
| Employment (2010) |
35,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2010-2020) |
Average (10% to 19%)
|
| Projected job openings (2010-2020) |
19,600 |
| Top industries (2010) |
|
State & National
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2012 wage data
and 2010-2020 employment projections
.
"Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2010-2020). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.
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Job Openings on the Web
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for Tour Guides and Escorts
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