Subject Outline TOUR GUIDING

Subject details Subject name TOUR GUIDING Units of credit 2 Study length 15 weeks Prerequisite Co requisite Introduction to Tourism and Management Suggested study Commitment Approximately 2 class hours per week Term 92011 Subject Coordinator Lecturer Nguyễn Phương Lan Contact details Tel: 0983729979 Email: hoanglan65vngmail.com The subject outline contains important information. Please ensure that you read it carefully. It is also strongly recommended that you keep this copy of your subject outline for future reference. Subject aimrationale The purpose of this course is to provide an indepth review of theories and practices concerning conducting tours. Travel professionals nowadays are required to gain understanding into guiding, escorting and planning tours. While international best practices in strategic management are examined, travel strategies and tour operations in Viet Nam will be discussed substantially in order to enhance students’ practical capability. Subject objectives The specific objectives of this subject are to help students to: 1. Explain why people take a tour and required skills and personality to do tour related jobs; 2. Identify and negotiate with hotels and staying in hotels; 3. Discuss how to work with railways, restaurants, attractions and miscellaneous suppliers. Subject structure The structure of this subject for oncampus students comprises:  One 3 periods lecture per week Subject materials Lecture notes (mainly from the text books) and essential readings which are recommended in each topic are key materials for this subject. Additionally, further readings, discussion questions, exercises and problems solving will help students understand thoroughly the fundamental issues of tourism management Prescribed textbooks: 1. SUBJECT HANDOUTS 2. Marc Mancini (1996), Conducting Tours, 2nd Edition, Delmar Publishers. 3. Cook R., Yale L. Marqua J. (1999) Tourism – The Business of Travel – Prentice Hall Proposed schedule Time Content Week 1 (2 periods) Introduction of the subject Tutorial 1: Guiding about Tourism terms Group formation an

NHA TRANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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Subject Outline TOUR GUIDING

NHA TRANG 9/2011

Subject details

Prerequisite / Co

requisite

Introduction to Tourism and Management

Suggested study

Commitment

Approximately 2 class hours per week

Subject Coordinator/

Lecturer

Nguyễn Phương Lan

Email: hoanglan65vn@gmail.com

The subject outline contains important information Please ensure that you read it carefully It is also strongly recommended that you keep this copy of your subject outline for future reference

Subject aim/rationale

The purpose of this course is to provide an in-depth review of theories and practices concerning conducting tours Travel professionals nowadays are required

to gain understanding into guiding, escorting and planning tours While international best practices in strategic management are examined, travel strategies and tour operations in Viet Nam will be discussed substantially in order to enhance students’ practical capability

Subject objectives

The specific objectives of this subject are to help students to:

1 Explain why people take a tour and required skills and personality to do tour related jobs;

2 Identify and negotiate with hotels and staying in hotels;

3 Discuss how to work with railways, restaurants, attractions and

miscellaneous suppliers

Subject structure

The structure of this subject for on-campus students comprises:

 One 3 periods lecture per week

Subject materials

Lecture notes (mainly from the text books) and essential readings which are recommended in each topic are key materials for this subject Additionally, further

readings, discussion questions, exercises and problems solving will help students understand thoroughly the fundamental issues of tourism management

Prescribed textbooks:

1 SUBJECT HANDOUTS

2 Marc Mancini (1996), Conducting Tours, 2nd Edition, Delmar Publishers

3 Cook R., Yale L & Marqua J (1999) Tourism – The Business of Travel – Prentice Hall

Proposed schedule

Time Content

Week 1

(2 periods)

Introduction of the subject

Tutorial 1:

- Guiding about Tourism terms

- Group formation and assignment requirements Lecture 1: Tourism trend globally and in Vietnam

Week 2

(2 periods)

Tutorial 2: (Presentation) Group 1: - What are the 10 biggest international markets to

Vietnam? Use date and number to talk about them more

specifically?

- Name and describe 3 types of tours that are the most

popular today in Vietnam?

Group 2: Present on Travel agents and tour operation system in

Nha Trang or HCMC

Group 3: Present on major restaurants serving tourists/

entertainment centers/ theme parks in Nha Trang

Week 3

(2 periods)

Lecture 2: What is tour conducting?

Week 4

(2 periods)

Tutorial 3:

Group 4: Building up a professional working manner

(Self-Preparation, Service mind, Standard for professional working manner)

Group 5: Tour manager’s responsibilities

Group 6: Characteristics Of A Good Tour Guide

Week 5

(2 periods)

Lecture 3: TG job - preparation for guiding the tour

Week 6

(2 periods)

Tutorial 4:

Group 1: Management skills of the tour manager Group 2: How todeal with customers’ complains

Group 3: How todeal with accidents

Week 7

(2 periods)

Lecture 4: Tour management and problem solving

Week 8

(2 periods)

Topics - Air Travel and Tours

- Dining and Tours Tutorial 4:

Group 4: Air Travel and Tours + Explain how tour operators negotiate with airlines

+ Discuss what tour manager must do before a group arrives at airlines terminal

Group 5: Air Travel and Tours

+ Describe the procedures that face a group and a tour director upon arrival at a destination

+ Explain a tour member’s pre-boarding activities

Group 6: - Dining and Tours: Planning to meet guest

expectation

Week 9

(2 periods)

TG job - preparation for guiding the tour (Watch the film)

Week 10-12

(6 periods)

On-sight tour guiding examination: Nha Trang city tours Group 1:

Group 2:

Group 3:

Week 13-15

(6 periods)

On-sight tour guiding examination: Nha Trang city tours Group 4:

Group 5:

Group 6:

Assessment

Assessment for the subject will be on the basis of:

Contribution Assessment points

presentation)

CONTENTS Lecture 1: TOURISM TRENDS AND MARKETING

1 GLOBAL TRENDS

► Tourism will grow faster than other industries

► Traditional markets will grow slower

► Emerging markets will grow faster

China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia

► Tourism will provide > 10% employment worldwide

2011: 260,000,000 million jobs

► Social changes

► Economical changes

► Political changes

► Travel pattern changes

► Product Changes

2 VIETNAM TRENDS

a Global changes are Vietnam changes

b Vietnam has chance to learn from developments and apply measures early

c Vietnam to strengthen competitive edge, promote attractive brand and clear message, communicate benefits, standardize and improve services, research markets, develop and diversify new suitable products

Lecture 2: WHAT IS TOUR CONDUCTING?

OBJECTIVE

After this lecture you should be able to

 Define terms commonly used in the tourism industry

 Explain why people take a tour

 Identify for whom tour guides and tour operators generally work

 Appraise the attraction of tour conducting as a career

MAJOR CONTENT

 Why take a tour?

 Tour guides, Types of Tour guide

 Tour managers

 The tour manager personality

 Employers of Tour Managers

 The appeal and the downside

WHAT IS TOUR CONDUCTING?

The tour industry

- As we journey from place to place, it’s easy to underestimate the complexity and scope of the travel industry

- Group travel represents about 4% of consumer travel

- Group travel is accelerating at a pace that outstrips that of the

general travel industry

- There are now student camping tours, wildness excursion, and even nostalgic bus tours for aging hippies

Tourists take a tour because of:

The freedom from hassles and decision making

- Tour help cushion clients from hassles The desire to save money and time

- A well-designed and conducted tour minimizes wasted time and the client sees all the essentials in a convenient, efficient manner

 Tour members enjoy a more upscale travel experience than they could afford

The companionship of people with similar interests

- The price of a tour, its destination and its activities will automatically predetermine the socioeconomic level and interests of group members

- A tour gathers together people with special interests are called

affinity tour

The educational nature of touring

- A tourist can learn many things such as history, geography, architecture, trees, bushes, birds… from their tour guide on a tour

The lack of alternatives

- Tourist rarely have choices when the tour operators corner all the

- A traveler who perceives a destination as especially strange, foreign, unfriendly, or even dangerous will also find comfort in the notion of a tour

How people buy tour?

Public or per-capita tours: tours offered to the public in this manner:

- The consumer finds out about it from the company’s brochure, catalogues, or newspaper -advertisements, and then books the date

- Tickets are purchase either through the travel agent or by telephoning the company directly

Customized tours:

- One option is to set aside one of their regularly scheduled

departures for a specific group

- Tour operators create a customized itinerary at the special price

- This tour is rarely advertised outside the group

Types of tour guides

On-site guide:

- On-site guide conducts tour of one or several hours at special

building, attraction, or limited area

- Tour may be given on foot or in some sort of vehicle

- On-site guides rarely do make much above minimum wage except those employed by the government or by corporations

City guide:

- City guide points out and comments on the highlight of a city, usually from a motor coach, minibus or van…

- Driver-guide drivers and narrates at the same time

- City guide often need to have considerable amount of accurate information about the municipal so that they are sometime tested and licensed by a local government agency

Specialized guide:

- A specialized guide is someone whose expertise or skills are highly unique

- Specialized guide has highly specialized knowledge of the history, art, and culture of that country

- Guide’s working places: large local tour companies, cruise lines, ground operators (land operators or receptive operators)

Employers of tour managers

Tour operators (also called tour companies, tour packagers, tour brokers,

or wholesalers):

Missions:

1 Employ tour manager

2 Contract with hotels, restaurants, attractions and transportation companies

3 Sell the tour to the public( directly or through travel agents)

Types of tour operators:

a/ Inbound and outbound operators:

Inbound operators:

- Specializes mostly in groups arriving in a special city, area, country

- Examples: allies tours, American tour international and GoAmerica tours

Outbound operators:

- Takes groups from a given city or country to another city or country

- Example: donna franca tours of Boston

b/ Motorcoach and intermodal operators:

Motorcoach operators:

- Create tours, usually of about a week’s duration, that transport group members via motorcoach to their destination and back

- Example: Tauck tours of Westport Intermodal operators:

- Combine several forms of transportation to create a diversified and efficient tour package

Other employers of tour managers:

- An incentive house:

- Approach a corporation with an overall strategy to boost sales, service by providing some sort of reward to the corporation’s most productive employees

- Meet-and-greet companies:

- Hire guides and escorts to be on hand when individuals or small groups of travelers arrive at an airport

- Convention or meeting planners:

- Hire guides and tour managers to operate pre- or posconvention tours for them

lecture 3: PREPARING FOR TOUR GUIDING JOB

GENERAL VIEW

For Tour Guiding job, the tour guide needs to be professional by:

 Preparing for the working manner for meeting the clients

 Being aware of the responsibilities of a tour guide

 Collecting the necessary information for the job

LECTURE OBJECTIVES

 Make a list of what to prepare for a professional tour guide

 Implement the job following standard

 Practice

MAJOR CONTENT

 Building up a professional working manner

 Tour manager’s responsibilities

 Tour preparation

1 TOUR MANAGER

Definition:

A tour manager is the person who runs the show when a band is on tour The tasks

a tour manager undertakes can vary, but they typically include things like:

 Checking in with promoters and venues to make sure everything is in place

as planned, from accommodation to equipment

 Keeping everyone on schedule - dragging the band out of the bar to get back on the bus, making sure the driver is there on time, etc

 Handling the money from shows and paying out P.D.s

 Checking in and out of hotels

Generally speaking, the tour manager is the go-to person for everything that happens on a tour, and it's their job to make things run as smoothly as possible They are also the point of contact for the band when they are on the road, and so they field calls from local media and radio stations that want to set up interviews

as the band passes through town, and they may also deal with the guest list

Like many jobs in music, there is a big divide between the work done by tour managers on smaller tours and tour managers on big budget tours On a small indie tour, the tour manager may be the same person as the band manager, may double as the driver and the road crew, may be the most responsible member of the band, or may even be a friend who is along for the ride These kinds of tour managers often take one a work horse/everyman kind of role, reacting to whatever comes up On big budget tours, there may be a team of people in place running the tour, and the tour manager's job and responsibilities become more defined For instance, if there is a full road crew in place, the tour manager simply makes sure

they are doing their job and are where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there - but they don't actually have to look after the gear themselves These tour managers act more as supervisors to the team working for the band

2 Tour Guide Tips for On-site Presentations

When a tour guide stops to introduce a scenic spot, here are some tips for a better presentation Besides the spot introduction you communicate to your clients (which shall be knowledge preparation in advance), your on-site control matters

Choose a place capable of holding all your clients Then you can present with less disturbance If you stop at entrance or narrow sidewalk, your group will need to make way for passers-by Both your clients and you are less focused If you have

to stop at such location, make your words brief and elaborate in the following places

Start your introduction after your clients all gathered in front of you This is to avoid people missing your major points Also, it saves your efforts to repeat same information You may raise your voice a bit higher to catch the attention of all

In small-space popular sites like temples or museums, it often happens that several tour groups stop at similar time Try to keep a distance from other tour guides, so that your clients can hear you clearly Leave your back to the other guides and make yourself heard But remember, do not shout

When your stop is outdoors, take notice of the natural environment It’s ideal to have clear weather without wind But these elements are not in the control of a

tour guide What can you do then? Find a sheltered stop when possible Do not let your clients facing the sun (makes dizzy and turn away) Have your clients stand downwind, and your voice can be carried by the wind

Small details make big difference What do you feel is most important to rember during an on-site presentation?

A few more points that I teach guides I train:

1 Stand between what you are talking about and the group, so the point of interest is behind you That way, everyone can hear you clearly, see you AND see what you are talking about

2 Never turn your head away from the group and look at what you are talking about Your voice will project away from the group and people will