What Subjects Are Needed To Become A Tour Guide?

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What Subjects Are Needed To Become A Tour Guide?

What Subjects Are Needed To Become A Tour Guide?

Becoming a tour guide can be an exciting career but what courses do you need to study to pursue this path? If you are interested in working as a tour guide, you must know the subject requirements and the application process. Tour guides are some of the most essential individuals in South Africa’s tourism industry.

To become a successful tour guide, you will need a strong foundation in subjects. Every day, they have personal contact with tourists, and a knowledgeable tour guide can make a trip memorable. This post shows how to become a tour guide in South Africa, the methods for becoming a certified tour guide are as follows:

Essential Subjects You Need to Become a Tour Guide

The Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSETA) is in charge of providing instruction and training in the areas of culture, the arts, tourism, hospitality, and sports. They serve as an Education, Training, and Quality Assurance (ETQA) body, among other portfolios, accrediting training providers, ensuring the quality of the programs these service providers offer and ensuring that learners receive certification once they have been found competent about a specific qualification.

Qualifications required for Tour Guide

Qualifications for tourist guides are governed by the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).

  • There are only two qualifications registered on the NQF:
  • National Certificate in Tourism: Guiding (NQF2)
  • National Certificate in Tourism: Guiding (NQF4)

Categories of Tourist Guides

There are three categories of tourist guides:

Site Guides – these tourist guides have attained the minimum qualification to guide in a “limited geographical area” i.e. Hiking in the Drakensberg, visiting the Natal Battlefields,  taking a day tour of Cape Town, visiting Soweto;

Provincial Guides – are qualified to take tourists around an entire province i.e. Limpopo or Gauteng;

National Guides – are permitted to conduct tours around South Africa, crossing all provincial boundaries. These guides would accompany people taking a comprehensive tour of South Africa, say, by coach.

What do I need to register as a tourist guide?

  •  Register online https://www.westerncape.gov.za/service/registration-tourist-guide
  • Certified copy of ID document / Passport and Work Permit, Resident Permit, Refugee Status Document
  •  Certified copy of your First Aid Certificate (Level 1)
  •  Certified copy of the Wine Certificate (optional)
  •  Certified copy of Tourist Guide Institute Certificate (or other accredited provider)
  • Certified Cathsseta Certificate or Cathsseta Letter of Competence
  •   Color ID size photograph
  •  Certified copy of SA driver’s license and PDP (if you have one
  •  Certified copy of Highest Education Qualification
  •  Proficiency Language certificate (Should you apply to guide through the medium of another language besides English or any other official language in RSA)
  • R240 Registration Fee or R30 in the case of an extension

As soon as you become a licensed tourist guide, you are subject to the Tourism Act, which mandates that you possess the necessary credentials and behave professionally and in your client’s best interests. Completing an accredited tourist guide training course (list of accredited training providers) is the first requirement for becoming a registered tour guide. You can start working as a freelance tourist guide or as a tour operator once you have registered as a tourist guide with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism’s Tourist Guide Registration Office.

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