What Subjects Are Needed To Become A Tour Guide?
What Subjects Are Needed To Become A Tour Guide?
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.
Every day, they have personal contact with tourists, and a knowledgeable tour guide can really make a trip memorable. This post shows how to become a tour guide in South Africa, The procedures for becoming a certified tour guide are as follows:
Who is a Tourist Guide?
The term “tourist guide” refers to anyone who travels with or hosts visitors to any location within a nation in exchange for money or other benefits and offers insight into or opinions on the sites or things seen. What Subjects Are Needed To Become A Tour Guide?
Training and Education for a Tour Guide
You don’t need to have formal training to operate as a tour guide. On-the-job informal training is probably something you can expect. If you have credentials, your chances of entering this profession are boosted. You might also want to think about doing a VET course. You should get further information from your selected college since courses and prerequisites can differ between universities.
As a tour guide, you can also pursue an apprenticeship or traineeship. Employers typically demand Year 10, though entry requirements may vary. If you have appropriate expertise in the travel and hospitality sectors, your chances of getting into this profession may also be increased.
How to Become a Tour Guide
Tour guides accompany tourists on local excursions and lead visitors around a particular nation, region, area, city, or site. They give visitors specialized information about history, archaeology, monuments and artwork, the environment, culture, places of interest, natural and man-made attractions, and any other topics of general interest to tourists.
What advantages do tour guides have?
When engaging in adventurous activities like safari tours, mountain climbing, trekking, scuba diving, and whitewater rafting, a knowledgeable tour guide will assist in keeping you safe. The guide is knowledgeable about the area’s geography, local weather patterns, and dangerous spots. Many guides also have first-aid training.
Categories of Tourist Guides
There are three categories of tourist guides:
Site Guides – these tourist guides have attained the minimum qualification in order 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.
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)
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
Registration as a Tourist Guide
One of the province’s major economic sectors, tourism is particularly significant to the people who live here. There are numerous opportunities in the tourism industry. To guarantee that tourists visiting the province have a great experience while they are on vacation in the Western Cape, all tour guides are obliged to be registered.
Before becoming certified, tour guides must fulfill specific requirements. You must possess the necessary credentials and training, adhere to the code of conduct, and have first aid training in order to work as a licensed tourist guide.
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.
Contact Details
The Tourist Guide Registration
The office is located at:
Ground Floor, NBS Waldorf Arcade
80 St George’s Mall,
Cape Town.
The Tourist Guide Registration Office is open on Mondays to Thursdays by appointment for the collection of cards and badges only.
Enquiries:
Tel: 021 483 2960/9008
Email: Registrar.Registrar@westerncape.gov.za
You can also complete this form to submit an online inquiry.
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