Методические указания по английскому языку для студентов 3-5 курсов исторического факультета. Часть 2. Коныгина Г.И. - 18 стр.

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libraries, buying guide books, reading about the history of the country, local cultures,
food, and so on, so you really need to know everything about the country and be able to
answer any questions the groups might have.
Alison: You need somebody who is not at all self-centred. It’s got to be understood if
you go in for this sort of work that you’re going into a service industry. The fact is, if
you go on holiday with 16 people, the 16 people are important because they need you to
look after them. Your interests come second.
Nick: You need to have good organizational skills obviously, to deal with so many
different possible logistics, such as meeting times, train departure times, you might have
to pick up a taxi when a train arrives or a bus, everything’s got to be spot-on and
working smoothly, because one minor hiccup might cost you a day of the itinerary.
Organisation has got to be really spot-on all the time.
Alison: The sort of tour leaders that we look for are very different I think from the
package tour courier, shall we say. The sort of tours that we run, because they go off the
beaten track, because they’re being operated in remote areas, many of the logistical
arrangements are in the hands of the tour leader and he or she is inevitably with the
group all the time - it’s a twenty-four hours a day job. That means you need a different
type of person, they’ve got to be more at ease with the idea of having people with them
all the time.
Nick: Sometimes you can get a bit tired of the travelling, travelling out of a suitcase or
backpack - moving from one place to another every one night or two nights can become
a bit tedious - but you eventually get into a set routine, where you can pack your bag in
two or three minutes and move on. And you can just blot it out, and every room you get
in different hotels, every different tent, is like home to you for that period of time.
Loneliness also can be a distinct downside, because quite often you have to keep a
distance from the group, the group members, there’s often things you’d like to be
talking to people about, but because you’re in the position you are, you can’t suddenly
go and talk to a group member about your problems, you have to bottle them up and
absorb them all yourself.
Within the tour leader field you can expand obviously in experience - the higher you get
in your field, the better destinations you get to lead tours in, and the higher salary you
get, of course. After tour leading, you can move into the office, into office-based work,
either into operations or marketing.
What I think really pleases me about the job, one of the things I get out of it, is at the
end of the tour when the group turns around to you and says ‘We’ve had a great holiday,
Nick, a great tour, thanks very much’ and give you a pat on the back - and some groups
give you a present. These are memories that you can keep forever, that are really nice
and really mean a lot to you. You’ve got to basically ensure that everyone has a
satisfactory holiday and has a great time and wants to book again with the company.