28+ Pros And Cons of Being A Tour Guide (Explained)

There are a lot of people who love to travel, and they want to take it as a profession too.

Being a tour guide allows you to travel and explore, however, it’s not all bright and shiny, as you get a lot of drawbacks too.

That’s why it’s essential to consider what are the pros and cons of choosing the tour guide career, and if you are already one, what you might be facing.

?‍? Being A Tour Guide Of Pros And Cons

Pros Of Being A Tour Guide	Cons Of Tour Guide
1. Work with many people.	1. Work on weekends and holidays.
2. Learn new languages.	2. Change in the schedule without notice.
3. Work in different locations.	3. Not much money.
4. Know more about cities.	4. Seasonality is an important part.
5. No office settings.	5. You need a second job.
6. Explore and find new things.	6. Old age poverty.
7. Work is interesting.	7. Change the schedule without notice.
8. Improve your people skills.	8. Poor job security.
9. Doesn’t require extreme job.	9. Bad weather can problems.
10. Sharing knowledge.	10. No time for family and kids.

? Advantages Of Being A Tour Guide

Being a tour guide has several benefits. It enables you to share your knowledge and enthusiasm, connect with new people, travel, learn new things, enjoy flexibility and variety, discover job satisfaction, grow yourself, access travel opportunities, and transform your passion into a career.

?️ Opportunity To Work With a Different Range Of People

One of the advantages you get from being a tour guide is that you can work with different people.

Not only is it exciting, but you can have a wide range of interactions with people from different cultures, languages, and religions.

This allows you to see the world differently and have more opinions.

You can also make friends and network from across the world.

? You Learn Different New Languages

Well, you get a chance to meet new people who speak different languages, and being a tour guide means you require to speak the language in which they are comfortable, mostly in their native languages

This also allows you to learn new languages, which is exciting and boosts your skills.

? You Work In Different Locations

As a tour guide, you can work in different locations. While you start, it might be limited to your hometown, but it expands depending on how fast you grow in your career.

✈️ Travel Around The World

Many people quit their job to travel, but it is their job to travel worldwide. You also earn money from it, explore beautiful places, and get unique experiences.

Learn To Know About Details Related Cities

The next pro that you get, this helps you in learning more about the city you are in. You might live in your hometown, but still, there might be something you don’t know about.

As a rough guide, you know every interesting spot since you work to provide exciting experiences to the clients.

There Is No Classical Office Setting

You can avoid the classical office setting, sitting in front of the desktop, etc.

A tour guide is the best way to get away from such things if you have no interest in sitting in one place and working every day.

Since there is no office setting, you don’t have to deal with your boss and colleagues. You work on your own without someone watching over you.

It’s An Interesting Work

Being a tour guide can bring many exciting experiences and interactions, and you can have a beautiful journey.

There will be no day that is the same or repeated; it is spontaneous, and if you like to go to different places, this is a dream job.

Help In Improving Your People Skills

As a tour guide, you need to work on your soft skills. The job helps you improve since you have to deal with different people on a daily basis, you can find out the right way to approach people and deal with them.

This helps you in understanding human psychology and knowing them on a subconscious level.

You can develop the skills of interacting with people and discovering what motivates them.

You Break Your Comfort Zone Everyday

Being in a comfort zone can make you feel scared and limit your potential. However, the job requires you to leave your zone and try something different daily.

Even though you might face some failures, it will push your boundaries, so you try new things and never stay in your comfort zone.

You Learn The Way Of Leading People

As a tour guide, you can also become responsible for leading people. Not all are born with the characters that make them leave, but the traits can be learned and developed.

Being a tour guide makes you stand before everyone and deal with the situations head-on. You are also responsible towards your clients, and it’s your duty to make them feel satisfied with the trip.

Expertise In History, Architecture, And Art

To become a tour guide, it’s important that you know what you are dealing with, which means you have to study to understand the places you are visiting.

This includes knowing the history of the place, architectural styles, places to eat, and fun facts. This is not boring, but it’s overall fun, and you get more confidence in your actions.

Not only are you adding expertise and providing better services, but you are also developing skills that will upgrade your game.

Save While You Travel

When you are working, the expenses related to transport, accommodation, and meals are covered by your company. So half of the earnings are saved, also you don’t have to pay for rent, car payments, gas bills, etc.

So it gives you an opportunity to save the earnings for a better future and has safety when you age.

It’s a Dream Job If You Are Extroverted

Especially for extroverted people, love to talk with people, so working as a tour guide will be my dream job.

It allows you to share your ideas, opinions and meet with different ranges of people around the world.

? Disadvantages Of Being An Tour Guide

The job of a tour guide has drawbacks. It frequently entails handling challenging customers, long hours, and physical challenges. The position could be seasonal and unsteady in terms of employment.

To produce a favorable experience, emotional labor is needed to overcome obstacles like language limitations. Opportunities for career progression could be few.

Despite these negatives, many people like exchanging knowledge and communicating with others from different backgrounds.

? Tour Guide Job Is Not Offering A lot Of Money

Tour guide job is not offering that much money, which means you might struggle to pay the bills, especially if you live in a metropolitan area. Not just that, it doesn’t offer any luxury, etc.

?️ Bad Weather Cause Problems

When you are a tour guide, you have to work outdoors. This exposes you to bad weather, such as snow and rain, where you don’t have comfort. This also makes you fall sick and have health problems.

??‍? Job Security Is Low

There is no certainty in this job and the extended period of time.

Tour guides are easy to replace as there are many options, especially if you are not exceptionally good at the job.

There are high chances that you get fired and struggle to find jobs that cover your expenses.

??‍??‍??‍?? Hard To Manage Family And Kids

Being a tour guide will be a poor option if you have a family and kids.

You don’t get enough time for your family, nor the payments are enough to make your people live a good life.

Not just that you don’t have enough time to look after what your kids are doing and be involved with them.

Old-Age Poverty Is An Issue

Since the tour guides get low salaries and you don’t have any extra income options, this leads to old-age poverty.

You can’t be a tour guide in your whole life, at some point, you need to return, which makes it problematic when the time ends.

You Might Need An Second Job

In extreme cases, you might need to have a second job to cover your basic needs, especially if you are in regions where the living cost is expensive and you are not getting the income from your tour job.

This will need to look for a second job which might be hectic.

Seasonality Is a Crucial Part

You might have to consider seasonality when you work as a tour guide.

Especially the work you do is based on some specific seasons, such as summer activities. It means you might not get anything in the winter as your clients will book during the summer.

That’s why it’s important that you have an evergreen niche that can help cover all the seasons and help you get more work.

Deal With Problematic And Difficult People

You must deal with people who are not always good, well-behaved, and hammer. There are always chances of interacting with people who will make life difficult by making frequent complaints and are hard to please.

It’s important that you don’t let their comments bother you and keep your mindset stable.

You Might Work On Weekends And Holidays

The downside of working as you have to often work on others is on rest, including weekends and holidays.

This means you don’t get a chance to make the trips with your family and friends. Instead of that, you work on other people’s trips and ensure they are having a good time.

Your Schedule Changes Without Any Notice

The tour guide is spontaneous, so you don’t get prior notice before your scheduled chances.

It means you have to change according to your clients, and it can be frustrating as you don’t know what will happen. You might also have to work at home because of your clients.

It’s Always Comfortable And Exciting

Even though you like traveling, at some point, this can make you feel tired. The job demands you to be physically fit and mentally ready to handle different situations.

Not just that, you have to be on your best behavior regardless of your feelings; even if you are sick, you have to be ready for work, or you might miss the opportunity.

The job also gets boring when you do it for a long time. You don’t want to travel every time, it gets frustrating to deal with people and the environment you are in.