Travel Guides Onet SOC Code 39-6022.00 Career Description: Plan, organize, and conduct long distance cruises, tours, and expeditions for individuals and groups. Related Clusters: Programs of Study Travel Guides

Career Summary:

• Experience- Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
• Education- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Some may require a bachelor's degree.
• Job Training- Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers.
• Examples- These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include funeral directors, electricians, forest and conservation technicians, legal secretaries, interviewers, and insurance sales agents.

• Plan tour itineraries, applying knowledge of travel routes and destination sites.
• Resolve any problems with itineraries, service, or accommodations.
• Sell travel packages.
• Arrange for tour or expedition details such as accommodations, transportation, equipment, and the availability of medical personnel.
• Evaluate services received on the tour, and report findings to tour organizers.
• Lead individuals or groups to tour site locations and describe points of interest.
• Verify amounts and quality of equipment prior to expeditions or tours.
• Pay bills and record checks issued.
• Attend to special needs of tour participants.
• Give advice on sightseeing and shopping.
• Provide tourists with assistance in obtaining permits and documents such as visas, passports, and health certificates, and in converting currency.
• Administer first aid to injured group participants.
• Pilot airplanes or drive land and water vehicles to transport tourists to activity/tour sites.
• Set up camps, and prepare meals for tour group members.
• Instruct novices in climbing techniques, mountaineering, and wilderness survival, and demonstrate use of hunting, fishing, and climbing equipment.
• Sell or rent equipment, clothing, and supplies related to expeditions.
• Explain hunting and fishing laws to groups in order to ensure compliance.

• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Sales and Marketing - Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Geography - Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Transportation - Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

• There are no minimum educational requirements for this occupation. Most hunting and fishing guides acquire their knowledge of wildlife through experience. Although there is no formal training program for hunters, guides must pass a Hunter Safety course and acquire a mandatory Type 04 Sportsman license from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

• Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
• Management of Financial Resources - Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

• Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships - Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work - Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• Selling or Influencing Others - Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
• Communicating with Persons Outside Organization - Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• Performing for or Working Directly with the Public - Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.

• Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
• Social - Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
• First Interest High-Point - Primary-Rank Descriptiveness
• Artistic - Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules.

• Attention to Detail - Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
• Dependability - Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
• Stress Tolerance - Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
• Persistence - Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
• Social Orientation - Job requires preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
• Adaptability/Flexibility - Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
• Self Control - Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
• Initiative - Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
• Cooperation - Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
• Integrity - Job requires being honest and ethical.
• Innovation - Job requires creativity and alternative thinking to develop new ideas for and answers to work-related problems.
• Leadership - Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.
• Achievement/Effort - Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
• Concern for Others - Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
• Independence - Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

• Social Service - Workers on this job have work where they do things for other people.
• Variety - Workers on this job have something different to do every day.
• Autonomy - Workers on this job plan their work with little supervision.
• Moral Values - Workers on this job are never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
• Relationships-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service.
• Independence-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employs to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.
• Working Conditions - Workers on this job have good working conditions.
• Creativity - Workers on this job try out their own ideas.
• Responsibility - Workers on this job make decisions on their own.
• Achievement-Mean Extent - Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.
• Ability Utilization - Workers on this job make use of their individual abilities.
• Achievement - Workers on this job get a feeling of accomplishment.

Wage and salary data provided by:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics, Tennessee Department of Labor website
• TN Department of Labor & Workforce Development website
• Bureau of Economic Analysis website