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Tour Guides and Escorts: Career Overview

Escort individuals or groups on sightseeing tours or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, and art galleries.

The Daily Work of Tour Guides and Escorts Perform?

The day-to-day responsibilities of tour guides and escorts include:

• Describe tour points of interest to group members, and respond to questions.
• Escort individuals or groups on cruises, sightseeing tours, or through places of interest, such as industrial establishments, public buildings, or art galleries.
• Monitor visitors' activities to ensure compliance with establishment or tour regulations and safety practices.
• Conduct educational activities for school children.
• Research various topics, including site history, environmental conditions, and clients' skills and abilities to plan appropriate expeditions, instruction, and commentary.
• Provide directions and other pertinent information to visitors.
• Select travel routes and sites to be visited based on knowledge of specific areas.

What Tour Guides and Escorts Need to Know

Effective tour guides and escorts draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.

Key Skills

The competencies most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:

Core Knowledge

Related Job Titles

People in this occupation may also be known by titles such as:

• Admitting Office Escort
• Adventure Guide
• Alpine Guide
• Art Museum Aide
• Art Museum Docent
• Discovery Guide
• Docent
• Duck Driver

Job Outlook

The U.S. employs around 202,973 tour guides and escorts working in the United States today. Demand is forecast to decline by -2.8% over the projection horizon.

Tour Guides and Escorts Pay

Statistic	Value
Annual median	$28,297
Hourly median	$13.60
10th percentile	$20,000
25th percentile	$23,974
75th percentile	$32,619
90th percentile	$36,942

Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.

Software Tour Guides and Escorts Use

• Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Photoshop (hot technology)
• Internet browser software: Apple Safari (hot technology)
• Web page creation and editing software: Facebook (hot technology)
• Data base user interface and query software: Microsoft Access (hot technology)
• Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
• Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
• Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
• Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint (hot technology)
• Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)
• Video conferencing software: Zoom (hot technology)

Work Environment

Daily working conditions for tour guides and escorts reflects the following characteristics:

• Public Speaking
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
• Contact With Others
• Deal With External Customers or the Public in General
• Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team

How to Become Tour Guides and Escorts

Entry-level tour guides and escorts positions require an associate’s degree as the typical entry-level education. The role falls in Medium Preparation Needed (Job Zone 3), signaling the level of preparation typically expected.

Other Careers to Consider

Similar Occupations

• Entertainment and Recreation Managers, Except Gambling (Supplemental)
• Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners (Supplemental)
• Park Naturalists (Primary-Short)
• Historians (Primary-Long)
• History Teachers, Postsecondary (Supplemental)
• Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors (Supplemental)
• Self-Enrichment Teachers (Primary-Long)
• Curators (Primary-Long)

Sources

Statistics shown above are sourced from the following authoritative sources:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
• BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
• O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.

SOC code: 39-7011.00 (Tour Guides and Escorts).