UNIT 4:

Tour Arrangements for Visitors

 Tour Guide and the Itinerary
Why is it important for a Tour Guide to learn what is an
itinerary?
An itinerary is a planned route or journey that includes the
program or movements of the guests as they embark on a tour. It
also includes the specified time, schedule of activities, places of
interests to be visited, and all other requirements and requests
agreed upon by the guests and the tour operator. It is critical for a
tour guide to be able to understand every detail of a tour itinerary
because it serves as the handbook on how the tour will be conducted
(Salamanca, 2016).
 It is usually a prepaid arrangement,
and the tour guide, being the link between
the guests and the tour operator who
designs the itinerary, it is an important
task of the tour guide to be able to review
it before the day of the tour.

A professional tour guide would take the time to review

itinerary thoroughly, check the detailed program, raise any
concerns about the time aspects, including duration of the tour,
the destinations, the inclusions and exclusions of the tour
package. It is unusual practice for a tour guide to just accept a
tour assignment, start a tour without understanding it in detail.
TYPE OF TOUR
What exactly is the kind of tour you are conducting today? Is it
a day tour, half day tour? Just a running tour or some walk about
tours are included? Tours normally are customized. Otherwise, it is
regularly run tours, which are well specified and simple, usually
availed by group tours. The number of participating tour guests and
their composition is also considered.
Knowledge of the Destination
This is the most basic and yet very important for a tour guide to
possess before any tour to be conducted. Aside from what we usually
know, from our students’ days I like history and geography, there are
a lot to learn to be able to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a
practical tour guide. Knowledge of the destination not only covers
the facts, famous face and places in the area, but the current and
updated information is taken into consideration. The old buildings
may not be there anymore, the names of the streets have been
changed by now, the location of the city hall, library, hospital, and
other government buildings may not be in the same place as ten
years ago.
 Technology now is a great aid to research. Gone are the days
when we, tour guides have to go personally to the National
Library, National Museum to do research with the use of pen and
paper. Today, one click, using a gadget will allow you not only to
read the text but view the photos itself. Having said that, the
expectations of the guests, from the tour guide also got higher and
more challenging as far as the information about the place visited
is concerned.
WHAT IS PACKAGE
A package tour or package holiday comprises transport and
accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known
as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such a rental
car, activities or outings during the holiday. It is a combination of
two or more components of a tour.
Inclusions of the Tour Package
Modern technology has a great impact on how a tour is
packaged, Due to globalization, modernization of techniques as to
how marketing a destination is done, virtual tours are already very
prominent these days.
A simple tour package is a combination of two or more
components. It can be a combination of transportation (airfare) and
accommodation (hotel) and no meals. Alternatively, it can be all
meals, transportation, and accommodation only, minus the airfare.
 A tour guide must be aware of the inclusions (included) and
exclusions (not included) of a tour. Now that many tours are indeed
customized, and very much "varied" compared to ten years ago or
more, understanding the package in detail is an advantage, to be
more worry-free both for the tour guide and for the guests.
Sometimes, it is unavoidable that arguments will arise between the
guests and the tour guide, because of a small, simple thing which
becomes a bigger issue in the end. Moreover, the bottom line is, the
guide did not explain well, or the guests did not understand the tour
package well. Remember, this is a prepaid arrangement, and what
they paid for back home, turns out to be different when they get
here.
 Before the tour, it is the responsibility of the tour guide to be
sure what are the inclusions in the package. It is even safe to
inform the guests before the tour starts, what are included in the
tour and if there are any concerns, there will be time to address
it, time to call the office, tour operator, or any person concerned
for clarification and settle them before the tour starts.
Reconfirmation/Flight Reservations
There is no excuse for a tour guide not to know something
about flights of the guests. Reservation and reconfirmation of
flights are part of the service that we are expected to know. Here,
the skills of learning the phonetic alphabet are required that
includes knowing the codes of the airline, airport, city and
currency of the different countries of the world.
 Way back when we were still using the manual reservation
process, and reading the airline timetable of each airline before
making a reservation, or understanding the codes written on the air
ticket, tour guides were very effective in dealing with this kind of
concerns. Learning this while on the actual practice of the tour
guiding profession, allowed us to be efficient and effective
partners of the tour agencies, because we can give answers to the
guests' questions about their tickets, if they request for
cancellation, extension or any change in their flights.
 Understanding Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is also an
exciting learning experience knowing the different time zones of
the earth. The difference between GMT and the Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC). What is the local time versus the GMT?
Before, we have to know the exact address and location of the
airline offices, their day and time of operation, in case we have to
drop by for our guests' concern about tickets.
Phonetic Alphabet

A - alpha N - november
B - bravo 0 - oscar
C - charlie р- papa
D - delta Q - quebec
E - echo R- romeo
F- foxtrot S- sierra
G - golf T- tango
H - hotel U - uniform
I - india V – victor
J- juliet W - whiskey
K- kilo X - X-ray
L- lima Y - yankee
M - mike Z- zulu
Selling Other Destinations
BALANCED INFO
Tour guides are excellent sales and
marketing persons. Effectively they can
describe and give complete information
about the place, having been there many
times. Their capability to sell
destinations, coupled with the excellent
descriptions with photographic
memories, will enable to guests to be
interested and even book for another
place to visit, during or in their next
vacation. Your guides are expected to
give a balanced information, present
both the weaknesses and strengths of
the destination.
 Also, the people, culture of the
place, provide an update as to the
negative and positive aspects of that
destinations, warn them of the things
they should not do there, in short give
the guests, the real situation in the
area. The presentation of the tour
guide to the guests is based on
experience of having visited the place.
It can include the budget aspects, what
to expect there, what are doables and
are not allowed there. In advance,
guests are already full of the basic
information, important considerations
about the place, by just talking with
the tour guide.
Entertainment
Nowadays, guests are presented with many kinds of
entertainment. With the modern technology, the guests are
entertained with not only a few, as before, types of spending
their time in the place visited. Aside from the usual nightlife
entertainment in the cities, going to the casinos are also
becoming popular. With the advent of big entertainment "cities",
or "inclusive resorts", entertainment became fascinating now,
not only for a bachelor, couple, honeymooners, but also there
are several entertainment hubs that caters to families. We now
have Resorts world, Solaire, and City of Dreams to name a few.
These are designed to give entertainment to family members, a
real "one- stop shop for recreation, sports, musicals and
concerts, wellness, gaming, gastronomy and even adventure.
Other Concerns
This means ALL OTHER CONCERNS that may arise from
the tour should be part of the tour guide's scope of work. Aside
from the informational duty of a tour guide, providing service
beyond the call of duty is already a given role of a tour guide.
Over and above the usual responsibilities expected, a tour guide
does many other things including being a caregiver, first aid
giver, an errand person, a porter and many exciting but
challenging roles,
The unexpected questions and other concerns like, why in the
Philippines there are different sounds of the jeepney's horn
(busina), what is the urinal? A guest looking for a wife-to-be here,
while on tour? The safety concerns, shopping in Divisoria, riding
a jeepney, watching a wedding (tourists are not allowed in some
churches), and all other concern under the sun, are part of this
tour guiding profession.
 Being in the field of tourism will enable you to
understand and have a better grasp of how entertaining,
challenging and rewarding this work of a tour guide is.
Four Stages of Tour Guiding Techniques
The tour guide should remember to always disseminate
needed pertinent information and other instructions to guests
before, during and after the tour. Such details are the scheduled
itinerary for the day: Assembly time and area, pick-up and drop-
off points, tour inclusions, where are the rest stops, etc.
GENERAL TOUR PROCEDURES
A. Pre-tour:
1. Study your tour assignment, guests profiles, arrivals schedule,
other bookings, e
2. Be aware of the composition of the group by knowing age
brackets, total number, place of origin, affinity, etc.
3. Review itinerary by visualizing the actual operation of the
tour, checking inconsistencies in the itinerary, timing in travel
and directions, meal stops, stop-overs, and sightseeing
4. Be reminded of cash advances, vouchers needed. Before the
actual tour, paper works are expected to be accomplished by tour
guides.
5. Know your vehicle to be used, plate number and name of driver
or coordinator
 
B. Tour proper
a. Arrival Procedures
1. Self-preparation and readiness to meet the tourists should arrive
at the pickup area or tour site at least one hour ahead of the
estimated time of arrival of guests.
2. Be punctual. Time is of the essence. Tour guides must also bear
in mind that it is the coach captain who controls the time of travel
to tour sites.
3. Make sure you have complete name of guests, cash advances and
tour vouchers
4. Check your transport amenities
5. Meet and greet the group. First impression, as they say, is
lasting while the second impression may not be so anymore. An
impression of the guide as arriving late, nervous, untidy and
unprepared can make or break a tour.
6. Discuss itinerary and check other concerns. It is important to
stress the value of cooperative effort from the guests. Tour guides
must make sure that information is given but must also encourage
the guests to ask questions and to express concerns as may arise.
 
 
 
b. Activities during the tour
1. Request everyone to settle in and do a headcount to ensure that
everyone is present
2. Deliver commentaries and at times remind guests of the do's
and don'ts of the tour, the rules and regulations in the places to be
visited, stop-overs including time allotted for such, etc.
3. Announce inclusions of the tour and what to expect. Explain
fully the items included in the tour. Better exchange numbers with
some guests - this will help you locate them in the case of
emergency or when they get lost/ go astray during the tour.
 
c. Departure procedures
1. Announce the next day's itinerary/program and give
instructions
2. End your day/tour by thanking the guests when the drop-off
point is near, apologize for any shortcomings not forgetting to
thank the coach captain for the safe trip.
3. Get feedback from the guests, assist them in getting off the
coach checking also for any belongings that may be left behind.
d. Post tour
1. Gather all collected vouchers
2. Prepare tour guide's report
3. Submit tour report to immediately after the tour
4. Accomplish financial report with receipts, vouchers, and
other assignments.
Liquidate (if necessary)
5. Report any incidents that transpired during the tour.
6. Lastly, thank the travel/ tour agency for the opportunity
given to you.
c. Complaints Management
Tourists' complaints are inevitable: You cannot please
100% of the people 100% of the time. Most guest's / tourists
concerns can be dealt with simply by complying with the
person's reasonable requests. From time-to-time, however, you
will come across guests who will demand something that
simply is unwarranted or impossible to de liver. No matter the
issue at the heart of the complaint it is important to remember
these rules when resolving your service issues:
1. Listen
Whenever you set out to handle a complaint, the first thing
that you must do is listen. Listen to your guests to figure out
why they are upset. Listen to determine whether any of your
policies was not abided by or if this is something outside or not
contemplated by your systems. Listen to what they want from
you to resolve the issue. A refund? A replacement? Someone
else to replace their current service representative at your
company?
So before you say anything, before you attempt to explain
anything, challenge their complaint, or offer a resolution to the
situation, listen.
2. Understand
Next, put yourself in the shoes of your guests. Given what
you now know, try and see their point of view. Why did they
come to you? Until you view the issue from their perspective,
you cannot have a complete picture of the reason for the
complaint. So always think, if I were in their shoes how would 1
feel?
 
3. Elevate
Once you have heard the complaint and understand the
basis for the same, elevate the guests to a supervisor or
manager where possible. If the issue is with the front line
employee, this will instantly allow them to have a more open
conversation with someone else. Often this move alone is
sufficient to alleviate some of the customer's concerns by
instilling in them a sense of importance, which their com
plaint is significant enough to be elevated to someone higher
up the chain of command.
4. No Fighting
Defend if you must. However, do not fight with the
guests. Often it comes down to tone and respect. Your job in
handling the matter is to listen, understand, and then discuss
their concerns in a calm and friendly manner while
conducting an open discussion regarding the issues
complained of and how they will be responded to. Fighting
will never resolve the issue and will only lead to heightened
aggression and anger on their part. As such, calmly defend
your policies or personnel if you must but do not permit the
conversation to erode into an argument at any point.
5. Resolution
Offer a resolution where possible. Once you have listened and
understood the complaint and have avoided fighting over the same, divert the
guests focus to how you intend to resolve the matter. Here it was difficult to
include all manners of resolution which can be offered given the nature and
scope of the goods and ser vices which could be offered, but some
suggestions include providing a refund if warranted. Discounts on future
goods or service is another popular remedy.
The psychology of the offering of a resolution cannot be understated.
Even if the complaint is unwarranted listening, understanding, elevating, and
offering some form of resolution allows them r to feel that they have won,
that they were correct, and that your organization wants to make it right. For
most, this will resolve the issue, and they will be satisfied. Unfortunately,
however, there will always be those select few that you cannot please any
matter what you offer. For those, you must incorporate resolve.
6. Resolve
In every situation, you will ultimately come to a point of
what you can and cannot do to address the issue. Most
situations will be able to be addressed, and the issue
resolved to their satisfaction. Unfortunately, from time-to-
time, there will be issues which simply cannot be resolved.
For these, you must understand that despite your best
reasonable efforts to offer a reasonable resolution they are
unwilling to join you in reality and, accordingly, although
our aim is always to please them if that which the customer
demands cannot be satisfied, you must maintain your best-
offered solution and no more.
7. Writing
Ultimately, when all is said and done, and a resolution has
or has not always been reached take the time to put it in
writing. If, as in most cases, the matter is resolved to the
guests' satisfaction, you will want to send a brief follow-up
email confirming that the issue has now been resolved and the
specific resolution involved.
8. Learn
Above all, use these complaints as a manner to learn about
potential flaws in your systems. Maintain a manner of tracking
complaints and the resolution thereof such that, over time,
trends or specific issues may be identified to the point that if
you see one or more specific situation, put into place to
address the same in the future before they become future
complaints.