Service standardization - tourist guide training
Tour guide in action
Requirements for the provision of professional tourist guide training and qualification programmes are now specified in DIN EN 15565.
Tourist Guides represent the cities, regions and countries which they are qualified to present. It depends on how they perform whether the visitors in their charge feel welcome, want to stay longer or decide to come back. They thus contribute considerably to the way a tourist destination is perceived. Tourist Guides are able to help travellers understand the culture of the region visited and the way of life of its inhabitants. They have a particular role on the one hand in promoting the cultural and natural heritage whilst on the other hand in helping to ensure its sustainability by making visitors aware of its importance and vulnerability.
The new European Standard DIN EN 15565 supports European Union efforts to facilitate free movement in the exchange of services within its member states but also emphasises the importance of area-specific tourist guides for the provision of high-quality tourism services. This will be achieved by a common standard for the qualification of tourist guides in all European countries.
The standard provides requirements and recommendations on subjects such as
skills (e.g. presenting the area, site, city, region country, guiding groups or individual visitors, interpreting for visitors the cultural and natural heritage as well as the environment; helping visitors to experience and understand what they are viewing and/or visiting; using appropriate language, presenting appropriate information in a comprehensive and communicative way);
theoretical knowledge (e.g. history and culture, legal and political system, religions and philosophical movements, history of art and architecture, geography and geology, professional ethics);
presentation techniques (e.g. voice projection, diction, microphone use, breathing techniques, eye contact, stance, body language, posture, personal appearance and behaviour, style and vocabulary);
communication techniques (e.g. interpersonal skills, selection, structuring and linking of information, handling and use of questions, stress management, time management;
group management (e.g. positioning of guide and group, impartial approach and politeness, group dynamics, conflict management);
practical training;
qualification of trainers,
which a tourist guide training scheme should comprise, as well as requirements for minimum numbers of training units (hours).
DIN EN 15565 allows countries, regions and cities to decide the level, extent and main areas of their training programmes, providing these programmes meet these minimum standards and requirements for tourist guide training which is a prerequisite for a tourist guide quality service in all member countries.