During the Renaissance, the Grand Tour drew young European aristocrats to various parts of Europe to experience art, culture, and history. Local scholars known as “cicerones” were hired to guide these travelers, providing detailed information about the places they visited. A cicerone is an old term for a guide who would lead them through museums, galleries, and other places of interest and explain matters of archaeological, antiquarian, historical, and artistic importance.
The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century brought railroads and steamships, making travel more accessible. In 1841, British entrepreneur Thomas Cook created the first package tour, which included travel, accommodation, and a guided tour. This marked the beginning of organized tourism and established tour guiding as a profession.
Today, tour guides play a vital role in the tourism industry and are much more than just a tour guide: they play a vital role in promoting cultural understanding, imparting knowledge, boosting local economies, ensuring sustainable tourism activities, and enhancing the overall tourism experience.
As cultural ambassadors, tour guides help tourists understand and respect local culture by providing information and insights about local traditions, customs and history. By fostering a deeper understanding and connection, they ensure that cultural heritage is not just visited, but valued, respected and protected. As environmental custodians, tour guides play a key role in protecting landscapes by promoting environmentally friendly practices. They educate tourists to minimize their impact on the environment, adhere to principles such as “Leave No Trace” and support conservation efforts.
Acting as a community connector, tour guides often build bridges between tourists and local communities. Tour guides foster respectful and mutually beneficial interactions and ensure that tourism boosts local economies. Ensuring tourist safety is another major responsibility of tour guides. This includes risk management, providing first aid, and making informed decisions to avoid safety hazards. Whether on a wildlife safari or trekking at 4,000 meters in the Himalayas, a tour guide’s knowledge and preparation are essential to keeping travelers safe. Professionalism in behavior, grooming, and communication is essential for tour guides. Tour guides represent not only their employers but the broader tourism industry and the nation.
Tourist Guides Association of Nepal (TURGAN) recently held its 8th National Tourist Guides Conference, which was inaugurated by the Minister of Tourism of Nepal. The main objective of the conference was to engage, energise and inspire members. TURGAN President Thaneswar Devkota emphasised the importance of tour guides as cultural ambassadors. He also called for regular refresher training and recognised the contribution tour guides make to the local economy while ensuring rights and respect for cultural ambassadors. Established in 1989, TURGAN is a member of the World Federation of Tourist Guides Associations (WFTGA). WFTGA has over 200,000 tour guides from over 70 countries.
Although the role of tour guides is important, they face several challenges in their profession. Tour guides need to stay up to date and adapt their competencies. With the rise of digital technologies and AI in the tourism industry, tour guides need to stay up to date with the latest technologies, digital tools, and social trends. Tour guides need to integrate these to enhance the tourist experience while maintaining a personal engagement.
Like a seasoned host, a good tour guide will sense the mood of the room, read the audience’s reactions, and respond accordingly. If it’s 9 a.m. after a night’s sleep, your guests will probably want to hear a bit of history; if they’ve just had lunch and some wine, they’ll prefer a quick story and some time to snooze.
Barnaby Davis, Founder of East Guide West
Tourists come with different expectations, backgrounds and needs. They also have different motivations for travel. Tour guides must be culturally sensitive, inclusive and adaptable to cater to diverse groups, including people with special needs and disabilities. In addition, tour guides must be provided with fair wages, job security and opportunities for professional development. The industry must support guides through policies that ensure fair treatment and continuous learning.
As in other tourist destinations, tour guides in Nepal play a vital role in the tourism industry, balancing the twin goals of competitiveness and sustainability. Their responsibilities as cultural ambassadors, environmental stewards, and safety managers are essential to the tourist experience. Yet they face significant challenges that require adaptation strategies, continuing education, and industry support. Addressing these challenges will enable tour guides to continue to thrive and foster a tourism ecosystem that benefits travelers, local communities, and the environment alike.
The quality of tour services is to some extent indicated by the quality of the guides during the tour. Tour guides are not only important figures in the progression of package tours in developing countries, but also important representatives of the tourism business, since their service depends mainly on their performance and technical expertise. Promoting intercultural understanding through transformative learning has long been considered one of the benefits of international travel, since it can lead to a change in travelers’ perception of themselves, their country, and the world in terms of self-discovery, rediscovery of their home country, and a global mindset.
