Top Skills for This Career
BLS identifies these as the three highest-rated skills for this detailed occupation. TrustInEd adds the plain-language explanations so visitors understand what each skill means.
Communicating clearly through speech while listening carefully to understand others.
Adjusting effectively when priorities, conditions, tools, or expectations change.
Working effectively with people by building relationships, understanding others, and responding appropriately.
How Do You Prepare for This Career?
BLS describes the typical preparation for this occupation. Requirements can vary by employer, state, licensing rules and individual circumstances.
How to Become One
How to Become a Tour or Travel Guide Tour and travel guides must be comfortable with public speaking. Tour and travel guides typically need a high school diploma or the equivalent. Once hired, they usually receive
Education
Tour and travel guides usually need a high school diploma or the equivalent, although entry requirements may vary. High school students interested in becoming a tour or travel guide may benefit from taking classes such as history, art, or foreign languages. Some tour and travel guides choose to pursue a bachelor’s degree. Although there is no standard degree program , common fields of degree include business, education, and fine and performing arts. Fluency in more than one language may be useful for tour and travel guides.
Training
on the job. Some guides need a license.
Licenses, Certifications & Registrations
Tour and travel guides in some locations, such as New York City and Washington, D.C., may need a locally issued license. Obtaining a license might require passing an exam, a background check, and paying a fee. Contact your city or town licensing agency for more information. Guides who lead hunting, fishing, or recreational trips may need a state-issued license. Information on state licensing board requirements is available from CareerOneStop. Cruise directors must have a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to work onboard the ship. Some tour and travel guides need to have a valid driver’s license or a commercial driver’s license (CDL) if they drive for bus tours. Information on CDL requirements is available from your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles. While not required, certification may show competence and proficiency in the field. Information on certifications is available from CareerOneStop. Training Tour and travel guides typically receive on-the-job training after they are hired. Training may include studying tour materials or leading practice tours with an experienced guide.
Your Next Step
Review training, certifications, apprenticeships, or employer-based preparation that may support entry into this career.
Pay
the median annual wage for all workers was $50,980.
Job Outlook
Job Outlook Employment of tour and travel guides is projected to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations. About 11,900 openings for tour and travel guides are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Employment Participation in leisure activities at public buildings, art galleries, and other places of interest is expected to drive employment growth for tour and travel guides. Greater emphasis on leisure experiences may support consistent growth for travel professionals. People are expected to continue to seek out the expertise of tour and travel guides to provide information and entertainment at museums, historical sites, parks, and other recreation locations. Tour and Travel Guides Percent change in employment, projected 2025–35 Tour and travel guides 6% Personal care and service occupations 4% Total, all occupations 3% Note: All Occupations includes all occupations in the U.S. Economy.
What They Do
What Tour and Travel Guides Do
Tour and travel guides lead individuals or groups on excursions to various points of interest, including historical locations, museums, and monuments.
Duties
Tour and travel guides typically do the following:
- Arrange services or reservations for clients
- Research topics related to their tour, such as site history or local attractions
- Plan routes and talking points for tours
- Greet clients and collect fees or tickets
- Escort individuals or groups through areas of interest and provide related information
- Monitor the pacing of their tour and adjust to fit the group’s needs
- Answer client questions
Tour guides and travel guides have similar duties and sometimes serve both roles at once or switch between them. Both interact with people and share information about the places or things that visitors will see and experience. They lead groups and answer questions, providing additional support as needed when issues arise. Self-employed tour and travel guides also may have responsibilities related to running their business, such as marketing and recordkeeping.
Tour guides take people on sightseeing tours or lead them through places of interest, such as art galleries and public buildings. These workers often will lead tours based on their background knowledge or subjects that interest them. For example, a tour guide with an interest in architecture may lead architectural tours of a city. Tours vary in length, from less than an hour to more than 12 hours, depending on the number of places visited or the type of place visited. Tour guides may lead multiple tours in one day.
Tour guides who educate and engage with visitors in a museum may be called museum docents. Other types of tour guides include park interpreters, who take visitors through outdoor spaces, and historical interpreters, who help to re-create the past by playing the part of a particular character in history.
Travel guides plan, organize, and accompany clients on long-distance travel, tours, and expeditions. They typically manage all travel, lodging, and dining for their group. They also handle the logistics of getting their tour group from place to place and meeting local tour guides for tours around points of interest.
Some travel guides work as cruise directors, managing and planning hospitality events and experiences for passengers of cruise ships. Others, such as river expedition guides, might take people on adventure trips.
Work Environment
Work Environment
Tour and travel guides held about 62,200 jobs in 2025. The largest employers of tour and travel guides were as follows:
| Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions | 26% |
| Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries | 18 |
| Travel arrangement and reservation services | 11 |
| Self-employed workers | 9 |
| Scenic and sightseeing transportation | 6 |
Tour and travel guides work in a variety of settings, such as museums, gardens, or other points of interest. They may spend long periods of time standing or walking while being exposed to the elements during outdoor tours. Some might travel with groups on buses or other forms of transportation. Travel guides who go on long-distance tours may spend extended periods of time away from home.
Work Schedules
Part-time work is common for tour and travel guides. Work schedules may vary and can include weekends, evenings, and holidays. The work may be seasonal, and tour and travel guides may be busier during peak travel times.
Travel guides will typically accompany groups of clients on their trips and may travel for multiple days in a row, often working long days during a trip, with time off in between.
Important Qualities
The following are examples of qualities that are important for these workers to perform their duties. For more information, visit the Employment Projections (EP) skills data page. Adaptability. Tour and travel guides must be able to handle changing environments and situations while leading their groups. For those who work outdoors, adjusting their plans for changing weather conditions is an important part of their work. Customer-service skills. Tour and travel guides must be courteous and helpful when answering clients’ questions and responding to their needs. Detail oriented. Tour and travel guides share large amounts of detailed information with clients on tours. They also must pay close attention to the specific aspects involved with leading group travel, such as arranging dining plans and coordinating itineraries. Interpersonal skills. Tour and travel guides should be empathetic, engaging, and friendly to develop a good rapport with the individuals and groups that they lead. Speaking and listening skills. Tour and travel guides must be comfortable addressing and interacting with both large and small groups of people in a variety of environments.
More Information
More Information, Including Links to O*NET
Learn more about tour and travel guides by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.
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Start with ED →Career data and occupational profile text are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections program. Education requirements are typical entry-level requirements and may vary by employer, state, occupation or individual circumstance. View the official BLS profile.