Introduction to English for Tourist guide

English for Tourism Business เอกสารประกอบการสอน วชิ าภาษาองั กฤษสาหรบั ธรุ กิจการท่องเท่ียว  FUNDAMENTALS OF TOUR GUIDING  MAKING A BROCHURE  EXPRESSIONS ON A TRIP  WRITING AN ITINERARY 1|Page

English for Tourism Business  FUNDAMENTALS OF TOUR GUIDING  DEFINITIONS  Tour operator A person owns a business providing package and holidays which are offered in a brochure with a fixed price for accommodation, transport and ground arrangements. One example of tour operators are local tour operators, who provide services to domestic clients for tours within a country.  Tour Guide or Tourist Guide - This is someone who takes people on sight-seeing excursions of limited duration. - A person who guides visitors in the language of their choice and understands the cultural and natural heritage of an area which person normally possesses an area specific qualification usually issued and/or recognised by the appropriate authority.  Tour Manager - A person who manages an itinerary on behalf of the tour operator ensuring the programme is carried out as described in the tour operator's literature and sold to the traveller/consumer and who gives local practical information. - Tour managers may or may not be tourist guides as well. They are not trained or licensed to work in specific areas unless they have the proper requirements or legal right, depending on the region.  Tour Escort This is a person who manages a group’s movements over a multi-day tour.  Tour Package This includes those elements in the holiday - transportation, accommodation and transfers- sold by a tour operator at an inclusive price.  Tour Conducting This is about managing tours, it involves traveling with groups while staying with groups, controlling and entertaining people dealing with problems and at times guiding tours. The tour conductor can be with that group, depending on the type of tour for two to three weeks.  WHY DO PEOPLE TAKE TOURS? People take tours for various reasons. If tours are taken as a group, there is the freedom from hassle, the desire to save money and time and the companionship of people with similar interests. If individuals take tours, then the reasons are to have a feeling of security in a strange place, saving time to see most of the country, state or province and the getting accurate information from an experienced guide. All in all the taking of tours is to get value for money, accurate information and having an organized trip. The purpose of touring is to have fun. 2|Page

English for Tourism Business  PURPOSE OF TRAVEL People travel for many reasons; some of these are: Health – going to see a doctor for a medical emergency; going to a tropical country to enjoy the sun and sea for therapeutic treatments or other medical emergencies. Leisure – vacations or holidays or just for fun and relaxation Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) - part of leisure, this category may be to attend a reunion at the University or college. It may also be a spend time with family after a long time. Religious reasons- such as for pilgrimages and religious festivals Business – to transact some form of business deal or present a proposal to overseas investors Meetings, incentives, conventions and events – this category may be considered under business. It looks at the different reasons that someone on business may choose to travel. However, with events, there may be a segment that is there not on business but pleasure or leisure. The event may be for a music festival. To see attractions - a visit to see the beauty of places. To engage in outdoor recreation and adventures such as skiing, bird watching. For the tourist, all this may be considered to be an opportunity to broaden their frame of reference – education and desire to travel. Educational reasons – a linguistic class engaging in language exchanges with students from other parts of the world or visiting a place of interest in fulfilment of an internship. Transit reasons – this is a special count of visitors that do not stay-over in the country but are passing through onwards to the final destination. All these reasons may be categorised into two main categories –business or leisure. From these two broad categories you may have a combination of business and leisure in one trip.  TYPES OF TRAVELLERS A traveller is someone who makes a trip between two or more countries or two or more localities within his/her country of usual residence. Travellers are also categorised as visitors those are able to be divided for purposes into two general groups. 1. Excursionist – this is the same-day visitor. This visitor spends less than twenty-four hours (24 hours) in the country visiting. 2. Tourist – these visitors stay in the country for at least one night but less than one full year. 3|Page

English for Tourism Business  FORM OF TOURISM There are many forms of tourism in which persons traveling can engage. These forms are as follows: 1. Domestic tourism – residents of the country travel within this country 2. Inbound tourism - non-residents travel in the given country 3. Outbound tourism – residents travel to another country.  TYPES OF TOUR OPERATORS There are in-bound tour operators, who provide services to foreign visitors. An example will be a Canadian tour operator who sells tours abroad through its branches or to other companies. The group arriving from the United Kingdom or Continental Europe coming into Canada is serviced by the inbound operator. There are also outbound tour operators who provide services to local tourists who wish to visit destinations outside their country. This operator takes groups from the home country to other countries.  TYPES OF TOUR GUIDES There is the common definition of “tour guide” which was established earlier. Tour guides should be certified, and assist the visitor in seeing the place in an excellent, unique way. Mostly all tour guides should see the career as being an international tour guide. After all, the type of visitor to the attraction or sight may be local, regional or international. Let us investigate the many kinds of tour guide.  On-site Guides The person who takes you on tour of the sight is called an on-site guide. This guide conducts the tour of a specific building or a limited area. These tours can be taken by trams or walking. Usually in travel and tourism, these sights are called attractions. Another type of on-site guide working free of charge or volunteering may be called a docent. A docent specifically works at a museum.  City Guides For pleasure and discovery a traveller can take a tour of the city by motor coach, van, taxi or hop-on, hop-off bus, or as part of a walking tour. The person who points out and comments on the highlights of the city is called a city guide. 4|Page

English for Tourism Business When the city guide doubles the duty by driving the vehicle, that person becomes the driver-guide. Another type of city guide is the personal or private guide. These are sometimes taxi drivers who uses their vehicles to conduct an exclusive tour or arrange the tour based on the client’s needs. In small island states, this may be known as an island-tour.  Specialised Guides This category of guide has particular skills that are highly unique to match the client’s needs. These guides may conduct bike tours, white water rafting trips, hiking expeditions or on tours that are more physically demanding and unusual. This will be backpack hiking in the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona in the United States of America.  Step-on Guides This kind of guide is a free-lanced guide. They are considered specialists who come on-board a motor coach or van to give informed overviews of the city being toured. This would usually be for tour groups that are taking in more than one state or province during the trip.  Shore excursions Guides, Land operators or Receptive Operators Guides that work for cruise ships can be classified as cruise ship tour guides or shore excursion guides. Guides that work for tour companies or ground operators may be called land operators or receptive operators. These guides meet their clients and conduct tours for the various groups. REFERENCE Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth (2006). Tour Guiding [pdf] Available at http://www.col.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/VUSSC_Tour_Guiding.pdf [Accessed 5th June 2012] Cooper, Fletcher et al (1998) in Tourism Principles and Practice – 2nd Edition. Pearson Education Limited . England 5|Page

English for Tourism Business  MAKING A BROCHURE Brochure is a magazine or booklet with pictures that gives information about a product or service. Practically every business creates a brochure, but it’s often a work in uselessness. Before you complete your brochure, consider the following. The purpose of your brochure Define your objective up front, and write your copy with that in mind. You can have a brochure for each purpose, or each segment of your market. Use the 'Brochure Checklist' to decide what information is necessary, and arrange the components of your brochure in order of importance. The clearer you are about the order of importance within your information, the better your brochure will be. Get the reader’s attention There’s no law that says you have to have your name on the front. In fact, putting your business name at the top of anything--your web page, your ads, or your brochure would never recommended. It is necessary to tell the brochure’s reader exactly what you want them to do when they’re finished reading. Active and enthusiastic writing Your writing should be used with active verbs. That way, the reader moves easily from sentence to sentence, instead of overwhelming into boring text. You should proofread your final design several times before having it printed. Brochure Design Whether your brochure is a general business brochure, a marketing promotion, or a special event, you want it to look incredible. It has to look attractive or no one will want to read its content. Brochure design is essential to selling your business. A brochure is quite possibly your most powerful business tool. It is a strategic tool that adds impact to your company and your product. Their design should represent your business accurately and uniquely.  How to Make a Brochure You can put a brochure in other various different places around your area, and more! It is important that whatever you put in your brochure, it is concise and short. Your brochure should be a quick read that potential readers can take a look at, get the essence very quickly. Not everyone is going to sit down and read the whole thing; they might just look at it in passing. Also, they don't have the most space, so if you use up less room, more information can fit. 6|Page

English for Tourism Business Brochures come in three standard sizes, 8-1/2 x 11, 8-1/2 x 14, and 11 x 17. An unfolded 8-1/2 x 11 is often used for product sheets, or tri-folded for a company brochure. Many companies use an 11x17 brochure, folded in half, as an economical product catalog. Brochures can be 4-color printing on the front. Ideas for Brochure Content  Testimonials from your members on how great you are. You can get quotes from people in your business; put them in your brochure.  Contact information: This way, people can get in touch with the ones who concern for more information.  Reasons why your customer should join your business. A brochure is a great way to get new members, so put in reasons why people should join!  Benefits of joining your business and opportunities that customers can take advantage of. General types of brochure 7|Page

English for Tourism Business Brochure without mailing panel Inside Outside - Subhead - Headline - Text / Pictures - Business information - Subhead Outside - Text / Pictures Brochure with mailing panel Inside - Headline - Subhead - Subhead - Text / Pictures - Return address - Text / Pictures - Headline - Subhead Flyer - Text/ picture 8|Page

English for Tourism Business USEFUL EXPRESSIONS ON A TRIP AS A TOUR GUIDE  Greeting on a bus Good morning/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is……………and I welcome you on this tour of…………….. I’d like to introduce our staff, there are………………………………….and our driver,...(NAME)…..  Talking about general topic - How are you today? Hope you all are fine.  Giving some information about facilities on a bus / coach. - As you can see, the coach is air-conditioned, but we can adjust it if you’d like. - Your seat can be reclined as your comfort. - Soft drinks are served as required. - Please feel free to ask us for what you need. We’ll do the best for your convenience.  Giving a brief itinerary - As we leave Bangkok, we’re going to……………….. - We’ll have lunch at……………. - After lunch, at around 1 o’clock, we’ll take a visit at……………….and we’ll take a short break en route. - Do you have any questions? Now you can take your time at leisure. - Thank you for your attention.  Before arriving a place to visit - Now we are arriving…………………., ……brief information……. - I’ll tell you a little more about that (in a moment), as we’ll be stopping there. - Docent guide will provide more information when arrival.  Before getting off a bus for a visit - When you leave the bus, remember to take all your valuable belongings with you. - We’ll be meeting at the bus again in an hour at 1 o’clock at the entrance. - We’ll meet back here at…………… - We’ll stay here for……………. Please be back at the bus by………… - I have your group entry ticket. Please keep together until we are inside. 9|Page

English for Tourism Business  Coming back to the bus - Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed…………………….. - It certainly is something fantastic, I think you’ll agree. - We are now going to………………. Let me tell you a little about it.  Ending of the day - We’re now arriving at hotel. Your room number will be informed in a moment. - If you’d like to /visit some shops / have dinner outside the hotel then …………………… - I recommend an early night, as breakfast tomorrow is at…………… - After breakfast, the bus will take us to…………………… - Please check your belongings before you leave the bus. - Are there any questions? - Thank you for your attention. I hope you enjoyed the trip and I really hope you all enjoy the rest of your holiday in (Nakornrajasima) / with us.  Ending a trip - Now we are arriving at RMUTK. - Please check your belongings before you leave the bus. - Thank you very much for your trust on our service and we hope to have an opportunity to offer you our service again. However, we would like to do apology in case of any inconvenience or mistake occurred. 10 | P a g e