During a tour at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, I was surprised when a fellow visitor, out of fascination, I guess, was asking questions about the surrounding plants.
Would you have been equally surprised? Did the tour guide anticipate such questions while he was successfully immersing some of us in history—the echoes of Ghana’s struggle for independence?
Would you tag the visitor as a ‘difficult customer’, a terminology which service personnel use quite liberally?
I stepped into the shoes of a tour guide this Sunday, conducting a tour in a home garden with 129 children, between the ages of 7 and 12!
How about we both slipping into the shoes of another tour guide? Shall we? What could have gone wrong when you read reviews (from guests) such as the following after a tour we have conducted:
- “We felt somewhat ripped off, given how much we paid for the tour to then pay 20 euros per day for 21 days.”
- “Paid top price and got budget tour.”
Tour guides face a variety of challenges while conducting tours. How well prepared are they expected to be? Is there anything like being over prepared?
Here are some examples of very positive tour guiding reviews in Ghana. Note that the named tour companies and tour guides have been omitted.
- “Booked a group of 44 people to Ghana. We had a custom tour and from start to finish the service was exceptional. The Destination Travel Planner, ensured all our needs were met. In addition, we had two very knowledgeable tour guides who escorted the group”.
- “Our experience was fantastic. The guides were incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. They made sure we were comfortable and engaged throughout the tour. We learned so much about Ghana’s history and culture”.
- “We had an unforgettable experience. The tour was well-organized, and the guide was very professional and informative. We visited some amazing places and felt very safe and well taken care of”.
What efforts do you anticipate making to earn the above laurels as a tour operator or tour guide?
On my part with the children, my background checks and preparations included the following considerations:
- Why they wanted to visit the garden- it was a church program and their way of observing ‘flower day’.
- How many to expect- informed 110 but had 129 children and 10 teachers.
- What time to expect them-8:25 am but they arrived at 9am.
- How long they intend to stay-1 hour; but ended up staying for one and a half hours.
- Do they have activities planned already-it was open. I drew up a program and send it to the representative of the church in touch with me.
- Using disposable cups, I made holes at the bottom of the cups, and made handles for the cups.
- I nursed some seeds of flowers which were ready to be transplanted.
- I had soil prepared for the transplanting activity. I selected some plants in one section of the garden with name tags and numbers and cut blank cards (among games planned)
- Revised my names of plants and added a few more to my list of known plant names.
Set up:
- Seating (benches and mats)
- Tables: for mini exhibition of plants with their names, enhanced disposable cups and spoons, seed distribution table with small receptacles
- Flip charts on 2 easels (one for welcome note and the other for an outline of the program)
There were obviously helping hands to perform other distinct tasks, while I focused on my task to walk the children through the garden and to introduce the plants they were not familiar with.
Can you imagine now how, much is required of tour guides?
Look out for next week’s article where I’ll delve into a conversation with a true master of the art of tour guiding.