Land Tour Jobs - Earnings and Benefits

How would you like to travel around the world, visit exotic locales, stay in luxury hotels, meet interesting people, and get paid a good wage for the trouble? Tour guides do just that and gain valuable public relations and work skills at the same time.

Also called tour escorts, these positions offer the ultimate in travel-intensive work.

The profession of being a guide demands skill, patience, and the keen ability to think on your feet. Even though travel tours are common and operate all over the world, most job seekers are unaware of the large numbers of tour guide positions available. The good news is that tour companies offer positions to eager applicants throughout the year.

Travel Opportunities

Tour guides or escorts lead tours all over the United States and often work abroad. Many of the stories heard from tour guide veterans leave the listener thinking that these jobs are almost too good to be true. This is how one veteran tour escort described her job:

"The travel was really incredible. In just three years I visited forty-eight of fifty states and eight of ten provinces, as well as several European countries. It was a lot of hard work, but I doubt any other job could have provided that kind of experience."

Traveling while juggling lodging arrangements, finding lost luggage, and keeping customers happy can be a handful. But imagine yourself doing those things while visiting some of the best real estate in the world. Costa Rica, Belize, Hawaii, India, the list goes on and on.

Meeting People

Tour guides all agree that although the travel is great, you can't cut it as a tour guide if you don't really like the people you travel with - your customers. As one escort put it:

"Let's face it. You go to a destination once and you're nervous and excited, twice and you love it, but three times and you're already getting bored. That's why it's important to really get along well with the passengers and enjoy their company . . ."

Keep in mind that with many companies, the majority of passengers are retired senior citizens. An experienced escort describes her clientele:

"Most tour companies cater to retired people, since they have money and the time to travel. Some people were exceptionally interesting, really wonderful, and have had really fascinating experiences . . . . The majority of our customers were fun, and one good couple would make up for a coach load of complainers."

Tour guides can also reap the benefits of networking with some pretty important people. Passengers on tours come from a variety of backgrounds: community leaders, company managers, and small business owners are just a sampling of the people with whom you're likely to interact. And even if they are retired, most retain their business contacts. Make a good impression on a former CEO and other career doors may soon open.

Earning & Saving Money

As you might imagine, earnings for tour guides vary greatly depending on the type of tour. As a rule of thumb, tour guides or escorts who actually lead tour groups on lengthy trips will make more than escorts working on smaller, shorter tours. Tour guides will generally earn anywhere from $50-$150 per day salary. In addition to this per diem amount, however, most guides receive passenger tips, which can increase your earnings substantially, and successful tour escorts can earn $30,000-$60,000 per year. A guide for a large tour company describes her company's rather typical tip policies:

"Our company runs two types of tours when it comes to tipping. First is the 'all inclusive' tour, where the company tips the guide and the guests aren't expected to tip, since it's included in the price of the tour. The company tips a minimum of $20 per day, but you're salaried and get benefits. On the other tours we get paid by the day, and the tour members tip you at the end of the tour. Customers almost always tip, and it can be a real incentive to keep them happy. On my last tour, I worked only five days and was tipped over $350."

At the other end of the scale are the many local tour guides and step-on guides, who usually earn $8-$12 per hour.

Keep in mind that this is only an estimate, and experienced step-on guides or freelance step-on guides can make considerably more, sometimes as much as a tour escort.

Obviously, the type of tour and your clientele can have a big impact on your income. Expensive, upscale tours to Europe will pay more than motorcoach tours in Texas, and bigger groups will tip better than small ones (sixty people can tip better than thirty). As noted above, tipping is customary; however, tipping regulations and guidelines will vary from company to company. You will find that some companies encourage passengers to tip the escort while others may strictly forbid tipping.

Even though wages and salaries can seem low when the position may require working up to 12-14 hours a day, keep in mind that guides' out-of-pocket expenses are minimal. An escort's lodging and meals are nearly always provided free of charge, and a guide can often work an entire season without any large personal expenses.

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