A tour guide or sometimes referred to as a tour coordinator is someone who gives guidance, assistance and information about historical, cultural and other personal heritage to individuals on guided personal tours and arranged sightseeing. Tour guides work for travel agencies, tourist organizations and other private groups. Their professional and useful services include organizing sightseeing tours, guide weddings, arranging tours around the world, public speaking events, corporate outings, heritage events, and educational trips. Tour guides may speak many languages and can understand different dialects of foreign travelers. They can entertain and inform their audience while travelling. They are specially trained to know the appropriate route for all kinds of tourists and have the necessary knowledge about any place they are visiting.
There are several types of tour guides and there are organizations that hire qualified tour guides for specific purposes. The most common type of tour guide hired for special needs is the physically challenged person. They are mostly used in places like New Orleans, Florida, and London, England. These specially trained individuals require the services of someone who is able to assist them in walking and talking with great ease, as well as deal with situations such as drinking problems, safety concerns, or other obstacles that could cause difficulties during the course of the tour. For these special needs tour guides, if they lack proper training or if they do not have enough experience, they usually end up hurting themselves or becoming very sick.
Many countries have special programs that were created to help tourists with disabilities go about exploring their tourism industry. Countries such as Italy and Spain have long histories of offering excellent tour guides for those with disabilities. Many disabled travelers do not feel capable of traveling alone and hiring the services of a tour guide allows them to travel in safety and comfort. As a profession, being a tour guide requires both hard work and plenty of compassion. Most tourists find that hiring someone to work with them can greatly improve the quality of their trip.