Tour Guides

ANZSCO ID 451412

Overview

Snapshot

Employed
4,700
Future Growth
N/A
Weekly Earnings
N/A
Full-Time Share
47%
Female Share
43%
Average age
44

Summary

Tour Guides escort visitors on sightseeing, educational and other tours, and describe and explain points of interest.

Also known as: Tour Escort or Tour Leader.

Specialisations: Regional Guide.

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Tour Guide. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification or a university degree in tourism or guiding.

Tasks

  • Meets and greets visitors.

  • Controls visitors' access to exhibits.

  • Plans and rearranges schedules and itineraries.

  • Plans, organises and conducts tours.

  • Arranges transportation and accommodation for visitors following planned itineraries.

  • Arranges entry to places of interest.

  • Answers questions, provides commentaries, issues brochures and tour literature, shows audio-visual presentations, and explains components and procedures at tour sites.

  • May assist with installing and dismantling exhibits.

Characteristics

Job Type
Community And Personal Service Workers
Skill Level
Medium skill
ANZSCO Occupation group
Unemployment Rate
n/a
Industries
Pathway(s)
  • University
  • Vocational Education and Training (VET)
  • Informal or on-the-job
Interests
  • Enterprising
  • Helping
Physical Demand
  • Sedentary
  • Light
  • Medium

Outlook

Employment Outlook

JSA produces employment projections to show where likely future job opportunities may be. Employment projections data are only produced for occupations at the broad four digit Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) level. While data are not available for this occupation, projections data are available for the parent occupation, Gallery, Museum and Tour Guides, under the outlook section.


Earnings and hours

Working arrangements

  • Around 47% of people employed as Tour Guides work full-time hours, in all their jobs combined. This is 19 percentage points below the all jobs average (66%).

    Full-time workers work an average of 48 hours per week in their main job. This is 4 hours more than the all jobs average (44 hours per week).

    Sources:Full-time share and full-time hours: ABS, 2016 Census, customised report. Compared to the all jobs average.


Industries

Main industries

1
Administrative and Support Services
44.3%
2
Transport, Postal and Warehousing
17.6%
3
Arts and Recreation Services
15.7%
4
Accommodation and Food Services
4.2%
5
Other industries
12.8%

Regions

Employment across Australia

NSW

28.0% All occupations: 31.6%

VIC

18.2% All occupations: 25.6%

QLD

25.2% All occupations: 20.0%

SA

5.7% All occupations: 7.0%

WA

9.4% All occupations: 10.8%

TAS

5.4% All occupations: 2.0%

NT

5.6% All occupations: 1.0%

ACT

2.3% All occupations: 1.9%

Employment by State and Territory (% Share)

State Tour Guides All Jobs Average
NSW 28.0 31.6
VIC 18.2 25.6
QLD 25.2 20.0
SA 5.7 7.0
WA 9.4 10.8
TAS 5.4 2.0
NT 5.6 1.0
ACT 2.3 1.9


  • Around 49% of Tour Guides live outside of capital cities, compared with the all jobs average of 38%.

    Queensland, the Northern Territory and Tasmania have a large share of employment relative to their population size.

    The regions with the largest share of workers are:

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Share of workers across Australian states, territories and regions, in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Worker profile

Age and gender

Age In Years
44
All Jobs Average is 40
Female Share
43%
All Jobs Average is 48%
  • The median age of Tour Guides is 44 years. This is higher than the all jobs average of 40 years.

    A large share of workers are aged 25 to 34 years.

    Females make up 43% of the workforce. This is 5 percentage points below the all jobs average of 48%.

    Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile and gender share compared to the all jobs average.

Age Profile (% Share)

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.
Age Bracket Tour Guides All Jobs Average
15-19 2.4 5.0
20-24 8.4 9.3
25-34 22.7 22.9
35-44 18.2 22.0
45-54 21.9 21.6
55-59 10.6 9.0
60-64 7.4 6.0
65 and Over 8.5 4.2
Median Age 44 40

Source: Based on ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Age profile of workers in this job compared to the all jobs average.


Employment Pathways

Education, training and experience

Formal qualifications are not essential to work as a Tour Guide. Although some workers have a Vocational Education and Training (VET) qualification or a university degree in tourism or guiding.

Visit

  • Course Seeker to search and compare higher education courses.
  • ComparED to compare undergraduate and postgraduate student experiences and outcomes.
  • My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
  • AAPathways website to explore Creative Arts and Culture VET training pathways.

Highest Level of Education (% Share)

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.
Type of Qualification Tour Guides All Jobs Average
Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate 10.3 10.1
Bachelor degree 27.1 21.8
Advanced Diploma/Diploma 13.9 11.6
Certificate III/IV 16.1 21.1
Year 12 20.8 18.1
Year 11 3.6 4.8
Year 10 and below 8.2 12.5

Source: ABS Census 2016, Customised Report. Highest qualification completed by workers in this job (in any field of study). Qualifications needed by new workers might be different from the qualifications of workers already in the job.


Skills and Knowledge

Employers look for Gallery, Museum and Tour Guides who can connect with others and provide good customer service.

Skills

Skills can be improved through training or experience.

  • 46%

    Critical thinking

    Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

  • 46%

    Serving others

    Looking for ways to help people.

  • 45%

    Speaking

    Talking to others.

  • 45%

    Active listening

    Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

  • 43%

    Reading comprehension

    Reading work related information.

  • 41%

    Social perceptiveness

    Understanding why people react the way they do.

  • 39%

    Coordination with others

    Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.

  • 39%

    Monitoring

    Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.

  • 37%

    Learning strategies

    Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.

  • 34%

    Instructing

    Teaching people how to do something.

  • 32%

    Active learning

    Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.

  • 30%

    Judgment and decision making

    Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.

  • 30%

    Complex problem solving

    Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

  • 30%

    Persuasion

    Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.

  • 30%

    Writing

    Writing things for co-workers or customers.

  • 29%

    Time management

    Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.

  • 21%

    Systems analysis

    Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.

  • 20%

    Management of personnel resources

    Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.

  • 16%

    Mathematics

    Using maths to solve problems.

  • 16%

    Systems evaluation

    Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.


Knowledge

These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.

  • 69%

    Customer and personal service

    Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.

  • 57%

    English language

    English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

  • 54%

    Education and training

    Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

  • 53%

    History and archeology

    Events of the past, their causes, how we learn about them, and how they influence the way we live today.

  • 44%

    Geography

    Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.

  • 42%

    Psychology

    Human behaviour; differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; research methods; assessing and treating disorders.

  • 40%

    Clerical

    Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.

  • 38%

    Philosophy and theology

    Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.

  • 37%

    Sociology and anthropology

    Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

  • 36%

    Administration and management

    Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.

  • 36%

    Communications and media

    Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.

  • 34%

    Sales and marketing

    Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

  • 33%

    Public safety and security

    Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.

  • 32%

    Transportation

    Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.

  • 31%

    Personnel and human resources

    Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.

  • 28%

    Mathematics

    Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.

  • 28%

    Computers and electronics

    Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

  • 24%

    Law and government

    How our laws and courts work. Government rules and regulations, and the political system.

  • 22%

    Fine arts

    Compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

  • 17%

    Economics and accounting

    Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.


Abilities

Workers use these physical and mental abilities..

  • 59%

    Oral expression

    Communicate by speaking.

  • 57%

    Oral comprehension

    Listen to and understand what people say.

  • 55%

    Speech clarity

    Speak clearly so others can understand you.

  • 46%

    Speech recognition

    Identify and understand the speech of another person.

  • 45%

    Problem spotting

    Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.

  • 43%

    Written comprehension

    Read and understand written information.

  • 41%

    Deductive reasoning

    Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.

  • 41%

    Inductive reasoning

    Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.

  • 39%

    Far vision

    See details that are far away.

  • 39%

    Near vision

    See details that are up-close (within a few feet).

  • 39%

    Sorting or ordering

    Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

  • 36%

    Categorising

    Come up with different ways of grouping things.

  • 36%

    Memorization

    Remember things like words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

  • 36%

    Multitasking

    Do two or more things at the same time.

  • 36%

    Originality

    Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.

  • 32%

    Brainstorming

    Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.

  • 32%

    Selective attention

    Pay attention to something without being distracted.

  • 32%

    Trunk strength

    Use your abdominal and lower back muscles a number of times without 'giving out' or fatiguing.

  • 30%

    Written expression

    Write in a way that people can understand.

  • 27%

    Flexibility of closure

    See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.


Activities

These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.

  • 70%

    Working with the public

    Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.

  • 61%

    Building good relationships

    Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.

  • 58%

    Communicating with the public

    Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 52%

    Communicating within a team

    Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.

  • 52%

    Planning and prioritising work

    Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.

  • 52%

    Researching and investigating

    Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.

  • 51%

    Thinking creatively

    Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.

  • 49%

    Looking for changes over time

    Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.

  • 48%

    Keeping your knowledge up-to-date

    Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.

  • 47%

    Scheduling work and activities

    Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.

  • 47%

    Explaining things to people

    Helping people to understand and use information.

  • 44%

    Doing physically active work

    Use your arms, legs and whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling objects.

  • 44%

    Helping and caring for others

    Providing personal assistance, medical attention, or emotional support.

  • 43%

    Collecting and organising information

    Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.

  • 43%

    Training and teaching others

    Understanding the needs of others, developing training programs, and teaching or instructing.

  • 43%

    Coordinating the work of a team

    Getting members of a group to work together to finish a task.

  • 41%

    Monitoring people, processes and things

    Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

  • 39%

    Assessing and evaluating things

    Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.

  • 38%

    Making decisions and solving problems

    Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.

  • 36%

    Influencing people

    Convincing people to buy something or to change their minds or actions.


Interests and demands

Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.

Interests

Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.

  • 95%

    Helping

    Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.

  • 67%

    Enterprising

    Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.

  • 38%

    Creative

    Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.

  • 33%

    Practical

    Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

  • 19%

    Administrative

    Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.

  • 19%

    Analytical

    Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.


Values

Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
  • 81%

    Relationships

    Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.

  • 43%

    Support

    Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.

  • 38%

    Independence

    Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.

  • 36%

    Working conditions

    Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.

  • 33%

    Recognition

    Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.

  • 29%

    Achievement

    Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.


Demands

The physical and social demands that workers face most often are shown below:
  • 90%

    Contact with the public

    Work with customers or the public.

  • 90%

    Contact with people

    Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.

  • 89%

    Face-to-face discussions

    Talk with people face-to-face.

  • 86%

    Freedom to make decisions

    Have freedom to make decision on your own.

  • 86%

    Public speaking

    Talk to a group of people.

  • 83%

    Teamwork

    Work with people in a group or team.

  • 81%

    Unstructured work

    Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.

  • 78%

    Impact of decisions

    Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.

  • 78%

    Physically close to people

    Work physically close to other people.

  • 75%

    Being exact or accurate

    Be very exact or highly accurate.

  • 74%

    Frequent decision making

    Frequently make decisions that impact other people.

  • 73%

    Telephone

    Talk on the telephone.

  • 69%

    Lead or coordinate a team

    Lead others to do work activities.

  • 66%

    Time pressure

    Work to strict deadlines.

  • 65%

    Indoors, heat controlled

    Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.

  • 64%

    Spend time standing

    Spend time standing at work.

  • 60%

    Conflict situations

    Deal with conflict or disagreements.

  • 59%

    In an enclosed vehicle or equipment

    Work in a closed vehicle (e.g., car).

  • 58%

    Electronic mail

    Use electronic mail.

  • 58%

    Exposure to contaminants

    Be exposed to pollutants, gases, dust or odours.

Occupational Information Network
O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 39-7011.00 - Tour Guides and Escorts.


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