CULINARY TOUR GUIDE

Tour guides show people the features of a city, town, or region of a country. They must be good communicators, friendly, and knowledgeable about the points of interest in a particular area. There are tour guides in every corner of the world. Conducting food tours is simply a very specialized aspect of this profession.

Food tours usually focus on either a specific type of cuisine or a certain locale. On a trip to New York City, it would be easy to find tour guides to assist you in discovering all sorts of food, since the population is so diverse. An entire weekend could be spent visiting the Greek restaurants of Queens or the Chinese eateries and markets of Chinatown, for example.

Many cities offer walking food tours of some of the ethnic areas that contribute to the diversity and appeal of largely populated areas. Some smaller towns may conduct “home-cooked” food tours for people who live in busier regions of the country. Tour guides are part of the hospitality industry, which means that customer service is a very important part of the job. This includes helping tourists feel comfortable in areas they may not be familiar with.

Tour guides can work alone or for a tourism company. Working alone makes attracting clients more challenging because of the lack of resources (such as access to restaurants and funds) that companies with an operational history may have.

Tour guides may also be required to travel a great deal for their jobs. Many tour guide jobs are seasonal, and work does tend to slow down in colder weather. One solution to this is to travel with the work. Some people work as tour guides in different areas during different seasons, which involves working for more than one employer.