Tour manager
Make sure that tours for groups of holidaymakers run smoothly and that they enjoy themselves.
Also known as: tour director
About the job
What it's like
Are you passionate about a place of historic, artistic or cultural interest? In this role, you'll make sure tours for groups of holidaymakers are enjoyable experiences.
Tour managers stay with a group throughout their tour. As well as making sure everything runs smoothly, you'll tell tourists about key details such as arrival and departure times or places of interest.
You could work on many different types of tours. Tour managers play a key role in coach and rail tours, cruise ships and walking tours. These can last from two or three days to over a month!
Some tour managers specialise in the business travel sector. In this area, you'll manage travel for people on business trips. You may have to deal with insurance, visas, vehicle hire and unexpected changes of plan.
As a tour manager, you must be ready at all times to give advice, solve problems and deal with any emergencies.
Your tasks might include:
welcoming tour groups at the start of their trip – you'll then tell them about travel arrangements and stopover points
making sure all travel arrangements, accommodation and meals are of the standard your customers expect
helping tourists with passport and immigration issues
talking about places en route (local tourist guides may also be used)
promoting and selling excursions to tour members
advising on sights, local restaurants and shops at each destination
Explore more information about this job
Here are some useful links to learn more about this career:
Scottish Tourist Guides Association – explore the country's professional body for trained, accredited tour guides
Institute of Travel and Tourism – learn about this membership organisation which offers industry training courses, news and networking opportunities
Disclosure Scotland – find out more about the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme
Like the sound of this career?
Browse courses in Scotland related to 'Tour manager'
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Related industries
Many jobs can be done in lots of different industries. We've highlighted the ones we think are most important for this job.
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Tourism and hospitality
Top skills
Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!
It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.
Meta skills
Here are some of the meta skills you'll need to do this job.
- recalling
- time management
- developing a plan
- attention to detail
- respecting
- empathising
- problem solving
- creative
- verbal communication
- supporting
Your skills are important
Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.
Getting in
Explore each section to find more information about getting into this career.
Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:
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Modern Languages
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Cantonese
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English and Communication
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French
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Geography
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German
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Italian
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Mandarin
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Skills for Work: Hospitality
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Spanish
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Skills for Work: Travel and Tourism
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Urdu
There are a few ways you can become a tour manager.
Work
Many people progress into this role after building experience as a tourist guide, holiday rep or travel agent.
Sometimes, you can apply directly for tour manager jobs. To take this route, you'll need to have an interest in the topics covered as part of the role, experience of working with people and a knowledge of the culture you'd be working in.
College
Getting qualifications at college, such as an HNC or HND, could help you find a job. Useful subjects include:
Travel and Tourism
Events Management
Hospitality Management
Business
Use the My World of Work course search to find HNCs and HNDs.
Apprenticeships
Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) mean you learn on the job. You get paid and work towards a qualification at the same time. You might want to consider an MA in Customer Service, Retail and Travel.
Fluency in one or more foreign languages is useful if you want to work overseas.
You should have strong knowledge about the history and geography of the area you want to work in.
Most tour managers have a driving licence.
For some roles, you may need to be approved for membership of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme, run by Disclosure Scotland.
Find the right course for you
Browse courses in Scotland related to 'Tour manager'
