Travel Guides
Hospitality and TourismO*NET 39-7012.00United States
Plan, organize, and conduct long-distance travel, tours, and expeditions for individuals and groups.
- Median annual earnings
- $38,463
- Projected change
- +11.7%
- Typical education
- High school diploma or less
- Employment
- 67.35K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
63.5% of the workforce
Growing to 75.23K by 2035
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ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
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The work
What travel guides do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Arrange for tour or expedition details such as accommodations, transportation, equipment, and the availability of medical personnel.
- Plan tour itineraries, applying knowledge of travel routes and destination sites.
- Resolve any problems with itineraries, service, or accommodations.
- Attend to special needs of tour participants.
- Sell travel packages.
- Evaluate services received on the tour, and report findings to tour organizers.
- Give advice on sightseeing and shopping.
- Administer first aid to injured group participants.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $25,582
- 25th percentile
- $30,950
- 50th percentile
- $38,463
- 75th percentile
- $50,602
- 90th percentile
- $75,818
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $38,463 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+11.7%faster than average
202567,347 jobs
2035 projected75,228 jobs
7,881 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- High school diploma or less
- 63.5%
- Some college
- 21.3%
- Certificate
- 8.8%
- Bachelor's degree
- 5.7%
- Associate degree
- 0.8%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Adventure Guides206 postings
- 02Crew Members104 postings
- 03Guides89 postings
- 04Kayak Guides65 postings
- 05Membership Supervisors65 postings
- 06Thought Leader Liaisons64 postings
- 07Trail Guides64 postings
- 08Care Guides63 postings
- 09Case Managers/Travel Nurses/Registered Nurses63 postings
- 10Experience Guides63 postings
- 11Park Interpreters63 postings
- 12Technical Project Leads60 postings
- 13Visitor Services Associates57 postings
- 14Golf Sales Managers56 postings
- 15Historical Interpreters56 postings
- 16Trip Leaders55 postings
- 17Naturalists52 postings
- 18Ambassadors46 postings
- 19Sales Guides46 postings
- 20Tour Managers46 postings
Top employers
- 01CompHealth142 postings
- 02American Traveler132 postings
- 03Travel & Leisure Group Ltd132 postings
- 04Student Conservation Association122 postings
- 05Titan Medical84 postings
- 06Sky Zone66 postings
- 07Pga Of America58 postings
- 08Serco56 postings
- 09American Cruise Lines55 postings
- 10Sumitomo Pharma47 postings
- 11Aramark42 postings
- 12Heloo42 postings
- 13Six Flags Entertainment Corporation40 postings
- 14Hilton Grand Vacations38 postings
- 15Wendy's31 postings
- 16Kim Luxe Travel28 postings
- 17Camp America24 postings
- 18YMCA23 postings
- 19PNC22 postings
- 20Williamsburg Learning22 postings
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