Tour Guide’s Expertise

主讲：格坡铁支

Chapter 7

Basic methods of introductionfor tour guiding

To be an excellent tour guide, it is important to have a command of the guiding skills, A guide should adopt different methods of introduction in accordance with the categories of attractions visited, the situation on the spot and tourists’ education and their travel purposes. A tour guide should always keep in the mind the following basic requirements in his introduction.

1.A general introduction

(1) The Method of Section-by-section Introduction

2. The basic methods

This method requires that the whole scenic spot be divided into different sections in series so that a tour guide could introduce them one by one. First of all, a brief survey on the scenic spot should be made on the way or at the entrance, including its history, area, and the name of its main scenic spots, through which the tourists could have a preliminary impression on the scenic spot that they will visit. However, a tour guide should not introduce too much about the next scenic spot when he introduces the present one.

The introduction on scenic spot of xichang.

For example:

泸山 邛海 螺髻山

泸沽

湖

(2) The Method of Suspension-Creation Introduction

This method tends to excite tourists’ curiosity and thirst for knowledge by suspending the introduction suddenly when a tour guide explains the key point of a scenic spot. It turns out to be one of the most effective ways to catch the tourists’ attention, aiming at inspiring the tourists to participate in seeking the truth. If they fail to come up with it, the tour guide then could help them find the way out and resolve the riddle.

For example:

杭州六和塔

(3) The Method of Tracing Analogy Between Two Events.

Analogy is a form of logical inference or an instance of it, based on the assumption that if two things are known to be alike in some respects, then they must be alike in other respects. This method is applied to help tourists further understand the scenic spot and deepen their impression by analogizing the similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar. Owing to the diversity in geography, history, nationality, culture and religion, it is none of an easy matter to make everyone construe whatever a tour guide introduces.

For example:

北京王府井 东京的银座 纽约第五大街

(4) The Method of Introduction with Quotations

This method is used to give an account of a scenic spot by quoting proverbs, mottos, slangs, legends, folk tales or remarks of celebrities, so as to acquire the effect of vividness, conciseness and comprehensiveness in his introduction. For instance:

“谁把太空敲粉碎，满天星斗落人间。”

The Liang shan Yi torch festival

(5) The Method of Combination of Factual Information and Abstract Reasoning. This method is to enrich the tourists’ knowledge with historical figures, events and myths, by which they can better understand on-the-spot landscape.

尼罗河

埃及古城卢克索

埃及导游

(6) The Method of Introduction Spurred by Beautiful Scenery

This method shifts the concern of tourists from the present sight to other scenes. The tour guide should not restrict his introduction on the present scene.

The Great wall

(7) The Method of Description Introduction

This method is used to describe a scenic spot with concrete, vivid and elaborate words, just to reveal to the tourists the characteristics of the scenic spot that the tourists may ignore.

Not every tourists, in some cases, could appreciate the beauty of the landscape or the cultural values of historical interest, and become inspired aesthetically without tour guide’s explanations. However, tourists may have a good taste or appreciation for the scenic spot after listening to the introduction made by the tour guide in this way.

For instance: The introduction on Leshan Giant Buddha.

Leshan Giant Buddha

(8) The Method of Introduction with Focus On Key Events This method is to emphasize some aspect of the scenic spot instead of focusing on every aspect of a matter. Take Wolong Nature Reserve for example, a tour guide should lay his focus on introduction of the giant panda, the national treasure as well as the marked achievements in protecting and breeding it.

The Wolong Nature Reserve

(9) The Method of Introduction of Giving a Crucial Touch to a picture

This method can make deep impression upon tourists with the concise wording. A tour guide can sum up the highlights of a scenic spot with a few words, and help tourists grasp the essence of the place of interest.

Colorful forests of Jiuzhaigou valley

Tibetan customs

Cascading waterfalls

Summer

Spring

Autumn

Winter

(10) The Method of Explanatory Introduction

This method is inclined to help tourists understand some vague points of the scenic spots with plain words. It is applied when a tour guide introduces and the religious acknowledge about the historical interests or the scientific principles of the works or some miracle of the scenic spot that tourists may fail to comprehend.

(11) The Method of Question-and-Answer Introduction It is a method of introduction by a tour guide to ask tourists questions or to encourage them to put forward questions about the scenic spot.

There are three basic methods of question-and-answer introduction. First, a guide raises questions and answers them by himself. In this case, a guide can control his pace of introduction and avoid some “ hard-to-answer questions ” put forward by tourists . Second, a tour guide can also use the method of “ a guide raises the questions and tourists answer them.” But this depends on the categories of the scenic spot and kinds of tourists as well as their interests.

Third, a guide can also resort to the method of “tourists raise questions and the tour guide answers them.” However, the tour guide should give priority to the typical questions close to contents of the current introduction, and answers the less important questions later, or after the introduction, otherwise the introduction could be interrupted by tourists.

宝瓶口

飞沙堰