Undergraduate students’ perceptions of a tour-guiding career

While tourism as an academic major has been taught for decades in tertiary institutions across the world, few studies have explored the perceptions of undergraduate tourism students on tourism careers. In specific, no study has investigated the perceptions of students on guiding career. Thus, this study sought to explore the perceptions of Jordanian undergraduate students majoring in Tour Guiding. To measure students’ perceptions, a structured questionnaire was employed. The responses revealed that the students considered tour guiding as a potentially interesting career that allows a degree of autonomy, while offering the opportunity to gain new knowledge and meet foreign and famous people. However, the students considered it is difficult to ensure a stable income in tour guiding, but thought that tipping and commissions are important sources of income for tour guides. They perceived that a tour-guiding career is highly regarded by their families and the wider community in Jordan. Research indicated that office-based permanent job careers are more respected by the general public than freelance careers. The results show the students’ awareness of the diversity of tour-guiding roles including promoters of their country, cultural mediators and positive influencers of tourist behaviour.