Qualities Of A Good Tourist Guide In Uganda.

Qualities Of A Good Tourist Guide. For any African Safari, including Uganda visits, you would want a qualified, competent, and interesting driving guide for a successful and enjoyable safari through Uganda. This write-up will empower you to explore the location you are going to with confidence regarding the unknown. Especially on a Solo Uganda Safari, the driving guide on safari is like your other travel companion.

Our safari Guides are our ambassadors in terms of promoting Uganda. Since they represent Katland Safaris and carry out what was decided upon in the itinerary, they are the contacts when it comes to planning a safari for any organization. Good guides will help complete the safari experience.

Thanks to political stability, attractions like mountain gorillas, stunning national parks, and friendly people, among others, Uganda is swiftly becoming a top destination in East Africa.  One of the most delicate exports influenced by things like pandemics and political environment, among others, is tourism worldwide.

In the same regard, the government is helping the sector by means of public-private cooperation, infrastructure development, and building a suitable environment for the private sector to participate in the tourist sector, among others.

Regulatory Control of Uganda Tourist Guides

The only method to weed out masqueraders and substandard guides is to set criteria for Uganda tourist guides by the government and others stake holders.

Many associations, including Uganda Safari Guides Association, Uganda Birding Club, Uganda Cultural Club, among others, have been training tourist guides for quite some time in order to provide an everlasting experience for the visitors that come to Uganda.

At this point, we may state that Uganda has quite a large population of people who could provide visitors with an unforgettable experience.

All tour guides are now licensed under government control via Uganda Tourism Board, so it is mandatory for all of them to get a license before starting their work. The Uganda Tourism Board arranges timely examinations for all guides, and whoever qualifies will then be granted a license certifying them as a trained and experienced tour guide in Uganda. All of this is meant to help to standardize the complete nation’s guiding services.

Sometimes, particularly in low seasons, Uganda guides get refresher training and plan events to lead them into the bustling peak travel period for the country. This is arranged in line with the Uganda Tourism Board, the body in charge of tourist regulations, under the many guide associations. Most have safari outfits to set them apart from non-members.

Features Of A Good Tourist Guide From Uganda

• A guide needs to be a skilled driver; furthermore, have strong mechanical knowledge, and have good first aid knowledge.
• A good Guide should be informed.
• Good time management is a prerequisite for a good guide.
• Be ready to manage clients’ Safari temper.
• Good Guide has to brief clients before beginning the journey to the locations.
• Be in a position to clarify more about Uganda.
• Good Hygiene
• Good Sense of Humor
• Resolve visitor conflict
• Provide other activities for visitors and help them.
• Know the safari’s criteria.
• All set to sleep closer to the customers
• An excellent driver guide must be polite.

One has to be a skilled driver if one is guiding. Most businesses seek a mentor who can provide knowledge and be ready to drive simultaneously. You should have expertise in defensive driving as a guide; you also have to have a current driving license and be aware of the laws and rules controlling all drivers with tourists. A visitor should be at ease with your driving; otherwise, they would get anxious and would not enjoy the trip.

Any tourist guide would benefit much from enrolling in refresher-driving classes to hone their driving abilities, understanding of modern automobile technology, and permit upgrading. Depending on your driving permission, you are in a position to operate any level of tourist car. You start to become a versatile guide.

An excellent mechanic

A tourist guide has to be a competent mechanical person. Knowing how to drive is insufficient; one also needs to possess some basic mechanical understanding. This is so since most tourist paths in Uganda are in rural regions, and in any event, he should be able to fix a small technical issue. Should a car have a tire puncture, for instance, the driver guide should be able to handle this so that the safari goes on. Thus, guides are advised to possess these abilities.

A competent driver guide also depends on being a skilled technician who can swiftly and effectively solve car problems. It is very unprofessional to be caught in the middle of nowhere for extremely lengthy hours with visitors.

Possess Excellent First Aid knowledge

A professional tourist guide should be familiar with basic first aid. This is so because the guide is the one who is constantly with customers, and should any visitor have a health issue at a distance from a clinic or hospital, he should be in place to provide first aid to that specific client. It’s for the same reason that every safari car is urged to carry a first aid package.

Although accidents are unanticipated injuries, it is advisable to travel with a driving guide who has some first aid training and tools to handle such situations. Solving such a problem for the customers is rather beneficial.

An excellent guide has to be informed.

A competent guide should be well-versed in terms of the nations’ cultures, histories, animals, and vegetation so that he is in a position to deliver the customers or visitors on safari consistent, high-quality information. Clients are seeking expertise or information about the nation, birds, etc., which is quite vital. Giving the pertinent information outside the safari schedule is a benefit as long as it isn’t presented in a monotonous way.

A skilled guide should be able to manage their time well.

A competent tour guide needs to always be on time. Should it be time for a briefing, the guide should always be on time; should it be fetching customers from the airport, she should be there on time. Please be there fifteen minutes early if it is time for the game drive, and you told your guests you would be there at six a.m.

Most visitors’ activities fit very well with outstanding scheduling; one such example is the early morning gorilla hiking briefing held at no other time. The guide has to be ready to counsel customers on when to arrive at the briefing location and pack their hiking equipment. Should visitors skip a briefing for gorilla trekking or chimpanzee tracking, they might be kicked off this dream-come-true safari.

Be ready to control clients’ Safari temper.

A professional guide should be able to manage visitors in their group. Companies sometimes plan group trips, and each joining visitor does not know the others. Every person has their own interests, behavior, etc., hence, occasionally it is challenging to meet every tourist in the group. Therefore, a smart tourist guide should be able to balance and ensure that every other visitor gets value for money.

A Good Guide has to brief clients before beginning the drive to the locations.

All competent guides should be able to perform rather crucial client briefings. Arriving visitors should be advised of the schedule to ensure that everything is in order. The Guide should be in a position to explain the travel time, daily activities, lodging facilities per day, whether they have certain services or not, and each day, the guide should be able to sit with customers and review the program of the following day.

Be in a position to clarify more about Uganda

The guide must be able to provide details about Uganda and ensure that every visitor has their daily needs. Should queries surface, they should always be answered to ensure consumer satisfaction.

Exhibit Good Hygiene

A competent guide for visitors has to maintain acceptable standards of cleanliness. Sometimes the safari field is rather dusty and demanding, which would cause someone to become sluggish in cleaning up. No visitor would feel at ease driving in a filthy car on their following day.

Someone sensitive to inadequate cleanliness has to be ready to tidy the clutter in the automobile. The manner in which the tour driver presents also tells a lot about their hygienic standards. At the conclusion of the safari, a driving guide who doesn’t change their clothes might smell bad.

Good Sense of Humor | Qualities Of A Good Tourist Guide

A competent tourist guide should have a strong sense of humor, but not overdo it. Driving your whole safari with a depressed visitor might cause you anxiety, even when asking queries. Since you do not know if the guide driver’s character excludes planning highway robbery, you may get insecure. One of my personal qualities is being able to establish an excellent rapport with the safari customers.

Resolve visitor conflict | Qualities Of A Good Tourist Guide

A professional tourist guide should be able to gently resolve problems among the safari visitors. Conflict within the party on safari might be difficult to resolve and cause division among the group. This is typical, particularly with planned safari groups when guests booked have no connection. Siding with one party over another might cause problems among visitors.

Provide Tourists Alternatives for Activities

A skilled tourist guide on a Uganda safari should be ready to provide guests with free time outside the planned activities. These events shouldn’t change the course of the planned safari or incur additional expenses for the organizers. That alternate activity has to be within the customers’ budget, as paying cash is the sole way to make transactions. The long process of getting money from credit cards makes them little utilized in most African purchases.

Help tourists. | Qualities Of A Good Tourist Guide

A skilled tour guide should be ready to provide the visitors under his direction with the required help. This is so because they are not acquainted with the place they are visiting or the outdoors. They might want assistance in many spheres of life.

For instance, the advisor has to know how and where to take money out of an overseas account even outside of bank business hours. Recall that as you enter the countryside, access to financial services becomes rarer.

Recognize safari needs. | Qualities Of A Good Tourist Guide

A professional guide should be familiar with the needs of any Uganda safari; for instance, they should be aware of the gorilla permit, gear, and other criteria. This enables the customer to additionally review their packed verses and the driving guide’s observations. For a nice safari like gorilla trekking, this is rather useful in case there is an opportunity to purchase what is lacking before leaving the town centre.

An excellent driver guide must be polite. | Qualities Of A Good Tourist Guide

Weary visitors on safari might find a polite driving guide to be the answer. Visitors to Africa Safari come for diverse purposes. One may schedule a safari to celebrate a significant day, mark a life milestone, relieve life’s tension at home or business, and so much more.

Should the customer not be in a suitable safari mood, the polite driving guide should be ready to fill in the void of a therapist so the client may enjoy the safari to the best. A plus is having the ability to assist someone with what is confusing them.

A statement on its own is even assisting a customer in putting their things into the vehicle, depending on necessity. Clients sometimes pack many bags, which might be difficult to put into the car. A better deed than just sitting behind the driving wheel is helping them pack.