WHO IS A TOURE GUIDE & HOW TO WRITE A GUIDE BOOKS

GUIDE & GUIDE BOOKS

Meaning: A book of information about a place, designed for the use of visitors or tourists. A guide book or travel guide is “a book of information about a place designed for the use of visitors or tourists”.^[1] It will usually include information about sights, accommodation, restaurants, transportation, and activities. Maps of varying detail and historical and cultural information are often included. Different kinds of guide books exist, focusing on different aspects of travel, from adventure travel to relaxation, or aimed at travelers with different incomes, or focusing on sexual orientation or types of diet.

Definition: Guidebooks can be defined as markers, in that they identify sights, provide information about them and inform the tourist on why the sight is relevant (Lew, 1992).

Travel guidebooks are one of the traditional ways for tourists to obtain information and they represent one of the possible lenses through which a person can see the world, providing a “framework for experiencing a place” (Lew, 1992 p. 126). Dann (1996 in Iaquinto, 2011) goes as far as to claim that guidebooks are a tool of social control, because they manipulate the tourist to only see things the way they are presented in the guidebook. Therefore, for the reader, the guidebook can represent a lens through which they see the places they are visiting and actively shape their understanding of that place.

A forerunner of the guidebook was the periplus, an itinerary from landmark to landmark of the ports along a coast. A periplus (/ˈpɛrɪplʌs/) or periplous is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense the periplus was a type of log. 

Travel literature became popular during the Sung Dynasty (960–1279) of medieval China. The genre was called ‘travel record literature’ (youji wenxue), and was often written in narrative, prose, essay and diary style. Travel literature authors such as Fan Chengda (1126–1193) and Xu Xiake (1587–1641) incorporated a wealth of geographical and topographical information into their writing, while the ‘daytrip essay’ Record of Stone Bell Mountain by the noted poet and statesman Su Shi (1037–1101) presented a philosophical and moral argument as its central purpose.

CREATING  ‘HOW TO’ GUIDE

Describe a step-by-step process to Guide

 

Things to remember when writing your ‘How to’ Guide

Do:

• write concise phrases (‘Select the option’, not ‘You should select the option’ or ‘The student should select the option’)
• write in plain English to make your content as understandable as possible
• structure your steps in the order the user will need to complete them
• break content up into headed sections, using numbered lists to structure the content
• make sure your headings follow the same principles as when writing the title
• make it absolutely clear when an action is required by the user (‘You must contact Student Services’ rather than ‘Contact Student Services’, ‘You must complete a form’ rather than ‘Complete a form’)

Don’t:

• use visual media such as screenshots or videos without supplying the same information in written form for users with screenreaders
• use icons (such as the Windows Explorer symbol) unless the context makes is clear for users with screenreaders what they have to select
• use the greater than symbol > to direct the user to the next step
• use generic headings (‘Further information’)
• use needless headings (‘Introduction’ as users don’t want an introduction, they want the most important information)
• structure your content as FAQs – you won’t need them if your content is concise, well-structured and written in sequential order

Resources to help you write your Guide

The University’s style guide will help you make sure you’re using the same terminology, style and tone as the rest of the website. This is important so that website users can understand us easily through the consistency of our content.

Our formatting guide will help you create appropriate headers, links, lists and other formatting for your page. This is important because it makes the information we provide clearer to website users.

What topic to write about

Choosing the right topic is crucial for ensuring your how-to guide is a success. The best topic for your guide will likely be determined by your:

1. Primary goal for the guide
2. Area of expertise
3. Target audience

Ideally, choose a topic which helps achieve your content marketing goals, is of interest to your target audience and is your main area of expertise. Try not to deviate too far from the areas your business has expertise in, as this will weaken the credibility of the guide.

For example, if you were an accountant specialising in startups, hoping to reach more new businesses, you might write a guide such as “How to manage cash flow for your start up” or “How to raise capital for your start up”.

When you have developed some subject ideas, check to see if they have been covered before. While it’s ok to do a guide on the same or similar subject as your competitors, try to offer something new, whether this is a new angle or a more in-depth look at part of the topic.

Refine your topic by tapping into current trends. Use a tool like Google Trends to find out what terms people are currently searching for and adjust your language and title accordingly.

How to write your how-to guide

Once you’ve decided on your topic, it’s time to start planning, researching and eventually, writing.

Before you start writing

• Plan what information you want to include in your guide. The more you plan out your content and structure, the faster progress you will make when you actually start writing your guide.
• Prepare your research — in order to write a convincing guide you will want to back up your points with cited statistics, expert opinion and case studies.
• Decide on your structure. Try to structure your guide so that it flows well and put the information in a logical order.
• Make a rough plan for how long your guide will be including word counts. Between 2,000 and 4,000 words will give you a guide that contains enough detail to be useful but can still be easily read in one sitting.

How to write your guide

Now you’ve done your research and planning, it’s time to start writing your guide. Keep in mind when writing:

• Use language of your readers. Try not to use jargon if possible. Instead use plain English so that your guide will be easily understood – no one wants to wade through technical language.
• Break up the content as much as possible. Use headings, sub-headings and box-outs to chunk up your guide into easy-to-digest snippets. It’s helpful to include a contents list so that people can skip to the section they’re interested in if needed.
• Remember that your guide will most likely be read on a computer screen, so write using web copywriting best practice. But also check that your guide prints correctly for those who may want to read a paper copy.

After you have written your guide

• Proof read carefully. You are demonstrating the expertise of your company so it’s important to carefully check your advice and ensure there’s no spelling or grammar mistakes.
• Illustrate your points. Add interest throughout your guide with pictures and diagrams.
• If you don’t have writing or design resource within your business consider working with a content marketing agency who can write, edit and illustrate the guide for you.
• Create a plan for promoting your guide to your target audience – think about how to write teaser copy or provide links across multiple channels.

Accessing your guide

When your guide is ready to be published, you need to make a decision about access. You may want to “gate” access to your guide — in return for an email address, contact details or social media promotion.

Your goals for the content will help you decide the best way to provide access to your guide. For example if you are hoping to grow your email marketing list, then you should grant access to your guide in return for an email address.

If you decide to gate your content, then don’t add additional barriers that will stop people downloading your guide. Only ask for the information you need and nothing more. For example, don’t ask for a phone number if you just want to grow your email list.

5 common mistakes to avoid

Ready to get started? Make sure you don’t make any of these common mistakes.

1. Too much text – break up and illustrate your content to make it more enjoyable to read.
2. No value – reward those who take the effort to download and read your guide with detailed, quality content. Creating a guide that doesn’t contain any unique information will not win you any new customers.
3. Too short — a guide needs to go into more depth than, for example, a blog post.
4. Too salesy — don’t use a guide as a thinly disguised sales document. In order for it to be successful, it needs to provide genuine value to the customer, not just to your business.
5. No promotion — there’s no point investing in creating a guide if you don’t promote it afterwards. And keep promoting it: think about adding a link for it within relevant future emails, etc.

Conclusion: Solve their problems

The most successful how-to guides solve a specific problem unique to your target audience. Instead of creating a guide focused on growing your business, focus on providing really useful information and you will become a valued source of expertise for your target audience.

^{EXAMPLE OF GUIDE BOOK}

Definitation of Tourist Guide: Kathleen Lingle Pond, the Professional Guide, New York. 1993 defines a Tourist Guide as A tourist guide is in varying degrees a business person – often freelance, sometimes employee; a travel industry representative; a public relations representative for his or her site, city, region, and country – as well as an educator, an entertainer, and a public speaker, among other roles 

Types of Tourist Guides:

Tourist guides are categorized on the basis of the nature of Tourist place they guide about. E.g. Anna, who is a guide at the WHS Khajuraho temples in MP, gives information of the art and architecture of the temples; hence she is an Architecture Guide, similarly a guide found at a Bandhavgarh National Park, who gives information on the wildlife present in the park, is a Forest / Wilderness Guide Similarly we have the below classifications 

Classification of Guides on the basis of the nature of the tourist destination

1. Heritage

a.History:One who gives information of the past, moreover found at Palaces, Forts, Museums, Battlefields, Tombs / Mausoleums, Temples , Churches etc 
b.Archeological:One who gives information on the ancient civilizations and the bygone era , found at museums and archeological sites like the Giza Pyramid s, Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro, Nalanda University, Machu Picchu etc 
c.Architecture Guide :One who gives information of the art and construction strategy of the monuments and masterpieces from the past, found especially outside Temples, Palaces, Tombs / Mausoleums, Towers etc 

2. Culture Guide :

One who gives information on the lifestyle patter on the native society of that particular Tourist Destination 
a.Cuisine Guide: One who gives information on the Agriculture, cultivation, and staple diet of a place, delicacies of that region and where to eat what and when. He /she takes the guest around the city making them taste specialties prepared at different food shops and restaurants. Places visited are Farms, Restaurants, Sweet Shops, Chocolate Factory, Cheese Factory, Vineyards, Orchards etc 
b.Religious Guide / Temple Guide / Pilgrim Guide : One who gives information on the religion, gods & goddesses, mythology, traditions, rituals etc, such guides are hired especially during festival times, they are found at temples, and other shrines

3. Adventure Guide

• Mountaineering Guide
• Trekking Guide
• Skiing Guide
• Surfing Guide

e. Scuba Diving / Snorkeling Guide

4. Forest / Wilderness Guide

• Hunting Guide
• Safari Guide

5. Business Guide

• Real Estate Consultant

6. Coach Guide

* City Tour Guide

7. Nature Guide

• Desert Guide
• Hill Station Guide
• Botanical Garden Guide

8. Special Interest Guide :

• Cruise Guide, Golf Guide, Shopping Guide, Hotel Guide, Wedding Guide etc