Tourist Guide: Adventure

What is an Adventure Tourist Guide?

If you are the kind of person who loves to feel the rush of adrenalin that comes from living on the edge – becoming an Adventure Tourist Guide may be just the career for you!

The adventure tourism is a rapidly growing industry in South Africa.

Tourists continue to flock to South Africa because of our famous big 5, beautiful scenery, 2 oceans, fantastic weather, a variety of cultures and a good exchange rate.

All these factors lend themselves well to adventure vacations which include activities like:

hiking safaris
shark diving
kayaking
battle re-enactments
4 x 4 and overlanding
horse-back riding
white-water rafting
sky diving
scuba diving
big game fishing etc

An Adventure Tourist Guide will specialise in one or more of these fields.

An Adventure Tourist Guide may begin as a regular Tourist Guide – see under ‘Tourist Guide’ on our website for more details – and then specialise at a later date as an Adventure Tourist Guide.

Or, they may just be so passionate about their subject that they enter their field, with the right qualifications and registration, straight away.

Speaking a foreign language would be a great advantage!

What does an Adventure Tourist Guide do?

meeting and greeting members of their tour
co-ordinating accommodation and transport
being enthusiastic and helpful at all times
dealing with enquiries and complaints from their tour group
loading or unloading baggage or other equipment
making sure that tour members are comfortable and safe
attending to problems (lost luggage, late arrivals etc)
providing first aid where necessary
being able to deal calmly with emergencies (eg heart attacks, car accidents, etc)
making themselves available to their group at all times (24-7)

Are you … ?

passionate about the outdoors?
adventurous?
a person with good communication skills?
extremely knowledgeable and skilled about their subject?
organised?
a peoples’ person?
friendly, patient and easy going?
calm under pressure?
able to control groups of people?
physically strong and fit?
responsible?

How do I become an Adventure Tourist Guide?

To become a Tourist Guide a person must complete one (or more) Tourist Guide qualifications registered with CATHSSETA. They must be registered with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

NOTE: It is illegal to conduct guided tours without the proper qualification or registration.

For specialisation in Adventure Guiding, here are a few examples: