What Should You Keep in Mind When Taking a Family Tour

Nothing is as much fun as a family trip abroad, and more and more families now travel together as one group. As a tour guide, it’s never an easy task to satisfy everyone. Here, MyProGuide is giving you tips when you happen to be taking some energetic kids, nannies, aunties, uncles……all at the same time!

1. The way to the hearts is through their stomachs

Pay attention to special diets:

Food is often the most interesting part of the journey, yet it is always the decision need to be made three times a day. So, what’s for dinner. Tour guide? Be ready, you will be facing this question may be more than three times per day. It’s important to remember to double-check the dietary requirements before making the reservation of the restaurants. Be sure to know if the menu can fit everyone. For example, you might need to know whether if there are vegetarians from the family group or not. Something worth noticing is that many older travelers from East Asia are used to having something savory in the morning, so ask about breakfast preferences too.

Ask about drinks, too:

Some guests, especially older travelers, prefer warm or hot water to iced drinks. Ask your group at the start of the tour, and when at the restaurants or staying overnight at the hotel, make sure what they need is available.

Kids are ALWAYS hungry:

Most family tours include some kids. Somehow kids are energetic and hungry all the time. Have some Granola bars with you, or you can do some snack breaks along the way. You don’t want to see anyone hungry, which mostly ruins the good mood!

2. Know your audiences: be charming, not a history teacher

While there’s one tour guide, there can be one big family group on a tour. Every family member on your tour is looking for some information and yet, most importantly, a great time. As a result, keep in mind that there are times when kids or even adults, simply lose their interest on the dates of the monument is established, or how many people sacrificed during the war. Also, make sure to engage with them. An exceptional family tour guide should be delightful, entertaining, yet informative.

3. Be flexible, be family-friendly

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When doing toilets breaks during the tour with a family group, there is a high possibility for the elders to take longer than the others. You should also be taking notice if there are kids that sit in the strollers. If there really are, when doing some walking tour, there might be some paths are difficult for those with strollers. Therefore, the time management and whether the paths or streets are stroller friendly should be taken extra notice. Remember to be flexible on the time schedule since there might be unexpected delayed. Also, be sure everyone catches up, since kids might get distracted easily, and elders might not be able to follow up your speed. Don’t lose anyone along the way! The attractions should be taken into consideration while arranging the tour. There are many attractions offering discounted tickets for elders and kids. Remember to make the best use of it.

4. Some quality family time is necessary

We all know it’s never easy to satisfy everyone, yet on a family tour, it should be satisfying the family but not the individuals. Instead of going on the activities like pub crawl would leave the kids behind, the activities should be designed for a family. The key point of a family trip is to do memorable things together, so remember the fact that people would expect spending time with family members together, but not activities that would make them separate.

5. Some extra tips especially for summer

During the summer, plan more time in air-conditioned places (the bus, museums, cafés) since the midday heat can be unbearable. When doing the walking tour, be sure there would be shades on the way. Also, you can remind your customers to bring some sunscreen, umbrellas, water with them to avoid the heat. Some guests also prefer to avoid getting a tan, so shaded routes are always appreciated.

It is often said that being a tour guide is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. You got to travel on a daily basis, and you have great chances to meet people and discover amazing landscapes. Though as fun as this job seems to be, there are some challenging parts when it comes to taking a family tour. Being thoughtful and caring, and let the customers that you do pay attention to the details will make the family trip a memorable one.

Are you a local guide who loves showing families around? Become a guide with MyProGuide.