Tour guiding in Israel is an incredibly important job. It in many ways is Israel advocacy at its most basic level. Every time I meet a group, I take that moment as the very moment where my tourists say: “Ok, show me what you got? Why should I care? What can you show me about this place that will make me like it here?” With the importance of being a tour guide, not everyone can just pick up a portable microphone and being guiding anyone who will listen. So what does it take to become a private tour guide in Israel?
1. Apply and be accepted into a tour guiding course.
The application process includes submitting transcript (from college and high school), an application form. Following the submission, candidates have an interview consisting of a ten-minute speech as a practice guiding point. Following the speech, the candidate will get asked questions on various questions about history, logistics, etc.
2. Complete a tour guiding course, usually lasting about two years.
If you pass the interview, you are then accepted into a tour guiding course sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism. The course is two years long with three meetings a week: two (three hour) lectures and one- day long trip. There is only two months’ vacation off from classes. The trips range from Metulla in the north to the city of Eilat in the south. The lectures range from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, to geology, flora, fauna, and geography.
3. Pass the written and oral exams of Israel’s Ministry of Tourism.
After twenty- two months of studying, tour guiding students take a written test offered by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism. The written test is comprised of two parts:
- Forty-five multiple choice questions on topics relating to everything they learned over the span of the course.
- Students choose one of three trip options. They then plan a two-day trip, writing the itinerary, planning the logistics, and choosing one site to writing the guiding point for.
If they pass the written test, students can take the oral exam. Similar to the original interview and the second part of the written test, test takers have to prepare a two-day trip and choose one of those sites to present a guiding point. The guiding point must last seven to ten minutes. Following the guiding point, a panel of tour guides and agents will ask the student various questions relating to the trip they planned. The last part of the test is made up of questions about any material relating to the course they took. If they pass this test, they then become a private tour guide!
4. In order to guide schools, you have to take another three-week course.
The course focuses more on methods of delivering the material rather than the history, geology, etc. And the reasoning for this is that children understand, learn, and receive the information differently than adult tourists from around the world. Therefore, let’s focus on how to get the material to school children in a fun and effective way. A tour guide who has completed the two-year course and passed the tests, but has not done this course cannot guide schools on their field trips.
5. In order to guide the Birthright- Taglit project, tour guides need to participate in a three-week training course.
The Birthright- Taglit project is one that offers free trips to Israel for young, Jewish adults for ten days. Over those ten days, the participants gain a stronger relationship with Judaism and the State of Israel. After becoming a certified tour guide, if you want to guide groups in this project, you have to participate in a different training course. The course focuses on how to lead discussions and energy toward the goals of the project.
6. If you want your private tour guide, to drive and guide you during your trip, they have to take yet another course lasting three weeks.
Yet another training program for tour guides is to learn how to drive and guide at the same time. It is not as simple as it seems to talk about the topics of geology, history, etc. The course teaches how to balance the two. Tour guides are not allowed to drive you unless they have taken this course, even if they have a regular driving license.
7. Every year tour guides must participate in training refreshers.
In order to maintain a tour guiding license, tour guides must take a refresher trip every year. These trips address all topics from religion to archeology to politics. Without doing this, tour guides cannot continue working in the field.
In conclusion…
Being a private tour guide is a fun and exciting occupation. We travel the country exploring new discoveries, bridging people and cultures together, and showing people from around the world my home country. But it takes a lot of learning, training, and dedication.
So when you come on your next trip to Israel and you book a private tour guide , know you are in good hands. They know their stuff, they care that you will have a good time, and they are very eligible to create the best trip possible.
