Tour Guide’s Expertise
主讲：格坡铁支
Chapter 7
Basic methods of introduction
for tour guiding
1.A general introduction
To be an excellent tour guide, it is important to
have a command of the guiding skills, A guide
should adopt different methods of introduction in
accordance with the categories of attractions visited,
the situation on the spot and tourists’ education and
their travel purposes. A tour guide should always
keep in the mind the following basic requirements
in his introduction.
2. The basic methods
(1) The Method of Section-by-section Introduction
This method requires that the whole scenic spot
be divided into different sections in series so that a
tour guide could introduce them one by one. First of
all, a brief survey on the scenic spot should be made
on the way or at the entrance, including its history,
area, and the name of its main scenic spots, through
which the tourists could have a preliminary
impression on the scenic spot that they will visit.
However, a tour guide should not introduce too
much about the next scenic spot when he introduces
the present one.
For example:
The introduction on scenic spot of xichang.
泸山
邛海
螺髻山
泸
沽
湖
(2) The Method of Suspension-Creation
Introduction
This method tends to excite tourists’ curiosity
and thirst for knowledge by suspending the
introduction suddenly when a tour guide explains
the key point of a scenic spot. It turns out to be
one of the most effective ways to catch the
tourists’ attention, aiming at inspiring the tourists
to participate in seeking the truth. If they fail to
come up with it, the tour guide then could help
them find the way out and resolve the riddle.
For example:
杭州六和塔
(3) The Method of Tracing Analogy Between Two
Events.
Analogy is a form of logical inference or an
instance of it, based on the assumption that if two
things are known to be alike in some respects,
then they must be alike in other respects. This
method is applied to help tourists further
understand the scenic spot and deepen their
impression by analogizing the similarity in some
respects between things that are otherwise
dissimilar. Owing to the diversity in geography,
history, nationality, culture and religion, it is none
of an easy matter to make everyone construe
whatever a tour guide introduces.
For example:
北京王府井
东京的银座
纽约第五大街
(4) The Method of Introduction with Quotations
This method is used to give an account of a
scenic spot by quoting proverbs, mottos, slangs,
legends, folk tales or remarks of celebrities, so as to
acquire the effect of vividness, conciseness and
comprehensiveness in his introduction.
For instance:
“谁把太空敲粉碎，满天星斗落人间。”
The Liang shan Yi torch festival
(5) The Method of Combination of Factual
Information and Abstract Reasoning.
This method is to
enrich the tourists’
knowledge with
historical figures,
events and myths, by
which they can better
尼罗河
understand on-the-spot
landscape. 埃及导游
埃及古城卢克索
(6) The Method of Introduction Spurred by
Beautiful Scenery
This method shifts the concern of tourists from
the present sight to other scenes. The tour guide
should not restrict his introduction on the present
scene.
The Great wall
(7) The Method of Description Introduction
This method is used to describe a scenic spot
with concrete, vivid and elaborate words, just to
reveal to the tourists the characteristics of the
scenic spot that the tourists may ignore.
Not every tourists, in some cases, could
appreciate the beauty of the landscape or the
cultural values of historical interest, and become
inspired aesthetically without tour guide’s
explanations. However, tourists may have a good
taste or appreciation for the scenic spot after
listening to the introduction made by the tour guide
in this way.
For instance:
The introduction on Leshan Giant Buddha.
Leshan Giant Buddha
(8) The Method of Introduction with Focus On
Key Events
This method is to emphasize some aspect of the
scenic spot instead of focusing on every aspect of a
matter. Take Wolong Nature Reserve for example,
a tour guide should lay his focus on introduction of
the giant panda, the national treasure as well as the
marked achievements in protecting and breeding it.
The Wolong Nature Reserve
(9) The Method of Introduction of Giving a
Crucial Touch to a picture
This method can make deep impression upon
tourists with the concise wording. A tour guide can
sum up the highlights of a scenic spot with a few
words, and help tourists grasp the essence of the
place of interest.
Colorful forests of Jiuzhaigou valley
Tibetan customs
Cascading waterfalls
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
(10) The Method of Explanatory Introduction
This method is inclined to help tourists
understand some vague points of the scenic spots
with plain words. It is applied when a tour guide
introduces and the religious acknowledge about
the historical interests or the scientific principles
of the works or some miracle of the scenic spot
that tourists may fail to comprehend.
(11) The Method of Question-and-Answer
Introduction
It is a method of introduction by a tour guide to
ask tourists questions or to encourage them to put
forward questions about the scenic spot.
There are three basic methods of question-andanswer introduction. First, a guide raises questions
and answers them by himself. In this case, a guide
can control his pace of introduction and avoid
some “ hard-to-answer questions ” put forward by
tourists . Second, a tour guide can also use the
method of “ a guide raises the questions and
tourists answer them.” But this depends on the
categories of the scenic spot and kinds of tourists
as well as their interests.
Third, a guide can also resort to the method of
“tourists raise questions and the tour guide
answers them.” However, the tour guide should
give priority to the typical questions close to
contents of the current introduction, and
answers the less important questions later, or after
the introduction, otherwise the introduction could
be interrupted by tourists.
宝
瓶
口
飞沙堰