The Two Most Common Complaints About Taking A Guided Walking Tour.
Thousands of tourists annually take guided walking tours of cities, museums and other locations they are visiting. Most travelers consider it the best way to learn about and experience the key sights of the location. After all unlike a bus tour, you are right there where you can be up closed to the history and even experience the atmosphere. The cost of these tours can range from free to quite expensive.
There is one thing all guided tours have in common – the guide. While there are many good guides, unfortunately all too often that is not the case. Many people report responses like the following about their experience:
“Our tour was horrible, mostly due to the guides inability to communicate her ideas in English. She didn’t really say much about the buildings she showed us and most of the things she said were impossible to understand.”
Most guided tours tell you what language the tour is going to be in before you start. However, as the traveler above reveals, that doesn’t mean the guide will be proficient in that language. And once you realize that after starting the tour its too late. At the point your only choices are to grin and bear it or leave the tour. Both bad alternatives.
The second most common complaint about tour guides is that they really don’t know the information well enough. Some travelers often report the tour was a waste of time because they know more about the subject than the guide. Many guides work off of scripts that they were handed by others, in most cases other tour guides. Sometimes it is the local tourist bureau who prepares the tour script and new guides are told to memorizes the information, or at least some of it and then is impromptu about the rest. This perpetuates incorrect information and limits the information being presented to those on the tour.
So how do you overcome this problem if you want to take a walking tour? Fortunately, technology comes to the rescue! For years museums and other attractions have offered electronic wands to be used that lead you through the attractions and present solid information with professional narrators. But now technology has zoomed way ahead with the advent of smartphones and pads. Several app developers have created well produced tours that present highly researched information in pleasant listening experiences. One such company is SelfTour™ Audio Adventure Apps who adds music, audio effects multiple professional narrators and GPS to guide you through the tour. And the dialogue is written in a pleasant way making it fun to listen to. It is truly a listening experience. And you don’t have to go on schedule times. You have the freedom to take the tour when it is convenient for you and you can stop anytime along the way for a cool drink or snack.
Walking guided tour apps are now the best way to enjoy your visit to a new location.
