My husband and I were discussing the tour we have just finished and the next one we are going to take. We were talking about the tour director and what exactly their role is on the tour? On our tour to the UK and Ireland, we were told that his role was really to make sure that our tour runs on time/schedule, to deal with the hotel re allocation of rooms, distribution of keys, wake up calls, meal times, etc and ensuring that our luggage is with us on tour at all times (eg that it is not left behind as we move from one hotel to another). He was not a tour guide and was not expected to be our guide. He did tell us about things on the way to places but whenever we reached the various tourist location - it was either - walk us to a particular area and tell us what we could see and then leave us, if it included an orientation tour - that happened but it was pretty much the same as the first - walking and talking and showing us points and then leaving us to do our own thing. We would then be picked up at the allocated time at the allocated spot. Whilst this did not really bother us too much as we were happy to do our own thing, it did bother other people who had been on another European tour and who had a full hands on tour director who was with them all the time and took them everywhere - day and night. Again, this really did not bother us - esp the night outings as we were keen on getting our rest in the evenings - it did annoy me on hte last day when I felt we could have spent more time in Cardiff that day as we were back in our hotel by about 3.30pm and as our hotel was out of town, we could not really do very much when we got back to the hotel (and given that we would not be coming back to the UK again as there are other places on our must visit list!). But given that it was the last day of our tour, I was not too upset about it and well I bought a book on Cardiff so I could still look at the things we missed. However, it did get us thinking - we were just laid back to the point that we accepted him to do as he did and should be have expected more? I do know that the people who did the European tour also met fellow travellers who were on another tour of the UK and those people had the same complaint about their tour director. What have been your experiences on your tours? It would be good to know as in my personal opinion, the job can be pretty stressful - ie dealing with 40 different personalities for extended periods of time is something I would find very hard to do and do give the TDs credit for being able to do it continously for months on end. I am sure that by the end of the 1st tour, I would not be doing it again....too hard in my view.

Sunny
Although we had an excellent TD we did enjoy 'our time' to explore etc. Our TD's every morning explained the schedule with possible amendments that may occur during the day. Where we had local guides we were reminded meeting places, times etc.
From your post it seems that your TD may not have communicated effectively.
David

Any good Tour Director's primary duty is to be sure that you, the client, is happy.

They're the primary liaison between you and the tour company, many of their duties do include scheduling, making sure tour times are met, communicating with hotel management, and ensuring that all luggage is present and accounted for. They are also there in case of emergencies or unforeseen circumstances--during one of my tours a woman fell and broke her leg and they TD was right there to get the woman the medical attention she needed, the TD was also in contact with Trafalgar's "accident" department who contacted the woman's insurance company, next of kin, etc, and the TD was right there to arrange all the transportation and accommodation for the woman's travel companion who obviously had to stay behind. Similarly, on the same tour the TD was quite happy to help out a couple who were continuing on their own after the tour ended and the TD managed to arrange several well-priced hotels, transportation, and provide valuable information on which sights to see--and the TD provided all this help on her own time in the evenings she was supposed to be "off duty", and all this was happening AFTER the tour when the TD didn't have to even care where the people went next. Also, on another tour I was on, there was some sort of accident on the water and our scheduled ferry would not be arriving to pick us up, so out TD got on his mobile and made some calls and within 45 minutes we were off down the road to an alternate ferry location, got on a different ferry and went on our merry way with little loss of time.

Another duty of the TD is to be a font of information for you. Most of the better TD's have been on the tour several times and will know the ins and outs of the areas that you're to visit. They will usually give you an orientation talk, most likely on the coach before you arrive, and they may also walk you around the destination and give another short talk on what to see and where. If you've stopped at the hotel for the night, many better TDs will also be able to give you directions to important places like laundries, banks, post offices, photography stores, places to buy food, and maybe even a good pub. I've been with several TDs who knew exactly where I could go to get what I needed, and if they didn't know then they could usually find out.

Most importantly, the Tour Director is there for you, but they're also a human being and they shouldn't be treated like; (a) a parent who will hold your hand and tell you stories, (b) an answer machine that you bark orders into and get answers out of, or (c) a piece of furniture who you can sit on when you get tired of walking.

If you're going on a coach tour to be pampered, then you might want to reconsider your choice of vacation. Most TDs aren't going to spoon feed the sights to you, the primary function of the coach tour, in my mind, is to provide a convenient and economical means of transportation and accommodation. It's up to you to see what you want to see, and to see it in your own way and on your own time. Having 40 other like-minded people in a coach together is just sort of a bonus.

I think of TDs like teachers taking their class on an extended adult trip! They are resposible for lots of coordination, guidance, advice, planning and historical enrichment along the way. Travelers must be kept safe (e.g. don't go that way the path is too steep, etc.), happy and informed. During free time, suggestions are sometime offered; most travelers know what to do with free time, based on their own research or preferences.

Local guides provide the in depth info. Lately, I've seen more TDs take off for the 1-1/2 hours, or whatever, when the local guide begins. To me, a good TD should stick around to watch over her/his flock while the local guide works. I remember one TD who continually scoped out our group from the perimiter (while the local guided worked) to make sure no one was in trouble or stressed in any way. He always kept encroachers away with a remark or two and was mightful that the slow walkers did not get lost.

As in any other profession, there are just ordinary TDs and then there are the fabulous TDs...luck of the draw.

As with so many different things, there is not really a correct or best answer.

The OP outlined the basic responsibilities of the TD and they are by far the most important ones.

TD's like other people have their various interests and experiences they bring with them; some are more "seasoned" than others of course...how were any of us the first day on the job as compared to when we've been dong the job for 5 years...of course they get training but there are firsts for everybody.

As far as the stops, I think on most tours basically it is what you described. For example Rothenberg in Germany was a stop on our Best of Germany tour last month. Kurt, an excellent experienced tour director, walked with us from where the bus dropped us into the main square, pointed out some of the highlights there, told us probably the most important information a TD has to dispense on a stop (where the toilets are, if they're clean and how much they cost!), gave us a brief description of things we could do and then we were on our own. He answered individual questions and we were told when to be back on the bus...most stops are like that. On the bus he was a fountain of information especially on this tour regarding the history of Germany (he was Austrian BTW), especially the two most relevent to most periods of German history (the Nazi period and the re-unification after the fall of the DDR)..I don't really know how much more to expect of a TD.

As far as eating places, again I don't think one can expect every TD to be an expert on every lunch stop (as long as it is not an Autogrill or other motorway rest areas where you get to know what to expect)..some TD's will point out areas where there are restaurants, some may even suggest a restaurant you might wish to try (rarely do they point out McDonalds or Subway which are my 2 favorite lunch stops; at least I know what I'm getting and especially at McDonalds, with the exception of Paris, can count on clean toilets).... but as with everything else A's favorite place might not be to B's liking...in Dresden Kurt told us not to go to the restaurants but to go to one of the bratwurst stands (I, of course set out to find McDonald's and was sucessful)...

Now as for the other point...I don't think it is necessary for the TD to go with the group when there is a local guide...in this day and age, the local guide will have a mobile phone and be able to reach the TD if there is any necessity. The TD's have a lot of work to do, paper work, faxing the next hotel, submitting credit card numbers to Trafalgar and whatever. And logistically if a tour bus is full, where is the TD to sit anyway?

All my TD's on my Trafalgar tours have been fine in terms of the basic responsibilities, most have been very very good with the peripherals we discussed above. My worst experience, perhaps, was on a tour to Scandanavia with another tour company (the one that starts with a c...)...our TD for a tour of Scandanavia was a Hungarian woman...she did the other things fine described above and everybody arrived everywhere n one piece but she spoke none of the Scandanavian languages nor Dutch as the tour stopped in Amsterdam on the way back to London...of course she met the requirement that the TD be able to speak the language of some of the countries being visited, as we stopped in Hamburg and she spoke German (1 day of the tour) she met the criteria I suppose. But nothing about the Scandanavian countries, nothing about how the valiant Danes hid their Jews from the Nazis and before they could be carted off to the death chambers, got almost all of them out of the country to Sweden, nothing about the King of Denmark insisting he would wear a Star of David (if one Dane has to wear one, all should), she thought Hans Christian Anderson was a woman...needless to say she had no business conducting this tour and I let the tour company know this but as I said that has never happened with TT; at least up till now.

Dear All,

the T/D is basically the link between the passenger and the country and therefore has to inform the clients of that country's peculiarities: safety issues, cultural issues, things that shouldn't be missed and also what goes on in the country in that particular moment (socially and politically speaking, way of life, people's habits and everyday life, what makes "you", the foreigners, and "us", the locals, different or similar).

Beside that there is the logistic part of the tour, tons of paperwork, passport lists to send, faxes to confirm hotel arrangements, phone calls to the suppliers in order to confirm services and especially the organization of the timing of the tour, which is becoming more and more difficult. We have to match the driver's working timetable with the opening time of the breakfast room with luggage collection slots still available at the hotels with the availability of the local guides with the opening time of the museums with the location of possible lunch stops en route with rush hour and the possibility of traffic jams....
A big headache, believe me.

All this with our customers' desires in mind, but also the restaurant owner who wants the tables free by a certain time, the local guides who charge extra if they go overtime and the driver who must stop the coach at a certain time otherwise he will not be able to depart before 11 hours sleep the next day.

We definitely have to inform about the history of the cities in general but are not allowed to take the tourists around and give explanations in public or we could be fined up to 1000 euros, depending on the country. That is the job of the local guides and that is why at smaller stops we do an orientation tour in which we explain everything on the coach and then walk with the group for a while and leave free time for independent activities (not everyone has the same interests: some want to sightsee, others want to shop, etc.)

We definitely don't have to entertain the group at night. After dinner the time is for the tourists to have a drink at the bar and chat and have a good time, but the T/D's presence is not requested.

As SunnyInDubai said, it is a lot of hours every day and therefore sometimes we just have to stay away and think of something else and relax otherwise it would be impossible to start every day with renewed energy.

blackfriars

blackfriars,

Thank you for this first hand account of the role of a tour director. I'm not sure I would want your job.

Good to hear from you again Blackfriars.

blackfriars: Thank you for enlightening us as to your job description, you could not pay me enough money to take on your job.

Thanks Blackfriars - as I said, I would find the job too stressful (dealing with my personality on its own is hard on me so dealing with another 40 others - oh no - I would not survive ) so do take my hats off to you and do acknowledge that there is a lot of behind the scenes work that we do not see - well to be honest, I think we noticed that at the end of our tour when we got dropped off at the hotel and had to organise our own bags and check in ourselves as well . That being said, it was not just one or two people who had that gripe about our TD - it was at least 4 or 5 in our group and well others in another tour group as well. I had ( and in a way still do) put it down to - maybe that it what happens with all tours in the UK and really on a European tour (not referring to Uk and Ireland), you are going into so many different countries with different cultures, histories, etc so maybe thee is more for the TD to explain and also given that the days that people have in each country on these tours are limited to 1 or 2 - there is a need to get in as much info to the group as possible. However, in the UK, it is pretty much the same culture and yes there are differences, etc but they are not that vast and hence there isn't that pressure on the TDs as much.

I am interested in the drivers rest hours, etc - yes I am all for it as it is hard work and the concentration required is pretty taxing as well so yes, they do need their well deserved rest - but how is this managed in Europe? As I understand, the tours are on the go from 8am to about 6pm and then maybe a trek in the evening as well - how do these drivers get their minimum rest time if this is the usual daily tour time table. As for our Last day in Cardiff, I think the situation was a bit different as our driver was leaving us that day for his day off the next day and so there was no real excuse for having us back at the hotel at 3.30pm - yes he had to drive back to London (and the relief driver did not turn up until 7pm that evening) but still if the day was planned a bit better, we could have spent that extra time in Cardiff city instead of in the hotel - this is just my personal view and as I said in my original post, it was not a major issue for us as we had a great trip - it was just a blip at the end - nothing more for us.

quote:

We definitely have to inform about the history of the cities in general but are not allowed to take the tourists around and give explanations in public or we could be fined up to 1000 euros, depending on the country. That is the job of the local guides and that is why at smaller stops we do an orientation tour in which we explain everything on the coach and then walk with the group for a while and leave free time for independent activities (not everyone has the same interests: some want to sightsee, others want to shop, etc.)

Blackfriars,
I knew local guides were required in some cities, but did not realize how strict the policy is. It explains lots of things.
But do some cities have exceptions? We were in Dresden for quite a while and our TD walked with us for over an hour and she did give explanations--not as in depth as a local guide--before letting us go off to get lunch etc.

We had a long sausage on a bun and a beer outside. That's my idea of a local lunch

quote:

back at the hotel at 3.30pm

SunnyinDubai,
I'm sure if you or the others, that wanted to spend more time in Cardiff, had just told the TD that you wanted to spend more time there you could have. But you would have been on your own to get back to your hotel. I have read many times where people did that on other tours.

quote:

Originally posted by Traveling Dot:

quote:

back at the hotel at 3.30pm

SunnyinDubai,
I'm sure if you or the others, that wanted to spend more time in Cardiff, had just told the TD that you wanted to spend more time there you could have. But you would have been on your own to get back to your hotel. I have read many times where people did that on other tours.

Yes I am aware of this but we could not do it as the day started in Cardiff in the morning and then we did the Rhondda drive. We also spent 1 and 1/2 hours at lunchtime in a small town called Breacon (sp) - which really had not much for us to do there (and yes I visited the tourist office to get their local map) so we could have just stayed in Cardiff till about lunctime and then done the drive via Breacon (with say a 1/2 stop) and then the Rhondda drive back to the hotel and it may have meant that we were back about an hour later. As I said thp, it was a minor blip for us and whilst I raise it as an example, it is just that.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SunnyinDubai,

Last year I did 2 tours with the same TD. I definitely noticed a difference in expectations between the people in the 2 different tour groups. Some people (& it esp. seemed to be this way in the 2nd tour)seemed to have more expectations of the TD than others.

As most people in the 2nd tour group were aware I'd just done a different tour with the same TD, I seemed to get some comments about him from some of the passengers. I'm not sure if they expected me to run interference for them or not (I was on holiday as well, so its not my job). As far as I was concerned, if they had any issues they could sort it out with the TD themselves.

I often think a TD's job would be difficult, catering to many different personalities & different expectations that different people have of a tour - & it would be diffferent for each tour they do. I wouldn't want to do that job, that's for sure.

cheers,
ClareS

“Tour Directors - what exactly is their role?”

That is an excellent question. I have been on 9 Trafalgar tours and every TD has been different. Some pushed options, some pushed shopping, some worked extremely hard, some were lazy, some were helpful, some were not, some were very knowledgeable, some were not. What I like in a TD someone else might not like and vice versa. Having said that, two of our TD’s were unbelievably good, two of them were terrible, the rest were somewhere in between.