EXPLORING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR TOURIST GUIDES: EVIDENCE FROM EGYPT

Tourist Guides, like all employees within the travel (Tourism) industry must be aware of the needs of travelers (Tourists) and adjust their service and products accordingly, to accomplish this goal TGs are expected to process knowledge of guiding. This paper measures the degree of the influence of the area of study and the level of knowledge on experienced TGs through a study conducted on 200 of 6846 the working population of TGs in 2005, licensed to work in the field by the Ministry of Tourism in Egypt. The study used a self-administered questionnaire that revealed important results showing defects in the areas of study and shortage in the knowledge background of the TGs to a certain extend. The conclusion of the study will propose a guiding scheme to develop a certain standard of education and knowledge needed by TGs in Egypt in their drive towards professional recognition, in order to be able to perform effectively in an increasingly competitive field.