By definition, a tour guide is a person who guides tourists and visitors on local tours of sights. This person offers them all relevant information about the place they are visiting. When applying to be a tour guide, it is very important that the potential tourist guide satisfies certain requirements: first of all being capable of interpreting the cultural and natural heritage of an area. Tour guides have to study history, monuments, art and the environment in which they are operating in order to engage and entertain the tourists. Furthermore, they have to be self-confident and able to talk for a long time with certainty and ease.

Even though many countries have strict national laws concerning the tour guide profession, allowing only to certified tour guides to commercially guide tourists, nowadays the role of local guide is becoming more and more important.

This service is commonly used by Millennials, who use websites like Ijendu (http://ijendu.com/) or Gidsy to book some unique experiences with local people, who will bring them to visit their own city.

Choosing local guides during your holiday has many benefits:
• they will provide you with additional and curious information that no tourist book may mention;
• they will bring you to some non-touristic places, which will certainly give an added value to your holiday;
• they are more affordable;
• you are sure that their focus is on you. In fact, the number of people who can book a personal guide is limited
and most local guides offer tours for around 10 people at most;
• you can choose your personal guide, who suits your interests and your desires;
• you will contribute to the local economy. Your support may have a huge impact on it.

Local guides will also give you the opportunity to make a tour which covers many aspects with the life of a certain country and city. In fact, you won’t discover only the cultural side of it, but also the culinary as well as the nightlife ones.

Finally, booking a tour with a local guide will allow you to know someone new. From the local guide, who has a totally different background and who will make you see things from a different point of view to the fellow travelers that chose the same tour. In this way, you will appreciate more what you are visiting because you will live a more personal experience.

What are you waiting for? In your next travel plan a tour with a local guide…you will surely not regret it!