Regional Tour Guiding (TOUR- 6S20233)

Course description

One Year – 2 days per week for those students who wish to achieve the Regional Tour Guiding Award.
For those students who wish to also achieve the Level 6 Award in Business, the course is full-time.

Leads to NFQ Level 6 QQI Special Purpose Award in Regional Tour Guiding (6S20233)
plus option to achieve NFQ Level 6 QQI Award in Business (6M4985)

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in Ireland. A recent report by the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) forecasts an additional 40,000 jobs in the tourism sector by 2021. In 2018, Tourism Ireland aims to grow overseas tourism revenue to €6 billion for the island of Ireland; and to grow visitor numbers to 10.8 million.

The purpose of this award (which was developed in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland) is to enable learners to acquire the relevant knowledge, skills and competencies to work effectively as a Tourist Guide in the greater Dublin Region and surrounding area. It also provides learners with the necessary business skills needed to start their own tour guiding business.

On successful completion of the course you will be able to:

Plan and implement themed tour itineraries in Dublin and the surrounding areas
Demonstrate an understanding and knowledge of Irish cultural and heritage in Dublin and surrounding areas
Develop a range of communication, information and customer care skills
Become confident in using digital media skills to promote tourism products and services to target potential customers
Manage and conduct tours on as a self-employed guide or work for an incoming tour operator
Implement best safety and environmental practices
Implement tour management skills and techniques
Entry Requirements
The course is targeted at students who have a genuine interest in working as a Tour Guide. Prior qualifications or experience in this area would be an advantage, but are not required. Since places are limited, applicants will be interviewed. Tour guiding is particularly suited to people who are good communicators, are outgoing and who enjoy interacting with others. Planning and organisational skills are important skills and fluency in a second language is an advantage.

Progression
Those students who achieve the full Level 6 Business Award will have the option to progress to a large number of courses in Higher Education including:

DIT 412 Tourism Marketing
DIT International Hospitality Management
DT413 Event Management
TA015 International Hospitality & Tourism
TA 026 International Hospitality & Tourism Management
DL822 Cultural Enterprise
For full details of QQI requirements for progression to CAO courses please click here. Simply enter the code for the programme you are interested in or if you are not sure of the code choose the Select by Institution option, then click on Go.

Course content:
To achieve the Special Purpose Award in Regional Tour Guiding you will need to pass:

Irish Tour Guiding
Irish Natural Heritage and Culture
For those who wish to achieve an additional Level 6 award in Business, you will also need to pass:

Entrepreneurship
Digital Marketing
Business Management
Customer Service
Personal & Professional Development
Relational Database
Spreadsheets
Word Processing