Guide vs tour operator

The differences between guides and tour operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a guide and a tour operator. Additionally, a tour operator has an average salary of $47,294, which is higher than the $34,479 average annual salary of a guide.

The top three skills for a guide include brand awareness, product knowledge and safety rules. The most important skills for a tour operator are reservations, customer service, and customer feedback.

Guide vs tour operator overview

	Guide	Tour Operator
Yearly salary	$34,479	$47,294
Hourly rate	$16.58	$22.74
Growth rate	28%	4%
Number of jobs	1,195	26,040
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	34	34
Years of experience	2	2

Guide vs tour operator salary

Guides and tour operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Guide	Tour Operator
Average salary	$34,479	$47,294
Salary range	Between $17,000 And $68,000	Between $27,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Salesforce	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between guide and tour operator education

There are a few differences between a guide and a tour operator in terms of educational background:

	Guide	Tour Operator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 61%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Southern California

Guide vs tour operator demographics

Here are the differences between guides' and tour operators' demographics:

	Guide	Tour Operator
Average age	34	34
Gender ratio	Male, 49.3% Female, 50.7%	Male, 45.0% Female, 55.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 9.9% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.3% Asian, 9.9% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between guide and tour operator duties and responsibilities

Guide example responsibilities.

Manage kayaks, guest and guide gear and repaired/ordered as needed.
Lead VIP guests on guide tours of the property and facilitate their involvement in special events, productions, and conventions.
Manage payroll - specifically manage overtime.
Provide hands on experience in stream exploration, plant identification, and survival classes.
Wrangle horses, clean fish, and elk.
Generate high quality reports in the form of listing, HTML, XML, RTF and PDF formats using SAS ODS.

Tour operator example responsibilities.

Plan itineraries, make reservations, lead tours, obtain licenses for foreign pilots, manage a fleet of light aircraft.
Manage VIP guest calendar to ensure these guests are given quality service from staff.
Process and issue airlines, transfers, hotels, and city tours reservations for groups.
Train customers in operating Segway personal transport devices and hold entertaining tours.
Film all selection tour events and act as intermediary between AAG and hundreds of Midwestern media outlets.
Train customers in operating Segway personal transport devices and hold entertaining tours.

Guide vs tour operator skills

Common guide skills

Brand Awareness, 26%
Product Knowledge, 12%
Safety Rules, 12%
Customer Service, 8%
Safety Procedures, 5%
CPR, 5%

Common tour operator skills

Reservations, 32%
Customer Service, 22%
Customer Feedback, 4%
Travel Arrangements, 3%
Tour Guides, 3%
Reservation System, 3%