Becoming a Tour Guide

So, you’re thinking about becoming a tour guide but haven’t quite decided if you should or not? Well, I can tell you that you absolutely should. You can’t go wrong with meeting plenty of amazing people, making memorable connections, showing others around the cities you know and love, and having fun. But hey, don’t just listen to me, take it straight from the tour guides themselves! We asked some of our guides here at See Sight Tours in the Niagara Falls, Canada location, about themselves and their jobs, and this is what they had to say.

Abhi

Q: How long have you been a tour guide at See Sight Tours?

A: “I’ve just been a guide since late April of this year, but I’ve gotten well acquainted with this job because I do a bunch of tours every single day.”

Q: What is your favourite part about being a tour guide?

A: “My favourite part about being a guide is just meeting people [from] all around the world. You meet people from Europe, East Asia, [and] America. Our main customers are definitely from South of us, but we do get a significant amount of Canadians coming on our tour as well.”

Q: Do you have a favorite memory from being a guide?

A: “I think my favourite memory from doing tours is actually when I threatened The Great Wolf Lodge,” she joked. “I had a pregnant lady on my tour. She was, I think, nine months pregnant or so - she was very very late. She had to use the restroom really badly on our Parkway drive. On our Parkway drive there’s not a lot of restrooms, especially [during] afternoon time when everything closes down. So, we stopped at The Great Wolf Lodge - where [the tour group] were not staying - and I asked them for a public restroom. They said ‘We have no public restrooms,’ and I go, ‘Listen, I have a pregnant lady on my tour. She is going to pee in my van if you don’t let us use the restroom’ and then they [responded], ‘Just down the hall that way,’” she said with a laugh. “So that’s probably my favourite memory.”

Q: What is your favourite attraction from the Niagara Falls, Canada tours?

A: “My favourite attraction is probably the Hornblower. Every time someone goes on there they’re really not sure about how the boat ride is going to go. I tell them, ‘you’re going to get wet,’ and then tell them the best spot [to stand], which is the bottom, front, right hand corner. Once they come off, they’re like, ‘wow that was really unexpected,’ because they don’t realize how close you actually get to the Falls.”

Q: Would you recommend being a guide?

A: “Yes. A reason why you should become a tour guide is because you’re going to have a lot of fun. Being a tour guide is unlike any other job. You meet a lot of people, you gain a lot of experience because you are going to encounter challenges, but you’re going to have a lot of fun as well!” 

Jay

Q: How long have you been a tour guide at See Sight Tours?

A: “I have only been with See Sight Tours for a couple months but this is something that I can see myself doing until the end of time.”

Q: What is your favourite part about being a tour guide?

A: “There is an abundance of jobs out there where you have to be around miserable people - this is not one of those jobs. It is both rare and amazing to be in vacation mode every day.”

Q: Would you recommend being a guide?

A: “Yes I would. I recommend being a guide for anybody who is outgoing and social.” 

Herman

Q: How long have you been a tour guide at See Sight Tours?

A: “I’ve been here at See Sight for three and a half weeks now.”

Q: What is your favourite part about being a tour guide?

A: “I love being a guide because I get to meet people everyday - from worldwide to local people - and it’s very interesting. I get to meet them, learn all about where they’re from, work with them, and get to learn different cultures. I get to learn a lot about Niagara Falls and there’s a lot of common questions like, ‘What time do the Falls shut off?’” He laughed good-heartedly. “It’s just working with them and teaching them about where you live, and all of the things about what makes Niagara Falls one of the wonders of the world.”

Q: Would you recommend being a guide?

A: “I would highly recommend being a guide. It’s great, you learn a lot, you meet a lot of people and get to learn where they’re from, what they’re about, and just learn about different parts of the world.”

Cheryl

Q: How long have you been a tour guide at See Sight Tours?

A: “I’ve been a guide at See Sight for five months. I was born and raised here in Niagara Falls as well, so I’ve lived here my entire life.”

Q: What is your favourite part about being a tour guide?

A: “My favourite part about being a guide is meeting new people. I love to meet people from around the world, I like to [learn] how they do different things, I just like to learn about their cultures, and learn about them.”

Q: What is your favourite attraction from the Niagara Falls, Canada tours?

A: “The Whirlpool, I love showing people the Whirlpool. I think it is one of the most beautiful spots in Niagara Falls. Then we have Colt’s Point and Thompson Point where the Aero Car is, and I think it is absolutely amazing.”

Q: Would you recommend being a guide?

A: “For sure. It’s fun, you get to get out, get some exercise,” she joked. “It’s fun coming down here and showing everybody the city, and showing everybody Niagara Falls.”

Vinny 

Q: How long have you been a tour guide at See Sight Tours?

A: “Five years.”

Q: What is your favourite part about being a tour guide?

A: “My favourite part is seeing people’s faces when they first see the Falls because growing up in this area, I don’t remember what it was like seeing [them] for the first time. So it’s just amazing to watch people’s faces when they see the Falls for the first time.

Q: Do you have a favourite memory from being a guide?

A: “A favourite memory? Yes. One was at the Skylon Tower. I had a husband and wife, a little son, and a little daughter. The lady asked me, ‘Would you mind waiting for us at the bottom with our daughter because she’s afraid of heights?’ so I told her,’Let me handle this.’ So I took the little daughter aside and said, ‘I’ve got a little problem,’ and she goes, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘I’m afraid of heights, so I was wondering if you could come up with me, and this is how we’ll do it - we’ll face the back, so this way we can’t see [anything] out front. We’ll face the back but you’ve got to hold my hand because once we start moving, I’m going to get scared.’ So she goes, ‘Yeah, okay, but I’m scared too.’ I said, ‘Well, this way we look after each other.’ So we got to the top and then we looked around. We never went outside because she was still afraid, but she got to see from [the top of the Tower].” 

“When it was time to go back I said, ‘Are you ready to go back? We’ve got to do the same thing because I get scared as soon as that elevator starts moving.’ She goes, ‘Okay,’ so we went in and she held my hand. When we got down to the bottom and I dropped the guests off, the lady came up to me and she goes, ‘I want to thank you so much for what you did there. We thought that she was going to be afraid of heights forever, and what you pulled off there was amazing.’ So [there are] a lot of good memories out here.” 

Q: Would you recommend being a guide?

A: “Yes I would, it’s amazing. Being born and raised here, and seeing this, it’s old hat to me. But when you take the people around and show them different areas, they’re so excited that now you get the excitement back into you. It’s like me seeing it for the first time in somebody else’s eyes.”

Erica

Q: How long have you been a tour guide at See Sight Tours?

A: “I have been a guide for just under a month.”

Q: What is your favourite part about being a tour guide?

A: “My favourite part about being a guide is when I have guests who’ve never been to Niagara Falls or Canada before because sometimes you can tell them half-baked truths and they believe you. Then you quickly tell them that you’re kidding and they think it’s really funny,” she laughed. “I think my favourite interactions are with kids. I really like it when they come, specifically off of the boats, and they’re all super wet and it’s almost like a little puppy who’s all wet and they’re, like, running around. It’s usually at the end of their day too, so I like that because I know that they’ve had a good day and that they’re ending on a good note.”

Q: Would you recommend being a guide?

A: “Yes, of course. The job is different everyday. The different customers you have [decide] how your day is going to go, so it’s never boring. You also are in the eighth wonder of the world, every single day, so how lucky are we that we get to just pass by the Falls casually for our job? And all of our coworkers are nothing short of amazing.”