A tour guide leads groups or individuals on sightseeing trips, providing historical, cultural, and practical information about the locations they visit

How much money can you make?

What type of training will it take?

And what does the job actually entail?

Read on to find out whether this is the job for you

What will I be doing all day?

A tour guide leads groups or individuals on sightseeing trips, providing historical, cultural, and practical information about the locations they visit. Responsibilities include planning itineraries, researching and presenting information in an engaging way, and ensuring group safety.

What kind of career options do I have?

Tour guides can work in various settings, including city tours, historical sites, museums, nature reserves, and hikes, as well as specialized niche markets like adventure tourism or VIP-luxury tours. Some guides work for museums, tourist sites, or travel companies, while others operate independently.

What kind of training do I need?

Depending on where you live, you may need to complete a certification course, which can include coursework on history, geography, and customer service, as well as practical training, and complete a licensing exam. In addition, proficiency in foreign languages, first aid certification, and knowledge of local regulations can also be valuable.

What can I expect to make?

Tour guide income varies widely with location. In the US, the average annual income range is between $51,000 and $86,000.

Average annual income in Israel is between 100,000 NIS and 150,000 NIS.

Do I have the personality for it?

Good tour guides are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and excellent storytellers with strong communication skills. They also need to be patient, adaptable, and able to think on their feet to handle unexpected challenges. In addition, they need to be physically in shape.

TALES FROM THE TRENCHES

SHEILA SCHWEBEL

Brooklyn, N.Y.

President and Tour Guide, Terrific Tours

My Typical Workday

As the president of my own tour company, I plan and run trips around the world for women. In recent years, we’ve traveled to Eastern Europe, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, and Italy, and even farther afield to China, Russia, Morocco, Thailand, Vietnam and, most recently, India. Every place we go, my focus is on Jewish history and seeing the beauty of Hashem’s world.

When planning a trip, I start by choosing a location — which I usually decide by asking myself which country I’d love to visit. The next thing I need to do right away is book the hotels. This is actually one of the trickiest parts; in recent years, it’s become increasingly harder to find hotels willing to let me bring in kosher catering. I also need to coordinate getting the food itself. The local Chabad is an excellent resource for this, and I often use their catering services, especially in more remote locations.

The next step is to plan an itinerary and arrange transportation. On all of my trips, clients are responsible for their own international flight arrangements, but I arrange for all land transportation, using coach buses. I do a lot of online research to plan my itineraries, especially to new locales.

I always hire local guides to enrich the tour with local history and provide the flavor of the country. Along with the local tour guide and myself, I’ve been privileged to have Rebbitzin Rena Tarshish join us as scholar in residence on almost all my tours.

How I Chose the Profession

I lived in Israel for five years in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I loved Eretz Yisrael, I loved hiking and going on trips, and I am also a real people person. I decided that becoming a tour guide would be a great job for my talents. I looked into taking a course and becoming an official licensed tour guide, but in those days, it was a long, complicated process that didn’t jibe well with my being a mother of five young children. However, the idea of being a tour guide still captivated me.

We used to have seminary girls from BJJ over for Shabbos, and some of them encouraged me to start a summer tour program for American girls who weren’t coming to seminary for the year. I loved the idea and asked my dear friend, Esther Biberfeld, to join my endeavor by working in New York to interview and sign up participants. I ran my first tour, called ITT (Israel Torah Trip), in the summer of 1981. It would continue until 2001. I did everything for the tour — the itinerary, the arrangements, and the tour guiding, along with licensed tour guides that I hired. To this day, I run into women who tell me they were on my ITT tour and how life-changing it was.

My Specialty in the Field

My specialties have morphed over the years. After moving back to the US, I continued my ITT summer tour of Israel  for seminary-age girls, and in 1986, I also started running graduation trips to Washington, D.C., for eighth- and twelfth-graders, again taking on the role of tour coordinator and guide. These trips continued until Covid.

In 2001, I switched gears, shifting from seminary-age to adult women. I started with tours to Eastern Europe, because it was a dream of mine to teach about the Holocaust and pre-Holocaust Jewish life. The trips were wonderful and powerful, but after five years of this, I felt that the Eastern European tours were very physically and emotionally draining, and decided to shift to the Jewish history in other locales, starting with Spain and the Inquisition, then Italy, and even some quite exotic countries like Morocco and India.

My overarching goal remains the same: to run tours for women and girls with an emphasis on appreciating both Jewish history and the beautiful world that Hashem created. I’m already working on two possible “Mah rabu maasecha, Hashem” tours for this upcoming summer: a trip to South Africa in July, and to Scotland in August.

What I Love Most about the Field

I find it so rewarding to share the beauty of Hashem’s world and give women an experience that gives them enjoyment and inspiration. In particular, one of my goals is to foster camaraderie between the women, who come from all backgrounds across the frum spectrum. To facilitate this goal, I only take one bus, and I love watching the women bond and develop beautiful friendships.

What I Find Most Challenging

Coordinating all the moving parts of a trip can be challenging, especially when there’s the inevitable holdup because a flight delay or a bus breakdown, and I have to scramble to rearrange the schedule.

Another challenge is that, because I need to book hotels and transportation well in advance, I need to estimate numbers before I know how many people will sign up for a given trip.

And then, of course, there is the challenge of satisfying a whole group of people who each have their own needs.

I’ll Never Forget When

I had the zechus of taking 28 wonderful women on a chesed mission to Israel a few months after October 7. Our goal was to give chizuk and bring simchah to the displaced evacuees, the chayalim, and their wives. It was the most meaningful and inspiring trip I ever led.

Another incredible memory took place on our recent tour to India. We spent Shabbos at the Chabad house in Pushkar, which feels like the end of the world. There was a young Israeli woman with visible tattoos who kept starting at us — in particular at Rebbetzin Rina Tarshish, who was accompanying our group. Baila Frankel, my dear friend and tour leader, befriended this girl and brought her over to Mrs. Tarshish, who immediately recognized her. She had been a student of hers in the Beit Yaakov Hayashan, one of the most prominent Bais Yaakov high schools in Yerushalayim. Over Shabbos, Baila spoke to her and implored her to leave India and go back home. Through a series of Hashgachah pratis events that started with this Shabbos, this young woman did return to Yerushalayim and today is on a journey back to her roots.

Something I Wish People Knew about Tour Guides

As much as I love every minute, it takes a lot more work, research, time, and effort than you imagine to make a trip happen. I don’t think most participants have any clue how much time I put into arranging these trips.

How I’ve Seen the Field Change over the Years

When I started doing European tours, there were only two frum tour companies going to Eastern Europe, and I was the only one doing all-women trips. Today, there are dozens of tour groups, serving all sorts of populations. But I don’t get worried about competition; there’s a niche for everybody.

Of course, the Internet has made my job a lot easier. When I first started, I had to do my research in the library and send everything through the mail. Today, we set up group chats so that the women can get to know each other in advance of the trip.

My Advice for People Starting Out

Only go into this field if you have a natural desire and curiosity to see the world, and if you love people. It’s a very hard, time-consuming, and demanding job, and if you don’t absolutely love it, you probably won’t succeed. Also realize that you need a lot of physical stamina in this field. I use a physical trainer to stay fit.

NESANEL EISENMAN

Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel

Tour Guide and Owner, Netayel

Graduated from: Tour Guide Course, Yad Ben Tzvi Institute, and Wingate. Licensed by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Education

Years in Field: 10

My Typical Workday

I strive to never have a typical workday by making every tour special and memorable. My client base is mostly frum American families who are spending time in Eretz Yisrael, and my workplace ranges from the snowy peaks of the Hermon to the sandy beaches of Eilat, from the (Jordan) River to the (Mediterranean) Sea. I usually speak on the phone with clients several weeks or, sometimes, days in advance, and then I put together an itinerary custom-fit to their needs, family size, and interests.

My job is to teach, to connect, and to convey an appreciation and love of Eretz Yisrael in an exciting and interesting way. If there are children coming along, I gear the tour toward them, often including kid-friendly activities along the way. When my clients are all adults, I like to delve deep into the Tanach and the history of the sites we are visiting. My most popular trips are walking tours of the Old City of Yerushalayim as well as full day trips to Yehudah and Shomron. This includes Chevron, Shilo, Shomron, Beit El, Beit Shemesh, and more. These are the places where the bulk of the Tanach’s events occurred — I like to say that we are literally “walking on pesukim.”

My job includes technical responsibilities as well, such as arranging transportation based on the size of the group, planning where to stop for lunch — and, of course, bathroom stops. Many times, as the day progresses and I get to know the family, I spontaneously decide to add a new stop on our itinerary, or to visit a different site that brings Eretz Yisrael to life.

Meeting the people who live so differently from the typical American frum family is always a highlight. Over the years, I have gotten to know many Yidden who live vastly different lives from those in Lakewood. It’s always a highlight to introduce members of these two societies to each other.

I have developed a keen ear for gauging, through our conversations en route, how much history and information my client is interested in hearing. Some people really want to know everything, and some just want to see new sites.

I often guide schools and groups — from chadarim to high schools and, of course, yeshivos and seminaries. I enjoy these trips a lot, as they usually involve hiking our beautiful homeland — an activity that I never tire of. I’ll sometimes even take yeshivah bochurim on adventures between night seder and Shacharis, so they don’t need to miss any learning time.

How I Chose the Profession

It came very naturally to me. I always had a love of hiking and exploring, combined with a love of history that I received from my father [Mishpacha columnist Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman]. I entered the field organically. At first, I was taking my friends and relatives on tours when they came to visit Israel. Before I knew it, I started receiving phone calls from strangers. That’s when I looked into receiving formal training and getting a license to guide.

My brother Meir is also a tour guide, and he was a strong influence on my career choice. We often travel together and maintain a steady “chavrusa” in learning even more about Eretz Yisrael. Additionally, I am always taking continuing ed courses, reading, and learning — including on-site learning — with peers in the field. I am constantly learning about and connecting to Eretz Yisrael.

My Specialty in the Field

My specialty is tours that include lots of energy, enthusiasm, and geshmak. I try to not only be the tour guide but also a kind of “head counselor” for the day, to make it an enjoyable and memorable day for all.

What I Love Most about the Field

Spending time and connecting with people in a very enjoyable, meaningful way.

What I Find Most Challenging

The fact that the tour guide industry is so influenced by geopolitical events is a major challenge. Between Covid and wars, there’s been a lot of downtime in recent years. Even in good times, not having a consistent schedule is a challenge. It is a struggle to juggle other life responsibilities, like carpools and a chavrusa, when one does not have a 9-to-5 job.

I’ll Never Forget When

In my field, there are lots of adventures — and Hashgachah pratis incidents.

Recently, I was en route to the Yam Hamelach–Ein Gedi area with a busload of students. Suddenly the engine died and we found ourselves stranded at a random bus stop on Route 90. Not even two minutes later, another bus pulled over. The bus driver “just happened” to be a friend of mine, and opened the door to say hello. That’s when I noticed — his bus “just happened” to be empty. I asked him where he was going. He responded that he was on his way to pick up a group from a hotel at Yam Hamelach.

Taking in the situation, he half-jokingly asked, “Why, do you need a ride?”

I said, “Actually, yes, we do.”

Before they even knew anything was wrong, the students and I were back on our way to Yam Hamelach. He wouldn’t even take any compensation for turning a near disaster into a perfectly orchestrated act of Hashgachah Pratis.

And then there was the memorable time when I took a mother and her three children to Chevron on their first-ever trip to Me’aras Hamachpeilah — just moments after they were misgayer. They felt this was the most appropriate place for their first visit as Jews.

Something I Wish People Knew about Tour Guides

It’s not just going on a trip every day and getting paid for it. It’s actually a job that comes with many responsibilities. There’s a lot of preparation and long hours that go into planning each trip, as well as highly trained skill in being able to navigate the twists and turns along the journey.

How I’ve Seen the Field Change over the Years

There are certainly a lot more of us tour guides today, leading to a bit more competition.

My Advice for People Starting Out

Never stop learning.

HAVA PREIL

Givat Ze’ev, Israel

Tour Guide and Owner, Hava Preil Tours

Graduated From: M.A. in Judaic studies from Machon Lander; Tour Guide Course, Israel School of Tourism and Licensed by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism

Years in Field: 4

My Typical Workday

One of the fun parts about being a guide is that there is no “typical day.” Every day is different and tailor-made for my client.

My responsibilities begin when I first speak with a client or tour group. A good tour begins with proper planning. I need to learn about my clients, what type of sites they’d like to see, and what their goals are for their trip. A family coming with kids usually wants a mix of educational and fun. Adult tourists often want to delve deeply into history. A seminary wants inspiration and group bonding. After hearing the clients’ goals, I make suggestions and begin planning. Once I finalize the itinerary with them, I make all of the necessary bookings and arrangements so that my clients can have a stress-free, enjoyable trip.

On the day of the trip, I meet my clients at the designated location. (Sometimes we’ll meet at the site itself — for example, for a walking tour of Yerushalayim — and other times, I pick them up and drive to our destination.) That’s when our journey begins. As we explore a site together, my goal is to make the words of Tanach and Chazal come to life while giving my tourists a fantastic time.

Just like there is no typical day, there isn’t really a typical client. Every tourist brings her own personality and interests to the trip. As a frum woman tour guide, though, I do work a lot with certain populations, such as mothers bringing their daughters on a bas mitzvah trip, or girls in seminary or post-seminary looking to go on tours with their friends.

I also work as a guide for the Elyon Seminary, in addition to teaching their girls a weekly class called Ahavas Ha’Aretz. In class, we learn the history and machshavah about each site so that it becomes a much more meaningful experience when we actually get there. (It also enables me to do more of the talking and explaining in the classroom, so that on the tiyul itself we can focus more on the fun.) On these tiyulim, I love finding the best place for a heartfelt kumzitz and singing with the girls.

How I Chose the Profession

I taught limudei kodesh for many years and realized that I loved the trip days and special activities more than the time in the classroom. Now, I have an outdoor classroom (although no, I don’t give long speeches on tours) where my tourists can enjoy experiential learning, which I believe is so much more powerful and impactful. When the learning comes to life, when we see things discussed in the pesukim of Tanach, it helps us to connect with our learning in a very meaningful way.

However, I believe the real inspiration for entering this field was my summers as both a camper and counselor at Camp Sternberg (and later as a counselor at Camp Nageelah). I always lived for camp and believe that those summers gave me both confidence and many of the skills I need for life. I love the outdoors, the fresh air, and the beautiful world the Ribbono shel Olam gave us. I’ve never outgrown camp. Nowadays, I don’t have to wait for the summer — I get to go on tiyulim all year long.

I took a tour guide course that was about a year and a half long and involved both classroom lectures and trips throughout the country. In order to become certified, I had to pass a written exam as well as give a half-hour walking tour in Yerushalayim to three representatives of the Ministry of Tourism. Each year, I have to take at least one day of continuing education in order to update my license. However, I usually end up attending much more than that, in addition to reading a lot. There’s a lot to stay current on when you’re dealing with thousands of years of history.

My Specialty in the Field

Two populations that I’d consider my specialty are seminary students and kids. For seminary students, I focus on drawing out the inspiration in each site to enhance our avodas Hashem. For example, in the Judean Desert, we can tap into the words of Tehillim, Mizmor l’Dovid b’hiyoso b’midbar Yehudah.

I also work well with children. As a mother myself of, bli ayin hara, eight children, I understand kids. Some love learning, some want games, some just need their space. Unfortunately, people sometimes associate tour guides with long, boring speeches about dates and rocks. Families often come to me because I know how to make the story of Eretz Yisrael fun and interesting for kids of varying ages.

What I Love Most about the Field

Traveling and exploring Eretz Yisrael. I love the excitement and fun of a trip as well as the opportunity to daven at so many mekomos hakedoshim.

One of my tourists once asked me if I get bored going to the same places over and over again. I answered that every time is different, because I get to see it from each tourist’s perspective. I love watching each one get excited in her own way. For example, I love the “wow” I get when I show people something from the time of the Second Beis Hamikdash that is mentioned in Chazal.

I also love to watch people overcome physical challenges, such as a difficult hike. That exhilaration of climbing a mountain and then looking back at what they accomplished is priceless.

And I personally love the outdoors and being able to spend my days in the beautiful world the Ribbono shel Olam gave us. I can’t imagine working all day at an office job.

What I Find Most Challenging

On the tour itself, I’m always working to achieve the right balance between giving an interesting and exciting tour and letting families have their own space and bonding time. I feel out each group and figure out when they want me to be more actively involved and when it’s time to stand on the sidelines and just facilitate a great experience.

The current war has also been a very significant challenge. Less tourism has meant less parnassah in a very real way. On a day-to-day level, it’s also a challenge to check security updates and be willing to change plans if there are any concerns.

Plans can also change last-minute due to weather. Trying to decide when to proceed as scheduled and when to find indoor alternatives in the winter can make this job very dynamic. I need to be very flexible and in-tune with what my tourists want (and how willing they are to explore in the rain if safety isn’t a concern).

On a personal level, I have the challenge of balancing my work with my family. On trip days, I often leave the house early in the morning and don’t get home until late at night. My husband and older kids have been very supportive and really pitch in. My kids know that I love them and am doing this for them as well.

Sometimes, I’ll take one of my children out of school for some bonding time to explore a new site or hike before I take tourists there. So, there are some perks for them as well. Most importantly, though, since I love what I do, I come home happy and excited to spend the next day with my kids. Since I became a guide, I think I’ve also become a happier and better mother.

I’ll Never Forget When

Most of my clients are frum, but I’ve also guided secular tourists as well. That’s when I get lots of questions about Yiddishkeit. I’m not only guiding Israel for them, I’m also a live example of an Orthodox Jewish woman, and I usually encounter lots of questions about our Torah lifestyle. I see this as a tremendous opportunity to be mekadesh Sheim Shamayim and hope that maybe something I say or do will stick and inspire them in some way. Some of these people have never spoken to a frum person before and find certain basic things that we take for granted so inspiring. This in turn inspires me. Ashreinu, mah tov chelkeinu.

I was once asked to guide a certain non-Jewish female celebrity at the Kosel tunnels. My goal was not only to present the Kosel but also to make a kiddush Hashem about the beauty of a Torah lifestyle, especially from a woman’s perspective. Unfortunately, the secular world doesn’t realize what a beautiful lifestyle we have, and their perceptions looking in from the outside can often be very off. I davened that I was able to make a kiddush Hashem on this VIP tour.

When you’re out on a tiyul, anything can happen. I was guiding a seminary on the Ein Avdat hike. There’s a part of the hike where the group has to climb a ladder, one at a time. If it’s a busy day, there can be many groups waiting for a long time together. Our Bais Yaakov seminary girls were waiting behind a completely secular co-ed group. Our girls were talking among themselves as they waited patiently for their turn. Even to an onlooker, it was clear how happy and full of life they were.

After the hike, one of the girls from the secular group came over to one of our girls and told us how inspired she was to see a group of girls hiking in skirts. She said that since October 7, she had actually started some mitzvah observance and had been dressing more modestly as well. She just didn’t think that was possible on a hike. After seeing our group, she was inspired to learn more about Judaism. Wow. The tremendous kiddush Hashem a Bais Yaakov group made without even saying a word.

Something I Wish People Knew about Tour Guides

We are not history lecturers. A good tour guide knows how to make a site fun, exciting, and meaningful for the tourists — with the small prerequisite that we need to have all of that history in our back pocket. The skill is to know when and how to share it.

Although we study lots of information in the course, I believe the job itself is mostly about connecting to our tourists and understanding what they want. It’s a real people job. Nowadays, people can get lots of information online. A good tour guide needs to be able to connect to the tourists and give them a spectacular day, keeping in mind that for the tourists, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

How I’ve Seen the Field Change over the Years

Even in the short time I’ve been in the field, I’ve seen some changes as a result of October 7. Now, some tourists also want to visit the sites of the massacre such as the Nova Festival site, the “car graveyard” in Tekumah and others. This is a very heavy form of tourism that I believe can be used for a tremendous hisorerus. Of course, it’s not for every group.

My Advice for People Starting Out

It’s an amazing job that is a lot of fun and very satisfying. At the same time, it has all of the challenges that I mentioned above. You have to be prepared for every eventuality.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1060)