Abstract:
Tourist guides are located at the coalface of the tourism industry and occupy an
extraordinary position within the contemporary demand and supply chain, seeing that
they have the ability to enhance, manage and orchestrate the tourists sought after
“unique” experience through their interpretation and commentary on tour. Within this
context, most regard the tourist guide as an “ambassador” and “custodian” of a
specific country‟s destination image – with India being no exception. This dissertation
explores the complexity and multifaceted-nature of the tourist guiding phenomenon
in a global South context, by considering the tourist guide of India as an international
tourist guiding best practice example. The investigation will also evaluate key
components and practical areas of India‟s tourist guiding domain. That consists of
the country‟s national tourism and tourist guiding environments, legislative and
regulatory frameworks, educational and training components, quality assurance
mechanisms, as well as all other integral functional areas associated with the sector.
These various research areas, along with the genesis of guiding, the various roles
and responsibilities of a tourist guide, and the contextualisation of “international
tourist guiding best practice”, all form the main components of the dissertation.
