Course Summary

Have you ever considered becoming a tour guide in your own city? 

In this four-week practical course, professional tour guide Joy Vandoske, will introduce you to the different types of tour guides and the knowledge and skills required to become a walking or site tour guide here in the Melbourne CBD.  

You will have the opportunity to lead a short tour at the end of the course and find out if tour guiding is a career you would like to pursue.  

*Please note, this is a non-accredited short course.

Course Sessions

Saturday, 3rd August - 4 classes


Session ID DNAZ8801C
3 Aug - 24 Aug 10:00am - 3:00pm
Location CBD
Session Fees
$639 / $607 (conc)
Teacher
Joy Vandoske
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COURSE OUTLINE

Session 1:  Introduction

Discuss information and performance criteria that will be covered in the course
Lecture – What is a Guide? Roles & Responsibilities. 
Lecture – Research. Where can you find information for your tours?
Excursion – Visitor Centre at Town Hall 

Short Walking Tour of the area.

Session 2:  Introduction

Lecture – Safe Work Practices 
Activity – Risk assessment 
Lecture & Exercise – Show Social & Cultural Sensitivity. Identify issues that may cause conflict or misunderstandings culturally or socially
Tour Guiding and the Law – Professional Guiding Associations
Tour Guiding Insurance 

Session 3:  Introduction

Tour Commentaries  
Student walking tour practice.

Session 4:  Introduction

Students to lead a tour for their classmates. 
Review of the course.

About Tour Guide Joy Vandoske

Joy was born in Chicago, USA, & has lived in Australia almost 47 years.  However, she didn’t enjoy high school teaching and soon found a job cooking for camping tours for New Zealand.  This organisation lead her into a job escorting tours on the Trans-Siberian Railway and Kathmandu to London Overland Tours in 1979 & 1980.  Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt in 1980 when many tourists boycotted the Moscow Olympics.  So back to Australia where a colleague from the NZ company was starting a new course in TAFE – Tourism in Melbourne.  She joined the staff at William Angliss College and taught here fo over 30 years.  During her school holidays she would escort tours to China.  
Angliss Tourism Dept kept growing and soon the subject Tour Guiding was introduced. The teachers employed to delivered this course introduced Joy to cruise ship operators who needed tour guides for their Melbourne stop-overs.  The rest is history and she has been guiding ever since. 

Joy has also been employed by other tour operators in Australia, giving her the opportunity to experience many different types of guiding jobs.

Joy joined the Professional Tour Guides Association in Melbourne in the early 2000s, which is now the TGA (Tour Guides of Australia).  

Joy is also a qualified Savannah Guide, focusing on natural and cultural activities of an area.  

 

 

Last updated: April 24, 2024 12:59pm