I, receiving the certificate
I finally got my tour guide license on the 30th after three years of wait because I had applied for it in the year 2006. I started preparing for the entrance exam after applying for the license in 2006 and continued it for a few months but finally I stopped because the tour guide association of India sued the Indian government for issuing the license. They never want new people to come in the industry as they are afraid of loosing their bread and butter because most the old guides are not good. They got their license when it was so easy to get it. Now the process is tough but it will definitely produce better tour guides who are at least trained to not chew betel while talking with their clients:)
The certificate
My brother Chandan, who is an escort, told me something really funny. He said that when he was in Benares last time with his group, he had hired a government approved tour guide who went with them for morning time boat ride. This tour guide started talking about Benares, Hindu religion, Benares culture and Ganga. He said several times that Ganga is not only a river for Hindus, she is considered as mother. After a few minutes when his speech ended, he started chewing betel and later spited it out in the river Ganga in front of his clients. The clients got really upset and they asked him if Hindus spit on their mother and he just did not have any answer. I hope the people who have attended this training program will not do such thing.
Sana and I at convocation hall
The tour guide training program was stopped several times because the tour guide association of India was always suing the government. They sued the government first time right after the application forms were open and then it took few months to settle things, and then government organized entrance exam and then again tour guide association sued the government and the program was stopped again for a few months as the case was going on in Delhi High Court. Finally the government won the case and High Court of Delhi ordered the government to start the training as soon as possible so finally training was started after 3 years in August 2009.
Happy moments
The training was held at IITTM in Gwalior where I got to learn a lot. The total duration of training was 16 weeks- 6 weeks of classroom teaching and 10 weeks for field work. There were over 75 lectures in 6 weeks and I did wrote my research paper on Benares. I focused on cultural diversity of Benares. There was a written exam and an interview at the end of the program and I passed both and finally got the certificate. Now I have to go to Delhi to India tourism office with a police verification certificate and then they will issue me a provisional license which will be valid only for two months. And after two months my red card (the permanent license) will be issued. I hope they will not create any problem in Delhi.
I have done my MBA in tourism from
MLS Udaipur Univercity & also having A2 level diploma in french , can I get lisence directly from india tourism
You have to pass the entrance exam, go through training of 16 weeks, then again pass an exam and an interview, and if you get through all of these, only then you get a license. There were several people during my training who had done MBA in tourism, had diploma in two-three foreign languages, had experience of over 20 years of working in the trade as an escort but they also had to pass the entrance exam and go through training and everything.
Congratulations Nandan.
Searching for information on giving examination for Tourist Guide in India, I reached your site. Thank you for the details provided here.
If you would be kind enough to email me at: celine.suares@gmail.com, I’d like to ask a few more questions. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for contacting. I will write you soon.
Dear sir,
I am engineer graduvate but due to resession i had started rent a car business.sir
can you help me to get the certificate from mumbai city.Is ther is any center in mumbai.
waitting for your reply.
regards,
rushikesh
9322228244
Dear Rishikesh,
I am not from Mumbai so I can not help, sorry. But I am really wondering why did you think that I could help you out with the certification thing in Mumbai???
hi
i am gaurav and i am preparing for the language guide exam can you suggest me how to prepare for it
act i want to know what kind of books shoud i study to get the good marks
Study NCERT history books from class 6th to 12th which will help you prepare your history part. For GK, I will suggest you to buy Manorama year book or anything like that. And try to find some information online about monuments and world heritage sites in India because there will be questions about monuments and world heritage sites as well. If you can study NCERT history books, I am sure you pass the exam. All the best.
thank you for your advise it really help me
i wanna north india guide licen
how to i do
i m working in travel company
please advised me
9529281357
You will have to pass an entrance exam but I am not sure when they will give more licenses next time. Just keep checking news papers. The ministry advertises for new applications.
Hi Nandan
I’m from engineering background, can I become a tourist guide? Not that I don’t like IT field anymore but i find it rather interesting to be a tourist guide than being a software developer. Can you please give me details of what should be my first step?
I’ll be waiting for your reply thanks. Oh i’m from Delhi btw.
Jatinder,
Anyone with bachelors degree in any subject can apply for a tour guide license. All you have to do is wait until ministry of tourism starts new training program. Keep looking at the news paper for advertisements and prepare yourself for the exam. They ask questions about history, general knowledge and monuments, so just be prepared for it. Once you pass the exam, they put you in a training of sixteen weeks and after completion of the training, you will be provided a license.