El papel del guía turístico en la era post-covidde la función informativa a la co-creación de emociones

Abstract

Tour guides are an important element of the ecosystem of each destination, since their work influences not only the experience of the tourists during the guided tour, but also influences the formation of their attitudes and behaviour at the destination. The last century has brought challenges for the tourism sector, related to the new needs and expectations of tourists, as well as to the changes originated as a result of covid19. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the role of the tour guide in this millennium through a review of the literature. The results show that the traditional informative function of the tour guide must nowadays be complemented by a more emotional facet of the guide’s role, who, through his or her actions, must involve tourists in such a way that they co-create the tour experience together. Therefore, the training of tour guides in the new post-covid era must include not only historical-cultural content, but also training in emotional skills such as emotional labour and emotional intelligence.