Assistance to the management / secretariat
in Vienna and Remote

We are a young/young-at-heart startup team with flat hierarchies and varied areas of activity. As a service provider for tourist services, we mainly manage river cruise ships along the Danube. We are also active as a tour provider, educational institute with training and education in tourism, event management with technology of live streaming, as well as tourism consulting. Your employment will be with DonauGuides GmbH.

At the moment we have 2-3 virtual assistants in the team besides me as the boss and my (business) partner. We want to combine these into one part-time position. The new part-time position will oversee the back office of all of the above. So mainly communication with customers, project assistance and assistance to the management, maintenance of offers, websites, social media channels.
We are very smart and digitally positioned (Basecamp project management software and a lot of automation in the accounting area). Accordingly, this is a position in an up-and-coming StartUp with a flat hierarchy and many fields of activity. Of course you get a Macbook and Iphone.

Who are we looking for?

Part-time employee for 20-25h per month
Secretariat/back office for tourist service provider
Assistance at events
On site in the office in Vienna and home office

Your tasks:

Email and telephone response
Classification of freelancers
Invoicing and billing
Quotation
Assistance to the management
Office organization
Adding content to web pages
Support of social media platforms
Documentation / summary / processing of seminars and trainings at customers’ sites
Send newsletters with online tools like Mail Chimp
Dealing with online stores such as Regiondo, Woocommerce
Accuracy and diligence in everyday office life
Self-organization

Your prerequisites:

Very good knowledge of German (actually native language, at least C1)
Very good English skills (at least C1)
Above-mentioned language skills in writing (spell-checked!) and orally
Ability to quickly familiarize oneself with tasks and conduct research
Very good handling of email, all office and web applications
Handling of accounting software (SeVdesk, Lexoffice, BMD, Zistemo)
Knowledge of correct invoicing
Enjoy and have knowledge of major social media platforms (uploading and creating posts).
Working with Zoom and Teams
Willingness to work in the Apple world or learn the ropes quickly

Payment according to collective agreement, as well as according to qualification and experience.

You are still interested? Cool, then you fit in with us!
Application form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/u/1/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRay_BY92WQ-HaSYeHIJBF59ZGxzSFM6BbzDE16A5bzg98qw/viewform?usp=sf_link

The post We are looking for reinforcement for our office team! appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.

2020 was a difficult year for tour guides worldwide. In many countries, guides are only allowed to lead under strict conditions. But do the guests even book a tour at the moment? Is a second wave coming with renewed restrictions, travel warnings and lockdowns?
We want to analyze the situation with association leaders of tourist guide associations and discuss the situation together with you.
International experts from the cruise and city tourism industries will give us a preview of 2021 and what is in store for tour guides.

Procedure:

16:00 Welcome and introduction of the speakers
16:10 WFTGA (World Federation of Tourist Guides), Alushca Ritchie (President): World situation of tourist guides.
16:30 BVGD, Maren Richter (Chair): The role of guide associations during the crisis
16:50 Avalon River Cruises, Burghard Lell (Head of Strategy and Corporate Development): The situation of river cruise tourism in 2020 / 2021.
17:10 Linz Tourism, Georg Steiner (Director): The city tourism of today and tomorrow
17:30 Coffee break with dance session
17:40 Speakers’ round table discussion: The future for tourist guides
18:30 Individual discussion of the participants in small groups
18:50 Farewell
19:00 End

free registration

Language:
The whole webinar will be held in English. We offer especially for austriaguides and tour guides a professional live translation by our Viennese app partner www.livevoice.io into German.

The post Challenges and Opportunities appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.

Our webinar on 8/31/2020 went off successfully with over 600 live attendees from 57 countries.

Key outcomes of the presentations and discussions were:

Be open to new technologies and opportunities through digitization
Develop new fields, e.g. tour ideas for locals
Increased cooperation between guides

Thank you very much for the numerous participation and the strong interest in the topic “Future for tour guides/foreign guides”.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Alushca Ritchie from the World Association and Maren Richter from the German Tourist Guide Association for their reports on activities of the associations in the past months and their commitment especially in these difficult times of the pandemic.

Special thanks also go to our panelists and tourism experts Burghart Lell (Avalon Waterways) and Dieter Hardt-Stremayr (Graz Tourism) for their presentations and assessment of the situation as well as the future of our industry.

All participants of the webinar will find the presentations and the recording of the discussion in our members area, the access data for this were already sent with the registration.

If you were unable to attend and would like to view the webinar recording, you can access our members area free of charge by clicking on the following link:

https://members.tourismus-training.com/members-area/challenges-and-chances/?lang=en

Feel free to forward this link to colleagues.

It is important to us that we guides worldwide stay in contact, exchange ideas and inform each other. Motivating each other is especially important in these times. The participation and the “rewatch” of this webinar are again free of charge for you. Even if we do not calculate our own working time, we still incur costs for online technology (Zoom). If you would like to support us with a donation, we are grateful for any amount.

We look forward to next virtual meetings!
All the best and stay healthy.

Sebastian & Martha & Constantin
Team Guide Training

The post Discussion about the future for tour guides / tourist guides appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.

There is a new training course of tourism training in Austria. Modular, mostly online, a practical course with an optimal preparation for the qualification exam by experienced lecturers for the theoretical subjects, active guides and former graduates of the last years, as well as outstanding partners in the tourism industry.

Ideally matched as a part-time course.

The crisis is the best time for training and development. Why not go straight into vocational training, which will open up new opportunities for you?

We know that financially it is not easy in the tourism industry at the moment. That’s why we made the course modular, so you don’t pay for parts you can opt out of.

And we offer you flexible installment payments at no extra charge.

Course start
End January 2021

Course end
Summer 2021

Course duration
2 semesters
Total of 500 hours, including 100 hours of self-study and job shadowing/evaluation.

Course location
Theory mostly online via zoom
Livestream of the classroom events
Practical trainings in Linz and Vienna

Timetable
The course is held part-time on Friday afternoons from 2pm-2:30pm and Saturday from 8am-4pm.
Most theory training online, classroom training in Vienna and Linz.

Costs
from €3,498

We have answered many other questions on our website in the FAQ section, e.g. how much you can earn as a tourist guide or what career opportunities you currently have.

www.austriaguide.at/ausbildung

Free online info evening on 10.12.2020, 19-21h

Or stop by our live info night. This Tuesday from 7-2 p.m. online via Zoom. We will present the course to you again in detail and answer all your questions.

You don’t have time on 6.10.20? No problem. You can also download a recording and detailed information material from us free of charge and without obligation.

Nothing scares as much as change,
And nothing offers so many opportunities!

Take advantage of the crisis and do your guide training now

The post New course to become a tourist guide in Austria appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.

Last Sunday, February 21, was the World Day of Guides/Guides. We would like to use this occasion to publish a text by Linz Tourism Director Prof. Georg Steiner. In doing so, he thinks about our industry in a very critical but forward-looking way. We are currently working with him on a project about experiences based on narratives:

What are the minimum standards needed to make experiences unique?
What methods, encounters are necessary for this?
What is the role of the guide in this?
How do you initiate discussion processes?

We will be offering a series of seminars on this in the fall with online training.

“Today would be World Guide Day. But Corona has also brought this industry to a virtual standstill. Guided tours have not been possible for a year. What’s next?

He welcomes feedback and discourse:

Georg Steiner on Facebook
Georg Steiner on LinkedIn

Or why not visit Linz in the summer for an advanced training course with an interactive adventure city tour by us, a talk with Georg Steiner and a visit to the Wild Childhood exhibition at Lentos, the Museum of Modern Art. We will send out more information about this.

The post World Guiding Day – a few thoughts appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.

There is a new training course of tourism training in Austria. Modular, mostly online, a practical course with an optimal preparation for the qualification exam by experienced lecturers for the theoretical subjects, active guides and former graduates of the last years, as well as outstanding partners in the tourism industry.

Ideally matched as a part-time course.

The crisis is the best time for training and development. Why not go straight into vocational training, which will open up new opportunities for you?

We know that financially it is not easy in the tourism industry at the moment. That’s why we made the course modular, so you don’t pay for parts you can opt out of.

And we offer you flexible installment payments at no extra charge.

Course start
September 24, 2021

Course end
Summer 2022

Course duration
2 semesters
Total of 500 hours, including 100 hours of self-study and job shadowing/evaluation.

Course location
Theory mostly online via zoom
Livestream of the classroom events
Practical training in the respective federal state

Timetable
The course is held part-time on Friday afternoons from 2pm-2:30pm and Saturday from 8am-4pm.
Most theory training online, classroom training in Vienna and Linz.

Costs
from €3,498

We have answered many other questions on our website in the FAQ section, e.g. how much you can earn as a tourist guide or what career opportunities you currently have.

www.austriaguide.at/ausbildung

Free online info evening on 14.09.2021, 19-21h

Or stop by our live info night. This Tuesday from 7-2 p.m. online via Zoom. We will present the course to you again in detail and answer all your questions.

You don’t have time? No problem. You can also download a recording and detailed information material from us free of charge and without obligation.

Nothing scares as much as change,
And nothing offers so many opportunities!

The post Course to become a tourist guide in Austria starts on September 24, 2021 appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.

The World Federation of Guides Conference (WFTGA) is normally held every 2 years. Last year the conference was postponed due to Corona. Unfortunately, it cannot take place in Serbia this year as originally planned.

The Executive Board decided at short notice to hold a hybrid event in Madrid. From February 7 to 10, there will be an exciting program of lectures, workshops, network meetings and a colorful supporting program.
The meetings at world federation level are always characterized by a special spirit, where at the latest at the gala evening everyone is standing hand in hand on the dance floor.

Since traveling is not possible for many guides at the moment, almost all parts are also streamed virtually. We started a new company Hybrid Streaming last year and organize streaming with our team on the ground in Madrid.

We will try to transfer the spirit of sharing with like-minded guides, learning from each other and discovering new cities together with culture and enjoyment to the virtual.

convention.wftga.org

If you’re coming to Madrid, be sure to join the Post tour of Spain’s small medieval towns from Feb. 11-13, 2022.
Because then we have done our challenging streaming job and look forward to a cozy exchange with you

Love greetings
Martha & Sebastian

The post Hybrid World Federation Meeting February 7-10 in Madrid appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.

On Saturday, I was allowed to give a lecture on the topic “Needs of guests” at the 20th Bavarian Guest Guide Day, which is organized every year by the Munich Guest Guide Association. As a subtitle I deliberately chose, ” What is the focus – The knowledge, the object, the guide or the guest”.

In my agencies DonauGuides and austriaguide.at we get with approx. 30% of the inquiries the wish of the guests that it should be please a good guide and not too many data and facts. Why do city tours have such a bad image? Are there so many bad guides or did guests just have a bad experience at some point that became so ingrained?

In my presentation, I first went into the theory behind the needs of guests. The American psychologist Abraham Maslow developed a pyramid of needs. Even if this has been partly outdated and expanded and there are now other approaches in psychology, such as by Reinhard Schober, the needs pyramid still explains best what needs we have to deal with in a leadership.

The basic physiological needs (hunger, thirst, heat, cold, standing, sitting, urge to go to the toilet) and the need for security (orientation, ) must be served first, before social and individual needs and, above all, self-realization are taken care of. At the same time, the needs are different at different ages. With children and seniors, you have to be more concerned with basic needs, with teenagers, more concerned with social needs, etc.

What guides prefer to serve are the individual needs and, if it is a real experiential tour at eye level with the guest and discussion and change processes are triggered, also the self-realization.

In addition to needs, perception types (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory) also play a role. Here, we humans are influenced differently and again children more in the kinesthetic, who have to get rid of their energy, for example, before they can sit still in a museum to look at a work of art. That’s why I always include energy games in my guided tours for children in the company StadtLux – Erlebnisführungen, where children are allowed to run up or down stairs, have to count them in the process and get back into balance in a fun and playful way, so that we can then move on to knowledge topics.

In the second part of the presentation, in addition to the special needs of children’s, teenagers’, seniors’ groups, religious and political groups were also discussed. From many agencies (especially river cruise ships) we get the requirement not to talk about politics and religion with the guests. But it is precisely these issues that interest foreign guests, especially in comparison with their home country. How do I deal with such sensitive issues? How do I lead a group of an AFD deputy through the Bundestag?

At the end of the presentation, the focus was on people with impairments. Based on the theory, we were able to find out together how guided tours can become an experience for people with visual or hearing impairments as well. For guides who lead groups with mentally impaired people and want to further educate themselves in this area, the Federation of European Guides offers training to become a T-Guide.

In summary, each individual guest has special needs that should be addressed as individually as possible. That is why the profession of the tour guide is so challenging, needs a good preparation and for this comprehensive care an appropriate fee. This is because the needs of the guides must also be taken into account and often fall short on this point.

The post What is the focus of guided tours – the knowledge, the object, the guide or the guest? appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger .

I was allowed to present eight bike tours on Thursday evening in the packed Forum Kirchdorf, which we carry out with our team of RadReiseGuides for Busreisen Weiermair.

For us, the focus is on cultural enjoyment cycling. It’s not about speed and kilometers. We get to know the country and its people, see sights along the way and learn about the history of each region in entertaining anecdotes.

Very important, of course, is a regional lunch and a stop for coffee, cake or ice cream. Whenever possible, we incorporate a tasting of local beers, wines and small bites.

We would be happy if you would join us on one or the other of Gerd ‘s and my trips:

CHERRY BLOSSOM BIKE TRAIL IN BURGENLAND – CYCLING IN A SEA OF WHITE BLOSSOMS
PROSECCO WINE ROUTE – BY E-BIKE THROUGH THE HILLS OF VENETO
ALPE-ADRIA CYCLE PATH – ENJOYABLE CYCLING ON FORMER RAILROAD TRACKS
TUSCANY – EXPERIENCE THE DREAM LANDSCAPE BY E-BIKE
MAIN-TAUBER CYCLE PATH – CYCLING IN THE LOVELY TAUBER VALLEY
ETSCH-RADWEG – RESCHENPASS – MERANO – TRENTO – LAKE GARDA – MANTUA – 6 DAYS
BODENSEE-RADWEG – COMFORTABLY AROUND THE SWABIAN SEA

I can really recommend Weiermair Reisen to anyone who wants to “travel better with distance“. Josef Weiermair and his team take wonderful care of guests’ needs. He pays absolutely fair fees to us tour guides and tourist guides. So the quality is right and there are unique experiences for the guests.

The post Some of our 2023 bike trips appeared first on Sebastian Frankenberger.