Your Education / Training
to become
a certifíed tourist guide .

For whom?

• Tour guides

• Bus drivers

• Receptionists

• Cultural workers

• Museum guides

• Art Educators

• Cab drivers

• Career changers

• Interested

Why?

• Because you always wanted to learn this profession.
• You now have time for further education.
• You need this training to be allowed to give tours in Austria.
• You will be prepared for the WKO qualification exam in a very practical way.
• You are interested in politics, history, art history, geography and customs.
• You like to deal with people.
• You can apply for funding to afford the training.
• you can arrange installment payment

How?

What?

The job description of a tourist guide is very comprehensive. So is the training.
We can not teach you every detail.
But the basics with many practical exercises and how you can apply them.

A toolbox for your future profession

• 

  Basics knowledge

  History, art history, customs.

  We cooperate with state museums. The collection managers and cultural mediators teach the basics era by era. With the help of objects and pictures in the exhibitions, the theory is very quickly applied in a practical way and the question of the big connections is raised again and again. Likewise, the question of the significance for our lives today.

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• 

  Guiding Skills

  The red thread

  Dramaturgical structure of a tour, interactive role plays, needs of guests (children, teenagers, silveragers or guests with special needs) are highlighted by theory and evaluated with real groups. Story telling, rhetoric, improv theater.

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• 

  Communication

  Teambuilding & Conflict Management

  Leading with leadership, getting to know your own strengths and weaknesses as a guide. Gently and with many NLP methods, the participants try out practical tools for dealing with guests, agencies and colleagues. Several team-building measures have already resulted in long-term course friendships.

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• 

  Exam preparation

  Video analysis with active guides

  For the exam we prepare the bus tour and the city tours in many practical exercises. In the process, the participants are recorded on video and together analyze the potential for improvement.

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• 

  Legal and entrepreneurial knowledge

  Become independent

  How do you issue an invoice and how do you do your tax return? What are the legal requirements for general terms and conditions, cancellation conditions and data protection declarations? Tips on the paperless digital office and apps for everyday management. Everything for the entrepreneurial exam and professional practice.

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• 

  Product development

  find the niche

  The tourism market offers a niche for everyone. How do you find your target group, develop products for it and make a living from it? In addition, the participants get to know colleagues, tourism partners and potential clients in order to network in the best possible way.

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Where?

Why in Linz and Wien?

How much?

Included

• All video lectures, workshops and trainings

• All bus excursions and entrance fees to museums

• All scripts

• Common online collaboration area

Funding opportunities

• Education voucher/account through the respective state.

• Subsidies through the AMS

• Education loans from your bank

• Uncomplicated installment payment without surcharge

• Mandatory

  Module General

  only 2990,- €

  In this basic theory module, guest needs, conflict management, guiding skills, tourism theory, geography, as well as Austrian history, art history and customs are largely taught as an online webinar. 

• Selection option

  Exam preparation Vienna or Linz

  999,- € or 499,- €

  Exam preparation is an integral part of the course and must be booked in addition to the General module. This is where the practical training and content-related exam summaries take place. Since the qualification exams in the respective federal states are very different, this module is very individually tailored.

  IMPORTANT:
  No matter where the exam is taken, one may later lead throughout Austria. 

• Exemption possible

  Module entrepreneur part

  only 299,- €

  According to the trade regulations, an exemption from this part of the course is possible. Therefore, we are the only course in Austria to have made the entrepreneurial part of the module optionally bookable.

• Exemption possible

  First aid module

  only 99,- €

  According to the trade regulations, you can be exempt from this module if you have completed 15 hours of first aid training in the last 3 years. Therefore, we are the only course in Austria to have made this module optionally bookable. 

When?

January/February 2023

Request more info now

Who?

The training partners.

Summary

• Course start

  January 27, 2023

• End of course

  June 2023

• Course duration

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

• Course location

  Theory mostly online via zoom
  Livestream of classroom sessions
  Practical training in Linz and Vienna

• Timetable

  The course takes place part-time on Friday afternoon from 14-21:30 and Saturday from 8-16. 
  Most of the theory training online, the classroom training in Vienna and Linz.

• Costs

  from €3,498

FAQ – Frequently asked questions

• What is the difference between a tour guide and austriaguide?

  Tour guides usually arrive with the group and take care of the group during the whole trip.
  They take care of technical matters such as hotel check-in, looking after the guests during the lunch break and possibly accompanying bus transfers and airport transfers and are responsible for the smooth running of the program.
  They are only allowed to give guided tours on the bus, in some museums and churches, i.e. in private not public spaces. Tour guides do not need an examination or license for this and can register a free trade in Austria.

  Tour guides (also often called guest guides, city guides) are local and knowledgeable people who have a sound knowledge of geography, history, art history and cultural, economic, social facts and contexts in guided tours in public space to make experienced. 
  In Austria, the tourist guide is a state-regulated trade (§ 108 GewO 1994 tourist guide).

  In order to obtain this authorization, the registration of the trade requires this training course for tourist guides and the trade examination module 1-3, which has to be taken at the master examination office. 

  Austriaguide is a brand of the WKO for all tourist guides. This means that anyone who is authorized to register the tourist guide trade can order the “austriaguide” badge from the WKO and may use the word / figurative mark and logo, subject to the guidelines for use. Tourist guide and austriaguide are, so to speak, the same thing.

• How long does the training take?

  The Trade Regulation Annex (§1) lists how the course must be held. The following items must be included in the course with a total of at least 250 hours:

  • History and political education
  • Art history
  • Folklore
  • basic economic and social studies
  • Tourism geography
  • Theory of tourism
  • Realization of guided tours
  • Legal studies
  • First aid
  • Excursions

  Our course includes more hours because the trade regulations are very theory-heavy. We have expanded this official timetable to include personality development, practical training and useful network cooperation. Therefore our course lasts 400 hours. For preparing presentations, evaluations of tours we have included another 100 hours of self-study, so the course is 500 hours in total.

  In 2008, some European tourist guide associations agreed on an E-standard 15565. The is a voluntary certification with 600 hours (of which over 230 hours practice evaluations) and is driven forward v.a. in Germany.  In Austria, this certification is not yet required. We are currently developing a course for participants of our training who have passed the trade examinations and want to voluntarily continue their certification.

• If I take the exam in Linz or Vienna, am I allowed to lead throughout Austria?

  The positive completion of all parts of the examination qualifies for guiding throughout Austria, regardless of where in Austria the examinations were taken.

• I am already a tour guide, have a history or art history degree. Can I be exempted from a part of the course?

  Unfortunately, those who have completed a tour guide course cannot receive credit. We will offer a tour guide course starting in 2021, which can be fully credited for the tourist guide course.

  According to the trade regulations, anyone who has successfully completed a degree in history can be exempted from the subject “history including political education”. Since we teach history in the course didactically together with art history and customs in epochs, a “physical” and financial exemption from this part of the course is not reasonable and also not possible. 

  There is nothing in the trade regulations about an exemption in case of a completed study of art history.

• I have an entrepreneurial exam or a business degree. Can I be exempt from anything during the course?

  In the course, according to the Trade Regulation Act, the subject of “economic and social studies” is exempt for those who prove the successful completion of the entrepreneurial examination or the existence of the requirement for its omission, or the successful completion of one of the following fields of study: 

  • Law, 
  • economics, 
  • business administration, 
  • International Business Administration, 
  • Economics with international orientation, 
  • commercial science or 
  • Business Education 

  Therefore, we are the only course in Austria that also offers the module Entrepreneurial Part as an optional booking. If you are exempt, you can save 299,- €.

  ATTENTION: 
  You are not exempt from the module 3 exam. More details at the info evening. 

• What distinguishes this training from WIFI, BFI or other courses?

  Until 2016, only the WIFI and the BFI were allowed to provide tourist guide courses. Since then, any comparable non-school educational institution is allowed to offer a course that complies with the trade regulations.

  Course director Sebastian Frankenberger has led the course at WIFI Upper Austria in Linz from 2015-2020. He has developed this course curriculum even further into a unique one, tailored to the needs of the future profession, the current exam situation and the needs of the participants.

  Through many collaborations with tourism service providers and institutions, this course is very practical.

  In addition, the online modules offer diverse opportunities to all those who take the course on a part-time basis.

• How difficult is the exam?

  The course / training ends with a written final examination. This includes comprehension questions on the course content and has so far been passed by 98% of the participants. In addition to this exam, 75% attendance is required to pass the course.

  The Qualification Examination Module 3 is a written examination on business knowledge and law. It is passed by 90% of the participants.

  The qualification exams module 1 (practical part with round trip and tour) are very different from state to state. In our course you will be specially prepared for this exam. With virtual and many practical trainings, common working out of scripts and blackout trainings, nobody should have exam fear.

  According to the trade regulations, the module 2 exam (oral theoretical) includes history, art history, customs, political education, geography and tourism studies. It is really comprehensive. In our course we lay the groundwork for this exam. There is an exam summary of the last exams, tutorial by successful examinees of the last years and many practical tips and tricks how to prepare for this exam. 
  The combination of theoretical knowledge, guiding skills and very good language skills make this part of the exam challenging. In addition to the course, it requires independent learning, practicing together and perseverance.

  We have already successfully accompanied many prospective guides in this phase.

• In which languages do you have to take the exam?In which languages do you have to take the exam?

  The course is held in German. It is recommended to master the language level B2, so that you can understand the trainers and also participate in the practical training.

  Since we record as good as all courses, it is still easier for non-native speakers to follow along in our course.

  According to the trade regulations, the qualification examination module 1+2 is taken orally 80% in German and 20% in a foreign language. You do not have to take the exam in every language in which you want to do tours later.

  If someone is not so fit in German, we will offer special courses “German for future guides” from April 2021.

  If someone does not really speak a foreign language and chooses English for the exam and is also not confident enough here, we will also offer “Exam Preparation English for Future Tour Guides” as an option from April 2021.

• What does a tourist guide or tour leader earn?

  Generell gilt: Es gibt keine fixen Tagessätze oder Tourpreise! Jede/r Fremdenführer*in/ ist selbständig und setzt eigene Preise fest bzw. verhandelt diese mit dem/r Kunden*in aus.

  Folgende Preise dienen nur zur Orientierung.

  Als Reiseleiter*in verdient man im Durchschnitt einen Tagessatz zwischen 120 – 250 €. 

  Fremdenführer*innen im ländlichen Raum verrechnen für eine Stadtführung bis zu 2 Stunden zwischen 85,- bis 100,- €. In den Landeshauptstädten zwischen 100,- bis 160,- €. 

  Der Tagessatz beträgt zwischen 220,- bis 400,- €.

  Es kommt oft darauf an, ob man für eine Agentur mit einem Rahmenvertrag arbeitet oder direkt mit den Kunden verhandelt. Nach oben sind natürlich keine Grenzen gesetzt. Gerade in Zukunft werden eher individuelle Spezialangebote mit einzigartigem Erlebnischarakter gesucht werden.

  Generell sind 99 % der Fremdenführer*innen selbstständig. Österreichweit leben ca. 200-250 Fremdenführer*innen hauptberuflich vom Führen, von gesamt rund 1800 gemeldeten Guides.

• Does training make any sense at all at the moment?

  Ehrlich gesagt gibt es momentan aufgrund von Corona nicht sehr viel Arbeit für Fremdenführer. Aber die Lage wird sich wieder verbessern. Vor allem wird es in Zukunft eine neue Form von Tourismus geben. Wir haben mit Tourismusexperten, die auch im Kurs unterrichten, ein Webinar mit dem Titel “Zukunft für Fremdenführer” für internationale Guides organisiert.

  Es wird in Zukunft kleinere Gruppe geben, die noch mehr nach individuellen Erlebnissen suchen. Und für das alles braucht es gut ausgebildete dynamische Guides.

  Genau jetzt ist der richtige Zeitpunkt für eine Ausbildung.  In unserer Ausbildung wirst Du mit allen wichtigen Steakholdern in der Tourismusbranche vernetzt und kannst dann, wenn es wieder losgeht, richtig beruflich durchstarten.

• Is there a literature list so I can prepare for the course?

  History

  • Vocelka Karl: diverse Bücher über Österreichische Geschichte (z.B. Geschichte Österreichs) und Habsburger
  • Hamann Brigitte: Biographien von Kaiserin Elisabeth und Kronprinz Rudolf, Hitlers Wien
  • Ernst Bruckmüller: Österreichische Geschichte
  • Von der Urgeschichte bis zur Gegenwart
  • Stephan Vajda: Tu Felix Austria
  • Felix Czeike (v.a. für Wien)

  Art History

  • Gombrich: Geschichte der Kunst
  • Wie erkenne ich?
  • Museumskataloge
  • Dumont Kunstreiseführer der verschiedenen Regionen

  Websites

  • www.habsburger.net
  • Www.Artinwords.de

  
  Magazines

  • Geo Epoche
  • Merian
  • Die Presse Sonderhefte
  • Kulturgeschichten.wien
  • Kröner Wörterbuch der Kunst, Architektur, …

  Other

  • Go to museum, listen to audio guides
  • Watch short videos of museums about pictures on YouTube (e.g. KHM 100 Masterpieces, Belvedere etc)
  • Study Greek/Roman mythology (beautifully told in a modern way by Michael Köhlmeier) and biblical stories (= content basis for museum tours, architecture and church tours)
  • Read biographies about important personalities from art, politics, science

Nothing scares as much as Change,
and nothing offers so many Opportunities!

Register or inform now

• Call
• Write email