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.

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.

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

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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