Are Tour Guides in China Ready for the Booming Tourism Industry?Haiyan Kong The School of Hotel and Tourism ManagementThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityCatherine CheungThe School of Hotel and Tourism ManagementThe Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityTom BaumDepartment of Hospitality and Tourism ManagementUniversity of Strathclyde, Scotland UKAbstractThis paper aims to explore the educational attainment, attitudes and career plans of Chinas tour guides on the basis of a study of professional guides, part-time guides and guide managers. The findings indicate that the dominant workforce in Chinas tour guide sector is female with an education background of professional schools. Although a guides work is challenging and demanding, tour guides in China do not appear to be highly respected by the society and within their family circles. To attract and retain qualified guiding staff, a focus on career management and training qualifications should be regarded as urgent retention strategies.Key WordsTour guide, Skills, Attitude, Career plan1. INTRODUCTION The tour guide is “the “soul” of tourism industry” and plays an essential role in the success of the sector by delivering high quality service to students. Working in the front line of tourism reception, tour guides are leading players in enhancing the image and the reputation of tourist destinations, with the service quality that they deliver regarded as an important criterion of the overall quality of tourism service. On behalf of their locality and country, they mediate the culture, history and natural and built environment on behalf of domestic or overseas travelers. When serving international visitors, they promote mutual understanding and friendship between tourists from all over the world and their home country. Hence they are commonly called “nongovernmental ambassadorsCAN WE ADD ANY GENERIC LITERATURE REFERENCES TO THE ROLE OF THE TOUR GUIDE HERE, PERHAPS WITH SOME ELABORATION OF THEIR ROLE? TB”. In China, many outstanding guides are committed to tourism service and directly support the development of Chinas tourism industry. With the 2008 Olympic Games to be hosted in Beijing and a World Expo to be held in Shanghai in 2010, increasing number of international tourists will visit China. According to the World Tourism Organization, China will be the worlds number one tourist destination by 2020, welcoming annual arrivals of 130 million (WTO, 1999). Apart from international tourists, the booming development of domestic tourism combines to indicate that there is a real need for high-quality tour guides in China.However, the quality of Chinas tour guides in terms of their service focus has been questioned by the tourist and general public, especially in recent years (C. Yang, 2006; P. Yang & Shi, 2007; Zheng, 2007). These “nongovernmental ambassadors” have found themselves caught in a dilemma, and are faced with social and personal pressures which lead to mental and physical exhaustion and have contributed to high job burnout and low service quality. It is important, therefore, to explore the skills, attitudes and needs that are required for the job from the point of view of the tour guide so as to find ways to enhance their quality and their job satisfaction. Only by increasing tour guides commitment and satisfaction will they be able to provide high quality service to tourists, which, in turn, will greatly improve Chinas tourism industry. 2. LITERATURE REVIEWTour guides are among the most engaged staff within the tourism industry and their communication with tourists can both increase a tour groups satisfaction and sell the next tour. Most scholars focus their research on the study of tour guides service, role and function. According to these studies (Cohen, 1985; Fine & Speer, 1985; Holloway, 1981; Hughes, 1991), tour guides play different roles within their work, such as leader, salesperson, teacher, information-giver and organizer. It is widely accepted that tour guides contribute not only to tourist satisfaction, but also to destination image, marketing and branding (Baum, Hearns, & Devine, 2007; Wong & Kwong, 2004). Alongside market promotion and advertisement, tour guides generate direst influence in tourists repeat visiting and new business (Wong, Ap, & Sandiford, 1998). As interpretation is one of the major responsibilities of tour guides, it is essential to improve their communication and commentary skills so as to enrich tourists experience (Reisinger & Steiner, 2006). To improve guides professional skills and work performance, tour guide certification systems have been practiced in many countries. With the rapid development of ecotourism, it is also important to develop professional tour guides who will be specialized in this area (Black & Ham, 2005; Black & Weiler, 2005). In terms of tour guides performance,