Jordanian Tour Guides' Communication Competency

Abstract

Tour Guides are the country's unofficial faces to visitors, and their ability to convey information effectively may make or break a trip. This study examines tour guides' communication skills and overall performance. The data were collected from 225 expert tour guides in the Jordanian cities: Aqaba, Wadi Rum, and Petra. Factor analysis is performed on 32 communication competence measures to discover the underlying performance characteristics. The study used importance–performance analysis to determine the difference between how tour guides rate their performance and how important they think certain things are. The study revealed that tour guides need improvement in verbal skills such as grammar, manner of speech, and choice of words, as well as non-verbal behaviours such as approachability and the ability to remain friendly while maintaining a specific personal space. The study revealed that the importance–performance analysis mode, a valuable management tool, may determine where marketing resources might be invested to develop and increase the quality of tour guide operations. While most professional tour guides acknowledge the significance of the abovementioned things, they often fail to use them when dealing with and communicating with visitors. This suggests that administrative attention be focused on enhancing tour guides' verbal communication skills with visitors.