Tourist Guide Psychology

Author: Wang Mingbo
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-04-01
Features: This book is a specialized work on the psychological activities of tour guides. Based on practical experience and extensive research, the author applies psychological principles to comprehensively analyze the psychological activities of tour guides, exploring and summarizing the general patterns of psychological development during tourism activities. The book is rich in content, clear in perspective, well-supported by evidence, and possesses strong theoretical and practical value, making it an excellent work for analyzing and researching the psychological patterns of tour guides.
Chapter Conclusion Tourism, in a broad sense, refers to travel and sightseeing activities, representing a comprehensive social phenomenon. According to historical records, tourism can be traced back to the 776 BC period in ancient Greece. In the 1840s, with the establishment of capitalism and the development of the Industrial Revolution, tourism began to spread and gradually entered the lives of ordinary people. In modern times, due to the prolonged global peace, advancements in high technology, and rapid improvements in living standards, tourism has become a mass social activity, expanding globally. At the same time, the industry primarily serving tourism—tourism—has flourished. With the progress of human civilization and the establishment of a market economy system, since the early days of tourism when British Thomas Cook and German Bedrich first engaged in the industry, tourism has had two fundamental purposes: meeting the needs of tourists and generating industry revenue. This is also a prominent sign of the founding of modern tourism. As tourism practices developed, the field of social science research expanded into tourism, giving rise to tourism science, which studies and explores the general theories and patterns of tourism development. The main research content of tourism science includes: the nature, characteristics, composition, elements, conditions, significance, role, market, marketing, resource development, regional planning, scenic spot construction, as well as basic knowledge of tourism service personnel and tourists.
Based on the dual purposes of meeting tourist needs and generating industry revenue, the tourism industry has its own unique characteristics. The core of tourism activities is human interaction, and tourism products follow a special value law. Therefore, meeting tourist needs and generating industry revenue are achieved simultaneously, meaning that the production and consumption in tourism are simultaneous. As a result, social science research in tourism has further expanded to include human beings—both tourists and tourism professionals. As a new interdisciplinary field and a branch of tourism studies—tourism psychology—has emerged. It is the science that studies the patterns of psychological activities and development of tourists and various tourism professionals. This undoubtedly captures the core of maintaining tourism activities. Currently, China has published dozens of works on tourism psychology.