Tour Director Resources
As a Tour Director/Tour Guide, you have the opportunity to positively impact every journey, by creating, reinforcing and enhance the peacebuilding elements that have been incorporated into your traveler’s itinerary. What is a concept in the itinerary is something you can bring to life in person. What a gift! Understanding and engaging elements of peace to those that can impact peace, is an important responsibility and privilege. Below are some basic peace building questions and reminders as part of your daily onsite delivery!
Tour Directors – Questions to Ask Travelers:
How do they want to start each day? Do they understand where they visit, what they do, who they meet
and how they treat each location has an impact. Discuss the benefits and consequences of their choicesWhat is positive peace and how can their actions influence this?
What type of “footprint” will they leave during their trip. How can this be reduced.
Travelers can be Ambassadors for Peace. What ways are they doing it now and how can their Pass it On?
Below are some suggestions a tour director/guide can include to “Make Peace Part of the Journey”!
Pre-Trip Awareness
Remind Travelers when traveling - They can choose a Mindset of Curiosity and Respect
1. Embrace each destination, the people who live here have unique lifestyles, family dynamics, traditions, values and vocations. View them with respect & without judgement. celebrate differences and diversity.
2. Remind travelers of the basic dos and don’ts for behavior, dress, and etiquette in the area(s) you’re visiting.
3. Encourage traveler’s to engage those they meet about their lives, culture, and traditions.
4. When in a foreign country, learn a few local phrases: Even simple greetings in the local language (“Hello,” “Thank you,” “Please,” and “Excuse me.”) show effort and respect.
5 Be a guest, not a critic. Acknowledge your own biases and assumptions. Avoid stereotyping people or places. Accept that you may not understand everything—and that’s okay.
4 Peace Engagement
Show examples of Peace building - Through Positive Engagement, Support & Kindness
1. Start each day reminding Traveler’s to smile, listen actively, share laughter.
2. Share stories, and laughter whenever possible.
3. Don’t just take photos and instead engage. Listen, observe, connect. Actively seek common ground in conversations. Practice patience in delays or misunderstandings.
4. Disarm with kindness: Small acts—smiling, being patient, apologizing sincerely.
5. Be a connector: Encourage conversations between fellow travelers and locals. Facilitate mutual understanding.
6. Compliment sincerely: Say often and sincerely: “Thank you for sharing your hometown with us.”
7. Eat local, shop local, stay local: Choose family-run restaurants, markets, and shops where possible
8. Encourage them to buy souvenirs that support artisans and avoid exploitative or environmentally harmful products. Remind them to tip fairly (anything is better than nothing) and thank service workers with kindness.
4 Peace Sustainability
Encourage Conservation throughout their trip. Leave each place better than you found it.
1. Carry a reusable water bottle, utensils, shopping bag, and other reusable items.
2. Request and stay in eco-conscious lodgings where applicable and use public transport, bike, or walk when possible.
3. Turn off lights, air conditioning, and electronics when not in use.
4. Eat a plant-based meal when you can—it’s better for the planet.
5. Avoid wildlife exploitation: don’t support attractions that exploit animals for entertainment.
6. Pick up litter when you see it—leave places cleaner than you found them.
7. Reduce your footprint: Conserve water, refuse single-use plastics, and leave places better than you found them.
Post Trip - Pass It On
Share stories and encourage the same - Be a Peace Ambassador by Passing It On
1. Promote Peace Through Your Presence
2. Share stories, and laughter whenever possible.
3. Reflect others’ dignity in your travel photos and social media.
4. Highlight human connection, not poverty or exoticism.
5. Post positivity, like: “The people I met in [place] reminded me of how much we all want the same things—family, safety, joy”,“It’s a gift to be here—thank you for sharing your home with me.” “I met someone in [country] who told me about their hopes for their community…”, “There’s so much beauty in how people in [place] connect with nature/family/tradition.”
6. Live as a guest, not a consumer: Walk softly, talk kindly, and move with reverence.
7. Amplify voices: Share stories from your travels in ways that highlight the dignity and richness of other cultures.
8. Travel in Peace… and Pass it On to others!
