The Need for a Tour Guide While the Cities Get Smarter

Year 2020, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 72 - 84, 25.06.2020

Grant Altay Taşkın

Abstract

Nowadays one can easily understand that day by day we are becoming a part of the age of technology. In certain countries, artificial intelligence and robots started to appear in daily life and before anyone realizes, they will become a part of our daily routine. Some day we will only need to click a button and everything will happen for us. But clicking a button without seeing a face or hearing a voice is something totally different for us. We see technology is getting used more often in tour guiding also. The question is, do we like to get things done as quickly as possible, or do we still look for communication. This study aims to solve this problem. The new trend in the tourism sector is the “Smart Tourism and Smart Destinations” which starts with giving you an idea of how and where to plan your holiday and travel. It also helps you with all other aspects throughout your vacation. These might be smart device applications like audio guidance, translation services, direction guidance, making reservations, or augmented realities like pointing your phone towards the scene of the theatre and watch a gladiator fight. Tour guides, who we call the ambassadors of tourism, may experience problems with the rate of technological development. Although, taking advantage of technology such as navigator, smartphones, kindles, headsets, cameras, altimeters and many more makes the job easier for guides. So, if the evolution of technology continues will there be any need for a tour guide?
This study aims to determine if the job of the tour guide can survive the technological improvements or even get better and still be preferred by the tourists who are traveling to new places and new cultures. The methodology of the study is qualitative. A structured interview has been carried out. The sample of the group only includes tour guides over the age of 50. This is because they are near retirement and don't expect to earn their living by guiding people anymore. So, their opinions will be more appropriate compared to young guides who are at the beginning of their tour guiding lives and need this job for many years to come and would not like to lose the battle against technological improvements. As a result of the research, data has been reached that smart city technologies cannot replace tourist guides. Also, the study will add some suggestions based on the results obtained from the analysis. 

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