Become a Tour Guide

Very important, of course: a love of Bremen! You are open-minded, likeable and have good communication skills and are keen to pass on or acquire your knowledge of history and stories in an entertaining way. Dealing with guests from all over the world would give you great pleasure.

• You should be interested in events, changes and news in the city and always keep yourself informed about them.
• A strong voice and physical fitness are an advantage. You should feel prepared to lead a group of up to 25 people over the old town pavement in wind and weather.
• Ideally, you should speak a foreign language in addition to German.
• You should have organizational skills and be able to react to spontaneous situations.
• You should have a collegial relationship with other tour guides. In the high season it is often crowded in the old town, consideration for other groups and guides is very important.

The Bremen Economic Development Agency (WFB Wirtschaftsförderung Bremen) is responsible for the development, strengthening and marketing of Bremen as a business and experience location on behalf of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. The Bremen Tourism Department awards contracts for city tours and sightseeing tours to freelance tour guides.

• To get started, you will come to us for an initial interview. Here you can introduce yourself and we get to know each other better, further details are discussed and open questions are answered.
• If you are still enthusiastic and we would like to hire you as a tour guide after the interview, you will receive the so-called "Qualification Passport for Guided Tours" from us. On the basis of this passport, you will go through various qualification stages on your way to becoming a tour guide.
• Stations are e.g. several times observation of our guided tours, further trainings and the visit of tourist facilities. You can have each completed station stamped on your passport and thus prove your participation. All trainings/entrances are free of charge for you. How quickly you complete the individual steps and how much time you need is up to you.
• Of course, in addition to the observation and training sessions, you will also have to delve into the topic yourself, deepen your knowledge through the available sources, literature and media, and create a concept for a two-hour inner city tour. As an aid, the WFB will provide you with a guideline to guide you. If you have any questions, please contact the WFB at any time.
• Your concept does not require any special form, but should contain (at least in key words) all the points that you will tell during your tour (such as facts and figures about the history, nice anecdotes, information about current developments in the city, economy, politics, etc.). The concept is, so to speak, your working basis for practicing your tour. We offer to check your concept free of charge and to correct or complete it if necessary.
• Theory is followed by practice: It is important that you practice "your" city tour over and over again, e.g. with friends/relatives, control the timing and present what you have learned freely until it "sits securely".
• At the end of your preparations, there will be a trial tour, during which you will present what you have learned in the form of a two-hour city tour in front of an experienced guide and colleagues from the WFB. You decide when you are ready. If the trial tour is successful, you can then be commissioned by us for tours with "real" guests.
• Before the real start, we meet for a second conversation to discuss the necessary formalities. You fill out a registration form with your data and receive your own access to the tour guide module of our reservation system, which is very easy to use. Here you can maintain your availabilities in your own online calendar. You will only receive orders from us if you have made yourself available in your calendar. If you are blocked, you will not be shown to us for booking. So you can determine completely yourself and flexibly (time periods, weekdays, times of day, etc.) when you want to be commissioned and when not. Therefore, this activity is also very good to combine with other professional activities.
• The WFB organizes regularly recurring training courses every year (e.g. in the city hall, Ratskeller, cathedral, Überseestadt, special exhibitions in museums, etc.).