tour guide assignment sheet

Tour Guide Checklist for Tourism Companies

Download this checklist for 10 qualities every good tour guide should have:.

Being a tour guide is one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. You get to do for a living what others only get to do on vacation, you get to meet amazing people from all over the world and you get to marvel at some awe-inspiring sites   on a daily basis .

But that doesn’t mean to say it’s easy…

Being a tour guide is also a very challenging job and one that isn’t for everybody.

Here are 10 characteristics you should have to be a good tour guide.

About the authors

Colm Hanratty

Stephanie Kutschera

Stephanie is Senior Marketer & Content Writter at TrekkSoft. She moved to Switzerland from her homeland of Scotland in April 2018. She enjoys travelling and trying new activities.  

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How to Write a Tour Guide Script that Wows Guests

By Breanna Lawlor

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What do charisma, charm and storytelling skills have to do with being a good tour guide? As it turns out — a lot.

As you figure what to include and how to write a tour guide script, know that you are pivotal to the guest experience.

Picture this: a traveler arrives at a destination full of curiosity and excitement, excited to immerse themselves in a new culture. And while tour guests might be ready to explore, they don’t know where to start and are leaning on you to show them the way.

With activities, sights and scenery to explore, there’s so much to discover. Plus, it’s exciting to be in a brand new place for the first time — an experience, made better with a tour guide.

What is a tour guide script?

Before your tour begins, you’ll want to share a little preamble with travelers. Creating a tour guide commentary gives guests a sense of what to expect from a tour. In this case, you might start with:

• Introducing who you are
• Confirming the tour type and where you’ll be heading
• Noting washroom locations
• Mentioning the number of stops along the route

An intro will give guests an idea of when to pay attention. Varying your pace and taking a pause can make your guest’s ears perk up. And, the best part? They aren’t expecting you to be speaking constantly.

In fact, guests may even appreciate a bit of silence so they’re able to process their own thoughts while on tour.

Tour guide script opening remarks 

Start with something funny that acts as an icebreaker. Your witty banter could relate to the area, the weather or how this happens to be your first time leading this tour (and where you silently plead with them to go easy on you).

Cue the awkward chuckles and mild concern, after which you showcase your enthusiasm and competence. From here your goal should be to figure out how you can immerse your guest in the story.

In your tour guide safety script, this is one of the first segments where guests’ eyes will glaze over. Don’t let this happen! Make safety entertaining with some witty banter and overly exuberant demonstrations or stories of what happens when guests fail to pay attention.

You’re likely to have a range of personality types amongst your tour guests. So, aim to get everyone on the same page with some humour.

How to provide tour commentary (step-by-step) 

Any tour should start with opening remarks about what guests can look forward to. Earn guest’s attention by structuring your tour commentary in a way that puts their interests first.

Keen to deliver a captivating tour? Start by following these guidelines:

1. Address important topics

Guests want to head into a tour feeling confident that a guide will deliver a memorable experience. With your approach, aim to be both informative and engaging with your guests from the get-go.

2. Bookend points of interest

Lead with the most commonly asked questions and topics that are featured in your tour listing. Consider mentioning whether food will be available and where guests can find washroom locations along the tour route.

You’ll also want to address anything that isn’t concrete, like whether they’ll have time to explore and photograph a famous landmark. Just like with GPS in your car, it’s much easier to know where to turn if you know the route plan.  

3. Address any questions 

After your pre-amble confirms the tour type, make space to connect conversationally with your guests. You can ask guests where they are from, the reason for this vacation and try to find out what people are most looking forward to seeing.

Ask if anyone has questions about the tour, another tour booking or a pickup at a specific time. And while it may not impact your tour, guests like to be considered.

As a bonus, this minimizes potential disruptions halfway and provides good tour commentary. In addition, if there happens to be transportation for the bulk of the group, ensure you instill the importance of time management. 

4. Showcase your enthusiasm

Charm and inspire guests before the tour kicks off, with your excitement for what’s to come. And while this may not be your first time providing this tour, trust that they will feed off your energy and excitement.

Picture yourself taking a moment to take in sweeping views or savour a tasty treat while on a food tour. These moments of acknowledgement let your guests know that they can carve out a few moments too.

5. Leave guests feeling inspired

You may already be a charismatic tour guide. Perhaps you’re delighting travelers with your wild and wondrous stories. But there’s always room for adding in a bit of variety into your daily routine and a fresh perspective for how you deliver guided tours. When guests wrap up a tour, your goal is for them to feel like they learned a little and had a lot of fun.

 10 characteristics guests want in a tour guide

We’re all human and appreciate when people treat us with kindness and respect. So, when it comes to tactics for tour guide commentary, here are a handful of traits that guests look for in a tour guide:

1. A sense of humour

To deliver a compelling story, you may also have to be a funny tour guide . Sometimes, the world can throw curveballs and we all appreciate a reason to laugh.

You may find that funny, light-hearted stories will jive with almost any crowd. Keen to inject some humour into your script? Just ensure it’s relevant to your audience and relatable. 

Remember to keep your audience in mind. Humour works best when it’s done sparingly. Jokes used for millennial backpackers might not work on retired cruise ship passengers.

2. Kindness

Pave the way for connecting with your guests by being kind enough to initiate conversation and listen to what they have to share.

Some travelers appreciate being asked what they’re hoping to get out of their experience and how far they’ve traveled to join in on your tour. Looking after small details and paying attention is a thoughtful trait that guests appreciate.

3. A guide who’s good with kids 

Little ones have feelings and thoughts during their travels. After all, the whole world is new for them.

While it can be challenging to structure a tour for all ages, if you aim to be inclusive, you’re destined to win minds and hearts. Look into opportunities to highlight kid-specific topics and vantage points. Aim to schedule some pit stops along the route to keep everyone comfortable and happy.

4. Open-mindedness

Have you ever heard of the golden rule? It may seem silly, but by treating others how you would like to be treated, you help set the tone for how people in your group will interact.

Plus, when you get to know people personally, this helps to heighten their experience. After all, when guests book a tour they hope to be treated well. Help guests feel more comfortable and consider what different travelers might find interesting while on tour.

5. Informative storyteller

If you’ve been living in a region for some time, you probably have a wealth of knowledge to share. Guests expect that you’ll be well-informed and willing to share your local knowledge. Let’s say you’re looking at creative ways for how to train a tour guide , it’s key to bring your local knowledge and storytelling chops to the table.

6. Organized and punctual  

Starting a tour on time is essential for every guest who made a point to be punctual and ready for things to start. Sure, mishaps happen and people find themselves in the wrong location. But as a general rule, you want to reward the guests who are prepared, by starting your tours on time.

Try sticking to time limits set for exploring an area and visiting different points of interest. In addition, guests hoping to make the most out of their trip will appreciate a tour that starts and ends right on time.

When guests book a tour, they put their faith in you to be direct and honest. Deliver on the promise and try to keep things on track with what your tour is supposed to include. Sometimes, it’s possible to get your facts wrong or not know the answer.

Ask if your guests have read up on the area and whether they have the answer. It’s not a bad idea to have a few key facts in your back pocket, so you do have the answers most of the time.

8. Adaptability

As a tour guide, you’ll potentially come across bad weather, detours or chaos from last minutechanges. Being adaptable is all a part of the role. This is where stories can keep your guests entertained if things go array.

The role of a tour guide is not without its challenges. You may have guests joining a tour with no minimal idea of what to expect, only having booked your tour because it was suggested to them. Keep things light and aim to be helpful for all travelers. This is where your uncanny ability to shift multiple hats is what makes you so good at your job.

9. Respectful

Sometimes, leading a tour may test your patience. You’ll find that respect can go pretty far, even if you don’t speak the same language. You may have to contend with late guests, irritated travelers and a wide array of personalities, but it doesn’t mean you can’t deliver an amazing tour for all.

Tour guests may not know or understand all of the expected cultural norms. Your role is to give travelers the benefit of the doubt, instead providing them with the opportunity to learn something new. And always keep your cool and remain respectful with tour guests.

10. Personality

Guests book tours with guides for a curated, hands-on and personalized experience. So, if they choose to book a tour with you, aim to dazzle them with your wealth of knowledge and personality.

Scan any negative online review and you’ll note descriptions like “cold, indifferent, boring or selfish” amongst the bad reviews. If travelers were looking for a generic experience, they could base a tour off a blog or seek out something on an audio walking tour. Make sure your personal touch is present throughout the tour.

Become a confident public speaker

If you find yourself getting nervous about speaking in front of a group of people, you’re not alone. We all worry about fumbling words or forgetting the material, but you know what’s awesome? Most people won’t know you’ve made a mistake unless you broadcast your error.

That’s part of the beauty in guiding. You can ad-lib, mix up the order and renege on your original script to make it perfect for your current tour group. Imagine guests reading reviews and coming to expect what you’re going to say next; now why would they bother booking a predictable tour?

Helpful things tips for your tour guide script:

• Focus on your guests : While it may be you doing the talking, your guests will be giving a lot of feedback with non-verbal cues. Aim to say just enough to keep them engaged and then move on.
• Forget the rules : focusing on them will only distract you. Make eye contact. Be animated with hands. Get to the point. Speak slowly. These will come naturally when you are more comfortable with public speaking. Take your time and enjoy th company of your guests.
• Invest in the story : Before the tour, pay close attention to your thoughts. Does the word can’t make a frequent appearance? If yes, it is time to change up your inner monologue. To be a better storyteller, you have to tell yourself you can . It seems like a cheesy exercise, but self-confidence makes a world of a difference.
• Create a set list : Have a few topics you know you’ll want to touch on throughout the tour to help remind you of your tour guide script.
• Take notes : You will get better with practice, but only if you learn from each attempt. Observe the audience’s reactions and write them down afterwards (not during — that would be strange). Next time, change your story up and repeat. Keep doing this until you know what details to emphasize more and what parts to leave out.

Use your tour guide script to be storyteller

As a tour guide you’re able to inform and entertain at the same time. Delivering facts while on tour doesn’t have to be a lecture. You can create a tour guide script that’s conversational and invites your guests into the experience.

Telling stories is a common way we communicate with each other. Over coffee with a friend, stories of weekend adventures are shared. At family dinners, your father brings up stories of your childhood. Even with the cashier, you may tell the story of why you forgot your reusable bags again.

You may find that you’re a natural when it comes to telling stories, and part of the reason could be that we’re hardwired to listen to them. Your past experiences, and the resulting stories, can contribute to the qualities of a good tour guide , helping you to create an incredible connection with your guests.

Whenever we listen to someone sharing a story, a large portion of our brain gets to work. Storytelling can engage three regions of the cortex : the motor, sensory and frontal. So why is storytelling important for tour guides? Want to figure out how to use storytelling to your advantage ?

In storytelling, try embracing the moment and not taking yourself too seriously. So throw a little of yourself in the content — even if the story isn’t about you. The narrator is part of the story as much as the characters are.

How to make good commentary in tour guiding

There are two types of stories to tell on tour:.

• Fun, wacky or exciting stories about a place. Told at the location of the site — either before or after listing relevant facts
• And personal stories. Best reserved for the in-transit, awkward moments of silence

For any location, there’s bound to be a large selection of stories to use on tour. But how do you choose the right ones?

It is best to base your selection around topics you care about — whether this happens to be architecture, food or history. Because when you are passionate about a topic, you will be more enthusiastic in your storytelling. And if you are excited to tell it, your listeners will be excited to hear it.

For your story collection, make a list of your own experiences. Some might be funny — even if they weren’t at the time. And some might be shocking — like you still can’t believe it happened to you. Out of all your stories, make sure they are appropriate and relate to the tour in some way.

Closing tour guide script

While you’re wrapping up the tour, you’ll want to close the experience for your guests.

Mention how you value guest feedback a few times throughout the tour. As an example of what to include in your tour commentary, make a point to share a point of interest that guests might not be able to find on their own.

Your closing tour guide commentary is also a great time to suggest other places travelers should consider, including restaurant recommendations and other tourist favourites.

And instead of telling guests that they should leave a 5-star review, which can seem disingenuous, encourage your visitors to highlight what makes this particular experience worth booking with an online review.

So, how can you become a better storyteller then?

Let’s go over important elements in crafting your story:

1. Hero/Protagonist

A story needs a character for the audience to cheer for. One they can relate to. Or one they will remember.

2. Objective

To create suspense, the main character needs a goal. The audience will listen in anticipation to find out whether the character succeeds.

3. Clear Incident

An obstacle must get in the character’s way. This makes it all the more interesting. Can they overcome it?

4. Harness emotion

You want the audience to feel what your characters are feeling. Empathy helps to connect the audience with your characters.

5. Add twists and turns

Unpredictable stories make the best ones. To keep the audience on their toes, throw unexpected twists and turns into the mix.

6. End with a punchline

Every story has a resolution, where typically the hero saves the day. No matter what type of story you share, aim to wrap up in a cheerful way — ending with a joke.

On your next tour, give storytelling a try. You might be surprised by your natural storytelling abilities and have a lot of fun while you’re at it.

Final thoughts 

Right from the beginning, invite guests into the storytelling experience of your tour.

You don’t have to be the only one telling stories. Open up the floor and ask the audience questions. One story has a way of breathing other stories into life.

By giving your audience time to share, you might quickly come up with another. Also, the tour will have a more conversational tone, making everyone, including yourself, more relaxed. As a result, they’ll be more inclined to enjoy the tour and provide you with good, honest feedback.

Are you looking to hire a tour guide with these storytelling skills?

Get our list of 147 interview questions

Pick and choose from a range of questions to find the right guide for your tour company.standing support.

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The 8 Step Cheat Sheet for Writing a Tour Guide Job Description

By Kyla Steeves

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Not having much luck with tour guide hiring ? Is your inbox full of resumes from applicants who seem like they’re just looking for a free ticket to your destination? Or do you often find yourself back at square one because your new hires tend to quit as soon as a better gig comes along?

Luck might not have anything to do with it; perhaps it’s all in your tour guide job description. You see, hiring great tour guides starts with attracting great tour guides. 

If your job posting places too much emphasis on the opportunity to “travel for a living,” you could end up with guides who act more like guests. On the other hand, if you include a super long list of responsibilities, you might turn away too many candidates, including the best of the best, because they think, “not enough tips can pay me to do all that.”

So, how do you write a tour guide job description that boosts your response quality? 

We’ll walk you through the steps! 

Not sure what to ask for the interview either? Grab our handy list of 147 questions for tour guides (with a bonus evaluation form)!

How to write a tour guide job description.

Before writing a tour guide job description, it’s a good idea to brainstorm initial questions an applicant may have about the role. Answering these upfront will give them everything they need to know before applying.

Here are some examples:

• Is the job full-time, part-time, or seasonal?
• What’s the wage? Will I get tips?
• Is it okay if I have no tour guide work experience?
• What types of tours will I get to lead?
• What will a typical work day look like for me?
• Will I need to do anything else on top of guiding?
• What skills do I need to be successful in this role?
• What language(s) do I have to speak fluently?
• Do I need to have any tour guide certifications?
• Is there an opportunity for advancement?
• Will you pay for tour guide training programs ?
• Why should I guide for your tour company?
• How do I apply?

Once you have a good list, work these answers into your tour guide job description by following these steps:

1. Pick the right job title

As guides scroll through listings, the first thing that’ll stand out to them is the job title. While it’s tempting to put something creative here, like “Experience Extraordinaire” or “ [Insert city] Interpreter” or “Adventure Guru,” stick with industry terms because that’s what they’ll use in their job search. In other words, treat your job title like a keyword. 

Of course, you can still set your job listing apart by including your niche. Instead of simply posting “Tour Guide,” you can get more specific by writing “Ghost Tour Guide” or “Chocolate Tasting Tour Guide” or “Safari Tour Guide.” This will also help narrow down applicants by attracting those who love spooky stories, have a sweet tooth, or care about wildlife conservation. 

2. Put salary information

The second thing most guides will look for in a job posting is the pay and hours of work. Since money is often a taboo topic, many companies avoid including the wage in the job listing, preferring to disclose this information in the offer or if asked in the interview. 

But here’s why you should be transparent. According to Undercover Recruiter , top candidates are selective in their job search, so compensation can make the job more attractive, giving them a compelling reason to spend time applying for the position. 

However, if you’re concerned the pay isn’t impressive enough, you can sweeten the deal by highlighting the job perks, such as a flexible schedule, paid vacation, average tips, fun team events, free lunches, room and board, or other seasonal employee benefits . 

3. Start with a hook

Your first sentence has got to be attention-grabbing. The goal is to inspire a tour guide to apply right away by speaking to what they desire most out of a job. Is it getting the chance to act out different characters? Spend time on the water every day? Brag about the history of their city? Or make the mountains their office?

Sharing the number one benefit first can help reel them in and, better yet, help them remember why they applied in the first place once hired. So think of something that makes being a tour guide for your company the best job in the world , even when they have to deal with annoying tourists.

The best way to write a hook is to either frame it as a question like, “Do you know all the best places to eat in Vancouver?” Or paint a picture, “Imagine starting work every morning, feeling the ocean breeze on your face, knowing you’ll get to see a whale today.”

4. Market your tour company

When writing a tour guide job description, a common misconception is that it’s all about making candidates consider why they’d be right for the position. While that’s significant, it’s also important to emphasize why your tour company is a great place to work. 

After all, what’s going to motivate a tour guide to apply? An overwhelming list of duties they can start dreading already? Or knowing they’ll get the chance to work for an awesome tour company they can be proud to tell people about? It’s a no-brainer!

So if you want to make a tour guide excited to join your team, tell them a bit more about your tour company by sharing:

• The kinds of tours you offer 
• Where you take guests (points of interest)
• Your passions and core values 
• How you make your destination a better place

5. Give a brief overview 

After introducing your company, explain how they’ll fit into the picture as a tour guide. This section of the tour guide job description is usually one to four sentences long, which focuses mainly on your overall company objective and what part the tour guide will play. 

Instead of getting right into the day-to-day, answer one of the following questions:

• How will the tour guide contribute to the guest experience?
• What responsibility will they have representing your destination?
• How will they directly influence tourism in a good way?

If you focus more on the impact than the work itself, you’ll naturally create meaning and purpose behind the role of a tour guide , and ultimately, encourage those who align with your mission to apply.  

6. List tour guide job responsibilities

Of course, a tour guide will still want to know what a typical workday will look like for them. Not only does it inform them about the activities you expect them to perform so they can decide if they’re competent, but it also gives them an idea of whether they’ll enjoy their everyday tasks. 

But don’t just write a long, boring list. Similar to the job overview, you should angle the responsibilities to be outcome-oriented. That way, you show significance behind the efforts, helping to fuel an enthusiastic mindset from the get-go.

See the difference?

• Greet and welcome tour groups
• Greet tour groups to make them feel welcome 

Also, try sticking with five to eight key responsibilities of a tour guide by order of importance to keep the list concise and easy to scan. 

7. Include tour guide work experience

One thing you’ll want to remember when detailing your top 10 characteristics of a great tour guide is that unicorns don’t exist. In fact, the more indispensable requirements you list, the fewer applications you’ll get from underrepresented talent. For instance, women typically won’t apply for a job unless they’re 100% qualified . 

So, stay realistic. Instead of conjuring up a dream tour guide, think of the skill requirements more as nice-to-haves and only list the ones that matter most to you. That is unless you need specific certifications or licenses. Then, of course, include that. 

This is also the perfect opportunity to emphasize growth. If you accept entry-level guides, reassure them that you provide on-the-job training. And if you’re looking for someone with more experience, share how you can support taking them to the next level. 

8. Spell out the next steps

Tour guides can easily navigate through a city, but they might get a little lost on what to do next in the application process if you don’t make it straightforward for them.

So make sure to detail:

• What you expect: a resume, cover letter, and proof of certification
• How to apply: phone, email, or in-person
• Who to address: yourself or a hiring manager
• When to submit: a deadline to create urgency

What is a good tour guide job description?

Before we dive into an example, here are a few tips to keep in mind for writing a better tour guide job description:

• Make it easy to read: one big blob of text will turn away candidates right away. Break it up into headings, short paragraphs, and lists
• Write in the second person: use the pronoun “you” to help tour guides see themselves in the role when reading the job description
• Avoid superlatives: remove gender bias by steering clear of over-the-top language, like “rock star,” “ninja ,” or “world-class” 
• Get another pair of eyes: ask one of your current guides to review the description and give their input as they know the job to a tee

Okay, now let’s see everything come together!

Snorkel Tour Guide 

Can you imagine swimming with thousands of leopard sharks daily? Join Salty Stew’s Adventures and lead snorkel tours in the La Jolla Shores of San Diego during leopard shark season from June to September. You might even get to name a few pups!

Operating for over 20 years, Salty Stew’s Adventures has been exploring the rocky reefs, underwater canyons, and magical sea caves of the La Jolla Ecological Reserve and Underwater Park with guests from all over the world by providing sea kayak tours, snorkel tours, and rentals. 

Made up of passionate ocean advocates, we are committed to preserving the local coastal environment and educating visitors about California marine life. As a Snorkel Tour Guide, you’ll get the unique opportunity to inspire people to care about shark conservation as they encounter the friendliest sharks of the sea on our Leopard Shark Snorkel Tour. 

What you’ll do:

• Give brief lessons about the migration patterns and breeding behavior of leopard sharks to emphasize their importance in the ecosystem
• Teach guests the fundamentals of snorkeling to ensure they have a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable time
• Contribute to our positive reviews by showing the best snorkeling spots and pointing out various species of reef fish 
• Encourage guests to participate in protecting the new home of leopard shark pups by collecting any trash they see
• Support monitoring and conservation efforts by writing a daily report about your observations 

Who you are:

• An outdoor enthusiast with interest in marine life
• A strong swimmer who’s comfortable in the ocean (lifeguard experience is a plus!)
• Enthusiastic, engaging, and friendly 
• Confident in public speaking and customer service 
• Willing to work weekends and holidays
• Has CPR and First Aid certification 

Why work for us:

• Keep 100% of your tips on top of your wage
• Get on-the-job training with the opportunity to lead advanced kayak and snorkel tours as you gain more experience
• Hang out with the team at Bart’s Pub every Monday night for Music Bingo (wings are on us!)
• Explore the La Jolla coast in your free time with a 50% discount on our snorkel, kayak, and SUP board rentals

Seasonal, full-time

$16/hour, plus tips!

8 hour shifts, weekends 

How to apply: 

If you want to join a tight-knit team of ocean lovers, please send your resume and cover letter to Daryl Johnson at [email protected] before April 1st.

Where to put the tour guide job posting

Okay, your tour guide job description is ready to go. You’ve read it out loud, passed it through a spell check, and even had one of your tour guides give it a once-over. Now what? Do you post it on every job board to get as many bites as possible? That’s probably not the best idea.

To save yourself time — and get more intentional responses — first ask yourself the following questions:

• Where does the industry have the most luck? (You can ask fellow tour operators in the Tourpreneur Facebook Group for advice)
• What places have you found success with candidates before?
• Where does your ideal tour guide hang out online?
• Do you have the budget to pay for a premium posting?

Here are some ideas if you need a little help:

If you’re looking for…

• The most responses: try the main job listing sites, such as LinkedIn , Indeed , Workopolis , and even Craigslist
• Multilingual speakers: target travelers from other countries who want to work overseas on sites like GoAbroad , Travel Massive , and Easy Expat (these are also great sites if you’re specifically looking for fluent English speakers)
• The best in class: connect with TripSchool , International Tour Management Institute , or the Pathways Project for graduates who are trained and ready to put their learnings into action
• Natural entertainers: reach out to local community theatres, improv classes, comedy clubs, or even post a job on Playbill 
• Seasonal guides: go for the high school or college crowd by asking if you can put up a job flyer on campus bulletin boards or nearby coffee shops
• Passionate hobbyists: pay someone to do what they love by dropping a comment in local Facebook groups that are relevant to your niche (with permission)

Final thoughts

Crafting a compelling tour guide job description is just the first step. What comes next is the hiring process. Whether you conduct a phone screening or jump right to the in-person interview, you’ll need to brainstorm the best questions to help you widdle down your top candidates for the perfect fit.

Not sure what to ask during the interview?

Download our 147 Questions to ask Tour Guides!

Know what to ask to get the right hire — every time.

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English for Tour Guides

Being a tour guide is a very important job. In many cases, the tour guide is a traveller's first impression of a foreign country. In other cases a tour guide may be responsible for teaching tourists about the culture and sites in a city or town. In addition, many tour guides hold the responsibility of teaching tourists about safety. Even if you are only responsible for taking a tourist from the airport to his or her hotel, it is your responsibility to make the short trip interesting, informative, and safe. The following pages will help you learn some important vocabulary and phrases that you can use with your English-speaking tourists. Check your understanding as you go.

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Tour coordinator s assignment sheet example.

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Programming with Data Structures and Algorithms

• Assignments

No doubt you remember the campus tour—the walking backwards, the explanation of meal plans, the intramural sports speech... It's a fine tradition, but the admissions department is running out of willing volunteers. That's where you come in–you've been asked to write a virtual tour guide that will run on a visitor's cell phone. Users can select the type of destinations they wish to see and receive real-time directions from their current location to the nearest destination.

Specifically, the Admissions Office wants an application with the following features:

Your program should run on a mobile phone and give dynamically updated tour directions based on its current location relative to a map supplied by the Admissions Office (see below for the exact data definition).

The user should be able to pick from predefined 'tours', such as a 'Campus Art Tour' or a 'Freshman Dorm Tour'. These tours will also be supplied by the Admissions Office.

A tour consists of a list of stops and a short description of each. Your program should lead the user to each of the stops and display the appropriate descriptions on arrival.

Unlike normal tours, these tours should have no fixed order; your program should simply lead the user toward the closest unvisited stop. If multiple tours are selected, your program should choose the closest unvisited stop from all selected tours, even if this results in tours being interleaved.

The user should be able to add and drop tours at any time. If the user drops a tour while being directed toward a stop on that tour, the program should switch to the closest unvisited stop from the remaining tours. If the user adds a tour that introduces a new, closer unvisited tour stop, the program should switch to that stop.

If the user adds a tour they have previously dropped, they should not be directed to any stops on that tour they have already visited this session. You should, however, provide a way to reset the program entirely without quitting out of it.

Once the user has visited all the stops on all the tours they have chosen, you should display a generic thank-you message until they reset the program or add another tour.

If no tours are selected, your program should give no directions until the user selects one.

The map data you receive will contain many sites that are not tour stops, such as intersections and intermediate landmarks.

All map sites, together with the footpaths between them, form a graph. Since these sites are fairly large, each site will have a specified radius; if the user's current location is within this radius, your program should assume that the user has reached this site (this also helps compensate for GPS inaccuracies).

When the program starts and tours are first selected, your program should find the user's current location. If the user is at a site on the Admissions Office map, your program can give directions from that site to the closest tour stop. Otherwise, your program should first direct the user on the straight-line path toward the nearest site on the map. Once the user has reached a map site, you can proceed to give directions from that site to the desired tour stop.

Once the user reaches a tour stop, your program should display the description until the user is ready to progress. When the user is ready to travel to the next tour stop, the program should construct the shortest route and lead the user to the map sites on this route in order. While directing the user from one map site to the next, your program should give constantly updating heading and distance to the next map site. This way, if the user starts walking in the wrong direction, the distance to travel should increase to reflect the increasing distance to this next map site.

However, if the user gets way off track or decides to take an alternate route, your program should notice and respond accordingly. If the user gets far enough off track that they arrive at a site on the map other than the one they were being directed to, your program should recalculate the closest unvisited tour stop and route of map sites to reflect the user's new location. Your program should also allow the user to tell the program to recalculate if, for instance, the user gets lost. When this happens, your program should once again direct the user on the straight-line path toward the nearest site on the map.

Dijkstra's Algorithm

In order to find routes of map sites from the user's location to a tour stop, your program will need to find shortest paths on a weighted graph. You should use Dijkstra's algorithm, which you will learn about in class, to achieve this functionality.

Your implementation of Dijkstra's Algorithm should have roughly the following signature: dijkstra : (node -> collection of distances and previous nodes)

The exact data definition is up to you, but Dijkstra's algorithm needs to take in a graph and a starting node from that graph and return some collection (vectors work well) of information about each node. This information should include both the total distance from the start node to the node in question and the previous node along the shortest path from the start node to that node. Your algorithm should run in O([ s -> s * log s ]) time where s is the number of nodes in the graph.

Note that if the graph is well-connected, you have to examine s^2 connections, and the algorithm would run in O([ s -> s^2 ]) time. However, the graphs we are working with, and in general any graph representation of a real-world map, are inherently not well connected. Your algorithm should run in O([ s -> s * log s ]) time with respect the number of vertices, assuming each vertex has only up to some constant number of neighbors.

Design Check

Once you have a working implementation of Dijkstra's algorithm, start thinking about how to apply it to the problem at hand. Remember that you need to lead the user between many different tour stops and dynamically update the directions. Plan out your user interface, and think about what GUI functionality you will need to produce a satisfactory product.

This assignment will have a design check, in which you and your partner meet with a TA to discuss what you have completed and your design for the remainder of the assignment. The design check will be part of your grade, so make sure you sign up for a slot by Tuesday. The design checks will take place Tuesday and Wednesday. There is a sign-up sheet on the door to the Fishbowl (CIT 271, at the top of the front stairs).

At the design check you will be asked to:

Demonstrate your working implementation of Dijkstra's Algorithm (including test cases!).

Walk the TA through your code and defend its efficiency.

Describe how you will use it to guide tours and dynamically update directions.

Describe your planned user interface.

Make sure you have thought about all the edge cases that can come up. For example, the same location might end up being part of two tours–what issues might this cause? Do some real brainstorming. There are a lot of little things you can add and/or fix to make your program better. Doing well on this project requires thinking of and implementing a good number of them (though not necessarily specific ones, or even one's we've thought of!).

To run racket on mobile phones you will be using a new language called Whalesong, which compiles Racket to Javascript that can be run in the browser of any smartphone or desktop machine.

Instructions for using Whalesong can be found at: http://hashcollision.org/whalesong/cs019.html

Opening the generated HTML file can let you test your application entirely on a desktop machine. You will of course eventually need to do actual field tests on a phone to ensure that your program works with real-world coordinates and tours as you think it should. We will distribute Android phones for you to test on, and we will be using these phones to grade so be sure to test with them.

To put your application on an android phone, connect the phone to a computer (the Sunlab machines do have USB ports you can use, though they can be awkward to access) and run the following commands from the directory with your code in it:

Importing Data

Once you've run some basic tests on your program, require mapdata.rkt to get the actual Brown map data.

(define-struct: loc ([name : String$] [desc : String$] [latitude : Number$] [longitude : Number$] [radius : Number$] [neighbors : (Listof: Loc$)] [distances : (Listof: Number$)])) including its visitation radius in meters, neighbors, and the distances in meters to those neighbors. Every location will have a unique, unambiguous name.

loc-list : (Listof: Loc$) loc-list provides a complete list of all the locations your program will use to find paths.

tour-dist : ([latitude1 : Number$] [longitude1 : Number$] [latitude2 : Number$] [longitude2 : Number$] -> Number$) Given the latitude and longitude of two locations, returns the approximate distance in meters between them.

get-dir-string : ([latitude1 : Number$] [longitude1 : Number$] [latitude2 : Number$] [longitude2 : Number$] -> String$) Given the latitude and longitude of two locations as above, returns the approximate heading of the path from the second location to the first as a string such as "North" or "Southwest" .

(define-struct: tour ([name : String$] [stops : (Listof: String$)])) Stores the name of a tour (which your program will need to display) and its stops.

create-tour : ([name : String$] [loc-names : (Listof: String$)] -> Tour$) takes a name and a list of loc-name s and returns a tour with that name and those locations

tours : (Listof: Tour$) tours provides a complete list of the tours your program will use.

This is a very large project. It is your job to nail it down a set of concrete specifications, and the best way to do this is to build yourself an extensive testing harness before you dive into coding. Make sure you can quickly find out, for instance, whether a given version of your code still correctly handles the user getting lost and pressing recalculate, or adding a tour, visiting some of its stops, dropping the tour, and then re-adding it.

Using the Phones

$ cs019-upload tour_guide.html tour_guide.js tour_guide.appcache ...

The script will then output a URL you can visit from another machine or a smartphone for testing.

What to hand in:

• A Racket file, tour_guide.rkt , which implements your entire Tour Guide program. This file should use Whalesong to compile a program which runs on Android phones.