My Tour Guide Journey – Part 3 – “UNIGE”

After my meeting with Marilynn Geiger, I decided to explore the University of Geneva’s course catalogue. Before long, I found a webpage dedicated to the Culture and Tourism certificate program that was scheduled to begin in September 2024. As someone hoping to eventually lead Geneva walking tours and Geneva guided tours, the program was perfectly in line with my aspirations. 

The description of the one-year course sounded fascinating, and it quickly became clear to me that enrolling in the program would be an important step toward my goal of becoming a Geneva professional tour guide.

Marilynn had explained something interesting about the tour guide profession in Switzerland. Technically, there are no laws or regulations that prevent someone from becoming a tour guide. In other words, anyone can show up and start offering walking tours of Geneva. However, there is an important difference between simply giving tours and working as a certified tour guide or Swiss professional tour guide.

To become a member of the Geneva Guides Association and to work with the Geneva Tourism & Congress Foundation, obtaining the certificate from the University of Geneva is essential. While some people offer tours without training or certification, they generally do not work at the same professional level — or receive the same remuneration — as trained and certified guides.

Another reason the program appealed to me was the depth of the curriculum. The University of Geneva course includes in-depth studies of Geneva’s history, architecture, art, heritage, and culture. For anyone hoping to lead high-quality Geneva guided tours, this kind of knowledge is invaluable.

Even better, the program also includes practical training. Students learn how to conduct Geneva walking tours as well as practice guiding techniques, and learn how to guide excursions by bus to important cultural and historical sites throughout the Geneva region. In other words, it’s not just about reading books — it’s about learning how to actually guide visitors and bring Geneva’s story to life.

Convinced that this program was the right way to begin my journey toward becoming a Geneva professional tour guide, I decided to contact the program director, Anna Hamilton. We arranged a telephone conversation, and she kindly explained the structure of the course, the subjects covered, and the examination process.

Anna also told me about the many past participants who successfully completed the program and are currently working as professional guides in Geneva. That was certainly encouraging news for someone hoping to become a certified tour guide in the city.

Additionally, Anna told me that the entire course would be taught in French, and advised that a minimum B2 level in spoken and written French would be necessary to keep up with the coursework. Fortunately, after many years living in Switzerland and studying French, I knew this would be no problem for me.  Anna also mentioned that most people who take the course and go on to become tour guides speak a minimum of three languages.  Since I also speak fluent Spanish, I knew that this would not be an issue. 

Finally, Anna added one last piece of advice: if I wanted to join the program, I needed to move quickly. The application deadline was in June.

So that’s exactly what I did.

Immediately after our call, I began filling out the application, which required both a CV and a motivational letter. The journey toward becoming a Swiss professional tour guide was progressing.

University of Geneva, UNI Bastions – built 1868