Tour Directing Video
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(ARA) - With all that's going on in the world right now, there's never been a more important time to travel abroad -- and be an ambassador for our country.

"Tourism increases the chances for world peace and tour directing plays an integral part in creating better communication and understanding among people of all lands," says Ted Bravos, who co-founded the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) in 1976. It is the first school in the United States to certify tour directors and guides.

Bravos has been leading tours for 30 years, and says it sometimes seems that travel is the glue that keeps this world together. "Travel is the greatest university in the world," he says. "It teaches us about culture and the similarities and differences among people."

"That is so true," says Joemy Wilson, who graduated from ITMI in 1999. She is now in her 50s and works as a tour director for Tauck World Discovery, based in Norwalk, Conn. She spends several months a year abroad, teaching people about other cultures. "Most people won't judge you based on your government's stance on the issues, but on you as an individual. I've learned that if you show them you have an interest in their culture and history, the barriers quickly come down."

It was our nation's 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who following the Geneva summit talks in 1956, called for "increased visits by citizens of one country to another to give each the fullest opportunity to learn about the people of other nations." Eisenhower believed that in the long run people would do more to promote peace than our governments.

Wilson says her experience proves the President right. In her travels, she has met people who went from thinking Americans were arrogant and uncaring to "liking and respecting us after getting the chance to know us."

"There are far too many people -- important people like elected officials, the media and business leaders -- who don't understand the significance of tourism," says Hank Phillips, president of the National Tour Association, an organization that has represented travel industry professionals for more than 50 years. "Traveling to foreign countries and meeting, face to face, with people from other cultures and religions helps you gain a better understanding of our differences while simultaneously reminding us of how much alike we really are."

"Tour directing is 90 percent common sense, which I think I have a lot of at my age," says Wilson. "The rest I learned about at ITMI -- how to run a tour, how to handle travel arrangements for groups, and even how to pack."

ITMI offers intensive two-week seminar-style workshops that allow students maximum interaction with the "team teachers." There are at least 3 instructors in every class and all instructors are active certified professional tour directors. More than 50 percent of the instruction is done outside the classroom aboard motor coaches, at the airport and on board cruise ships in one-and two-day field trips.

"We do our best to teach people not just the tools of the business, but how they can be ambassadors for their country, not only when working overseas but when leading tours here at home for visitors from foreign countries," says Bravos. "The more people travel, the more we'll be able to break down stereotypes, and create greater understanding. I really believe that in my heart."

Courtesy of ARA Content