How to be the kind of tourist tour guides love

© Istockphoto People ride past the Eiffel Tower in Paris during a bike tour of the city.

The kind of tourist you are determines the kind of tour you get, but unfortunately, I have learned, sometimes good people are bad tourists.

In my two-and-a-half years leading bicycle tours of Paris, I’ve met them all: the social-media addict who takes selfies in the middle of traffic, the whiny cyclist who complains about the hills; the happy-go-lucky adventurer who takes off on her own and immediately gets lost.

Here are a few simple tips about how to avoid common mistakes on group tours, and be the kind of tourist that tour guides love.

Engage

Unlike at the theater, there is no fourth wall in tour guiding, and your guide will watch you just as attentively as you watch him or her. Guides who sense that their group is uninterested will quickly go into autopilot, downgrading the experience for everybody. So get involved. Answer their questions, laugh at their corny jokes and stand close so they don’t have to strain their voices.

“A tour is a dialogue between you and the guide. An interactive tour is a fun tour,” says Stephanie Paul, tour guide and specialist on Franco-Jewish history. “Put your phone away . . . look, listen and enjoy interaction with a real human being.”

Be prepared

Sometimes there truly is nowhere to buy water, a sweater or gloves once the tour has begun. Come prepared, dress appropriately and don’t expect your guide to “Mary Poppins” extra supplies out of thin air. If you don’t know what to wear or bring, ask — before the day of the tour. Should you find yourself woefully underprepared, try to bear it graciously.

Paris guide Ellen Quinn-Banville sees plenty of underprepared tourists in her job. “I know you want to wear your best outfit because it’s Paris but, like, you will be freezing — and can you walk in those shoes?”

One person in a T-shirt complaining about being cold when the season calls for a parka puts unfair pressure on the guide and spoils the mood for everybody else.

Source by: http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tips/how-to-be-the-kind-of-tourist-tour-guides-love/ar-BBqIUCS