Tour guides are among the most influential front-line actors in the tourism industry: their knowledge and interpretation of a destination 's tourist attractions and everyday life may transform a sightseeing tour into an experience (Ap and Wong 2001). However, despite this important role, the issues related to tour guiding seem to be a relatively under-represented field in the scientific tourism literature. In 1985, Cohen distinguished four major components of the role of the modern tourist guide who are presented as navigators of physical and cultural space (Drew 2011): in their instrumental function, guides provide directions, access, security and safety; in their social role, maintain cohesion within the group of visitors; in their interactionary function organise activities and create non-threatening settings, while, as communicators, offer interpretation and information (Cohen 1985). In the context of resource management in nature-based tourism, Weiler and Davis (1993) extended Cohen’s model by adding a motivator and an environmental interpreter function, as nature guides aim to encourage visitors to reduce their on-site impacts and to adopt a long-term conservation attitude. These additional roles were later also applied to indigenous tour guides by Howard, Thwaites and Smith (2001), although in modified form, in order to take into consideration the cross-cultural aspects of guided tours organised in indigenous communities.
The role of tourist guides is often limited