The role of the sea kayak tour guide : mixed methods exploration into the guides' perspective

Abstract

This study examines the phenomenon of wilderness tour guiding in order to identify how natural tourism guides recognize, understand, and utilize the opportunity to deliver interpretation to clients. The study utilized personal interviews, participant field observations, and an industry survey. Interviews explored the perspectives of four veteran sea kayak guides, one raft and one mountain guide. Following the interviews a survey was administered to a British Columba based sea kayak guiding professional body. Lastly, the results from both the interviews and survey were further explored through participant field observations of sea kayak guides leading commercial tours. Results demonstrate that sea kayak guides believe themselves to be facilitating opportunities for environmental and cultural learning and behavioral change within their clients; however, the field observations did not completely support the survey results, highlighting a difference between what sea kayak guides self reported compared to actual guides in the field.