Dear Bulletin Board Members,

We are delighted to announce an online Q&A session with one of our expert Tour Directors, Paul Fisher.

We invite you to ask Paul any questions that you may have about touring, what to expect on an Insight tour, the region he covers or anything else that you would like to know about life as an Insight Tour Director, but were afraid to ask!

Please submit your questions in this forum before Friday 12th December.

Paul’s answers will be posted online the week beginning 22 December 2008.

Kind Regards
John


Paul has been a Tour Director for 19 years and 14 of those years he has been with Insight Vacations.

Paul escorts tours in the UK and Ireland, spending up to 50% of his time in the Emerald Isle! He is also a Blue Badge Guide for South East England.

Paul has an Hons degree in History and Politics and his interests include art, religious heritage, history, architecture and geology.

Paul is married with three daughters and lives in Sussex, England. When he is not on the road a lot of his time is spent in Court as a Magistrate ( JP ).

Paul’s main goal as a Tour Director is to ensure that his guests have a good time and gain better knowledge of the areas they are visiting.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: John - Moderator,

Paul Fisher...

Most of us on this BB know great things about you as a TD.

Q: In 2009 what tours are you doing as TD?

Cat's Inheritance

You can visit Paul Fisher's website at: http://www.tourist-guides.net/paulfisher/

John, thank you for this chance to ask questions directly of a tour director.
Paul, What are your top 2 or 3 priorities as an Insight Tour Director? And, Is there one or two things that we, as passenger's, can do to make your job easier or smoother?
BTW, I have taken 9 Insight tours and have never had a bad or incompetent TD.

John, thank you for the opportunity to grill Paul!
Paul, I got a little insight from Raymond Row (TD for European Explorer) about the work that he does in preparation for a tour.

Q: Can you tell us, from a TD perspective, what's involved in putting a tour together?

Also:
Q: We know that TD's must have incredible patience to deal with so many different people. Apart from the perpetually tardy, what characteristic about passengers is most annoying to TDs? (What should we NOT do? )

Thanks!

Hi Paul,
After a recent trip in Italy it became quite apparent that our tour guide was getting some serious kickbacks from the operators of the optional tours or places that we stopped on route to places. It seems that the optional tours that were chosen by our guide were not chosen in the best interests of the group but instead were chosen according to the best kick backs. Is this the case??? also if this is so, why the need for tipping because he seemed to do quite well whenever we shopped in a store he recommended etc.

Dear BBers,

Its great to see your comments so far and Paul will be responding to all your questions in due course.

Paul is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to the UK and Ireland and, as an experienced Tour Director, knows all there is about life on the road.

Maybe you want his recommendation about hidden gems to visit in the UK, good books to read before travelling or what local specialities you should try?

So please remember to submit your questions by 12 December about anything you have ever wanted to know about touring with Insight!!!

Kind Regards
John
Moderator

Anxiously awaiting Paul's response to our questions.

Dear Bulletin Board Members,

Thank you once again for submitting your questions to Paul.

Unfortunately due to Paul's recent ill health there will be a slight delay in posting his responses.

We will endeavour to update this thread as soon as possible and thank you for your patience.

Kind Regards
John

Moderator

This message has been edited. Last edited by: John - Moderator,

We are sorry to hear about Paul's situation. He is an enthusiastic contributor to this Board.