We started Zroxelvoid back in early 2019 because we noticed something odd. Tour guides were everywhere, but the really good ones? Rare. Most people were just reciting facts they'd memorised the night before. We wanted to change that.
It sounds simple now, but back then, creating structured training for tour guides felt like uncharted territory. We weren't aiming to produce walking encyclopedias. We wanted to help people connect visitors with places in ways that actually mattered.
Started with twelve curious people in a rented room in Portsmouth. We had notebooks, terrible coffee, and a shared frustration with how tour guide training usually worked. Those first sessions were messy and experimental, but they taught us what actually helps people learn.
After training about sixty people, patterns emerged. We realised confidence came from practice, not just information. So we rebuilt our approach around real scenarios and feedback loops instead of lecture-style content. It made a noticeable difference.
Brought in specialists who'd actually worked in tourism for years. Not just trainers, but people who'd stood in front of bored tourists and learned how to turn things around. Their experience shaped how we structure sessions now.
Introduced smaller group sessions and more flexible scheduling. We learned that not everyone learns the same way or has the same availability. Adapting to that made our programmes more accessible without compromising quality.
We're developing more specialised modules for different types of tours and locations. Tourism keeps evolving, and so should training. Our aim is to keep refining what works based on what we see from people who've been through our programmes.
People often ask what makes our approach different. Honestly, it's less about revolutionary techniques and more about focusing on what actually matters when you're standing in front of a group of visitors.
We spend time letting people actually guide, not just listen. It's uncomfortable at first, but that's where the learning happens. Making mistakes in a safe environment beats freezing up during a real tour.
There's no single correct way to be a good guide. We help you find what works for your personality and the places you want to showcase. Authenticity beats memorised scripts every time.
What do you do when someone asks a question you can't answer? How do you manage a group with wildly different interests? We work through these scenarios because they're going to happen, and preparation helps.
Families need something different than academic groups. International visitors have different expectations than locals. Learning to read your audience and adjust isn't magic, it's a skill you can develop.
Over the past few years, we've watched tourism shift in ways nobody predicted. Visitor expectations are different. Technology plays a bigger role. Sustainability matters more than it used to.
What hasn't changed is that people still want genuine human connection when they travel. That's where skilled guides become valuable. You can't automate someone who actually understands a place and can share that understanding in compelling ways.
We're seeing demand grow for guides who can adapt to these shifts while maintaining authenticity. That's what drives how we structure our training now.
People trained since 2019
Refining our approach
Small team, specific focus. We've all worked in tourism or training before ending up here. That shared background shapes how we think about developing tour guides.
Spent eight years guiding historical tours across southern England before joining us in 2021. Now designs training modules based on what she wishes someone had taught her when she started out.