Tour Escort Interpreter Jobs

Many translators and interpreters work within the travel industry. Travel interpreters (also called guide or escort interpreters) accompany either English-speaking visitors abroad or foreign visitors to the United States or another English-speaking country. They facilitate communication during business and/or tourist interactions, therefore interpreting can be professional or informal in nature. Most travel interpreting is consecutive and duties are often shared amongst two or more interpreters (especially for longer trips).

There are some travel interpreters who travel year-round, though many break up their travel schedules with interpreting gigs closer to home.

There is also quite a bit of opportunity for translators within the tourist industry translating travel websites, marketing materials, guidebooks, language-learning materials, etc. Some translators even moonlight as freelance travel writers, writing about their cultural experiences while learning different languages.

“I really enjoy the work I do in the tourism industry. I’ve done copywriting in French and translation for tourist websites. I’ve also worked on guidebooks doing fact-checking and research translation. One of my jobs was to call hundreds of French hotels and restaurants and verify their hours/location. Additionally, I’ve lead tour groups to France twice. Though this wasn’t technically an interpreting job, I did my fair share of it throughout the trip,” says Jen Westmoreland Bouchard, who runs her own translating business.