1. Name and Job Title?
My name is Katie Tennant and I’m a Tour Guide at City Sightseeing Glasgow
2. When did you join?
I started in 2014 and was part of the team for two years. I left to pursue another career and then came back in 2017 and have been here since.
3. Tell us about what your day at work involves?
On your average day, I can be giving guided tours or working at our departure point at George Square. I meet people from all over the world every single day. I answer questions about the city and recommend the best things to do and places to visit depending on what they’re interested in. My favourite thing is telling visitors about Glasgow’s hidden gems – things they might not have read about in a guidebook. There are lots of nice cocktail bars in Finnieston. We have great architecture too: I always tell people to look up because there’s so much art above your head in Glasgow.
4. Any unusual stories you can share with us?
I’ve got so many stories! Really, you would not believe some of the questions you get asked as a tour guide or as a member of the pavement staff. I’ve been asked ‘Is this the Isle of Bute?’ and how to get upstairs on a double-decker bus. I do sometimes get very specific questions that require me to go home and do a little bit of homework. For example, someone once, when I had just started, wanted to see a statue of Scottish economist Adam Smith. For anyone interested in seeing it, it is in Kelvingrove Park, just off Kelvin Way (stop 13 on our tour).
5. What’s the best part of your job?
Meeting people and learning new things. I learn something new about Glasgow every single day.
6. Is there anything you don’t like about your job?
The weather could be better…
7. If you weren’t working at City Sightseeing Glasgow what would your dream job be?
I’d like to work with young people or guide tours in different places in Scotland. I’d love to learn more about Scotland outside of Glasgow (even though Glasgow is the best bit).
8. What’s your favourite thing about your attraction?
Compared to other places in the world, people come to Glasgow with a blank slate. A lot of the time, they don’t know where to go or what to see or they might know one or two museums. What I like best about this is I’m always telling people something they don’t know and introducing them to new facts. My favourite thing to hear at the end of my tour is I’ve completely changed people’s perception of what they thought Glasgow was like.
9. What’s your favourite thing to do in Glasgow in your spare time?
Did I mention the cocktail bars in Finnieston?