Escorted Tour Operations

Alaska Tour Guide

You will never get Alaska out of your heart…

Tour Director

As a Tour Director you will lead CruiseTour guests throughout Alaska and the Yukon, acting as a traveling concierge for groups of up to 52 guests. You will be responsible for taking care of every detail of our guests’ vacations to ensure a Five Star experience. Our Tour Directors tell us they find the position extremely rewarding, often returning for multiple seasons to work in a team environment alongside Driver Guides, Guest Service Hosts, Luggage Handlers, and other company employees to provide a seamless tour experience for every guest.

  • Location: Alaska and Yukon Territory, Canada
  • Number of Employees: 100-150
  • Housing Type: Employees are required to provide their own housing in Anchorage, AK (the Tour Director’s home base). Housing is provided in all other locations when the employee is on tour.
  • Transportation: Air transportation from Seattle, WA to Anchorage, AK is provided. Return flight to Seattle, WA is provided upon completion of contract.
  • Typical Season: May 1 through September 20

Tour Director Supervisor

As a Tour Director Supervisor, you will assist the daily field operations in the location that you are assigned by management. As a Supervisor you will be required to perform many entry level management tasks such as tour auditing, administrative paperwork and supporting Tour Directors on a daily basis. Our Supervisors tell us the job has equipped them with many crucial skills such as working without direct management supervision, the ability to problem solve issues on their own and has strengthened their interpersonal skills by working closely with other managers within their division.

  • Location: Anchorage, Denali, Fairbanks and Skagway, Alaska
  • Number of Employees: 6
  • Housing Type: Employee housing or housing stipend is provided
  • Transportation: Air transportation from your hometown to assigned supervisory location is provided. Return flight is also provided upon completion of contract.
  • Typical Season: April 15 through October 1

CruiseTour Specialist

CruiseTour Specialists travel aboard one of the two Holland America Line Glacier Discovery sailings, departing Vancouver, BC and disembarking in Seward, AK. As a CruiseTour Specialist you provide assistance to all CruiseTour guests onboard by holding informational seminars that explain what guests should expect on their CruiseTour. The CruiseTour Specialist also interacts with the ship staff and plays a crucial role in Seward disembarkation. CruiseTour Specialists find the job rewarding due to the relationships they build with ship staff and the freedom of being in a self sufficient working environment.

  • Location: Vancouver, BC  to Seward, AK
  • Number of Employees: 2
  • Housing Type: Employees are required to provide their own housing in Anchorage, AK (the CruiseTour Specialist’s home base). Housing is provided by the company outside of their home base.
  • Transportation: Air transportation from your hometown to Anchorage, AK is provided. Return flight is also provided upon completion of contract. All repositioning flights are provided.
  • Typical Season: April 20 through September 20

Why Work for Escorted Tour Operations?

  • Employees of Escorted Tour Operations are eligible for a performance based bonus upon completion of their contract.
  • All employees are eligible for discounted travel privileges with both Holland America Line and Princess Cruises through our Friends and Family program. A free, space available cruise is offered to those employees who have completed at least two seasonal contracts.
  • Escorted Tour Operations employees have the opportunity to experience optional excursions at a discounted rate.
  • New and returning employees have an opportunity to earn a cash bonus for recruiting potential employees to the company. Both the referring employee and the prospective referral need to complete their entire contract for the bonus to be paid out at the end of the season. Furthermore, the prospective (referred) employee MUST put the name of the person that referred them on their application and employment agreement for that person to be eligible.
  • Escorted Tour Operations employees are the only HAP Alaska-Yukon employees who have the privilege of traveling all over Alaska and Yukon Territory, Canada.

Earn College Credit

We are pleased to work with students and Universities to provide internship credit on a student by student basis.

Eligibility Requirements for All Positions

  • Must be at least 21 years of age by May 1, 2011.
  • Must be able to work effectively with many different groups of people under often stressful and time sensitive conditions.
  • Excellent customer service skills with a minimum of two years experience in a customer service position.
  • Must be able to obtain a CPR and first aid certificate prior to the season.
  • Must be able to lift baggage weighing up to75 lbs.
  • Must be able to obtain necessary travel documents (i.e. passport book, passport card, NEXUS, etc) prior to the season

Specific Eligibility Requirements for Tour Director

  • Must be able to commit to a minimum 100 day contract
  • Must be willing to travel and work with a wide variety of people

Specific Eligibility Requirements for Tour Director Supervisor

  • Must be able to commit to April 15 – October 1 contract
  • Must have a valid driver’s license in order to drive a company vehicle
  • Must be able to submit and pass a motor vehicle record report in order to drive a company vehicle (passing the MVR report requires having less than two moving violations within three years)
  • Tour Director experience preferred but not required

Specific Eligibility Requirements for CruiseTour Specialist

  • Must be able to commit to April 20 – September 20 contract
  • Must have been a Tour Director for at least two consecutive seasons
  • Must have a valid driver’s license in order to drive a company vehicle
  • Must be able to submit and pass a motor vehicle record report in order to drive a company vehicle (passing the MVR report requires having less than two moving violations within three years)

For more information on the state of Alaska and Yukon Territory, Canada, we recommend visiting these sites: