Tour Guide

Company Description

Fable Hospitality runs small-group walking tours in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter and downtown. Our guides are the product: the research behind a story, the pacing of a route, and the read of a group on a busy Friday night in the Gaslamp. We currently run three tours:

• San Diego Gaslamp Quarter History Walking Tour – the people, buildings, and events that shaped the Gaslamp, starting from Horton Plaza Historic Park.
• San Diego Gaslamp Ghosts and Crime Walking Tour – an evening walk through the neighborhood's ghost stories and true-crime history, ending at the Davis-Horton House.
• San Diego Gaslamp Quarter Guided Food Tour – tastings at local spots paired with the history of the streets around them, starting at the Balboa Theatre on Fourth Avenue.

Every tour is built from a researched playbook that keeps documented history separate from tour lore. We're starting in San Diego and growing along the California coast.

Role Description

This is an on-site Tour Guide role in San Diego. You'll lead scheduled walking tours through the Gaslamp Quarter and downtown, working from a Fable playbook you're trained on and then make your own. Most tours run about 90 minutes (the food tour runs 90–120), and most of the schedule falls on evenings and weekends.

• Lead tours. Meet guests at the start point (Horton Plaza Historic Park at 4th & Broadway, or the Balboa Theatre on Fourth Ave), set the tone in the first two minutes, and run a well-paced route from there.
• Know the material. Learn our researched materials across history, ghost and true-crime, and food tours, then deliver them in your own voice, clearly flagging what's documented and what's legend.
• Look after the group. Street crossings, stragglers, accessibility needs, and the guest who wants to talk for ten minutes. Safety and pace are yours.
• Work with our food partners. On food tours, coordinate smoothly with restaurant staff so tastings land on time.
• Close well. Answer questions, point people toward a good dinner, and invite an honest review.
• Pay. you will be paid $70 for every tour, which breaks down to $35 an hour

Qualifications

• A natural storyteller who can hold the attention of 20+ strangers outdoors, over traffic noise, without a microphone.
• Reliable. Guests booked weeks ago; showing up early every time is most of the job.
• Easy with people: bachelorette parties, corporate groups, nervous first-time visitors, and the occasional skeptic, often on the same tour.
• Available evenings and weekends, and based in or near San Diego.
• Comfortable on your feet for about two miles at an easy pace, outdoors, in most weather.
• 18 or older and legally authorized to work in the United States.
• Experience in guiding, teaching, performing, or hospitality helps, but none of it is required. We train.
• Background in history in a plus

How to Apply

Apply here or email info@fablehospitality.com with a short note about yourself, your résumé or a summary of your background, and the days and times you're generally available. If it looks like a fit, we'll invite you to join one of our tours as a guest, then come back and run a short section of one yourself.

Fable considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status.