Tour Guiding in Europe
ETOA makes statement on tourist guides in Croatia
The tourism authorities in Croatia had expressed concern that unqualified and untrained “guides” were operating in the cruise ports and other heritage sites. The European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) was invited to give its opinion on the subject at a workshop on tour guiding organized by the Croatian Chamber of Economy in Zagreb.
In view of Croatia’s future membership of the EU, the aim of the workshop was to discuss initiatives on standards, training, qualification and regulation of tourist guides across the European Union, and to present examples of best practice. Vlasta Klarić of the Croatian Chamber of Economy hailed the workshop a success, stating that “the exchange of experiences opened new communication channels, created a new network of knowledge and opened a way to sustainability of the cultural diversity and richness of European identities.”
Taking part in the full-day workshop were tourist guides, representatives of professional associations of guides, representatives of Croatia's Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports and ETOA, represented by Nick Greenfield. “We recognize the importance of locally qualified guides to escorted tours in Europe. On the whole they add to the experience of our consumers,” he said.
ETOA recommended that local guides should be nurtured, but restrictive monopolies have to be avoided. “Local laws protecting guides and guiding invariably lead to anti-competitive situations that protect mediocrity.
“As a rule, Europe is a liberal and free area for tourism and tourism services with a multiplicity of guiding options. But, occasionally, there can be found circumstances where university professors are prevented from lecturing, ministers cannot address their congregations and guides from EU member states are threatened with prosecution. Why? Because local guiding laws prevent tourists from choosing whom they wish to listen to, and whose services may be offered. Even families are stopped from talking to one another at the Trevi fountain.”
In Italy, regulations, practice and enforcement has conflicted with European law, and difficulties persist. Dino Costanza, a Rome lawyer, cautioned Croatia that Italy’s system of regulating tourist guides was not the best to follow. He explained that the profession was bogged down with too many regulations, rules and by-laws. In Italy the ‘professions’ of tourist guide and tour manager were regulated at national and regional levels. “A lack of coordination between the central administration and the local authorities affects the system,” he said. “According to an EC directive on professional qualifications, tourist guides should be free to operate in Italy under the EU’s principle of the freedom to provide services. But due to a lack of a common approach from the central and local administrations, the objective of the Directive has not been reached in the complex tourism sector.”
Marina Kristicevic, president of the Dubrovnik Tourist Guides Association, said “Our skill and quality can make or break a visitor site’s reputation,” said Ms. Kristicevic. “We provide regular feedback to the site administration and we help to create experiences and memories. We promote our cultural and natural heritage and the non-material heritage continues to live in our explanations. We follow recent archaeological excavations and discoveries and the changes in the political situation as well.”
“You should concentrate on the quality of your local guides,” said Nick Greenfield.” The best way to do this is to open up your cities to competition to ensure standards are kept high as customers seek best quality and best value. There are a wide variety of guiding services offered to tourists, of which locally qualified guides are but one. Freedom to provide services is always in the customers’ interest.”
Source: European Tour Operators Association
Comments
ETOA’s weak rhetoric on consumer right
Service quality is not a priority to the European Tour Operator’s Association (ETOA) when it comes to tourist guides. ETOA unsuccessfully resisted the recently adopted minimum standard of education for tourist guides in Europe. Further, ETOA confuses “tourist guides” with “tour leaders / tour managers” as well as “Europe’s open market principle” with the “Directive on professional qualifications.”
Professional education for tourist guides is of utmost importance to consumers. The newly adopted minimum standard for tourist guide education in Europe stipulates the minimum level of competency for the profession which clearly benefits consumers. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) adopted the minimum standard for education of professional tourist guides in 2008 (EN 15565). The standard stipulates member state’s minimum education requirements for professional tourist guides - aiming to improve the quality of professional guiding in Europe.
ETOA’s rhetoric that tourist guide “qualification is, regretfully, by no means a guarantee of top-quality service,” is astonishing. Perhaps ETOA is suggesting that top-quality service is better guaranteed by someone without training and qualification in the field? Sure there are exceptions but when one looks at the big picture the answer is obvious.
ETOA confuses the role of a tourist guide on the one hand and tour manager on the other. Contrary to ETOA’s understanding a “tourist guide” is not the same profession as “tour leader / tour manager / tour escort.” This fundamental fact must be understood and accepted before an informed discussion can take place.
The public is indeed ignorant of the difference between the role of a professional “tourist guide” and a “tour leader / tour manager”. Tour operators do little to inform their guests about the difference and tourists therefore remain indifferent. A tour operator will state in its promotional material that a particular group will be guided by an “expert from the company,” or that the tour is “guided”. However, the person who guides the tour is not a professional tourist guide in any sense of the word, but rather a tour leader / tour manager. Some tour leaders take on the job because they get a discount on the tour price while others get paid a salary that is sometimes lower than the minimum wage in the country they work.
ETOA suggests that local tourist guides in some of Europe’s major cities do not engage with their guests and that they “simply go through the motions - because they are confident in a high financial reward irrespective of customer satisfaction”. First, tourist guides are seldom confident in high financial reward as they are mostly hired on a seasonal, haphazard, need-to-use basis. Their salaries are generally speaking much lower than salaries made by other professionals – a major reason gifted guides are forced to give up guiding for a job that pays the bills. Second, tourist guides are only as good as the last tour they delivered. Therefore tourist guides are very sensitive to customer satisfaction. Those who are not up to standard are soon replaced.
ETOA refers to Europe’s open market principle in connection with the tourist guide profession. ETOA confuses the Directive on professional qualifications (36/2005) with the Directive of freedom to provide services (123/2006). It goes without saying that these two directives are quite different and have different implications. Directive 36/2005 applies in countries where there’s law about the tourist guide profession (training, qualification, license, diploma). In the case of a regulated profession Directive 123/2006 clearly specifies that Directive 36/2005 about professional qualifications is superior to 123/2006.
In closing I would like to thank Tim Fairhurst, Head of Group Tourism ETOA, for acknowledging that “excellent local guides, committed to high standards of content and customer service deserve recognition and support”. Tourist guides worldwide would welcome such recognition from ETOA.
Stefan Helgi Valsson - professional tourist guide and tourist guide trainer in Iceland
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Definition Tourist Guide:
A person who guides visitors in the language of their choice and interprets the cultural and natural heritage of an area which person normally possesses an area-specific qualification usually issued and/or recognized by the appropriate authority.
This is distinct from a tour manager defined by CEN as follows:
Definition Tour Manager/Tour Director or Escort:
Person who manages an itinerary on behalf of the tour operator ensuring the program is carried out as described in the tour operator’s literature and sold to the traveler/consumer and who gives local practical information. A tour manager may or may not be a tourist guide as well. They are not trained nor licensed to work in specific areas unless they have the proper requirements or legal right, depending on the region.
On behalf of ETOA, I would like to respond to Stefan Helgi Valsson's remarks. Anyone who wishes to contact ETOA directly is welcome to do so at: office@ETOA.org
It is not at all in ETOA's interests to secure "a vast pool of untrained, unqualified and underpaid tour escorts to masquerade as tourist guides" as has been alleged.
ETOA supports quality and choice throughout the industry. What it rejects are restrictive practices where these are not in the consumers' interests. In this, it is very much aligned with the open-market principles of the EU.
If it is the case that tourists in Iceland are being misled by people holding themselves out as competent who in fact are not, this is a matter of concern and regret. ETOA would urge all consumers adversely affected to press the company from which they bought a tour or a service for an appropriate response if marketing materials have proven to be misleading. There are also national bodies (such as ABTA in the UK) who will support consumers in this.
ETOA firmly rejects the notion than Tour Operators "habitually capitalize on the public's ignorance." The travelling public is not ignorant. It has never been better informed. They can 'vote with their feet' and tour operators, like any other commercial organisation, depend on customer loyalty for success. Loyalty is not won through dishonesty. Europe as a destination depends on good quality and good value. Protectionism in tourism, as in other fields, puts off potential interest. Tour Operators are instrumental in marketing Europe, bringing business for all involved.
Where ETOA takes a strong position with regard to guiding is as follows: local guiding services should be able to compete on merit and not shelter within unnecessary legislative protection. Good guides will continue to be offered work, and there are many sorts of tourist and tour guiding services. These may range from day excursions conducted by locally qualified guides; museum or monument visits conducted by in-house guides; city tours conducted by city-guides; accompanying a tour over a period of days in one or more countries. Tour group members routinely say that their 'tour guide' is the person who accompanies them throughout their holiday; 'local guides' are contracted occasionally as the need arises.
ETOA rejects the notion that only locally-qualified guides are in a position to offer cultural information. It recognises that locally qualified guides can offer a distinctive and valuable contribution to the customers' experience, and encourages tour operators to use their services where appropriate. That said, it would respectfully suggest that such a qualification is, regretfully, by no means a guarantee of top-quality service.
One only needs to spend some time in some of Europe's major cities to see groups of disengaged and bored tourists trailing along after a local guide who is simply going through the motions, confident in a high financial reward irrespective of customer satisfaction. They are secure in the knowledge that, according to local legislation and enforcement practices, only they are allowed to provide guiding services in a given location. We trust that this situation does not pertain in Iceland , and wish the industry well as it performs such a key role in Iceland's economic revival. Excellent local guides, committed to high standards of content and customer service deserve recognition and support. The same is true of their colleagues throughout the industry.
ETOA has over 450 member organisations of all kinds, and continues to work with all stakeholders, the European Parliament and Commission, national and local tourist boards to promote Europe as a destination. We welcome dialogue with anyone involved in this essential industry. For more information, please visit: www.etoa.org or email: office@ETOA.org
Tim Fairhurst, Head of Group Tourism, ETOA.
The content of this piece is not news. It is propaganda from the European Tour Operator’s Association and should be read and understood as such.
ETOA wants to protect its own interest which is securing a vast pool of untrained, unqualified and underpaid tour escorts to masquerade as tourist guides.
Tour operators habitually capitalize on the public’s ignorance of the difference between a tour manager / tour escort on the one hand and tourist guide on the other.
The situation in Iceland, which I know best, can be described as disheartening for the travelling public and consumer’s rights in Europe.
Prospective visitors to Iceland are too often fooled to sign up for a tour thinking they will enjoy the services of a professional tourist guide.
Promotional material includes text such as “guided tour” but without mentioning that the person doing the guiding may not have been to the country before, does not speak the local language and may be uninformed about local history, customs and potential life threatening dangers.
Formal training for tourist guides began in Iceland in 1960.
Current visitors to the country receive up to 50 percent better value for their money, compared to same time last year, as a result of the economic crisis the country experienced last October.
The content of this piece is not news. It is propaganda from the European Tour Operator’s Association and should be read and understood as such.
ETOA wants to protect its own interest which is securing a vast pool of untrained, unqualified and underpaid tour escorts to masquerade as tourist guides.
Tour operators habitually capitalize on the public’s ignorance of the difference between a tour manager / tour escort on the one hand and tourist guide on the other.
The situation in Iceland, which I know best, can be described as disheartening for the travelling public and consumer’s rights in Europe. Prospective visitors to Iceland are too often fooled to sign up for a tour thinking they will enjoy the services of a professional tourist guide.
Promotional material includes text such as “guided tour” but without mentioning that the person doing the guiding may not have been to the country before, does not speak the local language and may be uninformed about local history, customs and potential life threatening dangers.
Formal training for tourist guides began in Iceland in 1960.
Current visitors to the country receive up to 50 percent better value for their money, compared to same time last year, as a result of the economic crisis the country experienced last October.
The content of this piece is not news. It is propaganda from the European Tour Operator’s Association and should be read and understood as such.
ETOA wants to protect its own interest which is securing a vast pool of untrained, unqualified and underpaid tour escorts to masquerade as tourist guides.
Tour operators habitually capitalize on the public’s ignorance of the difference between a tour manager / tour escort on the one hand and tourist guide on the other.
The situation in Iceland, which I know best, can be described as disheartening for the travelling public and consumer’s rights in Europe. Prospective visitors to Iceland are too often fooled to sign up for a tour thinking they will enjoy the services of a professional tourist guide.
Promotional material includes text such as “guided tour” but without mentioning that the person doing the guiding may not have been to the country before, does not speak the local language and may be uninformed about local history, customs and potential life threatening dangers.
Formal education of tourist guides in Iceland began in 1960.
Current visitors to the country receive up to 50 percent better value for their money, compared to same time last year, as a result of the economic crisis the country experienced last October.
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