Crucial Thoughts and Views of the New Tourist Guides Training System in Greece

Abstract

Tourism, as a multifaceted social phenomenon, involves a multitude of activities in order to be provided as a service.In the tourism industry, the tourist guide profession occupies a very important position.The role of the tourist guide historically refers to the Grand Tour of the 18th and 19th centuries (Lambert, 1935;Hilbert, 1969;Brodsky-Porges, 1981;Cohen, 1985).Despite the apparent simplicity of the term, the concept of "guiding" is quite complex.According to the Oxford English Dictionary, 1933: IV-490, "Guide" is "...the person who leads or shows the way, and especially to a traveler in a foreign country.Guide is also someone, who is hired to guide a traveler or tourist (e.g. to a mountain, through a forest, or a city or into a building) and to point out places of interest".According to the European Federation of Tourist Guides Associations (EFTGA) Tourist guide is "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 recognised by the appropriate authority" (EFTGA, 2019; WFTGA, 2012).The role of the modern tourist guide is related to the different social roles (Cohen, 1985: 6) he is expected to perform.Thus, the tourist guide plays both the role of the "pathfinder" mentioned in the first interpretation and the role of the "mentor" mentioned in the second interpretation of the term.Abstract: Tourism, as a multifaceted social phenomenon, involves a multitude of activities in order to be provided it as a service.The tourist guide profession occupies an important place in the tourism industry.The tourist guide's role is associated with a variety of different social roles such as a guide and "mediator", an intermediate as well as a "cultural intercessor" and an "ambassador".For this reason, the tour guide profession requires a high level of qualification in order to guarantee the quality of the services provided and serve the public interest.For this reason, practicing the tourist guide's profession requires special training.Indeed, the European Committee for Standardization considers the guide's occupation as a 'local specialization profession'.Until the year 2012, tourist guides training in Greece was provided free after the completion of a 2.5 years attendance at the tourist guide schools of the Greek Ministry of Tourism.The system was deregulated in 2012, when a new law interrupted the function of the tourist guides schools and enabled university graduates to follow fast-track training programs of 2.5 months to become licensed tourist guides.Since 2013, when the training programs commenced, a total of 12 programs have been completed and 411 participants have successfully graduated.This deregulation has been criticized toughly by older tourist guides, tourism professionals and trade unions.In 2017, the fast-track programs ended and the Athens Tourist School reopened, with some structural changes.The purpose of the present research is to investigate the views of the tourist guides on the adequacy of their studies based on the high-speed system of tourism education and on the prevailing system of the Tourist Guides School, their opinion on the institutional framework of the profession and the working conditions and problems they face.

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