Tour guides protest, national demonstration tomorrow in Florence

Tour guides from all over Italy have gathered tomorrow in Florence, from 2 to 6 p.m., in front of Palazzo Panciatichi, the seat of the Regional Council of Tuscany, to protest the illegitimacy of the practice of courses for qualification to the profession of Tour Guide still in place in Tuscany but which risk spreading to all other regions. Access to the profession should in fact be regulated by a state exam, and the associations and unions organizing the protest are questioning what are the reference laws on the basis of which the Tuscany Region continues to authorize qualifying courses and exams.

The demonstration is promoted by ANGT - National Association of Tourist Guides, FILCAMS CGIL National, FLAICA CUB National and UIL TUCS National and has been joined by many of trade associations. "We express our strong opposition to training courses qualifying the profession of National Tourist Guide run by private entities, which moreover have already demonstrated their total failure in form and content. The profession cannot be prey to private interests,“ state the organizers of the event. ”We are convinced of the need to activate serious and rigorous university pathways. We say enough is enough to the phenomenon of ’Title Shopping’ and ’Habilitative Commuting’ i.e. qualifying as a Tourist Guide in Tuscany, with private and expensive training courses based on provincial training paths, and then practicing the profession all over Italy, pe rf even in the Vatican, without the skills and knowledge of cultural heritage ever being verified. It is unacceptable that the havoc of the qualifying training courses is even remedied by the agreement that the state and regions intend to sign."

The organizers believe that only serious and rigorous public examinations can qualify quality professionals, and as a result, professional tour guides are believed to be the only ones who can offer quality services to tourists in a competent and professional manner.The hope is that the president of Tuscany, Enrico Rossi, and the councilors responsible for the subject, Cristina Grieco and Stefano Ciuoffo, can initiate a confrontation.

Image: Panciatichi Palace. Ph. Credit

Tour guides protest, national demonstration tomorrow in Florence

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