Tour guides finally able to return to work at Castel del Monte

After more than a month of tension, finally at Castel del Monte, Puglia’s main museum site, licensed tour guides can return to practice their profession. In fact, an unfortunate situation had arisen last July that was denounced by AGTA - Associazione Guide Turistiche Abilitate (Association of Licensed Tourist Guides): after the post-confinement reopening, a rule had been enforced at Castel del Monte that guided tours could only be conducted by the staff of the Nova Apulia company (the concessionaire of the Polo Museale Puglia). The management also called on the guides to observe “the rules of civil life, to respect their colleagues, to maintain a decent behavior marked by the principles of fairness, to respect the host monument, to refrain from any disturbance towards tourists, inside and outside the monument, also avoiding any form of illicit competition towards other guides.”

The situation was unblocked yesterday: the director of the museum pole of Apulia, Mariastella Margozzi, in agreement with Nova Apulia, in fact granted the possibility of authorizing the entry of licensed tour guides to allow them to carry out their professional activity inside the monument, obviously in compliance with anti-Covid regulations. A meeting between the parties held remotely last August 7 was decisive: the director of the museum pole, the director of Castel del Monte, and some professional associations participated. The warnings sent by several associations as well as the unity of purpose of the category, which moved in unison together with tour operators, tour operators, cultural associations and trade unions, were decisive.

“We hope that this victory,” AGTA comments with satisfaction, “will convince many more people of the importance and usefulness of national trade unions (at least some of them). Everyone choose the one that responds most to their ideas, but it is absurd to expect a very small percentage of the category to support the work of national associations whose results benefit everyone, however. It is a huge job for the associations that need more economic support and more Members to count more even at the political level.”

Satisfaction also from GTI-Italian Tourist Guides: “we take note,” the association comments, “of being able to resume work in Castel del Monte. And we are happy about it because it is right that it should be so.” But there is also a jarring note for GTI: “It is regrettable, however,” the association continues, “that in order to normalize the situation GTI had to resort to a warning to the Regional Directorate and subsequent reporting to AGCM for limitation of competition contrary to the Constitution and European principles on the subject.” GTI closes by pointing the finger at the fact that the museum pole of Puglia has decided to reopen the Castle to guides together with Nova Apulia: the association therefore wonders “how can the management of a state museum write that it has evaluated the application of the new provisions with a private concessionaire, Nova Apuleia, which has no power in decision-making on the management of a public asset.” Finally, from GTI also harsh words on the invitation, by the management of the museum pole, to respect the “rules of civil life”: “We remind the management,” GTI concludes, “that we have always fought abusiveness and we want to think that these invitations were not addressed to those who carry out the profession according to the law.”

Tour guides finally able to return to work at Castel del Monte

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