Guides of Bolzano
The Association of Tourist Guides of Bolzano does not carry out any commercial activity, does not collect any guide fees or commissions, does not issue any invoices, it merely provides a platform on which the members, all independent small businesses, can present themselves with a uniform image. The association has a partnership with the city's tourist office and runs the fixed weekly tour programme. All members have professional indemnity insurance, are registered in the official list of tourist guides at the South Tyrol Tourist Office and carry an official ID card with a photo when working.
Aim of the association
The association pursues civil service, solidarity and charitable goals without the intention of making a profit. The aim of the association is to also provide training and continuous further education in order to raise the standard of guided tours to an ever higher level. Furthermore, to protect and enhance the profession of tourist guide and tour leader and to represent it in public.
A law regulates the profession
Tour guides and tourist guides are two different professions, the prerequisite for practising the profession is passing an examination before a provincial commission and registration in the professional register of the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol. The profession is defined and regulated by the provincial law of 5 December 2012, no. 21.
A tourist guide is anyone who professionally accompanies individuals or groups of people on visits to works of art, museums, exhibitions, parks, art galleries and archaeological sites as well as on tourist tours, explaining the sights with regard to history, art, monument protection, landscape and nature.
A tour guide is a person who professionally accompanies individuals or groups of people on trips inland and abroad, ensures that the tour operator's travel programmes are carried out and that the necessary services are provided for the entire duration of the trip, and also provides basic information of interest to tourists about the areas visited, insofar as this does not fall within the area of responsibility of tourist guides in accordance with paragraph 1 of the relevant law.
The job description
Tourist guides and tour leaders are professional service providers in the tourism industry and at the same time representatives of their cities and landscapes. As ambassadors of the province, they contribute to image building, they significantly shape the guest's impression of their destination and motivate them to stay or return. Qualified tour guides are important advertisers for South Tyrol and very important for the tourism business, thus making a significant contribution to the promotion of tourism. They provide information about the past and present, explain and enhance the cultural and natural monuments and are committed to sustainability.
