THREAT TO THE BLUE BADGE?
A lot of hot air has been expended on the new Westminster Course which has been set up by City University in London and been opposed by many London guides who see it as a threat to the Blue Badge. Lucy McMurdo, tutor on the course, is also on the accreditation committee for the Institute of Tourist Guiding and so has a conflict of interest. At the last APTG meeting it was even suggested that we should refuse to renew our ITG subs as a protest at the continued existence of the course. It was even suggested that we should refuse to renew our ITG subs as a protest.
This, however, misunderstands the nature of both ITG and the guiding profession. Guiding is a semi-regulated profession. It is similar to many other professions in this respect - from medicine to taxi-driving. Doctors, who are heavily trained and fully qualified, are given responsibility for prescribing medicines and surgery, but people can set up as homeopathic healers with only a business card and a few theories. Likewise, to drive a black cab, you need to study for the Knowledge, but you can drive a minicab with nothing more than a driving licence and a battered five seater.
In some countries, such as Italy, guiding is so fiercely regulated that tour directors are fined for talking to their groups, even if it is just to point out where the loos are. This is almost facist and does little to protect local guides (who are rarely threatened by professional tour directors) and does a lot to offend tour groups who rely on their tds for practical help. In other countries, particularly in the third world, guiding is so unregulated that it is virtually impossible to visit a major site without some local acting as an unwanted and intrusive guide, which is a pain in the other direction.
In Britain anyone can read a couple of books about the east end, dress up in a top hat and offer Jack the Ripper walks for a fiver a head - and there is nothing a blue badge guide can do about it. Walking tours, tour directing and open top bus tours are largely unregulated because, well basically we live in a free country and it is impossible to regulate all human activity. However, the blue badge is the mark of someone who has taken the trouble to study London and its major sites and can be relied upon to know where the Parthenon Marbles are in the BM, how to get around the Tower, Westminster Abbey and St Pauls.
Tour operators know this and use the guide lists and websites to select and employ people who are qualified. I cannot imagine someone going to a tour op and being given the time of day if they say they have 'the Westminster Badge' which trains them for none of these things. Likewise there is a City of London course, which has existed for years and never been seen as a threat. It was even run by the late Katrine Prince - and no-one would have dared to criticise her...
This, however, misunderstands the nature of both ITG and the guiding profession. Guiding is a semi-regulated profession. It is similar to many other professions in this respect - from medicine to taxi-driving. Doctors, who are heavily trained and fully qualified, are given responsibility for prescribing medicines and surgery, but people can set up as homeopathic healers with only a business card and a few theories. Likewise, to drive a black cab, you need to study for the Knowledge, but you can drive a minicab with nothing more than a driving licence and a battered five seater.
In some countries, such as Italy, guiding is so fiercely regulated that tour directors are fined for talking to their groups, even if it is just to point out where the loos are. This is almost facist and does little to protect local guides (who are rarely threatened by professional tour directors) and does a lot to offend tour groups who rely on their tds for practical help. In other countries, particularly in the third world, guiding is so unregulated that it is virtually impossible to visit a major site without some local acting as an unwanted and intrusive guide, which is a pain in the other direction.
In Britain anyone can read a couple of books about the east end, dress up in a top hat and offer Jack the Ripper walks for a fiver a head - and there is nothing a blue badge guide can do about it. Walking tours, tour directing and open top bus tours are largely unregulated because, well basically we live in a free country and it is impossible to regulate all human activity. However, the blue badge is the mark of someone who has taken the trouble to study London and its major sites and can be relied upon to know where the Parthenon Marbles are in the BM, how to get around the Tower, Westminster Abbey and St Pauls.
Tour operators know this and use the guide lists and websites to select and employ people who are qualified. I cannot imagine someone going to a tour op and being given the time of day if they say they have 'the Westminster Badge' which trains them for none of these things. Likewise there is a City of London course, which has existed for years and never been seen as a threat. It was even run by the late Katrine Prince - and no-one would have dared to criticise her...
posted by tourguideddie at 1:26 AM
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