REGULATION Rules

Annual general meeting of the Association of Professional Tourist Guides today which I attended (most of). It is always a good occasion to discuss matter of concern to the profession and guides usually have plenty to say (too much quite often).
We adopted a document 'APTG 2010 - The year Ahead' which sets out our policies. I did not in the end vote against it but I have a lot of reservations about the last paragraph which states that APTG will pursue the policy of Regulation in guiding. I objected that this might mean police officers arresting people for guiding without a qualification which seems to me a horrendous outcome.
A few years ago I took my daughter Julia on a guided walk of Beatles London, across Abbey Road, down Saville row (where they played their last concert) etc. It was fun and quite informative if not a major intellectual experience. The guide, who is a Beatles specialist (bit of an anorak actually), is not badged so this policy would drive him out of work and lead him open to arrest. The publicity for BBGs would be terrible because he would not go quietly and would probably appeal to the courts and through the media. "Driven out of a job I love and have been doing for years by those nasty BBGs!" Sob, sob.
What we do is talk to people, not brain surgery, not dealing with high finance, not anything that the law needs to be involved with. Freedom of speech is too important to compromised like this. Don't go there, guys...

2012 A BIG TOURISM OP

Colleague and friend Victoria Herriot said today that the 2012 Olympics would represent the best opportunity for tourism in her career. Like me she has been a guide for quite a while and does a few other tourism related things (including keeping horses which I am familiar with). We were on the last day of Sally Empson's 2012 course preparing for the Olympics and vic took us on a trip around Canary wharf, Woolwich (shooting) and Greenwich (where the horsey things will happen). I rarey venture there these days and I have, to my shame, to admit that I have never been to the Woolwich Arsenal where the Firepower military musem is found.
It was a great day and, although I am not always entirely comfortable with the atmosphere at these events being a little out of the guiding London loop, it was good to see old friends and even have a pint of real ale at lunchtime.
As far as work is concerned it remains to be seen whether anything much will materialise. with 100 guides on the course and more having already run or set to run, there will be a lot of guides with 2012 in their endorsement/qualification listings, but whether their will be plenty of tourist specifically needing guides with this skill remains a debatable point. A new qualification cannot do any harm. Whether it will do much (financial) good remains to be seen...