A seminar held by ITS aims at improving the future of tourist guiding

On the occassion of international tourist guide day, the Institute of Tourism Studies hosted a public half-day seminar with the aim of uniting licenced tourist guides and related stakeholders in order to discuss the state-of-play in this sector.

This seminar was addressed by five speakers namely from the Malta Tourism Authority, Malta Union of Tourist Guides, University of Malta and two ITS tour guiding students. This event was considered a success, with over 70 attendees, 24 of which were licensed tourist guides.

A newly licensed tour guide, who attended the event stated that “the talk was great! It was interesting to meet so many colleagues in one space; as well as prospective guides studying at ITS. The list of panel speakers highlighted the important areas in our industry and it would be great to have more talks like this in the future, especially with the draft tourism law on the horizon”.

Another attendee shared her appreciation for the talk by stating “fondest congratulations on a truly wellorganised event, which I sincerely think hit the nail on the head, as they say. I truly hope that your efforts will not be in vain for the good of our profession”.

Following the outcome and feedback of this event, ITS lecturers and management will be able to evaluate the strengths of the current programme of studies, that of the Higher National Diploma in Tourist Guiding as well as any possible improvements which may be implemented.

From the feedback received, this activity will also assist in understanding and monitoring the current needs of the guiding sector vis-à-vis the ever-growing tourism industry.