Germany has neither recognized job qualifications nor specific entry requirements for tour guides. In 1990, an expert group was commissioned by the tourism industry to develop a first ever tour-guiding certificate. The joint University of Bremen and Federal German Tourism Federation tour guiding certificate was initiated in 2001 as a result of this private self-help initiative. This practice-oriented proof of job qualification attests that a potential tour guide’s skills in relaying information to guests on visitor attractions, sights of interest, art, culture, history, geography and politics have been properly tested and examined along with their competence and skills in organisation, quality assurance and quality control, tourism knowledge and legal issues together with specialist tour guiding methodology and didactics. Tour operators now have, on the basis of this proof of job qualification, objective criteria to assist them in selecting and employing tour guides.
Core themes for proof of job qualification:
Admission requirements:
The tour guiding certificate examination is held once a year at the University of Applied Sciences Bremen. Successful candidates receive a certificate of qualification and tour guide identification.
Claudia Schnackerz
Phone: +49 221 91 27 72 16
Facsimile: +49 221 12 47 88
E-mail: akademie@rda.de
