What Standard/s can a tourist guide be certified to?

[JaneB]

I received this query from Tina, which I'm posting on her behalf. I'll point her to this site.

I am studying the ISO quality management standards, because I would like to implement them in my line of work, and I have a few questions regarding their applications. I am a self employed tourist guide from Slovenia (EU) and I would like to know, if it is possible, to get the ISO quality certification for a tourist guide. Would it be possible to get the certification also for guides, that are not self employed?

Which standard would be most usefull and how much would it cost me, to get and keep this standard on the annual basis. I have read the internet page about the costs, but it is very difficult to put an exact assesment on the costs, because I am not exactly sure, which standard would be the most suited.
I would also like to know, what do I get for the money I put in ( a certificate, that I must validate on the annual base?, a place in the register? in how many countries this cartificate is valid?,...)

Working as a tourist guide, I have not been able to find a suitable ISO standard for tourist guides, but generaly I think, that in our line of work ISO TC 176 is the best suited. Subdivisions of the quality management and quality assurance are: ISO 9001:2008 requrements, ISO 100001:2007 costumer satisfaction - guidelines for codes of conduct for organizations, ISO 10003:2007 costumer satisfaction - Guidelines for dispute resolution external to the organisation, ISO 10002:2004 - costumer satisfaction - Guidelines for complaints handling in organization, ISO 10015:1999 quality management - guidelines for training.

So if I want to to get certified as a guide with the certificate of quality, do I have to get and follow all of the above mentioned standards?

 

[JaneB]

Tina,

I've posted your query here because I think you might find this forum helpful. Hope you do. In brief:

1. Yes you can get certified.
2. No, NOT to TC176! That?s a technical committee, not a Standard
3. Probably the most suitable standard would be ISO 9001. You do need to distinguish between Standards you CAN get certified to (such as ISO 9001: 2008) and those you cannot (eg, ISO 100001 etc).

Congratulations on your good research.

 

[harry]

Welcome to the Cove, Tina.

Some personal thoughts which you may want to consider:

1. Tourism is a product. I would imagine that product knowledge is far more important than anything else including ISO certification that is not product related.

2. I know that some countries have strict tourist guide licensing requirements plus advance courses for their people whereas it could be very basic for others. Quality aspects related to the tourist guide trade is usually part of such a course & related test.

3. Having said these, it is still your choice - perhaps there isn't a well developed licensing system in your country and you would like to see if a certification to something like ISO 9001 can help. It certainly will but be prepared to put in a lot of effort to reap the benefits.

 

[John Broomfield]

Tina,

As a sole proprietor you can develop your company management system so your use and improvement of your system assures the quality of your tourist guide services and it conforms to ISO 9001.

This fact may benefit your business but not impress your customers though. Find out what certifications your corporate customers would like to favor your services.

Do you already belong to a tourist guide association recognized by the FEG? I note, unfortunately, that the Slovenia website is not currently working:

http://www.feg-touristguides.com/links/73.html

In Slovenia, it looks as if you would be a trailblazer in obtaining personal certification as a guide (the organization that certifies you should conform to ISO 17024 for certifying personnel).

Should you decide instead or as well to certify your management system then ensure the certification body is accredited to ISO 17021 and is accredited for tourism.

I hope this helps with your research.

John

 

[Murphys Law]

Tina - If I saw you had this, I would be put off by it.

What I want out of a tour guide is somebody who is fun, entertaining and knows their local stuff.

Don't bother with this bureaucratic claptrap : Spend your time writing articles on web that draw people to you business. Don't give all your secrets away, just enough for them to be curious enough to want to hire you. Something like "10 secret places that we locals don't tell tourists".