News | T-Guide

More Than 100 Tourist Guides in Europe Now Have T-Guide Accreditation!

Ivor Ambrose — Sun, 23 Feb 2020 17:19:00 GMT

More than 100 professional tourist guides in Europe have been accredited by FEG and ENAT as qualified "T-Guides", who are trained to guide persons with learning difficulties at heritage sites and in museums.

T-Guide trainers and tourist guides at a training session in Crete. (Photo FEG).

Since the course was launched in 2016, 101 tourist guides from 14 countries have received a certificate from the specialist Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme offered by FEG, the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and ENAT.

Cover of "Easy-Reading" Museum Guide prepared by T-Guide, Smaro Touloupa.

The T-Guide course aims to equip tourist guides with the knowledge, skills and competences to ensure a pleasant and rewarding experience for visitors who may not otherwise get the chance to visit museums and other heritage sites.

T-Guides are trained to guide visitors who may be neurodiverse, have early-stage dementia, learning difficuties, Downs syndrome or other conditions that require particular consideration when organising and carrying out guided tours.

Training includes an e-Learning course, self-study, two days of face-to-face instruction/workshops and a practical exercise - organising, carrying out and documenting a guided tour with a group of visitors, including persons in the target group(s) and their friends or carers.

For more information:

Visit the T-Guide website.

Find an accredited T-Guide for your next guided tour.

Contact FEG Secretariat for further details about Continuing Professional Development courses for qualified tourist guides.

Email: t-guide@feg-touristguides.org

T-Guide Shortlisted For the Zero Project Awards 2020

Ivor Ambrose — Mon, 14 Oct 2019 22:42:00 GMT

The T-Guide training course for professional Tourist Guides was shortlisted for the prestigious Zero Project Awards 2020. This year's awards are given for projects addressing the topic of Education for people with disabilities. From an incredible 469 nominations, 169 Practices and 24 Policies have made it through to the Shortlist. All shortlisted projects will be invited to attend the Zero Project Conference 2020 at the United Nations Offices in Vienna, Austria.

The T-Guide training course for professional Tourist Guides, presented by FEG - The European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations - was shortlisted for the prestigious Zero Project Awards 2020.

This year's awards are given for projects addressing the topic of Education for people with disabilities.

From an incredible 469 nominations, 169 Practices and 24 Policies have made it through to the Shortlist.

All shortlisted projects will be invited to attend the Zero Project Conference 2020 at the United Nations Offices in Vienna, Austria.

Further information:

List of Certified T-Guides

Call for nominations to the Zero Project Awards 2019

T-Guide Conference Presents New Training Programme for Tourist Guides

Ivor Ambrose — Wed, 13 May 2015 06:38:17 GMT

The results of the EU funded Lifelong Learning project, T-GuIDE, were presented at a conference in Brussels on 31 March 2015, hosted by the Flemish Regional Government and Flemish Accessibility Agency.

Photo: T-GuIDE Coordinator Lorenzo Scirocco (left) and FEG President Carlos Ortega (right).

The final project meeting and T-Guide Conference took place in Brussels at the end of March 2015.

Both events were generously hosted at the Flemish Government Buildings, under the auspices of the new Flemish Agency for Accessibility, Director Ms. Mieke Broeders.

Over 50 participants, including tourist guides, destination managers, public officials and tourism professionals, attended the Conference, chaired by Ms. Broeders.

The audience of tourist guides, destination managers and tourism professionals was given an overview of the new training course's components and an introduction to the subject of tourist guiding for visitors with intellectual disabilities or learning difficulties.

To download the conference speeches and slide presentations, visit the Conference Webpage.

Watch the T-GuIDE Video for a general overview of the project on improving tourist guide's abilities to guide clients with learning difficulties and/or intellectual disabilities. (16 minutes).

T-GuIDE Meeting Testing Phase I Granada, Spain 3rd & 4th June 2014

Eleni Strati — Fri, 30 May 2014 11:47:22 GMT

The EU Leonardo “T-GuIDE” project is reaching one of its most important milestones in holding the first meeting which will test the core products currently under development. The meeting is hosted by the partner organization Fundación Pública El Legado Andalusí, on 3rd and 4th June, in Granada, Spain, where experts from the consortium will welcome nine professional tourist guides to discuss and evaluate what will eventually form an EU Training Model and Manual for Training Tourist Guides in guiding people who have learning difficulties or other intellectual disabilities

A pilot Competence Manual has been built according to occupational standards of excellence and the European Quality framework, led by the partner organization Minster Development Centre Ltd, so as to provide an occupational benchmark for professional tourist guides.

In addition, a pilot Training Manual, with guidelines and hands-on techniques for managing guided tours for people with intellectual disabilities and a professional/ self- development toolkit, has been produced by the partner organization FEG- the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and a number of experts who are already competent in this area.

Both manuals have been developed through a series of focus groups, interviews and surveys which have involved a great number of professionals and providers in the tourism industry, as well as organizations and associations working towards social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities. More detailed information about the results of the surveys are available here.

At the Granada meeting the tourist guides will be asked to give their ideas on the types of content and issues which might be useful and interesting to learn via an e-learning tool, developed by the partner organization ENAT- the European Network for Accessible Tourism, which will present part of the T-GuIDE training package.

The e-learning tool will be hosted on the website www.accesstraining.eu which currently offers an Introductory Course in Accessible Tourism for business managers and staff who work in the tourism and hospitality sector.

The outcomes of the testing phase I, will feed into the refinement of the working manuals and the online tool, which will be further evaluated in a second testing meeting to be held in Latvia in September 2014.

Lifelong Learning Programme

The T-GuIDE project is supported through the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme, "Leonardo da Vinci", Transfer of Innovation. Agreement number: 527776-LLP-1-2012-1-IT-LEONARDO-LMP.

T-GuIDE is conducted under the supervision of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

T-GuIDE Survey Results

Eleni Strati — Fri, 30 May 2014 11:37:00 GMT

In accordance with the Leonardo “T-GuIDE” project’s aim to produce a training package for tourist guides in guiding people with learning difficulties or/and intellectual disabilities, the partnership has examined the current state of the art in this field and has engaged with stakeholders to identify the most critical issues and training needs to be addressed. The results of three online surveys have thus fed into the production of a Competence Manual and a Training Manual which will be piloted and evaluated by professional qualified tourist guides from various EU countries in two phases in summer 2014.

Three different surveys were used in order to gather the different perspectives of tourism providers, visitors and tourist guides, respectively on the experience of guiding people with learning difficulties or/and intellectual disabilities.

The large response by 152 tourist guides was particularly impressive and encouraging. The two other surveys remain open until 30^th September 2014 so as to include more views and experiences of visitors and tourism providers which will be used to validate the final training products. The surveys are available on http://www.t-guide.eu/?i=t-guide.en.surveys

The perspective of Tourism Providers

The majority of the respondents already provided tourist services to customers with disabilities, including guided tours to people with learning difficulties or/ and intellectual disabilities (78%). Reports on perceived barriers showed varied levels of awareness of cross- disability accessibility standards, from little knowledge to some understanding of access requirements such as providing information in alternative formats or assisting visitors when finding their way through a venue or attraction.

All of the respondents (100%) reported that they already employ/ contract, or would like to employ tourist guides who are already trained in this field. Another important finding is that providers tend to view such services as part of their mainstream service provision, which goes hand in hand with mainstreaming accessible tourism provision and increasing social inclusion.

The perspective of Visitors

Most of the participants in this survey included people working in disability support organizations as well as travel companions or family/friends who support people with learning difficulties or/and intellectual disabilities when traveling. This group clearly expressed (100%) that the ability to travel and participate in leisure and culture activities is of great significance, heightening the need for increased service provision in these respects.

The respondents identified a range of barriers in their experience of guided tours, which related to the accessibility of venues, but also importantly to the way a tour was delivered, in terms of pace of speech, terminology and explanations used, room for questions and interaction allowed, all of which influenced visitors’ satisfactionwith a tour.

That group of respondents was quite naturally in the position to suggest useful ideas that would make a tour more friendly and accessible to people with learning disabilities, such as a respectful and warm attitude towards visitors, use of easy to understand language, interactive presentations and awareness of access barriers. All respondents (100%) said that they would be more likely to choose a tour if they knew that the tourist guide had been trained to lead a group including people with intellectual disabilities or learning difficulties.

The perspective of Tourist Guides

The great majority of the 152 respondents were certified tourist guides, actively working in the field and interested in career development opportunities. Half of them had some experience in guiding groups of people with learning difficulties or intellectual disabilities, however only 30% of them currently offered such service.

Issues reported based on their experience of guiding people with learning difficulties or/and intellectual disabilities had to do with the preparation of such a tour, such as checking the accessibility of a venue in advance, the management of the group and catering for different needs and preferences, but also importantly their own attitudes and reflection that it may be hard to change conventional practice to accommodate differentiated needs.

Finally, most tourist guides believed that special training should be offered in this area, and expressed their interest to follow such a course, so as to gain relevant competences and skills, hands-on techniques and awareness of barriers, while there was a view that these should be offered in a high-standard certification framework. The T-GuIDE project very much aims to meet this expectation.

Lifelong Learning Programme

The T-GuIDE project is supported through the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme, "Leonardo da Vinci", Transfer of Innovation. Agreement number: 527776-LLP-1-2012-1-IT-LEONARDO-LMP.

T-GuIDE is conducted under the supervision of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Public consultation on a “European Area of Skills and Qualifications”

Ivor Ambrose — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 06:55:03 GMT

The objective of the consultation is to collect the views of stakeholders on the problems faced by learners and workers with regard to the transparency and recognition of their skills and qualifications when moving within and between EU Member States, on the adequacy of the related European policies and instruments and on the potential benefits of developing a “European Area of Skills and Qualifications”.

Period of consultation: From 17.12.2013 to 15.04.2014

Policy field: Education

Target groups: All stakeholders and individuals are welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from stakeholders interested in or affected by policies and tools on recognition and transparency of skills and qualifications, including learners and workers, governmental bodies, education and training institutions, employers, federations of employers, trade unions, public and private employment services, chambers of industry, commerce and skilled crafts, qualification authorities, guidance services, youth and youth work organisations, voluntary sector organisations, experts.

Objective of the consultation

The consultation addresses in particular the following issues:

How to place a stronger focus on higher and more relevant skills?
Further strengthening links between education/training, mobility and the labour market
Adapting to internationalisation trends
Ensuring overall coherence of tools and policies and further implementing the learning outcomes approach
Ensuring clarity of rules and procedures for the recognition of skills and qualifications for further learning
Increasing the focus on quality assurance
Providing learners and workers with a single access point to obtain information and services supporting a European area of skills and qualifications

How to submit your contribution

Online Consultation Form: http://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/EASQsurvey2013

For further details and background document, visit the Consultation webpage

Download the consultation document in PDF format from the right hand panel.

Period of consultation: From 17.12.2013 to 15.04.2014

"T-Guide" Surveys Launched on Improving Tourist Guiding for Visitors with Learning Difficulties

Ivor Ambrose — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 23:37:00 GMT

Three short surveys have been launched by the T-Guide project to gather views and experiences from tourism providers, visitors and their families and support organisations as well as tourist guides and potential trainees. Please share your views and experiences with us to improve training in this field for tourist guides.

Photo. Tourist Guide at Delphi, Greece. (FEG)
Enjoying travel and tourism is not always easy for people with intellectual and learning difficulties and their families.

In response to this challenge, FEG - the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and partners from the tourism and disability sectors have started a training initiative, “T-Guide”, supported by the European Lifelong Learning Programme.

The aim of the T-Guide Project is to produce a training manual and course to help professional tourist guides acquire the skills that can help them give this group of tourists a better experience and understanding of Europe’s cultural, historical and natural heritage.

Three short surveys have been launched by the T-Guide project team to gather views and experiences from:

tourism providers,
visitors and their families and support organisations, and
tourist guides and potential trainees.

Each survey takes only 5 to 10 minutes to answer. Anyone with some experience, knowledge or interest in this subject is kindly asked to choose one of the surveys and fill out the online form.

Information from the surveys will be used to develop a training manual and materials which will then be tested with tourist guides from European countries.

The three surveys can be found online at the T-Guide Surveys page.
Please give your answers by 28th February 2014.