8th World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations Convention 1999

Hong Kong 1st-5th February 1999

Report by APTG Representative Jenny Townsend

A DELEGATES MEETING preceded the main convention at the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel. Countries who sent delegates were:

Australia, Austria, Canada, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Namibia, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, UK and USA. Iceland and Denmark had a proxy vote.

During the Delegates Meeting, new members APTG, the Scottish Association of Tourist Guides, Morocco and Namibia were formally welcomed to the World Federation.
The President of the World Federation, Ms Titina Loizides gave her report on the activities and achievements of the Federation over the last two years. The Treasurer and the Secretary also read their reports at the Delegates Meeting.

THE MAIN ACHIEVEMENT of the Federation over the last two years has been the setting up and continuation of a training course for guide trainers, Training the Trainers. Participants from 15 countries have taken a course spread over the last two years. The course started in Canada during the last convention and continued in January 1998 in Cyprus; candidates took the final part of the course during the Hong Kong Convention. The trainers are Iris Barry and Ros Hutchinson MBE.
Fourteen candidates successfully passed the course and were awarded a World Trainer Certificate. The World Federation now has a pool of trainers who, when required, could be sent to parts of the world to advise and assist in training guides and help to establish standards as laid down by the World Federation. Negotiations are currently underway for a permanent Training Centre for Guide Trainers in Cyprus.

THE DELEGATES MEETING culminated in the voting of the new Executive Board. After six years as President, Titina Loizides stepped down and:

• Deborah Androus-Polster of the USA was voted in as President.
• Elizabeth Schröder of Austria was voted Vice President,
• Koula Vassiliou of Cyprus remains Treasurer and
• Jenny Oulton of the Guild was voted in unanimously as Secretary.

The Board drinks a toast to the departing President at the Gala Dinner.
From left to right: Gunilla Astrom Jansson (Executive Board), Koula Vassiliou, Titina's husband, Titina Loizides, Elizabeth Schröder (in white skirt), Marion Stockley (Executive Secretary, in black & red), Deborah Androus-Polster (on microphone)

The bid for the next World Federation Convention in 2001 was won by Israel, where the First World Federation Convention was held in 1987.

The Convention 1st-5th February 1999

206 participants from 26 different countries, with 52 participants from USA!

THE OFFICIAL OPENING ceremony of the Convention was quite spectacular with the Chinese Lion Dance and a slick audio-visual presentation on Hong Kong. The impressive welcoming committee included members of the Hong Kong Government and the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourist Association, Mrs Amy Chan. Mrs Chan stressed the importance of tourism to Hong Kong: 52% of tourists are return visitors and 10% of the population of Hong Kong is employed in tourism. Hong Kong is suffering from a downturn in visitor numbers (down 8% in 1998), so a world-wide campaign has been launched to re-stimulate interest under the slogan, Hong Kong City of Life. A new Commissioner for Tourism is also to be appointed soon.

The hosts were the Hong Kong Association of Registered Tour Co ordinators (HARTCO), who are celebrating their 15th anniversary and who subsidised the Convention by 1 million Hong Kong dollars. HARTCO were excellent hosts and ran the Convention extremely efficiently. It was clear that there was plenty of sponsorship and the Convention was supported by the Tourist Authority and the local government. With the convention officially open, the programmes of lectures, workshops, tours and visits began.

Mr Johnny Lee, Chairman of HARTCO

• The Lectures
• The Workshops
• International Day of the Guide 2000
• Beyond the Hotel: Tours and Visits

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