Prague is short for a guide without a license, stricter rules are not addressed
This is usually done through “free tours”, where nothing is paid in advance and only after the guide do these guides receive a voluntary contribution from the participants. But they often do not have sufficient knowledge or language skills. They usually do not undergo professional training.
Nevertheless, as guides they can earn well. This is made possible by the amendment to the Trade Licensing Act of 2008, according to which the guide activity changed from a trade tied to time off. Thus, no level of professional knowledge is set for its operation, it is sufficient to obtain only a trade license.
Licensed Prague guides from the Association of Guides of the Czech Republic do not like the current rules. “I am not directly affected by the free tour activity, as it is not usually offered in the German in which I accompany it. But we deal with it today and every day. For my tourists, there is no pleasant environment reminiscent of a marketplace, where so-called guides shout and shout. In addition, it happens to me that my tourists understand their interpretation and are offended by its content, “is angry guide Naděžda Wellerová.
No shift
Representatives of the association turned to the municipality again to solve the problem. But according to them, nothing has changed. Weller therefore addressed a letter to the Prague Councilor for Culture in January this year Jan Wolf (Trojkoalice / KDU-ČSL). According to him, the capital has no leverage to change the current situation.
“Our interest is to bring the guide back to the bound trade. We have already given several suggestions to Ministry of Regional Developmentbut there is no political will to change it yet. The city can’t do more, “says the councilor for culture.
He also says that Prague is also losing money due to free tours, as the city company Prague City Tourism also now offers guides.
The Ministry of Regional Development does not oppose the change in legislation, but is not currently actively working on it. “One of the solutions considered was and is the reclassification of guide activities among the tied trades. Another possibility is the introduction of a so-called protected title, ie a special designation of a guide who has met the qualification requirements. This would differentiate qualified guides from those who are not qualified, ”says Veronika Vároši, the director of the ministry’s communications department, who regulates the possibilities of regulation. According to her, however, it is necessary to evaluate the possible effects of these measures.
Okamura against regulation
According to Vároš, it is then necessary to discuss the proposals with Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is under the responsibility of the Trade Licensing Act. He has so far refused to amend the law. And the deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies sees the whole situation in the same way Tomio Okamura (SPD), which, as a representative of the Association of Czech Travel Agencies, offers to prepare amendments to the Trade Licensing Act of 2008.
“If the guide service becomes a tied trade again, it will have a number of negative effects, for example, this measure will apply only to the Czech guide, so foreign ones will benefit. Secondly, tourism in the Czech regions will be limited because there is a lack of local guides. And as a result, it will also make trips more expensive for Czech citizens abroad, “Okamura is convinced, adding that the association does not register any complaints from tourists about the quality of guides in Prague.
On the other hand, the chairwoman of the control committee of the Prague City Council Jaroslava Janderová of the opposition ODS is convinced that there is a simpler solution than a complex process of amending legislation.
It aims to create a city ordinance, according to which tourists in the Prague Monument Reserve included in the UNESCO licensed guides only.
“It seems to me that Councilor Wolf is more or less lax in this matter. Next week we have a control committee where I will present this problem again, “says Janderová, adding that the decree could be approved by the council this year. Councilor Wolf is certainly not so optimistic. In his opinion, the current legislation does not allow such a decree to be adopted.