Following 10 months of intense studying, research and exams, a total of 22 committed students have successfully passed the course to become the next generation of Blue Badge Tourist Guides.
The new Blue Badge Tourist Guides were presented with their official ‘Blue Badges’ and certificates at a presentation held at Liverpool Town Hall last night (Monday, 20 May), kindly hosted by Culture Liverpool and the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Sharon Sullivan.
They were joined at the event by Robert Hough, Chair of Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LCR LEP), and Tony Anderson, President of the Institute of Tourist Guiding.
The last training programme for Blue Badge Tourist Guides in Liverpool was 16 years ago, so the course proved popular with strong interest from people with a real passion for the destination.
The course was commissioned by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (Liverpool LEP), which encompasses Tourist Board, VisitLiverpool. A recruitment drive was launched last April, with the successful applicants starting to study in June. The group are aged between 26 and 72 – highlighting the appeal of guiding.
The Blue Badge is the internationally recognised benchmark of excellence in tourist guiding, which is accredited by the Institute of Tourist Guiding (ITG).
The course was led by Nicky Godfrey Evans from Cultural Tourism Training, and was part-funded by Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership through its European funding to develop the Visitor Economy.
During the evening, Special Awards were also presented to five of the newly qualified Guides who deserve specific recognition for certain parts of the course. They are as follow:
Special Prizes
Julie Kershaw, Guide Of The Year – one year’s Membership of VisitLiverpool, sponsored by VisitLiverpool;
Richard MacDonald, Coach Guide, sponsored by the Institute of Tourist Guiding (ITG);
Marie Passey, Walking Guide, sponsored by the Guild of Registered Tour Guides;
David Favager, Gallery Tour, sponsored by the Lady Lever Art Gallery;
Simone Peter, Cathedral Tour, sponsored by Liverpool Cathedral.
Pam Wilsher, Head of Visitor Economy Development at LCR LEP, commented: “I congratulate the next generation of Blue Badge Tourist Guides, who worked incredibly hard and have been fully committed over the last year to achieve their Blue Badges under Nicky’s watchful eye.
“This is the first time in 16 years that we have been able to offer the opportunity to gain a Blue Badge qualification, and we are delighted to welcome our new recruits into our family of 90 existing guides.
“Guides play a pivotal role in welcoming visitors to Liverpool City Region and are an important part of our £3.1billion Visitor Economy. I wish them every success with their new career, I am sure they will thoroughly enjoy showcasing our vibrant destination to the many visitors we welcome to the City Region.”
The detailed prospectus included an extensive range of topics covering history, architecture, geography, religion, culture, sport and the arts. The course also included site visits across the City Region to venues including historic houses and sites, visitor centres, and museums and galleries. There was also a strong focus on tour craft – the art of being a great guide as well as more practical considerations such as health and safety and working as a self-employed guide.
The Guides come from a variety of backgrounds and age groups, with some already working as Guides and others for whom it is a completely new business opportunity. They all have one thing in common – great enthusiasm to showcase the destination to visitors from across the globe.
Some of the Guides are now choosing to focus on niche areas of the Visitor Economy, such as the developing Waterfront; comedy tours; culture and architecture.
Already, a group of the new Guides have a big project lined-up. Twelve of the Guides are now working closely with staff at Liverpool John Moores University to enhance the student experience. They will be leading a guided walk of Liverpool City Centre for up to 120 students from South East Asia at the end of May. The students are staying in Liverpool for three months to study as part of a degree in Tourism, Hospitality and Leisure, and are mainly from Malaysia and Singapore.
Liverpool City Region’s Visitor Economy is estimated to support almost 43,300 jobs, and attracts 55 million visitors a year.