Illegal guiding

I have been following the recent controversy about "Guiding" in Malta. I have kept silent about the issue as I did not want in any way to hurt the feelings of our serious licensed guides who earn their bread and butter through the exercise of their profession and for whom I have great respect.

Ms Nadine Tomasuolo's contribution "Illegal Guiding" (The Times, October 12) has forced me, as the owner and director of a language school, to break my silence and to clear some of her sweeping statements reflected in her letter.

We all agree that the Tourist Guide Services Act No. XLVI of 1965 should protect the interests of all concerned in this industry, however, it is also fair to state that this Act is outdated.

In 1965 there were no language schools for foreigners wishing to learn English in Malta.

In fact Malta was just emerging out of her independence in 1964, almost half a century ago!

Ms Tomasuolo wrote in terms of an outdated Act, in the spirit and mentality which is just as old. Her arguments are supported by unfair statements. Ms Tomasuolo has omitted to explain to your readers that the law does not stipulate the daily remuneration of licensed guides.

Readers should know also that licensed guides charge Lm25 for a full day tour, plus tips. They also insist on 15 per cent commission from retailers on goods sold to tourists who are solicited to pay specific visits to certain shops while on their guided tour. Thus, the total earnings of a licensed guide could amount to over Lm60 per day.

In one particular case, I witnessed the counting of all tips received from a group of tourists amounting to Lm45. Some guides even share the tips given to coach drivers at the end of the tour.

Almost all foreign students come to Malta mostly during the summer months, not only to follow TEFL courses but also to experience the Maltese way of life as well as to learn more about our culture and history.

This is part and parcel of their prepaid "package deal" which their parents pay to their local organisations abroad whom we represent.

Ms Tomasuolo has omitted to state that most of this money goes to the Inland Revenue, airlines, drivers, host families, teachers, leisure outlets and above all, to licensed guides.

Indeed, we operate at a profit, but our profit is exposed to great risks of lack of payments from abroad, especially when a firm goes bankrupt. One may ask Ms Tomasuolo what percentage of our profit did she have in mind?

We are not in a position to employ even a handful of licensed guides for several obvious reasons. We cannot secure their services even when we need them.

When asked, they simply state that they are contracted by tour operators most of the time. Their services are too expensive to secure, since we have to take the same group on tour six days a week. They are of no help in fulfilling our obligations towards our agents abroad. Their job is just guiding!

It appears that Ms Tomasuolo fails to understand the essential role of a language school. Foreign students are in their great majority minors. A language school is fully responsible for their welfare whether they are in class or elsewhere. It is also directly responsible to its partners abroad to whom the parents entrust their children.

Should anything happen to our students to the negligence of our contracted obligations, our head is at stake, and certainly not that of the licensed tourist guide.

It is for this very reason that we employ our own couriers over 18 years of age, whom Ms Tomasuolo defines as "unauthorised persons". They are to accompany our students not only on tour but also during all evening activities.

The couriers' obligations are to ensure that the children behave properly during their tour, do not cause damage to other people's property, do not get lost, that they all return to their respective coach and are dropped off at the right point near their host family in different towns and villages.

In case of an emergency, they are also responsible to call a doctor and to assist the student to a hospital or nearby pharmacy. A licensed tourist guide does not have such obligations and most of them do not simply care. On the contrary, our couriers are fully authorised to take any action which they deem necessary.

We sell our products and services under the caption of a "linguistic stay". Most of our foreign agents demand cultural and historical visits to places of interests. These visits are to be conducted as "ongoing out-of-class activities" as part of the linguistic stay.

Teachers at language schools are approved by the monitoring board of the education department and must have an "A Level" in English and TEFL Certificate Induction Course.

A licensed guide may not have these qualifications. Consequently, it may follow that what a teacher strives to achieve during his class performance in the communicative language, grammar construction, vocabulary and language skills may be serously undone by the unqualified licensed tourist guide who does not happen to know the difference in use of the simple past and and present perfect tense.

Language schools are a "sacred niche" to the Maltese economy. Let us be thankful and grateful to the language school industry for its efforts and contribution to our economy especially during the last summer season when tourism in Malta was at a low ebb. We are all law-abiding people.

It is for this reason that the outdated Tourist Guide Service Act of 1965 should be updated in view of Malta's immediate attempt to become a member state of the European Union.