Regulated or Unregulated Trade of Tourist Guides?

Abstract

The classification of tourist guiding as an unregulated trade fully complies with European Directive on services in the Internal Market and with the principle of freedom to provide services. There are some states that may have no regulations at all, other states, on the other hand prescribe needed qualifications for guiding. The most significant argument for maintaining this business is the quality of services that can be delivered only by a certified tourist guide. The aim of this study was to determine if trained certified tourist guides have a statistically significant impact on a number of visitors and play a role in generating income from tourism. The graphical analysis method and the subsequent statistical analysis of variables used in this study have demonstrated that there is no significant dependence among issued permits, the number of tourists and turnover in tourism. If the European market is to be truly liberalized, efficient and competitive, it is important to start with the burdensome elimination of “artificial barriers“ in service provision wherever possible.

Keywords

• services in the internal market
• tourist guide
• regulated trade
• licenses