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wenches outside John Knox’s House and by two costumed characters having a ‘set to’ outside St Giles, while further down the Royal Mile Deacon Brodie was pontificating.
They were all guides taking part in a showcase for their talents on a walk down the Royal Mile to the new Scottish Parliament. Organised by Anne Doig and the Edinburgh committee, who also managed to secure sponsorship from Virgin Trains and MacDonald Hotels, the event attracted almost 40 agents including JAC Travel, ScotWorld and Travel Scotland. Another International Day of Guiding event that grabbed headlines was in 2004 when 15 guides accompanied 36 people who had little or no sight on a two and half hour tour of Glasgow including the cathedral.
By 2001 the booking service was now established in Stirling and in March that year Dot Wylie joined the STGA office team as full time booking secretary. Dot, who was brought up in Paisley, had worked in the tourism industry for many years.
In 2002 the STGA received a grant from Scottish Enterprise for the development of its website. The internet was growing fast and becoming more sophisticated by the day.
With the grant the website was upgraded with the addition of language pages, a members’ forum and the inclusion of new photographs. The second stage in the development of the website administration systems was completed in 2005 which enabled guides to register their availability on line providing an improved booking system for customers. By 2008 a new website was being built by a company called Radiator based in Glasgow. The front end was being built for free and £7280 costs were for the new administration system which was the back bone of the office.
Another radical technology innovation which was going to change the nature of guiding first came to the notice of the STGA in 2001 when Guidelines said it had received information on systems which enable guides with a group on foot to be heard without shouting. Today they are known as ‘whisper systems.’ ‘They are expensive (eg £1336 per system package) so we would be interested to know if any guides have had experience with them and if you would be interested in being able to hire them,’ it said.
More than a decade before the TV series Outlander became a major revenue earner for Scotland attracting thousands of new visitors Guidelines inquired whether ‘ someone out there’ knew anything about a book called ‘Through the Stones’ by an American author Diana Gabaldon? If so, please can they tell Doreen or Dot as an operator wants to set up a tour based on her work. It’s good to know that they are thinking of new ideas at this time.’
Over the years the STGA has campaigned on a number of issues and one of its most effective was when it objected to proposed new traffic measures for the New Town. Guidelines reported in April 2003 that following deputations from the Edinburgh Branch committee to Edinburgh Council, raising objections to proposed new traffic measures for the New Town, two Reporters appointed by the council, along with a couple of objectors from the New Town and Mr Fraser from the Council’s Strategic Services joined a group of guides on a tour with Stuart Cowie taking the lead. ‘The guides’ objections were listened to carefully but also on specifics, both on the present arrangements and on the proposals, ‘ it said.
The year 2005 saw a terrible terrorist atrocity in London when four suicide bombers with rucksacks full of explosives attacked central London, killing 52 people and injuring hundreds more. The then chairman Stewart Noble said that despite the London terrorist attacks, the bookings service experienced an increase across the board in excess of 20 per cent with the sole exception of extended tours, which fell slightly.
‘This reflects the change in the global pattern moving from extended holidays to more frequent short breaks thereby providing a longer guiding season. This improvement is reflected in our accounts,’ said Stewart.
Due to the increasing volume of business Alison Norman was appointed as part-time bookkeeper.
One issue that the Association had to content with in 2006 was the publishing of fees in its annual listing of Scottish tourist guides. The Office of Fair Trading contended that the STGA comprised 265 businesses (self employed guides) had colluded together to fix prices and this went against the competition laws of both the UK and the EU. Chairman Stewart Noble
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