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Tourism Training Organisation, TTENTO Limited, and representatives from wider industry. The situation south· of the border was extremely complicated, with the Blue Badge being owned and awarded in different ways in different areas.
The Foundation acquired control of the London Blue Badge and trademark. The ETC appointed a Working Group which recommended the formation of a UK-wide Institute and a consultation process with the numerous bodies concerned in order to get their agreement to cede ownership of their blue badges to the new Institute. However the Scottish Tourist Guides Association was not willing to lose its ownership of the Blue Badge north of the border. The STGA wrote to the chairman of the working party to give an initial outline of its position. ‘The Act of Union of 1707 guarantees the independence of Scotland's legal and educational systems,’ it said.
‘A consequence has been the formation of separate professional bodies in Scotland including for example the Law Society of Scotland and, more recently, the Scottish Tourist Guides Association. The Scottish Blue Badge is a coat of arms granted and protected by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, head of Scotland’s ancient heraldic court. Accordingly, the only competent way to found a pan-UK tourist training institute would be for the STGA to merge voluntarily with the proposed Institute.
‘Given that the historic and cultural distinctiveness of a nation forms the main plank of its tourism business, the Board considers it logical to retain our independent status, and believes it is in our members' interests that our Blue Badge remains under the protection of the Court of the Lord Lyon King of Arms.’
Ros Newlands explained the advantage of Lord Lyon's protection. ‘South of the border, if someone, who had no entitlement to do so, used the English Blue Badge, then the Institute would have to raise a private and costly court action to stop the misuse. In Scotland, the STGA simply sends a complaint to the Procurator Fiscal of the Court of the Lord Lyon, who takes the necessary steps to ensure the offender conforms to the Law, if necessary by prosecution, at no cost to the Association. Long live Lord Lyon!
‘We wished the Foundation well and offered advice based on our experience which might be of any assistance, and said we looked forward to a fruitful and mutually supportive collaboration between our two professional bodies, particularly regarding standards of training and other common issues.’
Ros, Ken Fyfe, and Wilma Kelloe met Fiona Grant and Tom Hooper, of the Tourist Guiding Foundation, in Edinburgh as part of the consultation process. During a very positive discussion, they re-iterated that the STGA intended to remain the accrediting body for the Blue Badge in
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