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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 said the answer seemed to be to base rates on historical data relating to guiding fees, which STGA would draw up from
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