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Chapter four:
The 1990s – A decade of change
The 1990s were to see a major change in the way the Scottish Tourist Guides Association was run to meet the increasing challenges of a fast-changing tourist industry. Tourism across the world had been hit by the Gulf War which broke out in 1990 and a recession in the USA also exacerbated the situation.
At the AGM of the Edinburgh branch of the STGA on 4 November 1991, chairman Ros Newlands reported the number of bookings was down by 42 per cent on the previous year with a total of 791 bookings. Ros said that she strongly believed that the STGA now faced a major challenge and opportunity for the future. ‘We have to face increasing competition for work not only from abroad but also close to home. A language school in Edinburgh is now offering to train professional guides. The Scottish Tourist Board are more interested in the supply of guides than protecting one group of guides. We can control the future if we decide to move with the times.’
Although 1991 was an exceptional year it undoubtedly provided a motivation for change in the organisation. In 1992 the STGA spent £2000 on advertising. Some 65 per cent of the budget was focused on North America, ten per cent on Europe and 25 per cent on the UK.
It planned to reduce the 1992 advertising budget to about £1600. Some 40 per cent would be spent in North America and 60 per cent in Europe and the UK.
Despite the challenges the first half of the 90s was an active one for the Edinburgh branch. Richard Thompson who chaired the branch from 1993 to 1996 said that amongst the highlights for Richard was a course to educate guides about Holyrood Palace and Park. ‘There were 10 lectures, a walk round the Queen's Park and a specialised tour of the abbey,’ he said.
‘The running of the course was shared between Edinburgh branch, the university and the palace. We had to write an essay of up to 10,000 words on several questions put to us. There were a few against this but they complied and over 100 guides partook. It was excellent.’
In those days the Edinburgh branch produced a monthly newsletter that Marilyn Hunter and Richard edited and printed.
‘We also staged many public relations events, taking in the history of the time, the Reformation, Enlightenment, Science festival walking tours and I had one guy from Milan who came over for that!
‘We did multi-cultural nights to bring bonding within the branch - Norwegian, Japanese and German nights tasting their cuisine etc.
‘We were really hands-on and Edinburgh was a close-knit group of people. We were very involved in the student training, mentoring and days out. The winter visits were all over central and west and east coast of Scotland. They were great days in the STGA. Anyone who rocked the boat, causing unnecessary trouble, would be asked to refrain and if not willing to, then just leave the association. That worked well’ Richard added.
‘David McCrae was my vice chairman and he was great. Sheila Devlin Thorpe was the public relations officer and she was incredible.’
But changes were on the way for the STGA on a national basis. Sally Spaven, who was STGA chair between 1998 and 2001, takes up the story in a speech she gave in 2007. ‘Pre-1996, the STGA was run by a National Council (set up in 1986), an august group of over 20 of the branch committee members who met from time to time. Unfortunately, the Chair rotated at each meeting and the attendees varied, so decision making was tortuous, especially when the rugby internationals were showing in the pub next door in Dundee. Also with no office, we had no quick mechanism for dealing with any form of communication with us. So we decided that the status quo was not an option.’
At the STGA’s national conference in 1994 the majority of members supported a motion to
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