21st Convention of WFTGA bidding country page
TKTC is the only non-governmental organization in Turkey that has been a full member of the WFTGA since our establishment in 2018. Our foundational goals include enhancing the professional reputation of members and promoting cooperation both internally and external to our group. Our prerequisites to member stat
us are a minimum of 5 years industry experience and strong understanding of professional integrity. At TKTC, we teach both old and new strategies to certified tourist guides in order to improve their skills regardless of membership status. Inclusiveness is an important aspect of our young organization; we are proud to have members specialized in sign language for the deaf and hard-of-hearing along with tactical/audio sense assistance for the blind. We also schedule specialized tours for these groups.
132 years ago, in 1890, Turkey became the first country to regulate tourist guides as a distinct profession. More recently, in 2012, the tourism guide profession has been recognized more formally by the passage of article 6326. We are proud to have legal recognition of the highest standard as the guides to over 214 ancient cities including Homer’s birthplace and homeland of Troy, countless amphitheaters and relics of ancient civilizations. To accommodate such a diversity of tourists, our colleagues offer services in 15 different languages. Our activities are mainly financed through annual dues collected from our members and incoming contributions from philanthropic donors. Additionally, we have an online publication Mikrofon promulgated every three months, at each equinox. Qualified guides are needed to richly experience the full-extent of history and culture our city has to offer. The reason why we want to host WFTGA convention is to introduce to you our 11.351 colleagues and thousands of students who are studying in 60 different guide schools with worldwide activities. Our greatest achievement second to potentially hosting the convention would be to establish a WFTGA training center. For instance, the Convention in Istanbul would be a perfect opportunity to initiate the process of worldwide unification of tourism guides for the purpose of promoting WFTGA standards in qualification and education. That's why we are bidding for Istanbul in 2026
Hasan Barış Partal, MA (History)
TKTC President
WFTGA 20th Convention Bidding City Page In 2019, 52 million tourists visited Turkey. However, our goal isn’t to just facilitate new tours.
