The call for applications to participate in the exam to qualify as a tour guide closes with 29,228 applications. Lazio, Campania and Sicily are the regions with the most applications in absolute terms: 6,058, 5,055 and 2,618 respectively. In Sardinia there were 849.
The competition, part of a reform that has been awaited for over ten years, recalls a note from the Ministry of Tourism, "will guarantee a high-level selection with the aim of rewarding merit, valorizing the profession and guaranteeing the highest quality".
This is the complete list divided by Regions: Abruzzo 567; Other (EU and non-EU countries) 339; Basilicata 437; Calabria 724; Campania 5055; Emilia-Romagna 1141; Friuli-Venezia Giulia 385; Lazio 6058; Liguria 597; Lombardy 2605; Marche 543; Molise 142; Piedmont 1134, Puglia 1911; Sardinia 849; Sicily 2618; Tuscany 1458; Trentino-Alto Adige 166; Umbria 510; Valle d'Aosta 44; Veneto 1945.
The qualification required for aspiring guides is a secondary school diploma (in an initial version of the text, a degree requirement had been included, but was dropped after discussions with the European Commission). A participation fee of 10 euros is expected. There are three tests: a 90-minute written test with 80 multiple-choice questions (the subject program will be published at least 40 days before the date set for the written test); an oral test (accessed with a score equal to or higher than 25 in the previous test) which consists of an interview to assess knowledge of the written subjects and of at least one foreign language (in the original version of the text, there were two languages).
Finally, the technical-practical test (which is accessed with a score above 25 in the oral phase): a simulation of a guided tour in Italian and in a foreign language to a destination drawn at random.
(Online Union)
