Conferences

The first milestone of the NFTGA-USA was their initial conference for tour guides, held in San Antonio, Texas, in January 2002 at the downtown Holiday Inn Riverwalk Hotel. To read a summary of the highlights of that conference, see: San Antonio in 2002.

The second NFTGA-USA conference took place in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Fairmont Hotel in 2004. See Second NFTGA Conference: Boston in 2004.

The third NFTGA conference was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in July 2007. Enjoy a few photos of this conference shown below. Click on this link to download the 8-page summary of the 2007 conference.

We are currently reviewing the feasibility to hold a fourth NFTGA tour guide conference in Las Vegas in 2008. Stay tuned for more information as it develops!

Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu spoke at the conference's Opening Ceremony held at the National D-Day Museum (photo by Donna Primas, Chicago)	Attentive listeners enjoyed the classroom setting at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans. (photo by Joyce Bell, San Diego)
Tour guides enjoyed being part of the spectacle in the French Quarter in the specially organized Second Line Parade led by The Storyville Stompers. (photo by Joyce Bell, San Diego)	Dinner and Jazz music by The Dukes of Dixieland the was enjoyed aboard the Steamboat Natchez. (photo by Joyce Bell, San Diego)

Second NFTGA Conference: Boston in 2004
In February 2004, tourist guides from across the USA returned from Boston enriched, energized, educated, enthusiastic, and delighted that the second NFTGA Conference was a positive experience for everyone. Our hosts, the Greater Boston Tour Guide Association, rolled out red carpets everywhere and planned not only a fine conference, but excellent tours during the five days.

Continuing Education…

For three days of the conference, the biggest “stress” was deciding among workshops offered at the same time -- Voice Production, ABCs of Being Self-Employed, Coach Safety, Guide Certification and Architecture 101. The final day offered an Emergency Medical Training workshop and panel discussion on Getting Around Your City.

Plenary sessions on Legal Responsibilities and Liabilities, Guiding Across Cultures and The Art of Storytelling, all provided valuable perspectives with universal applications. In addition, foreign language guides had an opportunity to share matters of concern at a breakfast forum.

Tours and Special Events…

Saturday arrivals toured Trinity Church, The Boston Public Library, and several other historic buildings. The “Grand Reception” set the tone on opening night and established connections among tourist guides from across the country and Canada—New Orleans, San Antonio, Boston, Phoenix, New York, San Francisco, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Cape Cod, Chicago, and Toronto. With a common bond of guiding and striving to be the best we can be, friendships were sealed.

Sunday’s dinner at the U.S.S. Constitution Museum during Superbowl in the Patriots’ city offered a thoughtful overview of the role of “Old Ironsides.”

Monday’s lunch at Quotes at the Christian Science Library and Mapparium was an eye-opener, literally and figuratively. Mary Baker Eddy was quite a women’s libber!

Monday afternoon included tours of Boston, and of Cambridge and Harvard Natural History Museum’s Glass Flowers. Dinner at the Old Union Oyster House, oldest restaurant in Boston was followed by a walking tour of historic Boston bringing us back to the luxurious Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.

Post-conference tours included outstanding tours of Lexington, Concord, and Lowell, and “Presidents, Old and New” (presidential birthplaces and homes of John Adams and John Quincy Adams and John F. Kennedy Library).

2006 Conference...

Stay tuned for information on our 2006 biennial conference.

San Antonio in 2002
The First NFTGA-USA Conference
The NFTGA-USA proudly issued a press release to report the great success of its first biennial conference that took place in San Antonio, Texas, January 13-16, 2002.

Approximately 165 representatives from Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Gettysburg, Arizona, Washington DC, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, San Antonio, Silicon Valley, Salt Lake, Orlando, New Orleans, Boston, Denver, Orlando and San Diego gathered in national unison towards the continued development of the tourist guide industry in the United States of America.

Panel discussions on various hot topics common to most areas around the country brought lively discussions about ways to solve on-going problems. Certification and Continuing Education for Guides, as well as Motorcoach Parking and Restricted Access, Governmental Regulation of Guides were some of the key issues discussed. Why re-invent the wheel? The experience of guides in one city may help solve difficult situations elsewhere.

Speakers from diverse U.S. cities prepared excellent workshops including: "Handling Difficult People on Tour," "Walking Tour Tips," "Turning a Tour into an EXPERIENCE," "It’s What You Don’t Say…Non-Verbal Communication," and "Speaking Techniques to Maximize Your Oral Performance." These interactive presentations benefited new as well as seasoned guides.

Regional guide association participation (all volunteer non profits in a self-governing industry) brings together a wealth of experience from guides, docents, destination management companies, tour managers, and incentive trip directors to establish a base of support in a peer community.

The NFTGA is committed to raising the standard of professionalism with the continued development of the guiding profession in America.  A great deal has been achieved, but the battle is not yet won.  The NFTGA will continue to strive to increase the visibility of professional guides and to increase recognition and acceptance of tourist guides as equal partners in the tour and travel trade.

The NFTGA urges members of the travel industry to begin to or continue to include local guides whenever and wherever possible to improve the quality of their product for their clients. One of the on-going goals of the NFTGA is to continue to help cities and regions build their own associations.

In the press release, the NFTGA also wished to collectively thank the Professional Guide Association of San Antonio and congratulate San Antonio for the extraordinary hospitality extended to the delegates of the first NFTGA conference.