ABSTRACT
Many museums have commercial tour guides leading parties of tourists through the museum. Should they be allowed? Should they be (or can they be) charged a fee? The answers must depend on the local situation and local tradition, but one good solution is for the museum to license guides to use its premises, and only allow in those guides who have gone through a training course and passed an examination. This has the benefit of ensuring that the museum is exercising a degree of quality assurance for its visitors. Museums should work with the commercial tour companies to develop joint training programmes. Such partnerships are in the interests of the commercial tour companies as they can demonstrate to their customers that they are providing added value for their services.
