Accreditation of Tour Guides: The World Experience and the Implementation in Russian Hospitality Industry

The purpose of the study is to consider professional accreditation of tour guides as an important mechanism for improving and maintaining the overall image of tourist destinations, analyze the main current world types of guide certification and then present another certification model as a mechanism for improving the quality of services provided. The first part of the article describes the results of a publications review and the results of an empirical study of guide accreditation programs. In countries with developed tourism, there is no single approach to the accreditation of guides, and governmental institutions, together with professional communities, decide if it is mandatory. In its second part, the article overviews the approaches to the accreditation of guides in some regions of the Russian Federation. The necessity to regulate the market of guided tour services is certain since poor quality services develop a negative impression of travel destinations, and only professionally trained guides can tell a good story about a particular place or object. The lack of government regulation in the provision of services by tour guides has resulted in a significant proportion of incompetent people who often form a negative impression on tourists. This undoubtedly affects both the brand of tourist destinations in the eyes of current and potential visitors, and economic indicators, since an insufficient influx of tourists does not encourage the development of destinations. The value of the work lies in systematizing the international practices of individual tourist destinations, examining the experience of tour guides in the Russian Federation, and analyzing the legal framework of guided tours. This study contributes to a better understanding of the need to introduce the process of accreditation of guides in the Russian Federation.