The City of Montreal’s plan to drop the licensing requirement for tour guides is raising concerns within the industry about the potential impact on the quality and accuracy of city tours.
Sandrine Trudel-Laurendeau said she studied hundreds of hours to get her tour guide license and lead tourists around town.
“It’s a knowledge that has been passed from generations to generations. And it would be sad to just end it all like that without really thinking about all the impacts,” Trudel-Laurendeau said in an interview.
Montreal is one of the few remaining cities in North America that requires a license.
A 240-hour mandatory course at the ITHQ, a hotel, tourism and restaurant school in Montreal, is required for certification. The course costs around $2,000.
“They get a very interesting and proper knowledge of Montreal history, culture, architecture. And they also have many interesting stories they can always add,” said Frederik …