“21 FEBRUARY WORLD TOURIST GUIDES DAY”

21 February World Guides Day was celebrated with comprehensive events by Yeşilova İsmail Akın Vocational School. At the event held on the evening of Friday, March 1, 2019, at Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Conference and Exhibition Hall, “Theater, Music and Poetry Recitals” were performed with great mastery by the students of Yeşilova İsmail Akın Vocational School. The night continued with song and folk song recitals by Serkan ÖZDEMİR, a graduate student of MAKÜ.

The students of Yeşilova İsmail Akın Vocational School, who played an active role on stage for 1 hour and 45 minutes, presented a program that the audience will not forget. The program, prepared under the coordination of Lecturer Özcan ÖZDEMİR and Lecturer Uğur TOZKOPARAN, attracted great interest from the audience.

After the opening of the program, Yeşilova İsmail Akın Vocational School Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet UYUMAZ started his speech;

“Tourist Guides are the indispensable and devoted ambassadors of the tourism sector, who strive to protect the rising values of our country, refresh our country's image, and reflect it in the best way possible, working day and night, often away from their homes and families. Due to the fact that the guiding profession requires a highly intense pace and energy, tourist guides do not receive the value they deserve compared to their working conditions.

For this reason, the Tourist Guiding Profession Law was expedited due to the fact that both the working conditions of tourist guides and the fees they receive are less valuable than they should be. The “Tourist Guiding Profession Law” was enacted in the official gazette on Friday, June 22, 2012, to perform the tourist guiding profession within the framework of ethical rules, to convey accurate and reliable information to tourists, and to ensure the continuity of the profession. After the enactment of the profession law, inspections against illegal guides were accelerated, positive changes were made in practices related to the profession, and significant progress was made towards institutionalizing the profession. The respectability of the tourist guiding profession has been increased, and the profession has gained a law that is protected and supervised nationwide. As Yeşilova İsmail Akın Vocational School, we are constantly supporters of the Tourist Guides Association to ensure that our students studying in the tourist guiding department are trained in accordance with the tourist guiding profession law and that the profession is conducted in accordance with ethical rules.

I would like to thank primarily Lecturer Özcan ÖZDEMİR and Lecturer Uğur TOZKOPARAN for their efforts in preparing this beautiful program. I also thank the members of the History, Science and Economy Community and the Culture and Social Research Community for their support.

Welcome again to our program prepared about the problems of Tourist Guides or the contents of the courses taken by Tourist Guiding students related to the profession, and I wish you all a good time”, he concluded his speech.

After the speech of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet UYUMAZ, Lecturer Özcan ÖZDEMİR started his speech;

“We are in the excitement of celebrating the 22nd year of World Tourist Guides Day, which was celebrated for the first time in the world in 1990 and started to be celebrated in our country with various events at the level of schools and tourist guide chambers. Scientific publications are being made by valuable academicians both worldwide and in our country to ensure that the Tourist Guiding Profession is practiced more ethically and institutionalized, the rights of guides are protected, and the sustainability of the profession is ensured.

In our country, social messages are given regarding the guiding profession under the leadership of the Tourist Guides Association and Guide Chambers, and the recognition of the guiding profession is ensured. Efforts are being made to improve the working conditions of tourist guides, and it is ensured that their base salaries are paid in accordance with the law. Most of the students studying in the tourist guiding department at universities also perform various activities within the scope of 21 February World Tourist Guiding Day.

The students of Yeşilova İsmail Akın Vocational School also prepared theater sketches, poems, and song recitals for you, our esteemed guests, to create awareness on this day, to touch on the problems of guides even a little, to emphasize the importance of this day, and to reflect the value of the profession. Our students have been rehearsing for days to create a smile on the faces of you, our esteemed guests, at every stage of the show specially prepared for tourist guiding day.

I wish you all a good time on the night where our students will showcase their personal skills and talents, and I ask for a strong applause from you for our students”, he concluded his speech.

At the end of the program prepared about the tourist guiding curriculum and the problems of tourist guides, certificates of appreciation were presented to the students who took part in the event by School Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet UYUMAZ and Deputy School Director Lecturer Ali ELİBOL. The event concluded with musical entertainment.