Florence, an open-air museum
The Commune of Florence has approved the measures that allow imposing sanctions to those who offer the so-called 'free tours'.
The city council has issued a statement saying that these guides “they offer tours of the city presented as free experiences, but in reality they perform a true illegal tour guide service.”
Such free tours are spreading online in the main tourist cities, so they continue to be difficult to regulate and therefore difficult to sanction. For this reason, the Department of Tourism has delegated to the offices the determination of the necessary actions so that the Municipal Police impose sanctions according to the regional law, prior complaint.
According to the provision adopted by the offices, these are services of Illegal tourist guides that are advertised on the Internet as free, are carried out by individuals and are aimed at other individuals or groups.
Florence will impose sanctions on 'free tours'
What they offer are tours to get to know the city "From a different perspective than that of official tour guides through walks, walking tours and discover tours" , but in reality, affirms the statement of the Florentine Comune, "It is an illegal activity of a tourist guide that harms the entire sector and the visitor himself."
According to the Councilor for Tourism, “Working to raise the quality of tourism also means working on the quality of those who offer a professional service to tourists, respecting the essential rights and fair competition between operators who exercise the profession in accordance with the regulations”.
In these web pages, the activity is described with characteristics and methods focused on "sociality" and on share a "free" experience for tourists, emphasizing the latter aspect.
However, according to the regional law (86/2016), A tourist guide is one who “by profession, accompanies people or groups of people with the aim of illustrating the historical, artistic, monumental, landscape attractions, as well as the productive resources of the territory. (...) To exercise the profession of tour guide, it is necessary to have the following requirements... the courses and the mandatory exam to obtain the qualification of Guide and access the profession with the issuance by the Commune of a special identification card”.
In the so-called 'free tours', untitled guides show the city of Florence and in any case, the individual pays the subject a consideration in cash at the end of the tour. The absence of a stipulated fee represents an attempt to circumvent regional legislation in terms of professional requirements, which unlike what happens with tour guides, they cannot be demonstrated through the certificate of formation issued by the Region of Tuscany and the corresponding identification card.
With the new measures adopted, any other means of offering tour guide services other than those provided by law is excluded and it is specified that the provision of tourist services provided by individuals within the framework of so-called 'free tours' does not meet the requirements established by law and is therefore punishable.
Florence, Italy