| San Francisco Tour Guide Guild - Requirements for Certification |
| To qualify to take the Certification Exam, members must first complete and document relevant industry work according to either "Path 1–Tours and Services" or "Path 2–Tours," as follows: |
| PATH 1–TOURS AND SERVICES |
| A. |
Tour Requirements |
Total 69 Tours |
|
| |
San Francisco City Tours |
(20) |
|
| |
Wine Country Tours |
(12) |
|
| |
Marin County Tours (Muir Woods and Sausalito) |
(12) |
|
| |
Additional Tours * |
(25) |
|
| * |
Included in the Additional Tours category is any combination of the following: |
| |
Alcatraz, Bay Cruise, Victorian Houses, Peninsula, Monterey/Carmel, East Bay, Sierra Nevada Mountains, and Chinatown. Up to half of the Additional Tours requirement can be met with over-the-road tours outside of the Bay Area. "Custom tours" and tours given for non-profit organizations such as City Guides will be considered on an individual basis. Leading a Guild training tour will count in the relevant tour category above. |
| B. |
Transfer Requirements (Services) - 50 assignments. Any combination of the following may qualify: |
| |
Airport - meet and greet or departures; hospitality, tour desk (operating a sales desk for optional tours, a registration desk, or a general information desk for a convention; and serving as a contact for speakers and audio visual staff, etc.); SFO shuttles; hotel shuttles, dine-arounds, golf, miscellaneous transfers. |
| C. |
Educational Programs |
|
|
| |
Applicants must have attended a minimum of 6 qualifying educational programs. |
| PATH 2—TOURS |
| A. |
Tour Requirements |
Total 85 Tours |
|
| |
San Francisco City Tours |
(25) |
|
| |
Wine Country Tours |
(15) |
|
| |
Marin County Tours (Muir Woods and Sausalito) |
(15) |
|
| |
Additional Tours ** |
(30) |
|
| ** |
Included in the Additional Tours category is any combination of the following: |
| |
Alcatraz, Bay Cruise, Victorian Houses, Peninsula, Monterey/Carmel, East Bay, Sierra Nevada Mountains, and Chinatown. Up to half of the Additional Tours requirement can be met with over-the-road tours outside of the Bay Area. "Custom tours" and tours given for non-profit organizations such as City Guides will be considered on an individual basis. Leading a Guild training tour will count in the relevant tour category above. |
| B. |
Custom Itineraries |
| |
Tours that have the same routing/commentary each day (e.g., some per capita tours) will count toward the tour requirements shown in "A" above, however, the candidate must also document experience creating and leading custom itineraries. For each category (San Francisco City Tours, Wine Country Tours, Marin County Tours, and Additional Tours) the candidate should select three of their tours (total of 12) and write a paragraph describing what made this tour custom, e.g., taking a different route than usual on a city tour. |
| C. |
Educational Programs |
|
|
| |
Applicants must have attended a minimum of 6 qualifying educational programs. |
| CERTIFICATION EXAM |
| The Certification exam includes a written test plus an oral presentation section. Applicants will be expected to provide a brief commentary of a City tour, Marin County and Wine Country. |
| The attached form may be used to record your tours and programs. |
| TRANSPORTATION LEAD CERTIFICATION |
| The Guild also offers a Transportation Lead certification. Requirements include (1) two years work in a transportation lead position such as arrivals/departures, convention shuttles, event shuttles/transfers, and incentive program transportation; (2) two letters of recommendation from two different employers for whom the candidate has worked as a Transportation Lead, and (3) a letter or resume from the candidate stating the candidate’s transportation experience. Include examples of programs worked including numbers of buses and personnel supervised. |
| CONTACTS |
| For clarification regarding any of the above requirements please contact Nancy McCormick at (510) 653-2585 or the Certification Chair at certification@sftgg.org. Associate Members who wish to apply to become Certified Members should submit their verification of their tours and programs to Nancy McCormick, 4 Anchor Drive, #325, Emeryville, CA 94608; (510) 653-2585. Those who wish to be certified as a Transportation Lead should contact the Certification Chair. |
| November, 2009 |
