The Tourist Guides Association of Serbia (UTVS)is the oldest professional association of this kind gathering licensed tourist guides ever since 1966.
What does qualify us as the first and highly capable ones?
1. Our members speak more than 20 foreign languages and our services can satisfy visitors from different countries.
2. Our motto: ‘Quality first nd foremost’. Our guides are highly educated covering different fields (tourism, history, art history, economics, archaeology, ethnology, law, geography, biology, medicine, art, political science. Some of our members are university professors or are from professional academies, professors covering different fields or doctoral students, M.Sc.
3. Our members are qualified to work in different countries of all continents but especially in our country and the region as the whole.
4. The Tourist Guides Association has passed through difficult periods in our country which affected our profession. We have managed to go on as our guides are dedicated to their work and profession.
5. Being a member of the association does not mean qualification by itself so every year during winter months (February, November, December) there are seminars to improve our knowledge and skills, something we have been doing for more than 50 years.
6. Every year we organize training for tourist guides and escorts who are to pass the exams organized by the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunication. 7. Our Association together with the Tourist Organizations of Belgrade and Serbia Secretariat of Economy of the City of Belgrade and tourism industry, organizes tours and excursions free of charge on the World Tourist Guides Day.
8. Our guides take part in promotion programs and presentations of Serbia and Belgrade. 9. Our Association is registered officially in APR and our members cannot work in so-called ‘grey zone’.
10. The Association sign contracts with partners interested in our work which enable discounts for our services depending on the volume of the work performed.
The Association has always cooperated with various tour operators, tourist agencies, organizations, associations demanding services of qualified guides.