Further distinctions at this year’s ITB
March 10, 2011 In Berlin, Amiel Tours (Israel) and GoVacation (Thailand) were awarded the Independent Tour Guide Quality Seal ®. In the mark of the award ceremony of the Willy Scharnow-Foundation for Tourism, Johann W. Rosskopf, General Manager of TINTKO, handed the seal documents to the representatives of the Incoming Agencies – as confirmation of the successful completion of the certification process.
In addition, and for the first time, a special distinction “tour guiding” was granted to agencies from Georgia and Nicaragua. In cooperation with national Tourism entities, the companies are strongly committed to foster general improvement of quality standards for tour guides in their countries. Both agencies are Seal Bearers for years.
In his laudatory speech, the Managing Director of the Foundation, Walter Krombach, emphasized the touristic and communicative importance of excellent tour guiding, also with reference to the present political situation in Northern Africa. (→ read speech 
)
(from left to right) Walter KROMBACH, Managing Director Willy Scharnow-Foundation; Ia TABAGARI, Managing Director Caucasus Travel (Georgia); Immanuel ZERGER, Gerente General Solentiname Tours (Nicaragua); Christoph MÜLLER, General Manager GoVacation (Thailand); Karin SAILER; Oni AMIEL, CEO, Yuval AMIEL, all Amiel Tours (Israel); Johann W. ROSSKOPF, General Manager TINTKO
Awards Ceremony for new Seal Bearers at ITB 2010
April 1st, 2009 On the second day of the ITB 2010, the representatives of Incoming Agencies from Asia, Europe and South America were honoured for the successful completion of the certification process of their tour guides. In the mark of the annual Willy Scharnow awards ceremony at the Congress Center Berlin (ICC), the managers were handed the certificate by the Managing Director of the Foundation. TINTKO conducted the evaluation process during 2009 in the respective countries.
(from left to right) Darius MORGAN jr., Vice President Crillon Tours (Bolivia); Angel KOLOV, Product Manager Elite Tours (Bulgaria); Giacomo ZANONE, President Eurotur (Argentina); Carlos ARRARTE, General Manager Lima Tours (Peru); Michael ELIAS, CEO Walkers Tours (Sri Lanka); Ursula SCHÖRCHER, Member of the foundation board; Johann W. ROSSKOPF, General Manager TINTKO; Walter KROMBACH, Managing director Willy Scharnow-Foundation
Coop between TINTKO and German TÜV to be intensified
April 1st, 2009 The Independent Tour Guide Quality Seal® (developed by TINTKO) is the first to evaluate and to certify a specific touristic performance: the service support and the information of tourists in their holiday destinations.Many services are offered and used in the field of travel and tourism: from the consultation in a travel agency, to product presentations on the internet, from spa package offers to room service in hotels. Here as everywhere quality and the individual level of the service personnel are decisive factors.
The TÜV seals "Certified Service Quality" or "Certified Customer Satisfaction" are open to all companies in the field of tourism. They can become strong and authentic decisive factors in competitive markets.
The TÜV certification for both seals is handled and prepared professionally and in close contact with the applicant. Company specific criteria can of course be integrated.
TINTKO and the German TÜV NORD have agreed to intensify their cooperation even further. It is their aim to offer the applying company a maximum of touristic knowhow throughout the certification process. This guarantees that all potentials in the service and consulting field are utilized and can be implemented sustainably. If necessary training courses to support the certification process can be offered as well.
10 Agencies from Europe, North Africa and Cuba to receive their Seal Certificates
March 12th, 2009 The Willy Scharnow-Foundation’s traditional award ceremony again provided the worthy surrounding for the new bearers of the TINTKO Quality Seal. Representatives of 10 companies from Europe, North Africa an Cuba received their certificates in Berlin’s Congress Centre. The incoming agencies had received the Quality Seal between April 2008 and January 2009 for their excellence in providing tour guides for roundtrip tours.
Ursula Schörcher (Member of the foundation board) started the ceremony by pointing out the extreme relevance of highly qualified tour guides on round trip tours. She praised the efforts of the newly certified agencies to reach this goal. Then Walter Krombach (Managing Director of the foundation) and Johann W. Rosskopf (General Manager TINTKO) presented the agencies with the seal certificates. For names and countries of all companies yet certified see references.
Another seven agencies from Asia and Latin America have been awarded the Quality Seal
On March 6th, 2008 at ITB in Berlin seven new seal bearers were awarded their certificates for outstanding achievements regarding the tour guide quality on round trip tours. The Incoming Agencies had undergone a comprehensive evaluation process by TINTKO. This evaluation included administrational standards for the selection, the training, the staffing and the quality control of their German speaking tour guides.The TINTKO experts also checked the communicative competence of the German speaking tour guides (knowledge of German, rhetoric, methodological variety and service mindedness). These abilities are generally agreed upon as being key qualifications to enhance the quality of the travel experience. At first some of the tour guides were observed during a „mystery shopper tour“. They were then trained in a four day seminar with practice sessions.
In Georgia this was simultaneously done also for the English speaking guides.
(from right to left) Bartolomé Cortés, General Manager Iberoservice (Mexiko); Dr. Gerhard Bartsch, TransCielos Representative (for Viatur, Costa Rica); Walter Krombach, Managing Director Willy Scharnow-Foundation; Matthias Hohner, Sales Director Gamboa Tours (Panama); Ms. Ia Tabagari, Managing Director Caucasus Travel (Georgia); Immanuel Zerger, Gerente General Solentiname Tours (Nicaragua); Ms. Mai Nguyen, President Vidotour Indochina Travel (Vietnam); Klaus Laepple, President Deutscher ReiseVerband DRV; Johann W. Rosskopf, General Manager TINTKO
Not in the picture: Ms. Nalini Gupta, President Thomas Cook (India)
You can identify each person by „mouse over“, too
Quality Seal for Georgia
June 28th, 2007 In March 2007 TINTKO conducted a very successful training and qualification seminar for one of the leading incoming agencies in Georgia. The seminar in Tbilisi, which was held in German and English, was aimed at experienced guides just like at ambitious new candidates for this profession. More than 30 mostly young women and men from this aspiring mountainous country in the Caucasus participated in the 4-day-seminar. Most of them had an academic degree or are still at university.
The focus of the training was the “communicative competence”. Modern forms of knowledge transfer were developed in lectures, practical exercises and workshops. Apart from that the agenda included: basic information on the Western European travel markets and its players, European travel law, group dynamics, conflict management as well as current cognitions regarding the expectations of tourists.
A full day was set aside for practical exercises. The culture-rich surroundings of the Georgian capital served as a backdrop where the participants could show their abilities and learn from each other. The general level of expertise was – if compared internationally – exceptionally high.
Beside the training sessions a comprehensive evaluation process looked at the quality and the professionalism of the agencies tour guide management systems. Three months later all criteria to be awarded the Tour Guide Quality Seal were met.
On June 28th 2007 Caucasus Travel Ltd (Tbilisi, Georgia) was awarded the Independent Tour Guide Quality Seal®. For further information about this agency see Quality Seal/References.
The project in Georgia was co-financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London.
In the past two years TINTKO trainers have conducted about 20 seminars in 14 different countries on all continents. This led to a unique intercultural knowledge transfer – of which all travel partners profit, mainly holiday makers and tourists on roundtrip tours.
First Independent Quality Seal for Tour Guides granted
The new Independent Tour Guide Quality Seal® which was developed by a group of German travel experts and the Willi Scharnow-Foundation was awarded for the first time on July 14, 2006.
The quality seal was awarded to the South African tour company Thompsons Africa. The Quality Seal recognized the high professional standards of its guide program and their focus on customer orientation.
During a press conference Ms. Ursula Schörcher, Managing Director of the Foundation, handed the certificate to Thompsons General Manager Elizabeth Edwards, who had flown in from Durban / South Africa for the occasion.edited-b.jpg)
In 2005 Thompsons had undergone a comprehensive audit and an evaluation of its tour guide management. The tour guides themselves were rated after a travelling seminar of several days and an individual selection process (ranking). Some of the guides had been named “tour guide of the year” in the past. Thompsons Africa is one of the leading travel companies in all of Southern Africa. The agency is based in Durban and has more than 20 years of expertise in the field. They work with tour operators in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other countries in Europe and Asia.
For more informations about the awardee see www.thompsonsafrica.com
