Iceland Tourist Guide Association invited 85 foreign guests on a free
tour of downtown Reykjavík last Sunday, in celebration of International Tourist Guide Day.
By all accounts the event was a success, according to Morgunblaðið, as
guests were given a tour of such Reykjavík landmarks as
Hallgrímskirkja, the house of parliament, and the prime minister’s
office, which sits on the busy downtown square of Lækjartorg.
Elín Sigríður Konráðsdóttir, Friðrik Rúnar Guðmundsson, Hólmfríður
Gísladóttir, John C. Spencer, Skúli Möller, Steingrímur Gunnarsson and
Ursula E. Sonnenfeld led the guests, and two students of the Tourist
Guide School – Guðrún Þorkellsdóttir and Ólafur Tryggvi Magnússon –
also gave tours.
International Tourist Guide Day was started in 1990 as a means of
revitalizing local communities, getting people interested in the
industry, as well as offering free tours to the disabled and
disadvantaged. The Iceland Tourist Guide Association was started in
1972, and opened a school to train prospective guides four years later.