Belfast celebrates graduation of first ever Green Badge tourist guides

Twenty-four guides have just graduated in the first-ever professional Belfast Green Badge qualification, a new programme that covers the vast wealth of the city's long history and modern attractions.

Joining other major cities like London, Liverpool and York, these guides are ready to deliver walking tours for the influx of visitors due to arrive this summer with an expected 130 cruise ships coming in.

The Belfast Green Badge programme was developed and run by the Northern Ireland Tourist Guide Association (NITGA) with a special new badge created that displays an outline of Belfast City Hall.

Chair of NITGA Catherine Burns explained "Belfast has such a wealth of history and culture that we felt it was important to focus on the city and develop a pool of highly experienced, professional guides who have an understanding of all aspects of life in Northern Ireland's capital.

Adding that, "The Green Badge not only offers a deep insight into the past and present of Belfast but also trains the new guides in the specialised craft of leading a group and delivering information that's engaging and entertaining."

The new guides are well versed in the city's architecture and arts, gardens and parks, economy and industry, history and the Troubles, as well as all the sites of Northern Ireland Film and TV productions like Game of Thrones.

The Green Badge course, created and delivered by Catherine and course director Petra Hermann along with a team of professional trainers, involved a mix of classroom learning, self-study and practical sessions on location. Most importantly, the guides were supported and received feedback on their presentations.

Newly qualified guide Ian Baillie said: "I thought I knew Belfast pretty well until I started this course. To be a professional tourist guide, you have to know a huge amount of detail and to learn how to convey that to a group in a way that they will find interesting."

Ian also works as Stena Line's Sales and Partnership Manager and he found studying and working full time both demanding and rewarding.

"We had a very diverse group of guides but what everyone had in common was a passion for our great city and a drive to share that with visitors. My particular interest is in Belfast's maritime and industrial heritage and a favourite stop for me is the Scottish Provident building which played an important role in the industrial revolution and now it's a hub for Fintech. It's exciting to me to link the past to the present and I'm really looking forward to leading my first tour."

Another recently qualified Green Badge Guide, Ciara Hedgcock, hopes to incorporate her love of the city's food and drink with historical walking tours.

Ciara, who has a background in advertising, explained that she really enjoys engaging with visitors to Belfast and sharing her interesting stories of the people and places that make the city so amazing.

"A guide has a big responsibility to ensure that visitors maximise their time and go home feeling that they have a real flavour of the city. It's exciting for me to play such an important part in their holiday and hopefully they will want to return and see more," she said.

The article credit to NI Travel News

The photo credit to quanjing.com