NEW GUIDES JOIN TOUR OPERATION AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS

Note to Correspondents

NEW GUIDES JOIN TOUR OPERATION AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS

A new group of 21 multilingual tour guides joined the staff of the Department of Public Information at United Nations Headquarters this week.  The new guides supplement the existing team of guides who conduct tours for the nearly half a million visitors who are attracted to this popular tourist destination each year.  Since 1952, close to 38 million visitors have taken a guided tour of United Nations Headquarters.

“With the international spotlight on the United Nations, our guides perform the important job of explaining the work of the Organization to the general public”, said Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communication and Public Information.  “As they conclude their intensive training session, these new guides are now ready to join their colleagues in answering the many questions posed by our visitors each and every day.”

The Guided Tours Unit, part of the United Nations Department of Public Information, now offers tours in over 20 languages, more than any other tour operation in New York.  The guides have long been considered the Organization’s “ambassadors to the public”, and their linguistic and geographic diversity adds a valuable dimension to the operation.

The new guides come from 14 countries, increasing the total number of guides to 60.  The full staff comes from the following 33 countries:  Albania, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Comoros, Denmark, Gabon, Germany, France, Ghana, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Republic of Korea, Senegal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Syria, United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 

This year’s recruitment of guides reflects the changing pattern of visitors to New York.  The increasing number of Chinese visitors to the United Nations, for example, has required an additional six Mandarin-speaking guides.  Chinese visitors currently make up over 10 per cent of the total number of visitors to United Nations Headquarters.

To become a United Nations guide, an applicant must be fluent in English and in at least one additional language.  College education and public speaking skills are also required.  In the course of their two-and-a-half week intensive training programme, the new guides are immersed in the history and functions of the United Nations main organs, as well as the current activities of the entire United Nations system. 

Guided tours are conducted every day of the year, except on holidays observed on Presidents’ Day, Eid Al-Adha, Eid Al-Fitr, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and weekends in January and February, as well as some days during high-level meetings of the General Assembly.  During the hour-long lecture tour, guides answer many questions about the role of the United Nations in current events and describe the unique collection of artworks on display throughout the tour route.

For more information, please contact:  Helene Hoedl, Guided Tours Unit, tel:  (1) 212-963-3242, fax:  (1) 212-963 0071, e-mail:  hoedl@un.org; or e-mail toursunhq@un.org or visit www.un.org/tours.

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