United Nations Guided Tours Celebrates 70 years in New York City
The United Nations Department of Global Communications celebrates today the seventieth anniversary of its Guided Tours operation, the same day that the doors of the Organization’s Headquarters in New York City were opened to the public in 1952.
To mark the occasion, an exhibit on the history and the role of the tour guides as “Ambassadors to the Public” is on view in the United Nations Visitors Lobby, available also in digital format. The United Nations Postal Administration has issued a special commemorative stamp sheet for purchase at the stamp shop.
For seven decades, visitors from around the world have toured United Nations Headquarters, giving them the opportunity to see, hear and feel diplomacy in action. Escorted by guides well-versed in international affairs, visitors walk through corridors buzzing with diplomats and international civil servants, learn about pressing geopolitical issues, and while seated in the General Assembly Hall, reflect on our world’s need for international cooperation.
“Our multilingual tour guides have been the face and voice of the United Nations to over 42 million visitors from around the world,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. “We celebrate their seventieth anniversary and honour their vital ongoing mission to enhance understanding of the essential work of the United Nations.”
The one-hour Guided Tour is conducted in 13 languages by a team of tour guides from 17 countries. As per tradition, the tour guides have been clothed by leading designers, from Edith Head, Christian Dior and Benetton in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, to Elie Tahari from 2017 to the present.
Access to a multi-media kit about the United Nations Guided Tours can be found here; and the digital version of the seventieth anniversary exhibit at: www.un.org/en/exhibits/ambassadors-to-the-public. During the Unit’s anniversary month of November, visitors can also request a United Nations tour, or an interview with a tour guide in a foreign language, Monday through Friday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., by reaching out to the media contacts below.
United Nations Guided Tours offer an exciting opportunity to discover United Nations Headquarters on a brief journey through the corridors of international diplomacy, all while admiring the unique collection of artworks on display in the United Nations compound. During the hour-long tour, visitors will learn from a multilingual tour guide about the history of the Organization, as well as the work of its 193 Member States in the areas of peace and security, development and human rights. Guided Tours are also available at United Nations Offices in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. For more information, please visit www.un.org/visit.
Media Contacts: Vincenzo Pugliese, Acting Chief, Visitors Services, New York, at email: pugliesev@un.org, tel.: +1 212 963 6984; or Rula Hinedi, Chief, United Nations Guided Tours, New York, at email: hinedi@un.org, tel.: +1 212 963 5052.