GoIsrael Community

How can I find out if a tour guide is registered to guide in Israel?  A local expert in the Trip Advisor forum constantly advises that people use a guide called Sam Salem (a lot of travellers have followed his recommendation) but I have been told unofficially that he guides in Israel without a license.  I do not want to take money away from those who have spent three years doing their training, even if they are cheaper.  How can I find out if this Mr Salem is registered?

 Thank you.

hey jenhack

you find a licensed tour guides in this link: http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information/Planning+your+trip/TourGuideSearch.htm 

all the guides in this link are licensed.

david

While all the guides shown in the link that David gave are registered, not all registered guides are on that list. For instance, I only recently sent in my details to be listed there. There's another list available at http://www.tour-guides.co.il/search.php (enter a name in the box marked "name" and click the "search" button). It's supposed to be only members of the Israel Tour Guides Association, but while I'm not an ITGA member but appear on that list, I know other guides who ARE members who are not found on that list. So - let's say the person you are considering hiring to guide you in Israel is not show on either of these lists but insists he/she is licensed - how do you know? Well, you can ask for his/her full name and Official Israeli Guide License Number and then you can write to info@goisrael.org.il - give the name and license number of the guide and simply ask the Ministry of Tourism for help! Hope that works for you and others! suzanne

Surely the answer to that is the Ministry of Tourism itself. They license and insist that licensed guides do a refresher course every year in order to renew their license. I think that it is up to the Miistry of Tourism to not only supply and publish the names of licensed guides but to insist according to Israeli law that only they be employed by tourists.

Shalom,

After checking at the Israel Ministry of Tourism Licensing Dept  I can find that this name is not on the list.  We recommend you use our list posted on the official Ministry of Tourism Website, as suggested.

All the best, Nancy Shedlaz, Israel Ministry of Tourism