James mentioned the extreme weather conditions, including flooding in Toronto due to heavy rainfall. Marian shared about her daughter's graduation and plans to study in the Czech Republic. James also discussed his upcoming travel to Chile and the challenges of keeping costs low with multiple plane changes. Maricar outlined the agenda, which focused on membership issues and a tech check for a webinar with over 340 registered participants. The executive board members, including President Sebastian, Vice President Cristina, board member James, and new representative Ioannis from Greece, were present. The meeting was automatically recorded.

Cristina reported no new membership applications in the last six months and highlighted pending memberships, particularly from Ghana, and the challenges of wire transfer payments from some countries to Europe. James proposed announcing new members on the association's social media first to drive traffic to the association's website, which Cristina agreed to, asking James to request new members to share the association's posts. Sonya explained the onboarding process for new members and raised concerns about unpaid membership fees from Hardco in Ghana and Bhutan's third-party payment method. Maricar and Soinapa discussed issues with Southeast Asian leadership and the recognition of associations by the government. The meeting also introduced three new area representatives for 2024 and experienced technical difficulties.

Hamburg expressed a desire to attract more affiliate members to support their association, and the team discussed strategies to engage potential members, including translating information into English and creating a sponsor book. There was also a discussion about the status of Somaliland as an independent country and the need for further discussions on this issue. Updates were given on the Wftga website, with Sebastian announcing that the internal section is now functioning properly and future plans for the website were discussed. James introduced the Member Monday project and other social media initiatives, and the team discussed the potential costs and funding for these projects. Sebastian shared that they were still compiling data to determine the amount of money available for setting up budgets for various portfolios.

James and Maricar discussed ways to increase their organization's budget through a trip to Japan and the upcoming World Tourism Day. James shared that the costs of airfare and registration fees were a concern, but also noted the potential for cost savings. The team also discussed the finalization of training session details in Cyprus, with Viola leading preparations, and the handling of a training request from Sierra Leone. Lastly, Maricar led the discussion on the midterm report for area representatives, reminding the team of the year-end report deadline and the term end for area representatives.

The team discussed the implementation of a special ranking system for tourist guides from Slovenia, with Maricar confirming the summarization of all reports. Helga invited the team to visit him in Paris and asked for more responses from his region to a questionnaire about their associations. The team also discussed plans to promote tourist guides in Africa through videos and a Zoom meeting, with a focus on engaging more non-members in discussion groups. Maricar and the team celebrated their successful webinar and discussed plans to continue this successful model in other regions. Lastly, there were discussions about improving access to the membership database, the need for improved contact information for Wftga delegates, and the creation of a central database for notes and problems.

Maricar announced that the Board had approved the launch of video campaigns, with Sarah already leading one. The team also agreed to highlight the work of area reps on social media and to support a campaign concerning Maricar. Maricar requested a family picture for social media, and Sonya proposed a future discussion about regional issues with Inappa. Maricar assigned Helga to communicate with Portuguese-speaking African countries, and Sebastian offered to resolve any technical issues during the upcoming webinar. The team also discussed the need for attendees to register with their email addresses and to update the PowerPoint presentation deck.

Davuthan, the Wfg area representative for Central and Southern Africa, led a meeting with various participants, including Maricar and Sebastian. The program included discussions on the journeys of area reps, a debrief of breakout rooms, and a presentation by Cristina on the membership process and its benefits. Training courses by Hussein were also provided, and Sebastian's extensive experience in tourism and his role in the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations were highlighted. The team also discussed the logistics of conducting a webinar with poll questions and live captioning, emphasizing the importance of muting participants and using breakout rooms for more interactive discussions.

The African Tourism Board chairman emphasized the positive impact of tourism on the continent. The area representatives, Narukar and Endy, introduced their teams and shared their experiences as members of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA). The team discussed the strategy for their upcoming storytelling event, with a focus on personal connections and concise but impactful presentations. The advantages of joining the Federation for tourist guides were presented, with attendees divided into regional breakout rooms for further discussion. There were some issues with the grouping of countries and an imbalance in registrations from different regions, indicating that Endy might have a lot of work to do in his room.

Sebastian clarified the process of joining breakout rooms during a Zoom meeting, which was further discussed by Maricar and WFTGA. The team also debriefed on the issues faced by the guides and the need for more support for local and regional associations. Maricar and WFTGA Davoud led a discussion on the debrief process, the importance of membership in the tourism sector, and the logistics of a future webinar. A poll was conducted, but only Maricar received the poll responses.

The team discussed scheduling a future event and resolving time zone issues for participants from various African countries. They also deliberated on the representation of the World Federation at an upcoming AI seminar in Tanzania and the need for cost-effectiveness. The discussion further touched on the goals of the Federation, plans for a future convention in Africa, and the recent success of the Iranian conference. The team agreed to continue the momentum by scheduling a follow-up meeting in two weeks and proposed the establishment of a working group for African tourist guides. They also discussed the challenges faced by tourist guides in various parts of the world and the need to address tourism challenges in Africa by forming associations and joining the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA).