Dear Members, Trainers and Colleagues,
On behalf of the Executive Board (ExBo) of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (WFTGA), I invite you to join our Extraordinary Virtual General Assembly, to be held online as an essential step towards ensuring the continued functionality and stability of our Federation.
Over the past year, the ExBo has worked intensively to address a range of structural and organisational challenges that have accumulated over time. Some of these long-standing issues have hindered our ability to modernise essential processes — including digitalisation, governance structures, and volunteer frameworks — in line with international standards and the needs of a contemporary, global federation.
This work has required significant effort but has also brought clarity and transparency to the true situation of the WFTGA.
This Extraordinary Virtual General Assembly serves as an important transitional and strategic meeting rather than a full General Assembly with formal reports and voting. The official ratification of the Minutes of the General Assembly held in Siracusa in 2024, as well as all pending motions, will take place at our in-person General Assembly during the 2026 Convention in Japan.
However, it has become necessary to convene this emergency assembly to ensure that the WFTGA remains operational and sustainable.
One of the most urgent matters concerns our financial situation. The Federation is currently not based on a financially viable model. While we will not vote during this session, we will present the current financial overview and outline potential solutions. The formal vote on these matters will follow one week later via ElectionBuddy, allowing every member association time to review the detailed documents and the recording of the virtual meeting before casting an informed vote.
Context and Financial Overview
The last revision of the membership fee structure took place more than fifteen years ago.
Since then, the global economic context has changed dramatically.
In particular, the inflation rate — especially influenced by the COVID-19 years — has risen by approximately 40% worldwide. This means that even maintaining the same level of activity as in 2010 now requires substantially higher financial resources.
During this same period, the WFTGA has evolved considerably:
- Our online presence, administrative infrastructure, and global operations have grown in complexity.
- Several key functions, including back-office administration and social media management, have been professionalised.
- Many operational costs — such as digital tools, website maintenance, and communication platforms — have been privately covered by the President without reimbursement.
After a thorough review in collaboration with the Financial Committee, we have now centralised all expenses under the WFTGA’s new credit system, giving us a clear and transparent overview of our actual annual costs.
Our current figures show:
- Annual income: approx. €20,000–25,000 (mainly from membership and trainer fees)
- Training courses: approx. 3,000 € per year
- Convention levies: €5,000–7,000 (in convention years only)
- Annual expenses: approx. €30,000–35,000 — without investments, reserves, or development budgets
No funds are currently allocated for official travel, member visits, or strategic development. This is not a sustainable situation for an international federation.
Purpose of the Assembly
During the upcoming Virtual General Assembly, we will:
- Present the financial situation transparently;
- Discuss proposals for a revised fee structure to secure the WFTGA’s stability;
- Outline a multi-step development plan aimed at long-term sustainability and professionalisation.
Our goal is to introduce a new fee model that would generate €40,000–50,000 per year, allowing us to cover essential costs and enable moderate growth.
Longer-term objectives — such as revising the Constitution with legal expertise, upgrading the website and membership management tools, developing a Tourist Guide Portal, and implementing an online Learning Management System — will require additional funding, possibly through public grants and partnerships.
Two models for the fee structure will be presented:
- Simplified model: A fixed fee per association, based on country tier (removing the current distinction between “country” and “association” fees).
- Scalable model: A long-term vision linking fees to the size and membership of each association.
To ensure financial stability and fairness over time, both proposed models will include an automatic inflation adjustment mechanism, allowing fees to be updated annually in line with the global inflation rate. This will prevent future financial imbalances and make further major fee revisions unnecessary for many years.
We propose introducing the new structure from 1 November 2025, ensuring the WFTGA remains financially stable and capable of fulfilling its mission in the years ahead.
Your participation and feedback are essential to this process.
Sebastian Frankenberger
WFTGA President
Agenda
- Welcome by the President 13:05
- Rules of Engagement 13:10
- Apologies and Proxies 13:15
- ExBo Report 13:20
- Discussion on key topics 13:45
- Membership fee structure
- Organisation of the 2026 Convention in Japan 14:30
- Bidding process for the 2028 Convention 14:40
- Preparation for the next General Assembly 14:50
- Proposed amendments to the WFTGA Constitution
- Updates to the membership structure
- Updates to the ExBo portfolio structure
- Improvements to the WFTGA website
- Information on the new Cultour Card
- Concept of a Tourist Guide Booking Portal
- Minimum training requirements for WFTGA membership
- Closing