Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1290275
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 SEPTEMBER 2020 12 COMMERCIAL Malta Union of Tourist Guides holds national symposium Third party payments now available on BOV Mobile TOURIST guides' main profes- sional body, the Malta Union of Tourist Guides, is holding a na- tional symposium virtually, via Zoom, on Friday 25 September 2020 from 9.30 a.m. The theme of the symposium is 'Quality Guiding for Quality Tourism'. According to MUTG President Frans van Avendonk, "The aim of the MUTG symposium, which coincides with the 40th anni- versary of the organisation, is to make all the relevant people in our precious industry aware that quality tourism can only be real- ised by quality players qualified in the tourism field. "This can be achieved by provid- ing the best training to those who want to be players, to continue this training perpetually, but also by regulating and legislating in such a way that legitimate opera- tors and users are protected from pirate or rogue operators who do not follow rules and standards to the detriment of the local tourist product." Tourism Minister Julia Farru- gia Portelli will officially open the symposium. She will be followed by no fewer than eight speakers covering the full gamut of quality tourism. Dr Dane Munro, a Resident Ac- ademic at the Institute for Tour- ism, Travel and Culture (ITTC) at the University of Malta and an active researcher in faith-based tourism and history, will then speak on Tourist Guides as a Source of Quality. The owners of the Argentinian specialist tour operator Dopazo and Ravenna, Hugo Dopazo and Jorge Ravenna, will speak on The Tourist Guide as Key to a Memo- rable Traveller Experience, based on the firm belief that it is the hu- man element that makes any trip memorable. For this reason, they organise training programmes for their tour leaders, and always em- ploy the best licensed guides to add that something extra, which transforms the tourist into a trav- eller. Practising lawyer Dr Michael Tanti-Dougall, who heads the firm Tanti-Dougall & Associates, which is a full, active member of the International Forum of Trav- el & Tourism Advocates (IFT- TA), will speak on Regulating the Tourist Guides' Profession in Malta and Gozo, with reference to some other jurisdictions with- in the EU. Efi Kalampoukidou, President of the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (FEG) and a qualified licensed tourist guide in Greek, English and German for the whole of Greece, will speak on The Way Forward – Best Practice on Tour- ist Guiding in Europe. Tom Hooper, MBE, who works as a professionally qualified 'Blue Badge' tourist guide and tutor, based in London, will speak on Quality and Standards – A per- spective from the UK, home of the 'Blue Badge'. Mr Hooper is founder President of the Institute of Tourist Guiding, past Presi- dent of the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and has served on the Executive Board of the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations. MUTG Treasurer Paul Spiteri will speak on The Economic Im- pact of Tourist Guiding. Apart from holding degrees in Eco- nomics and Business Adminis- tration, Mr Spiteri is licensed to guide in Maltese, English, Italian, French and Spanish and has been guiding since 2013. Former MUTG President Glori- anne Mizzi, a lecturer and Tour- ist Guide trainer at the Institute of Tourism Studies, is the last speaker. She will speak on Ensur- ing Quality: Prospects for the Fu- ture. Ms Mizzi has been an active guide since 1996 and is a former executive board member on the European Federation of Tourist Guide Associations (FEG) and a former board director on the Malta Tourism Authority. Those wishing to register to at- tend the symposium, for which there is no registration fee, are asked to send an e-mail to: mutgsecretary@gmail.com. They are encouraged to join the ses- sion from 9.15am. The speakers during the Malta Union of Tourist Guides symposium, coinciding with their 40th anniversary, on 25 September (from above left, clockwise): Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli, Dr Dane Munro, Hugo Dopazo and Jorge Ravenna, Dr Michael Tanti-Dougall, Efi Kalampoukidou, Tom Hooper, MBE, Paul Spiteri and Glorianne Mizzi BANK of Valletta has released an addition- al feature on its BOV Mobile Banking App, providing subscribers with the facility to ef- fect local and foreign payments in a simple and fast way, from anywhere, at any time, directly from the app. "We are very excited to deliver another functionality on our BOV Mobile App. It is now so easy to pay others, be it friends, family, suppliers, even those who bank elsewhere," stated Franco Xuereb, Execu- tive Electronic Banking at Bank of Vallet- ta. "The Pay Third Party feature compli- ments other payment options available on our app and is another flexible solution for our customers, who with their smartphone can pay anyone in the world regardless of whether they bank with us or not." The BOV Mobile Banking app is simple and offers a wide range of banking options. Subscribers can pay third parties; pay bills such as water, electricity and insurance; pay other BOV Mobile users through a mobile number; stop a lost or stolen card; transfer money between own accounts; check account balances; view transactions; top up anyone's mobile phone and author- ise BOV Internet Banking transactions. "As part of our digitisation strategy, over the past twelve months we have made many modifications to our mobile app, radically improving user experience. Over 110,000 of our clients are subscribed to the BOV Mobile App and with over 1.4 million logins every month, this applica- tion has become their preferred method to carry out banking requirements on the go in a secure, fast and cheaper way, literal- ly having control of their finances in their hands from anywhere, at any time of the day," concluded Xuereb. BOV Mobile is available for all BOV Internet Banking customers and can be downloaded free of charge from Google PlayStore™ and Apple's App Store™. Fur- ther information can be found on https:// www.bov.com/content/bov-mobile-bank- ing.