Fewer than 1% pass Italy’s first National Tour Guide exam

Italy’s first national tour guide qualification exam has produced just 230 successful candidates out of nearly 30,000 applicants. It reopens a heated debate over access to the profession and the future of tourism training.

The pre-selection test, held in November across eight Italian cities, was designed to end more than a decade of regulatory uncertainty. Instead, it has become one of the most controversial recruitment processes in recent years.

A long-awaited reform

The exam marked the first national call for tour guide qualifications in 13 years. Since 2013, Italy didn’t have a unified system, after the traditional regional and provincial licences were scrapped in line with the EU’s Bolkestein Directive on competition.

For over a decade, successive governments failed to replace the system. Reforms linked to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), which required Italy to regulate access to several professions, finally addressed the issue.

The Numbers

The response from applicants was overwhelming. Nearly 29,300 people applied within weeks, far exceeding expectations and highlighting strong demand for a clear national framework. Of the original applicants, around 12,200 actually sat the pre-selection test. Just 230 passed.

That means:

0.7% of total applicants succeeded.
1.8% of those who took the test advanced.

The exam consisted of 80 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, covering art history, archaeology, geography, cultural heritage law, and technical tourism knowledge. The pass mark was 25 points.

Il Sole 24 Ore published some of the questions from Part 1 of the exam, a few of which we’ve sampled, with answers at the end of the article.

In the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, two cities with tall towers and jewelled walls are depicted, from which a procession of little sheep sets off. The cities are:

Rome and Ravenna
Jerusalem and Bethlehem
Rome and Constantinople

2. The gallery of the Grotta di Seiano, inside a well-known archaeological park in the metropolitan area of Naples, passes through:

the Vomero
Capodimonte
the Posillipo hill

3. In the National Palaeolithic Museum of Isernia it is possible to admire the reconstruction of the child from “Isernia La Pineta”, belonging to the species Homo:

neanderthalensis
heidelbergensis
erectus

4. The archaeological evidence of the tophet and the numerous stelae found on the island of Mozia in Sicily are expressions of which Mediterranean culture?

Mycenaean
Minoan
Phoenician-Punic

5. Which mythological episode is depicted in the frescoed vault of the Hall of Mirrors in the Royal Palace of Genoa?

The contest between Apollo, playing the lyre, and Marsyas with his pan pipes
The Rape of Proserpina
Perseus turning Phineus to stone

Ministry defends “rigorous” system

The Ministry of Tourism (MITUR) has rejected claims that the process is unfair. Officials described the exam as “serious and rigorous”, arguing that Italy needs highly qualified professionals to protect visitors and combat illegal guiding.

The ministry said criticisms were contradictory, noting that past systems were accused of being too lenient and influenced by personal recommendations.

MITUR insists that any evaluation should wait until the full selection process is complete, including the written and oral stages scheduled later this year.

Legal challenges and industry backlash

The exam has faced legal and institutional obstacles from the start. In May 2025, the Lazio Regional Administrative Court temporarily suspended the exam after appeals against parts of the procedure.

Tour guide associations, including the National Association of Tourist Guides (ANGT), support a national system but argue that it should include strong regional components. They say guides need in-depth local knowledge, not just theoretical expertise. Critics also claim the current format rewards encyclopaedic memory over practical experience, excluding many working guides who already operate in the sector.

Sarah Cater, an official, licensed guide working in Florence, qualified under the regional system. She says there is a lot of talk on the guide chats about the new national format, with the general consensus being that knowing the minutiae of art and history for the whole of the country is “too much and unnecessary”.

Furthermore, licensed guides are being told they need to do 50 hours of courses over a three year period to retain their licence. “This isn’t a problem in itself,” Sarah says. ” As professional guides, we are always refreshing our knowledge. It’s the fact that there are no clear guidelines on which courses will be recognised.”

“As usual, we have a new system brought in, with poor communication and scant guidelines, leaving existing licensed guides wondering what the heck will happen next.”

A bottleneck for tourism

Industry groups warn that producing only 230 new guides from nearly 30,000 candidates risks creating a serious skills bottleneck.

Italy already struggles with unlicensed guiding, especially in major tourist cities and heritage sites. A shortage of qualified professionals could worsen the situation, pushing more activity into the informal economy.