To the Blogging Pompeii community: I would be ever so grateful to hear from some of you who are in the know about the rules for leading tours in Pompeii. I am interested in leading a tour of a dozen or so folks through the site (next year), but wonder about the legality of such an endeavor — especially considering the power of the tour guides' union! Has anyone had experience with either applying for a tour permit of some sort, or definitively discovering that paperwork is not necessary for this (either formally or "they just didn't seem to mind that I was leading a tour")? If so, what were the general circumstances of your tour (group size, academic affiliation, peak tourist season or off-peak, paying or non-paying customers, what year it was, etc.)? I would appreciate any information you have on the subject.
With warm thanks,
Stephanie Pearson
UC Berkeley
A blog for all those who work on Pompeii and the other archaeological sites of the Bay of Naples.
5 comments:
Hi Stephanie,
I have and do regularly take groups of students around Pompeii without difficulty. If your group has entrance tesserae, be sure to display them. In any event, try to keep your tour low key. In the past, when leading students from another university (artists), I have received permission to lead a tour through the regular permesso request process. Be sure to highlight that you are not being paid.
I've had different experiences ... The worst was when a tour guide threaten to break my leg - but that only ever happened once, and I've sure it was because the guide thought he could intimidate a young woman. But you should have no problems taking round a group of students if you have a permesso from the SANP. As Eric says, it depends on whether you are being paid. If you are, I can give you some more info via email.
My understanding is that if you are from an educational institution (school, uni, etc) then you have the right to lead a group from that institution. With other groups you must be a registered guide.
Suggest that you take a letter on headed paper from your head of dept or similar that states (in Italian if poss) who you are and what the course is, so you can wave it at aggressive guides. If you also have your SANP permesso you should be fine!
Thank you very dearly for all your considered replies. I do wonder how much of your (very helpful) recommendations would change if this were not a group of students. The demographic of my group will be older (40+ I should think) and not directly university-related; Jo, I will take up your offer email you to ask for your advice.
Grazie ancora a tutti! I am immensely grateful to be able to draw on your knowledge. (And Jo: YIKES about the threat!)
I'm watching this carefully as well as I will be bringing students to Pompeii in 2013.
I brought a group of 20 students through in the summer of '09 and didn't have any troubles.
Where I DID have an issue was at the Naples museum. Does anyone have any current info on taking groups of students through the MNA?
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