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International Cross-Cultural Exchange (ICCE) has launched its guide matching service, “Japan Tour Guide (JTG),” on smartphones.
For this guide service, the guest (tourist) fills out a request form for a guide. Guides then may then view the requests of the guests and apply to a candidate for a guide. The guest selects a guide from among those who applied for candidacy to form a match. Once a match is confirmed, a private chat between the guest and the guide is opened so that they may discuss further details with each other.
While the service provided by the guide is free, a $5 fee will be charged for the opening of a chat room upon a successful matching. This system fee will be used for maintaining healthy operations of the service and for exchange activities for the registered guides.
ICEE provides indispensable cultural exchange and language learning opportunities to both corporations and people for raising international personnel. In the organization’s nearly two years of activities, the service’s number of member guides have grown to over 2,500 people with a high rate of successful matches. Our group is aiming for 30,000 members by the year 2020.
© ValuePress
6 Comments
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taj
Also, does this service guarantee that guides are licensed (as is required by law in Japan).
JoeLarabell
Maybe that's why there's no fee. I just looked on the JGA web site and it only says you need a license if you receive a fee for doing the guiding. But the license exam includes language fluency so I imagine that leaves out a number of capable volunteers who would otherwise make reasonable guides. This looks like an effort for some enterprising web developer to make a couple bucks matching volunteers with tourists... I wonder if there are any free sites doing the same thing.
Utrack
This is a really good idea
Heather Hopkins Clement
So, how does this differ from JNTO's Goodwill Guides? http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/travel/guide/guideservice.html
Wakarimasen
Nice. I would like mine about 5"8, 110 pounds, long black hair, sweet smile and an encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese history, culture and good places to eat and drink..... Can do?
GW
Sounds like a way for some web site to make some $$ while guides offer services for free.
The whole "guide" thing is real messed up here, Japan do AWAY with stupid licenses! Let people try to start a small little service job as they see fit!!
I don't see this idea leading to too much