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About the Guild

The Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, D.C. is a not-for-profit organization of more than 430 members, approximately 325 of whom are professional tourist guides licensed by the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Our guides are highly educated individuals from varied backgrounds who have experience conducting tours for visitors from all over the world. Guild guides provide a variety of tours of the Washington metropolitan area, including city highlight tours, walking tours and specialty tours. Some of our guides are tour managers, qualified to lead tours in other geographical areas. Others provide predominately foreign-language tours in at least 15 languages.

The Guild is governed by a Board of Directors, which is made up of seven elected officers (President, 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, Associate Representative, and Affiliate Representative) and six appointed committee chairpersons (Administration and Professional Conduct, Education, Financial Development, Government and Tourism Industry Liaison, Membership, and Public Relations). The Board generally meets the first week of every month.

Our membership also includes tour companies and other organizations that provide services to the touring public. Affiliate members are businesses related to the travel and tourism industry that routinely hire the services of tourist guides. Friend members are individuals or companies, such as hotels, restaurants, museums and government agencies, which support the objectives of the Guild.

The Guild is a member of: