The practice of guiding, as a profession, is not to be overlooked or underappreciated. Guiding is a skill, an often academically-accredited qualification that elevates a destination’s capability to showcase attractions and other areas from baseline to beyond expectation. Read more on this in the article "Tour guides: Noticing or Knowing" on eTurboNews.

Tour guide in Mexico

Armed gunmen ambushed 22 Carnival cruise ship passengers on a tour of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico last week - WFAA.com reported.

This is terrible news for the travelling public, the shipping company, and all the people in Mexico who depend on tourism for their livelihoods.

I’ve been doing private and scheduled shore excursions in Iceland since 1988 and to think that something like this could happen in my country makes me shiver. So far, so good in Iceland – a country where police does not carry guns and women leave their children sleeping in the baby pram outside grocery stores while they shop.

My thoughts are with the tourist guide who’ll remember this incidence for the rest of his/her life.