Certification Authority

of Tourist Guides

certification authority

of tourist guides

Azerbaijan Tourism Board has established the Certification Authority of Tourist Guides (CATG) in order to implement a unified certification process for tourist guides in the Republic of Azerbaijan. CATG's activity in this direction fulfils the requirements of the National Accreditation System and meets the requirements of the ISO/IEC 17024 – 2012 standard.

Requirements to apply for certification:

  • At least 2 (two) years of work experience as a tourist guide
  • Higher education degree

Required knowledge and skills:

  • Physical conditions for long periods of walking and standing, and modulated voice to be clearly heard by guests
  • Time management and organizational skills
  • Good verbal expression and presentation skills
  • Ability to comply with the safety norms established within the tour
  • General knowledge and ability to communicate effectively with visitors from diverse backgrounds
  • Teamwork skills
  • Team management skills

Theoretical and practical knowledge of subjects:

  • History of Azerbaijan
  • Geography of Azerbaijan
  • Ethnography
  • Culture and art
  • Archaeology base knowledge
  • Basics of tourism
  • Technical vocational knowledge of the tourist guide
  • Theological knowledge
  • Economics of tourism
  • Tourism legislation
  • Psychology and body language
  • First aid
  • Map reading and direction finding

Topics and sources

Tourist destinations:

Baku and Absheron Peninsula territory

evaluation process

Dear Guides,

The certification process involves the evaluation of the guide's theoretical and practical knowledge and the issuance of a guiding certificate.

The candidate selects the date on which the exam will be held. The address and other details are emailed to the candidate by the Tourism Certification Body of Azerbaijan (TBSO). This marks the beginning of the candidate's evaluation process.

The evaluation process consists of two stages:

**Stage 1: Oral Assessment** - This stage is conducted in the form of an oral interview by a panel of three members of the Evaluation Commission (the number may increase to four or more if the candidate has chosen a foreign language other than Azerbaijani, English, or Russian). The candidate first enters an oral language examination to assess their proficiency in a foreign language (excluding the language selected for the exam during the application). This interview lasts for 20 minutes, during which the expert primarily assesses whether the candidate's spoken language level in the foreign language is sufficient. Then, the candidate selects one of the tickets prepared based on the literature sources and topics provided to them in advance (the candidate can change the ticket once, which will result in a deduction of 1 point from their overall score). Each ticket contains 5 open-ended questions, the candidate is given 30 minutes to prepare. Three experts participate in this stage. The candidate answers the questions on the ticket based on the language chosen during the application (including knowledge of guiding terminology, etc.). Each question is scored from 1 to 5 points. A candidate who scores at least 17 points is considered to have completed the first stage of the assessment.

**Stage 2: Practical Assessment** - In this stage, the candidate's guiding techniques during a walking tour, bus tour, or indoor tour (museum, gallery, etc.) are assessed under the supervision of one expert from the Evaluation Commission. The candidate is given 15 minutes for a walking tour, 10 minutes for a bus tour, and 15 minutes for an indoor tour. The assessment is conducted by the Commission member leading the tour and is scored from 1 to 5 points. A candidate who scores at least 48 points is considered to have completed the second stage of the assessment.

A candidate who successfully passes both stages is awarded a tourism guide certificate by the Tourism Certification Body of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board.

Good luck!

application form

frequently asked questions

600 AZN including VAT. Note : Considering that the COP 29 event will be held in Baku, no certification fees will be applied to guides operating in Baku and Sumgait cities, as well as the Absheron region, who apply for certification in 2024 as part of the support mechanism for tourism guides.
If the certification is successfully evaluated, it will be issued within 14 working days.
For 3 years.
You will be notified by e-mail or phone within 7 working days.
Processing of the certificate application is within 5 working days.
If you have 2 years of experience as a tourist guide, you can apply.

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