I have a group of about 15 friends and family who I will be taking on a tour of Italy I am planning for us. In each place we go, I'll be linking with local tours and tour guides, however when we first arrive in each location I want to take the group on a walk to orient them and give them an overview of the place.
My quandary is that a friend has suggested in Italy that would constitute an unofficial tour and I could be fined. I often take friends and family around town and tell them about the sights. It has never crossed my mind that this would be contravening any laws and frankly, it sounds completely silly. It's a different thing if you start approaching strangers and offer them guide services.
That is only permissible if you have a license. As an aside, an 'escort' to me is a woman who gets paid for quite different services. But I presume that's. I believe you are correct as I have a friend in Italy who said she couldn't walk around with us and "orient" us to the city as she would be considered a guide and would be fined because she didn't have a license.
I think if it's a small group then it's not a problem but with a group of 15 you could run into issues. But Italy is full of silly laws often based on the premise that Italians are always trying to get out of paying taxes.
Some are incredible:. In Conegliano Veneto they are taxing "shadows". Although this is just a blog, it is a true fact, I read it a few monts ago in the local newspaper. I don't know if they went through with it, but even the fact that they have suggested it Well, under Italian law you need to be licensed to work as a tour guide 'guida turistica' , as well as a tour leader 'accompagnatore turistico'.
