About Antwerp City Guides
Who are we?
KGvA (The Royal Antwerp Guides' Association) has over 200 members, more than 140 of whom are active as Antwerp City Guides. All have an officially recognized guide's diploma and have also been certified as "Tourist Guide" by Tourism Flanders. Our association was founded almost 100 years ago and all this time we have been considered the official guides of the City of Antwerp.
Quality:
We strive to optimize and keep both the content and format of our tours up to date. A quality assurance team will look over customer evaluations and reviews of the new and reworked tours. A team of coaches will support guides in their assignment. Within our association, we will ensure that our guides have as many opportunities as possible for ongoing training.
In a rapidly evolving city like Antwerp, there are constantly new challenges. Thanks to our own product cell, the Antwerp City Guides respond as much as possible to the new developments in our city. Thus, new tours are developed and existing tours are reworked and adapted.
The Antwerp City Guides are people of all ages, but they all demonstrate a refreshing vitality, work ethic, and passion for Antwerp every day. They are eager to help you discover this wonderful city.
Multilingualism:
We ensure multilingual quality, not in only Dutch, French, English or German, but also in Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish (limited) and quite a few other languages.
Become a member?
Would you like to become a member of KGvA? Then you should apply for membership to the secretary: secretaris@kgva.be, who will ask for a copy of your guide's diploma with specialization Antwerp.
The membership fee is 45 € per year.
Benefits for our members:
- Four times a year the magazine "Antwerpsche Tydinghen."
- A civil liability and personal accidents insurance on the way to, during and after the guided tour.
- The right to participate in the formation and other activities of the association. Family members may also participate in these activities, but members always have priority when the number of participants is limited.
- Access to the association's intranet (members who guide for KGvA - and have contracted for it - will find documentation on various walks there.
- A membership card that allows you to identify yourself as a tourist guide and offers discounts in many places (especially abroad).
History
1926
Because there was a growing demand for trained city guides, the Guides Association was founded.
It establishes contacts between potential clients (schools, travel agencies, etc.) and affiliated guides, and takes care of bookings itself.
The association achieved success and grew steadily, with a logical decline during World War II.
1956
The city of Antwerp establishes the "Urban Courses for the Training of Guides."
1958
The City of Antwerp establishes a "Guides Exchange" and thus takes care of the contact between guides and visitors. It calls on the guides of the Guides' Association and takes over all administrative tasks.
The Guides' Association becomes a cultural association that promotes the interests of its members and provides the necessary further training..
1980
The first issue of "Antwerpsche tydinghen," the magazine of the Guides' Association, appears.
1986
A new name: Royal Guides Association of Antwerp (K.G.B.A.)
1996
Guide training is regulated by the Flemish Community: a two-year course. Those who pass receive the guide's diploma recognized by Tourism Flanders.
The association gets its current name: Royal Antwerp Guides Association (KGvA). A Working Group on General Training (ALVO) is created to further train and inform members.
2007
A new working group, the Product Cell, is becoming active to update existing tours and develop new walks.
2019
The association uses the name Antwerp City Guides in communications with the general public. More than 150 guides provide some 10,000 guided tours in the city and the city's monuments and museums.
2020
KGvA enters into a partnership with Experience Antwerp and becomes its own provider of the walks and tours. A working group is in charge of quality monitoring and guidance of our guides.
2025
2025 marks the start of Antwerp City Guides 2.0.
For decades we were the proud ambassadors of the city, handling all administration for booked tours. In 2020, this changed when the booking system was privatized through Experience Antwerp.
In 2025 we will fully take the helm ourselves. Precisely in the year our association celebrates its 100th anniversary, we are taking the biggest step in our history: we are building our own website and will henceforth manage all bookings ourselves.
This is quite a challenge, but thanks to the tireless commitment of our chairman — who also brings IT expertise — and a number of dedicated core members, this will be a leap forward. In this way, we remain, more than ever, the city’s ambassadors and the ultimate guarantee of consistent quality.
Board
