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son training for tour guides. As a mechanism for quality assurance, training has great potential, but as with some of the other initiatives in China, much of the training is not informed by research and theory regarding the roles of a tour guide vis224。 Yu, 2020), but generally these have simply pointed to the importance of quality assurance rather than how to achieve it. Of most relevance to this paper is the work of Black and Weiler (2020), who underpin their analysis by ?rst presenting a research basis for determining what constitutes “quality” in tour guiding .They then review A range of quality assurance and regulatory mechanisms that have the potential to enhance tour guide performance, including codes of conduct, professional associations, awarding for excellence, training, professional certi?cation and licensing. Furthermore, Black and Weiler present a matrix for examining quality assurance mechanisms in relation to a number of Characteristics or criteria, including whether the mechanism is pulsory or voluntary. For 3 example, codes of conduct are usually voluntary, simply because they are difficult to enforce, while training and licensing can be pulsory。McGrath,2020。 Buswell , 2020)and whole journals devoted to the subject. That said, the vast majority of what has been researched and written about quality assurance focuses on service in the hospitality, hotel and airline industries and has limited relevance to tour Guiding and to sustainable development. Moreover, an examination of quality assurance in a nonwestern context is rare. Several researchers have touched on the issue of quality assurance in tour guiding (Apamp。 Weeks, 1996), scholarly texts (Blackamp。 sustainability。 quality assurance。 Issaverdis, 1998, 2020。 Williams amp。Devlin,1996。Black, 2020。 Raise the awareness of the importance of quality guiding. Code of conduct, professional associations, awards for excellence, training, certi?cation and licensing all aim to increase the credibility and status of guiding among guides and the industry generally. A description and evaluation of China’s tour guiding quality assurance system Although tour guiding quality has been one of the major issues on CNTA’s policy agendas and both CNTA and local tourism authorities have expended considerable effort regulating tour guiding practices and maintaining tour guiding quality, this has not been systematically documented and reported in the public domain. Since the early 1980s, China’s policies on tour guiding have seen a gradual evolution and transition. The policy transition and periodical changes could well re?ect the rapid change of Chinese society at large, or more speci?cally the development of the tourism industry. However, tour guiding remains a highly regulated profession in China. Professional certi?cation, licensing and training of tour guides Black and Weiler (2020) describe professional certi?cation, licensing and training as relatively powerful mechanisms for ensuring quality tour guiding. China has a number of welladvanced initiatives in these areas which may well offer global models for harnessing tour guiding as an instrument to enhance sustainability. However, as will bee evident in the following discussion, some of what has been possible in China may be less possible in democratic countries where government have less capacity and/or inclination to control and 4 regulate industry. Tour guide licensing Tour guide licensing in China is separate from the quali?cation examination proces