Tourists met in Vilnius by hundreds of volunteers

More than two hundred people have responded to the invitation by the Vilnius Tourism and Business Development Agency Go Vilnius to become volunteers for the centennial celebration, and as a result have already started distributing information to the visitors this week. Dressed in red throughout a year, the volunteers will take care of tourists in the centre of Vilnius and in the Old Town.

This has already turned into a tradition, and the Vilnius population has become very responsive in this regard. This year, the programme has recruited a quarter more volunteers than last year, i.e. 260. Although the first volunteers are already working, but the programme welcomes anyone to join as we go.

“For many people living in Vilnius it matters if the visitors feel well in the city, are comfortable and can see the best of it. The popularity of the Tourism Volunteer Programme is just a proof to that”, said Inga Romanovskienė, Director of Go Vilnius, in the opening event. This is a great help for Vilnius in welcoming tourists to the capital of Lithuania celebrating the centennial of the restoration of the state”.

The number of tourists in Vilnius has been rising annually: in the last two years, the number of visitors a year is above a million. Our target markets have shown a particularly marked growth in tourist flows – Germany, Poland, Latvia and others. These markets have been subject to proactive tourism encouragement measures.

In summer, tourism volunteers will be around the most popular tourist spots in Vilnius – squares of the Cathedral and Town Hall, Gediminas Avenue, Vokiečių Street, Maironis and Aušros streets. They will have maps, information materials about Vilnius in various languages. City volunteers will recommend places of interest, advise on how to get to places by public transport or cycling and will answer other questions.

Before they embark on their task, the volunteers will have to undergo training on Vilnius tourism etc. and learn how to help visitors.

The programme is unique in that the volunteers can take dogs together, which will be wearing special identification badges symbolic of the programme. In this way, the volunteers will be able to combine help for tourists and dog walking.

New volunteers are welcome to join the team any time by the end of the summer. Just sign up at: www.bit.ly/tapk-turizmo-savanoriu and take part in regularly held training. All those who will have worked for at least 16 hours will get certificates of volunteering in the field of tourism at the end of the programme.

The project partners will open the doors for the volunteers for free, including Loft, UNO Park, Iliuzijų muziejus, Kartlandas, Vilniaus Gondola, and Vilnius City Tour. The volunteers will enjoy free coffee from Caffeine chain.