Tour guides: a vision of the future? | Travel

“And this,” the white-coated salesman said, shoving a pungent pot of gloop under my nose, “is a magic ointment. It can clear athlete’s foot right up.”

This was not how I’d imagined my guided tour of Marrakesh’s souks and sights playing out. Standards had been low from the start, to be honest. We’d been shown some “big windows” and a few “nice rugs”, and spent an enthralling 25 minutes at the public loos on the Djemaa el Fna, before arriving at this dubious apothecary, where the guide’s friend had “the best Moroccan herbal remedies”. Eventually, we ran out of patience, paid up and departed — an hour before the tour was due to end.

Thankfully, though, time could soon be up for bad tour guides.…