Tour guide: Günter Maislinger
Born in Salzburg, Austria, I emigrated to LA as a teenager in 1978 and found my new home in New York City a year later. My professional career as a dog babysitter started in Los Angeles. In New York I landed a stopover as a fashion designer for my own company, then into the world of catering events and finally in 1987 in the tourism industry. As a tour guide, I went all over the USA and Canada for six years before I started my own business again as an organizer of Harlem gospel and jazz tours. For 10 years I brought 10,000 to 15,000 German-speaking tourists to Harlem every year, thereby making my personal contribution to the revitalization of this exciting district.
September 11, 2001 meant the end of my company. In 2002 I left New York for Miami Beach to recover emotionally and economically from this black day and its effects on the city, its people and me personally. The longing brought me back to New York in 2005 and I started again as a tour guide to guide visitors from all over the world through my city. To my delight, the business boomed again very quickly for me. My almost daily assignment as a tour guide in this permanently changing city keeps me on my toes and always up to date. I find it very enriching that I can share my love for New York City and my enthusiasm for the culinary diversity, architecture and the exciting art scene that this city has to offer with people from different cultures.
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