About 120 Tour Guides have undergone various training as part of activities to equip them with modern tour guiding skills.
The training, which was facilitated by Professor Nkunu Akyea, was under the auspices of the Ghana Tourism Authority and the Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture in collaboration with the Tour Guides Association of Ghana.
The training content was divided into four segments, namely tour guide rationale, tourism in focus, the tour guide at work, and the tour guide licensing regime.
Some courses treated at the training programme include Tourism in Focus – Current Trends, Tour Guiding Today, Tourism Enterprises, Our Guide at Work, Role, Function and Ethics, The Tourism Product, Tools of the Tour Guide, Communications, Presentations and Interpretations.
Others are Industry Safety and Security, Practical Field Procedure, Report Writing, Classification of Tour Guides, Professional Training and Application, Licensing and Renewal Procedures.
Professor Nkunu Akyea told the Goldstreet Business that there was the need to place more emphasis on training qualified tour guides in order to enable them offer seamless services within the country’s tourism terrain.
“Even the topnotch hotels must begin to consider employing these qualified tour guides on permanent basis. It is worthy to note that the GTA and the Tourism Ministry are encouraging this training,” Prof. Akyea said.
The training among other things, was conducted to streamline activities of tourist attractions while training guides to enable them to maintain industry standards.
Deputy CEO, Finance and Administration, of the GTA, Mr. Isaac Adomako-Mensah, said the authority sought to promote Ghana as a preferred destination through the services of professional tour guides at various tourism sites.
He explained that tour guides were the epitome of the whole function of the Ministry, saying, they explained the attractions, culture, hospitality, customs and festivals of the country better than anyone.
Mr Awuku Yirekyi, President of the Tour Guides Association of Ghana, said the training programme was in line with the provisions of the Tourism Act, 2011(ACT 817).
The cooperation between the GTA and TORGAG had been the driving factor to the first phase of the training programme, with the objective of providing a medium to register, train and license tour guides.
The nationwide training programme has been segmented into five (5) zones in terms of regions, namely: Greater Accra and Tema, Eastern and Volta, from October 3 to 5, Cape Coast and Western from October 10 to 12, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti from October 18 to 20, and Upper West, Upper East and Northern, from October 22 to 24.
By Wisdom Jonny-Nuekpe