President of THAG Mr. Gerry Gouveia during a tour guide-training programme on Tuesday last hosted by THAG in collaboration with the Caribbean Regional (HRD) Programme for Economic Competitiveness (CPEC) said the training is geared to take into account collaborative efforts to develop tourism relations between Guyana and Suriname.

Training is being conducted at the THAG head office, Waterloo Street, Georgetown and the participants involved are from regions 1, 2 4 and 9. Participants from Chenapau, Kaieteur and Nappi are expected to join the course shortly.

The Tour Guide Curricula being used was defined for the Guyanese Tourism Product taking into consideration our many different cultures and varied attractions that are offered.
Participants are being trained in such areas as City Tours, Aviation Tours, Kaieteur Tours River Tours, Nature Tours, Heritage Tours Cultural Tours and First Aid.

The programme will be accredited by the Guyana Tourism Authority and participants will receive certification from THAG and the Guyana Red Cross Society.

Gouveia in his remarks said tourism in Guyana must be a highly regulated industry where every person involved and every accommodation sector that is involved as well must be highly regulated and licensed.

Nothing happens for tourism in Guyana without the umbrella coverage of the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) he stressed.

When the participants complete the training and are issued with certificates, it will give tour companies and other operators in the industry confidence that the guides have been trained at a very high level to carry out their duties in a very professional manner.

But with some emphasis being placed in boosting collaboration between Suriname and Guyana Gouveia emphasized that " training must be very compatible so that when we train a tour guide here that person must be able to operate very easily in Suriname and the guides trained there must be able to work here too".

He said, Kaieteur water falls for example, being a particular tourist attraction in Guyana, tourist visiting neighbouring Suriname and would like to go to that site could be guaranteed the necessary guidance from trained personnel, because of the collaborative efforts between the two countries.

What this means is that Guyana's licensing standards for tour operators, guides and resort owners must be very similar, and that's why the training programme was designed to have that kind of compatibility.