Business | Tourism
ADTA will issue 100 licences to tourist guides
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) will shortly issue licences to about 100 tourist guides for the first time, the head of the ADTA's tour-ism training said yesterday.
- By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter
- Published: 01:22 February 22, 2008
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) will shortly issue licences to about 100 tourist guides for the first time, the head of the ADTA's tour-ism training said yesterday.
Abu Dhabi last year embarked on a strategy to attract three million visitors per year by 2015.
"Those undergoing training with us are employed with the government and private sectors, there's a balance between the two," Michelle Sabti told Gulf News.
Sabti said the candidates will undergo more than 100 hours of training before they graduate and they will be taught about culture and tourism.
"About 15 per cent of the trainees are UAE nationals. The licensed guides will deal with visitors in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, including Al Ain," said Sabti.
Sabti said there are div-erse nationalities among the trainees.
They come from as far as France, Germany, India, Norway, Morocco, the US and the UK.
Sabti said the assessment of the trainees is competency-based and they are tested for both their skills and knowledge.
Parameters
"The broad assessment parameters are competency standards, behaviour, knowledge, communication and language skills and interpretation skills," said Sabti, adding that most of the trainees are bilingual, while some are even trilingual.
"The licences issued will be subject to renewal annually," Sabti said.
To mark the International Tourist Guide Day (February 21) - staged globally to recognise tourist guides' essential contribution to the tourism experience - the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority held four guided tours of the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque with trained UAE nationals acting as guides, ADTA said in a statement.
ADTA conducts training programmes to support the tourism industry for the entire emirate, which includes general tour guide training, site guide training for museums, as well as for the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque.
ADTA is also urging tour operators throughout the emirate to embrace training and opportunities for career advancement for tourist guides.
Commitment
"ADTA has a strong commitment to the tourist guide role and is encouraging the private sector to also embrace the need to ensure all guides operating in the emirate are fully trained, recognised and remunerated in line with the value they bring to the destination," said the ADTA's Licensing and Classification Division Director Nasser Saif Al Reyami.
"The four tours were booked to capacity and, from next month, the ADTA will stage daily guided tours of the mosque at 10am from Saturday to Thursday," the statement added.
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