In a bid to enhance the travel experience of tourists in Goa through guided tours, the state government has planned to train Goan youth and provide tourist guide certification to them through a new scheme, reported The Times of India.
The government of Goa has set an aim to have 1,000 certified tourist guides in the state within the next two years. Reportedly, the tourism department of the state has adopted the ‘Incredible India Tourist Facilitator (IITF) (basic) certification programme’ of the Union Tourism Ministry.
People who wish to get the tourist guide certification will have to go through various modules of the programme. The first six modules are designed to enhance the basic knowledge of the candidates and make them acquire skills required to be a tourist facilitator. These include basics of the tourism industry and its terminologies, basics about society and nature of India, and building rapport and communication.
The last module of the certification course is focused on tourist destinations and experiences of different Indian states.
Highlighting the significance of the new scheme, a senior officer said that currently there aren’t enough tourist guides in the state. He said that local youth will be trained thus increasing the number of guides and offer better experience to the visitors. He added that the move will also help employ the youth and generate opportunities for them.
An advanced tourist guide curriculum has also been developed by the tourist department. It is aimed at training the participants in Goan heritage, culture, history, tourist destinations, etiquettes, and making them eligible for being employed in the tourist department within a short span of time, according to the senior officer.
The tourism department will sponsor the cost of this advanced tourist guide curriculum while the fee of the IITF (basic) programme will be reimbursed to the candidates.
As per the scheme, once the candidate completes the advanced tourist guide certification course, they will be awarded a tourist guide certificate by the tourism department. Upon completing the tourist guide certification scheme, which includes the basic and advanced guide modules, candidates will be eligible to apply for registration under the tourism department.
