KSTDC to train tourist guides

 The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) is organising a training programme for all their registered guides stationed at various tourism destinations in the State.

The training programme is being planned to usher in professionalism among the KSTDC guides and will be imparted from March this year.

The programme is also a part of the draft tourism policy, which focusses on how the KSTDC wants to promote tourist destinations in the State, by providing facilities and improving instrastructure there. It also plans to increase the number of tourists  to the State and usher in professionalism in the system. The draft tourism policy was forwarded to the State government last year, and is awaiting its approval.
A senior official from the KSTDC, on condition of anonymity, told Deccan Herald: “The training will be a three-month course and will comprise 40 candidates per batch. It will be held in all districts, in co-ordination with the respective district administrations, instead of the KSTDC head office.”

The course includes training guides on destinations, communication skills, soft skills, professional training on dealing and interacting with tourists, especially foreigners. This will be different from the proposal to set-up colleges for training manpower in housekeeping and tourism, in various educational institutions, he said.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) also trains its guides. “We thought of imparting training to our guides on similar lines. The KSTDC has received complaints on tourist guides being harassed by tourists and vice versa, at several places. The guides are sometimes verbally and physically abused by the tourists, while, there are also instances of tourists being physically and mentally harassed by the former. The Corporation is unable to seek action against the offenders since it does not enjoy such powers,” he said.

The official said that the training programme will help sensitise the guides on how to behave with tourists and how to handle such situations.

Also, the programme will help the department realise the total number of authentic guides registered with them and functioning in each district, so that fake guides misusing the KSTDC tag can be identified.”
DH News Service