ABOUT 25 interested tour guides have already signed up for the Department of Tourism (DOT) Davao Region’s call for tourist guide training dubbed as Regional Tour Guiding Seminar as a means to have more registered and accredited tour guides in the region.
In a phone interview with City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) head Generose Tecson, most of these registered applicants are from Davao City.
The call had started late April of this year specifically for the seminar which will be conducted eight hours a day for 25 days from June to July. Although ability to speak any foreign language is not required, DOT Davao Region noted this to be an advantage, as well as the applicants’ familiarity of the tourism destinations and attractions in Davao Region.
The seminar costs P5,000 but is already inclusive of meals and snacks, training kit, ID, and certificate. As there is only a limited 30 slots for the training-seminar, only applicants who had passed the written exam and the panel interview will be qualified to attend.
In an earlier interview with Tecson, she said Davao City alone is in need of additional 20 to 30 accredited and licensed tourist guides as there are only less than 15 active and licensed tour guides in the entire city.
“It is not enough that an individual has passed the NC II vocational course of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda). To be able to be a certified and a licensed tour guide, one should really undergo the training conducted by DOT,” she said.
She added, to be able to accommodate and keep up with the increasing influx of tourists in the city, there is a need for additional tour guides especially those who can speak more than one language. She said it is a plus if the tour guide can speak Mandarin and Japanese.