THE Department of Tourism (DOT) in Western Visayas, in partnership with the Negros Occidental Tourism Division (NOTD), has conducted a training on farm tourism site guiding in the province.

The two-day training held at May’s Organic Garden and Restaurant in Bacolod City on November 11 to 12 was attended by 45 Negrense participants.

They are from different accredited and accreditable farm tourism sites, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPA) and local government units (LGUs).

Cristine Mansinares, provincial supervising tourism operations officer, said the training provided basic practical skills and techniques in conducting farm guiding to the participants.

Mansinares said these are needed to promote high standards of customer service and enhance income opportunities for existing site guides.

The topics included Filipino Brand of Service, Duties and Responsibilities of a Farm Site Guide, Spiels Development, and Practical Guiding Techniques, she added.

A graded mock tour and critiquing was also part of the module to assess the quality of local guiding and practices.

The training is under the Tourism Industry Skills Program which aims to reduce skills gap and improve service levels, standard and management.