Guides play a great role in creating interest among tourists in a city or specific place by providing them interesting facts and figures of little-known places, according to District Collector Solomon Arokiaraj.
The District Collector gave away certificates to tourist guides, who underwent a training programme organised by Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and AP Tourism Department, in connection with the World Tourism Day on Friday.
Mr. Arokiaraj said that knowing the history and people of a place along with the geography would generate enthusiasm among tourists and hoped that the young brigade (the guides) would keep transferring their knowledge gained about the city during their course to tourists.
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Collector’s experience
Recalling his experience during a visit to Ahmedabad, Mr. Arokiaraj said there were two kinds of travellers: those who go with proper research and planning and those who stumble upon something and appreciate it. Saying that he belonged to the second category, he said: “I joined a heritage walk and participated in the two-and-a-half hour walk. The 10 guides who were part of our walk explained to us about the place of tourist importance. I hope that tourists to Visakhapatnam would have a similar experience from our guides.”
He told the guides that what the tourists carry back home was their experiences and how well they were treated. He called upon them to uphold the pledge they had taken on completion of the course and treat tourists with care. He commended the Tourism Department, INTACH and all others associated with the initiative for the training programme.
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INTACH representative Sohan Hattangady explained about the various aspects of the training programme given to the guides. He also spoke on the efforts made to re-write the available literature of tourist places, designing of boards and sign boards and maps of various places as part of the project.
INTACH representative Jayashri Hattangady administered the pledge to the 22 guides, including two girls, and told them about the code of ethics for guides.
Later, folk dances were presented by a cultural troupe.