Tourists must be accompanied by a professional tour guide who guides and interprets sights in the locations visited in a comprehensive tourism destination. An indeterminate degree of education, a lack of a standardised training curriculum, and a lack of obstacles to the guiding profession have all had an impact on tour guide performance in Kenya. Little research has been done in Kenya to determine the function of guides in ensuring customer satisfaction and environmental protection. The purpose of the study was to look at tour guides' interpretation expertise and their ideas on areas where they may enhance their performance with extra training. Tour guides' training needs are expected to be unchanged by their level of education, employment experience, or qualification, according to the study. Guides are expected to require additional training in East African flora and wildlife, cultural history, and client service. They must be trained in ICT (Information Communications Technology), have an understanding of eco-tourism, and be able to converse in at least one foreign language. The study found that the higher a guide's level of training, the more resourceful the guide. Questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to acquire the original data, which was collected utilising a combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches (FGDs). The findings show that tour guides' views on areas where they need further training are unaffected by their highest level of education, work experience, or qualification. Regardless of their level of education, work experience, or certifications, most guides said they needed further training in mammals and plants (x2=1.07,df=2,P=0.583), birds and insects (x2=0.254,df=2,P=0.885), and East African culture and history (x2=1.140,df=2,P=0.566). The training requirements of respondents were unaffected by the length of time spent in a tour guiding course. Guides who had been trained for less than six months, a year, or more than two years agreed that learning a foreign language (x2=4.84,df=2,P=0.196), ecotourism principles (x2=1.62,df=2,P=0.653), and tour planning and costing (x2=399,df=3,P=0.262) would help them perform better. Tour guides are aware of the areas in which they require training, according to the findings, and should be consulted before such training is organised. They demand extra training regardless of their level of education, qualification, or professional experience. According to the data, there is no link between tour guides' professional qualifications and their training requirements. According to the study, tour guide curriculum should be standardised, and all guides should pass an exam before being authorised to guide, with only those who have such a licence being allowed to guide.
Author(S) Details
Francis Kabii
Kenya Utalii College, Nairobi, Moses Makonjio Okello, Nehemiah Kipruto Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.
View Book:- https://stm.bookpi.org/STHSS-V9/article/view/5368
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