The Tour Guiding Training Module is a slide deck dated 23 February 2022 from a tourism service-quality, knowledge-transfer and capacity-building programme. USAID’s Tourism For All project used it to train members of local associations who want to become tour guides. It is an introductory course built around Timorese examples, including Atauro, Bobonaro, Lospalos, Ainaro, Ermera and Balibo.
Key contents
- Course objectives: identify the tourism sector and its infrastructure needs, recognise a tourist destination, communicate with tourists in common situations, apply tour-guiding principles, and create itineraries and packages.
- Business of tourism: definitions of tourism and destinations, the sectors (accommodation, attractions, transport, travel agents and tour operators, sport and recreation) and the basic components of a destination: accessibility, accommodation, attractions, amenities and activities. A group exercise asks what makes Atauro, Bobonaro, Lospalos, Ainaro and Ermera destinations.
- Introduction to tour guiding: the skills and attributes a guide needs, and the steps of active guiding: site identification, product development, marketing materials and tour arrangements.
- Itineraries and packages: walking times between Atauro villages, a sample three-day Dili–Balibo–Maliana itinerary, and exercises to plan and cost a day package. It also covers the “5 Ps” of marketing.
- Professional behaviour: guide competencies (general behaviour, responsible tourism, knowledge, guiding skills, leadership, ethics) and ways to keep guiding knowledge up to date.
- Tourist engagement and types of tourist: how to communicate with different visitors.
Document details
- Publisher: USAID’s Tourism For All Project (as listed in the Ministry of Tourism’s document library)
- Date: 23 February 2022 (slide date)
- Language: English
- Pages: 67 slides
- Download: PDF (timorleste.tl)
Further reading
- Telling Your Own Story as a Tourism Professional (video)
- Tourism Product Development Methodology: A Guide for Practitioners