Tour Guide Course

Penguin News, October 2004

"Being a sponge" for a week is how one person described their experience on the latest Tour Guide's Course.  The five day course required all participants to absorb a huge amount of information.  Of the 25 'sponges' on the course, 18 were first-timers wishing to gain the accreditation as a Registered Tour Guide and 7 'refreshers'.  This latter group could be described as gluttons for punishment, as they already have 'The Badge', having passed the course in previous years, but opted to update themselves by attending this year's course.

"It was a great group to work with" says Connie Stevens, Director of Tourism for the Falkland Islands Tourist Board, "comprising Falkland Islanders, people who have settled and lived here for many years and a few very recent newcomers to the Islands.  Local knowledge was a great asset and their contribution to the group was very welcome.  Newcomers however reminded everyone not to take anything for granted and to look at things anew and to observe from a visitor's perspective."

It was an intensive week, Mrs Stevens said, with speakers covering some heavyweight subjects, "...including government and the economy; minerals; SOLAS (new port security systems); and geology.  We also covered subjects such as the supply chain and horticulture, where we learned that the Falkland Islands is considered to be the third highest in the world, in terms of quality of fresh produce supplied to cruise ships!  That was news to everyone and something that will be communicated to the cruise ship passengers when they arrive - that they can look forward to their supper as they sail out from Stanley, as they will be enjoying some top quality produce.  Did you know that Stanley Growers produces 60,000 heads of lettuce per annum, and 25 tons of peppers?"

Throughout the week, the mornings were all classroom-based at the Chamber of Commerce, with intensive sessions of information provision, whilst the afternoons were mostly field trips, encompassing some practical sessions to deliver the information in a different environment.  A trip was made to Gypsy Cove, guided by an experienced warden at the site and various places were visited around the Stanley area.

One afternoon involved a coach tour of Stanley, with archivist Jane Cameron acting as the on-board instructor, narrating and delivering information on the historic buildings as we travelled, with stops at relevant places to cover subjects in more detail - such as the Cathedral, where the Reverend Paul Sweeting providing more specific information, and at the Dockyard, where Jane gave everyone a detailed brief of the buildings and history of the area.

Sue Gyford, one of the course participants, commented that she found the entire course incredibly interesting, and was, "... absolutely exhausted at the end of it."  Sue found the afternoon field trips were "... the perfect antidote to the intensive morning classroom sessions, especially the historic buildings tour with Jane, which was particularly good and a tour in itself."

Sally Blake, who was on the course for the first time, said, "... it was most informative.  I have lived here all my life and I learned a whole host of new things.  There is an incredible amount to learn."  Similarly Patrick Watts said that he found the course, "... informative, enlightening and it certainly helped to educate everyone in terms of their approach to tourists."  Patrick also added that it was "... quite hard work, but fun at times too."  Leona Vidal-Roberts, Manager of the Museum, was among the 'local' faces and said that she, "... would recommend that everybody involved in tourism should go on the course."

A newer face to the Islands, Richard Morrison's immediate reaction when asked about the course was, "Oh, my head," but he did follow this up by saying that he learned a huge amount and particularly enjoyed going out to visit places.  As part of his practical assessment, Richard opted to take the assessors and his peers on a walking tour of Stanley, after which he said that, "... he hadn't realised how narrow the footpath was and how dangerous it can be with people stepping off on to the road."  Whilst he was in 'full flow' outside Police Cottages (aka Constable Row), an astute roving reporter from Penguin News dashed out with the camera, to take a photograph of the little group, huddled on the side of the road, being led by Richard - who said later that he hadn't realised, "... how difficult it is, walking and talking in the wind, leading a group of tourists."

The walking, vehicle and coach tours were the source of amusement to some passers-by who seemed bewildered by the sight of these groups of people being led by their tour guides, two weeks in advance of the first cruise ship due.

The seven refreshers - 'second time rounders' - are already in possession of the FITB Tour Guides Badge (and proud of it) but they all wanted to update themselves and attended the course for the entire week.  Barbara Curtise said, "... the course was really useful.  Information changes and new things come up - such as SOLAS - so it is important to attend 'refreshers', to ensure that the information you are giving to a tourist is correct and up-to-date."

Another 'refresher' was Nikki Luxton of Sulivan Travel, who said she found the course this year "most enjoyable" and, even though she attended the course only last year, said, "I benefited from doing it again, and still learned a lot.  Hopefully as a result of this year's course, we will have more accredited tour guides to help promote our tourism industry this summer."

Debbie Summers of Sulivan Travel gave some feedback from the cruise ship industry regarding the importance of a tour guide.  She said they are, "... vital to ensuring a good experience for the visitor; the first and sometimes the only face of the Falklands; often the only true provider of true and accurate information."  Debbie also highlighted the need for a professional and knowledgeable approach from all tour guides and gave a few tips for a tour guide to be, "... well mannered, courteous, articulate, well-presented, not use bad language, preferably non-smoking when with the visitor and to avoid politics"... a useful reminder as, "... you never know the background of your audience!"

Historically just one course per annum has been held, but following the level of interest shown this year, Connie Stevens says it may be possible to hold a second course later in the season if the demand is there.

Mrs Stevens commented on the high level of input from everyone on the course: "Every single person worked extremely hard throughout the week and huge thanks go to them for their contributions and also for making the week so enjoyable."  She added, "The Falkland Islands Tourist Board would like to thank everyone involved with the organisation of the course for their input and professionalism and for making it an enjoyable and interesting experience - the speakers for giving up their time to pass on the broad spectrum of information; FITT for providing the coach each day, Phil Middleton for the planning and day-to-day running of the course, the 'refreshers' for their contribution to the week and for participating generally, the invigilators and assessors, the Chamber of Commerce for looking after everyone so well and lastly, but by no means least, a big thank you to the course participants, for committing their time and brain power fore the entire week.  I'm sure most, if not all, went home on Friday and had a large and well-earned drink!"

First published in the Penguin News on 22 October 2004 and reproduced with the kind permission of the Editor

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