Trinidad’s Tourism Development Company (TDC) to host symposium on Tourism Tour Guiding Safety and Security
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad – Trinidad & Tobago’s Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC) in collaboration with the Trinidadian Ministry of Tourism will host a one day symposium on Tourism Tour Guiding Safety and Security on Tuesday November 18, 2014 at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre.
An initiative of the Caribbean Small Tourism Enterprises Project (STEP), a unit within the TDC, the symposium is a direct result of the partnership between the TDC and the Trinidad and Tobago Tour Guides Association (TTTGA) on the Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Project ( ISCBSP) , a six – month programme utilising workshops and capacity building interventions whose main objective is to improve the mode of delivery internally and improve the standard of operations of the TTTGA within the tourism industry.
A first of its kind for small tourism operators in Trinidad and Tobago, the symposium will create an opportunity for tour guides, tourism officials, security experts and other stakeholders to discuss issues of safety for visitors when exploring sites and attractions.
Representatives from the Ministry of National Security, under whose administration the TTTGA lies, the Organisation of American States and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) will lead symposium participants in healthy discussions as they speak on the issues and challenges in ensuring visitor safety. Topics to be covered include Tour Guiding Safety and Security, Crisis Management and Recovery and the impact of Global health factors.
The TDC, under whose mandate lies product development, will be utilising this symposium to form alliances with the protective services and other security agencies with a view to developing security protocols and measures that can be adopted by tour guides before, during and after tours to aid in minimizing the potential threat to visitors while on tours in Trinidad and Tobago.
STEP, is now a flagship and regionally recognised project of the TDC offering a comprehensive approach to encouraging high performance, profitability, healthy competition and sustainability for small tourism operators. Its main focus is on tour operators, tour guides, tourist transport service providers and accommodation providers of less than seventy-five (75) rooms.
For more information on the symposium, STEP or to access its training initiatives contact Belinda Charles, Business Enhancement Facilitation Specialist at [email protected].
