Nigerians get local tour training

Nagra Plunkett, Hospitality Jamaica Writer

ELEVEN NIGERIAN tour guide coordinators and state officials are in Jamaica participating in tourism-related courses to develop and improve the quality and method of delivery of similar programmes in Nigeria.

This move is part of a bi-lateral agreement between the Jamaican and Nigerian governments, in which Jamaica will undertake the training of workers in Nigeria's tourism industry.

JAMAICA IS THE BEST

"We are pleased to be here. Jamaica is one of the best tourism nations and we want Nigeria to reach the same state," said Gabe Onah, managing director of Cross River State Tourism Bureau in Nigeria.

"We have attractions like the creeks of the Calabar River, a slave museum of history, Dry Savannah and a rainforest that houses the least species of the African low-land gorilla and mandrills. With this training, we hope to raise the issue of awareness and community involvement."

Mr. Onah, who has led a total of 24 persons in two delegations, says an additional group of 20 is expected to arrive in the island for training.

Members of the group began arriving in Jamaica from late January for the start of the Team Jamaica programme, a two-week training seminar developed and delivered through the Tourism Product Development Company Limited (TPDCo).

FLAGSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMME

Team Jamaica is the flagship training programme for the island's tourism workers and certification is mandatory for workers at all levels in the industry as well as those seeking Jamaica Tourist Board licences.

The programme comprises seven modules involving tourism awareness, the tourism product and services, Jamaican culture, history, and geography, work experience, leadership and motivation as well as customer service.

"I can speak to their enthusiasm and similarities expressed between our tourism product and theirs," stated TPDCo executive director, Michael Muirhead. "They are even requesting that we visit Cross River to help in the development aspect of the attraction."

TRAIN-THE-TRAINER PROGRAMME

The Nigerians will also complete a tour guide train-the-trainer programme, which will enable them to train other tour guide coordinators in their local tourism industry. They will also visit various tourist attractions and sites across the island as well.

Nigerian President Olusegan Obasanjo in a visit to Jamaica last year, stressed the importance of partnership between developing nations in the globalised economy highlighting the need to form synergies to assist in the areas critical to national development.

Nigeria is Africa's most populated country. Although it is rich in oil and blessed with an abundance of natural resources and attractions, tourism is currently not a major contributor to the nation's economy.