SLTB aims at Tourist guides of world class level

BY ANJANA Gamage

THE Sri Lanka Tourist Board (SLTB) has called for the services of expert lecturers to raise the country's tour guiding standards to world-class levels.

A four-month Tourist Guide Lecturer's Course for graduates begins on Monday February 6 at the Tourism Training Centre in Steuart Place.

The course which was held for the first time last year for 47 graduate students will have an intake of 38 graduates in 2006. Most of them have obtained their Bachelor of Arts degrees from Sri Lankan Universities.

According to the sources, lecturers hand-picked from Sri Lankan universities and the travel industry will school the graduates in a wide variety of specialist areas.

The study programme would also include the history of Sri Lanka, touching on Archaeological monuments and Buddhism, Portuguese, Dutch and English rule and its impact on society.

Customs and traditions in art, music, dance and festivals will be part of the Art curriculum while Environmental and Eco-Tourism will cover the country's forests, national parks and nature reserves, wetlands, waterfalls and eco-lodges.

The course will also cover the Law and Regulations, Guest Rights and Personal Grooming as well. A rigorous examination process, ensuring that graduate students meet the high standards set for the course, will culminate in the granting of a Tourist Board Licence.

"Students will be required to personally present a report on a topic relevant to the tourism industry at the end of the course" , said the Director General of the SLTB S. Kalaiselvam.