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| A cross-section of participants at the launch of the Lagos State Tour Guide Training Program. Front row (L-R): PA to the Hon. Commissioner, LSMTAC,Mr. Ferdinand Tinubu; Permanent Secretary, LSMTAC, Princess Adedoyin Ajayi; Hon. Commissioner, LSMTAC, Pharm. Uzamat Akinbile- Yussuf; Director Programmes & Coordination, LSETF, Omolara Adewumi; Dr Adun Okupe, Senior Advisor, Red Clay; Aduke Gomez & Efetobo Awhana. |
The Lagos State Government unveiled the revised tourism
master plan and policy in July 2021, with human capital development identified
as one of the strategic themes to improve service quality in the tourism
industry in line with global industry standards.
Recall, the Lagos State Tour Guide Training Programme
delivered with Red Clay, a specialist tourism advisory practice in partnership
with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) was launched in September
2021 and has provided world-class tour guide training to 100 of the 150
participants.
The tour guide training programme is one step in the
direction to sustainable and inclusive tourism that enhances the visitor
experience coming into Lagos. Furthermore, Tour guides act as destination
ambassadors and require a specific set of skills to be able to communicate the
essence of a destination and an attraction in a friendly manner tailored to the
visitor, whether they are a solo-traveler, a family or a group of business
delegates who want to know more about what Lagos has to offer for recreation,
leisure and business. Tour guiding offers a well-defined, specialist career
path open to all irrespective of age and background.Around the world,
historians, academics, archaeologists, travel writers and other professionals
with a deep knowledge and passion for the destinations, offer tour guiding
services to a diverse clientele.
This is the first state-empowered intensive training
programme with a formalized curriculum dedicated to tour guiding in Nigeria.
Its first-of-its-kind initiative in Nigeria, one feat the Honorable
Commissioner of Tourism, Arts and Culture in Lagos State, Pharm. Mrs. Uzamat
Akinbile-Yussuf noted during the launch of the programme:
She said, “Lagos State is making efforts to promote domestic
tourism and market its tourism sites to the world, it is important that we have
a standardized structure in place, which will enable tour guides to attend to
tourists in a professional manner. The six-week tour guide training programme
is designed to equip 150 selected tour guides with the necessary tools to
design and guide tours. The skills and knowledge gained from the programme can
also be used in other customer-facing sectors of the tourism industry, thereby
contributing to the development of tourism in the State.”
In her remark, the Executive Secretary of Lagos State
Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Teju Abisoye stated that “the partnership with
Lagos State Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture is a strategic approach for
LSETF because of the level of impact it will make in boosting the tourism
sector and creating jobs which is a core mandate for the fund. Skills
acquisition and empowerment are a necessity to grow the economy, and this will
contribute greatly to the tourism business of Lagos State”.
Dr Adun Okupe, Senior Advisor at Red Clay shares that “the
road ahead is still long, as there were over 1,800 applications for 150 places.
This demonstrates the need for skills development in the industry. Human
capital development is key to sustainable tourism and any tourism development
plan, without the right people to implement is merely a really nice wish list.
I am thankful that we have been able to deliver world-class tour guide training
together with our facilitators who are established in the tourism industry”
Rotimi, a lawyer and training participant expressed his
thoughts, saying: “Being a lawyer by profession, I did not know what to expect
when I applied for the programme and was selected. I must commend the quality
of the training – the facilitators, the depth of the courses taught, the
workspace, the experiential tours and the hands-on sessions – was tailored to
suit our everyday business needs.”
Mrs. Celestina, a recently retired civil servant who
registered for the programme as a means to explore her business options after
retirement, remarked on her highlights of the training. She said, “the most
exciting part of the training for me was the group tour to Isale Eko House. The
rich history and cultural heritage inherent in that community is amazing.
Imagine passing through Isale Eko regularly for shopping and business without
knowing the deep stories that exist in it. I thank Red Clay and LSETF for the
opportunity to be part of this programme.”
At the certificate presentation ceremony for the September
and November batch where participants were certified as licensed tour guides in
Lagos State, some recipients of the programme shared their experiences.
Ifeoma, a mental health therapist and life coach, spoke
about the importance of the tour guide training programme, stressed, “having
lived in Lagos for several years, I was so surprised that there were so many
tourist attractions and destinations within Lagos State, so many that you would
have to be specific about creating your packages and choosing a niche to focus
on.”
She also went on to discuss her plans of “exploring and
using tourism as mental health therapy for business executives and
professionals going through a lot of mental stress” as her area of focus for
her tourism startup business.
Meanwhile, across West Africa, there is growing appreciation
for tourism development, destinations are springing up, but a lack of a
concerted labor market analysis to identify where the skills gaps are and
develop capability needed for the success of these destinations.
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