Tour operators do not have sufficient numbers of personnel who are trained as tourist guides tourists, nor is there an official organization to certify them.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Tourism businesses believe it is of the utmost importance that they have informed and personable tourist guides, as in the end they are the people who spend the most time with tourists.
Enrique Pesantez explains in his article in Prensa.com that "... many are not aware that this service is the face of the company, the image of our country, and is part of tourist's recognition for the work performed."
"There are guides who make a living from this profession, they are very well organized and have impeccable reputations in that every company knows that their services carry a seal of approval. There are others though, who know their job but their personalities do not fit the bill. There are others that are used because no one else is available, and you just have to hope for the best".
According to Pesantez, personality, versatility, attitude and knowledge in one person will result in a guide being requested by all our companies, of course, their income will be very interesting because they also dominate the art of the tip, which in many cases is a very important part of this economy.
"If they speak several languages or only English, believe me, they will find work for sure ..." says Pesantez, who is inviting those with ambition and who are looking for new horizons to be trained and involved in a business with a great future .
There has been a rise in the number of firms reporting difficulties in recruiting qualified staff, especially technicians, engineers and sales managers.
In one year the number of companies who said they found it difficult to fill vacancies grew by 11%, according to figures from a survey carried out by the human resources firm Manpower, which states that "...
The difficulty in finding English speakers is the main bottleneck to Nicaragua's tourism industry.
In 2012, Nicaragua received 241,000 visitors from the U.S., 77,000 from Europe and 30,710 from Canada, representing 30% of the total of the 1.18 million tourists who came into the country.
Given the increasing shortage of skilled labor, the tourism industry has made a request for the rules regarding hiring foreigners to be relaxed.
The president of the Hotel Association of Panama (Apatel), Sara Brown, said they are in negotiations with the Tourism Authority to introduce into the new tourism law being debated in the Legislature, a regulation that allows an increase in the percentage of foreign staff working in businesses related to tourism.
Training of qualified personnel at all levels is absolutely insufficient to meet the demand of an economy with such high growth rates.
In Panama, the gap between demand and supply of employment, both in quantity and quality, is expanding at the same pace as the growing list of infrastructure projects in execution, which is increasing the arrival of multinational companies, saturating hotels with the number of business travelers and tourists.
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