THRIVE ISSUE 5 DECEMBER 2024 17 Key Findings Whilst many strides towards transforming the sub-sector have been made over the last three decades, the research outcomes show that there is still a lot more that needs to be done. Results show that the sub-sector is dominated by male tourist guides, with a lack of participation from women and the youth. In terms of the tourist guiding categories, as per the Tourism Act 3 of 2014, the outcomes highlight an unevenness in the registration of guides across the provinces. The study shows that most guides operate within the culture guiding category, emphasising the need for guide training and mentorship in the other categories such as nature and adventure guiding. The study also shines the spotlight on the urgent need for succession and overall long-term planning, particularly in the post-COVID19 era. During the COVID years, the subsector experienced a mass exodus of tourist guides who were forced to find other viable means of employment due to the prolonged lockdowns and consequent lack of tourists to guide. Linked to this, many tourist guides did not renew their registration to remain in the domain of legal tourist guiding, thus creating a situation where the population of unregistered tourist guiding has become a significant challenge that the subsector must deal with. Other challenges that the subsector must address to increase the pace of transformation include the involvement of key stakeholders, such as the national and provincial registrars, and the key associations. With government stakeholders being the driver of transformation in the subsector, forming strategic alliances with associations can allow for on the ground training and mentorship of young, incoming tourist guides. Green Shoots Recently, there has been a move towards professionalising the sub-sector, which led to an amendment in the tourist guiding qualification. Professionalising the sub-sector presents the opportunity to also address a myriad of other critical concerns that were raised by tourist guides and other stakeholders, such as improving the working conditions of tourist guides; and raising awareness about guiding as profession amongst young people and women. There is also a need for a greater amount of financial support and training for incoming and current tourist guides. There is a definite passion and willingness among stakeholders to work cohesively to both grow and transform the sub-sector, thus providing a positive outlook for the future of the tourist guiding sub-sector in the country. This sentiment was reinforced by tourist guiding associations, who noted “We’ve been working with the Department of Tourism very closely with the informal workshops that we put together, that was run very successfully the whole of last year. We attended workshops … to come to consensus as to what was needed for [the] industry”. This needs to be underpinned by sustained levels of cooperation, to ensure that tourist guiding in South Africa lives up to its potential as a formidable force and a viable career pathway for the previously disadvantaged groups to consider. Click Here to View the Research Presentation from the Dissemination Seminar.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjU1NDYx