Tour guide industry gradually recovers

Damascus (ST): The work of tourist guides in Syria did not stop during the war years, but their number decreased to a third, prompting the Ministry of Tourism to restore the profession with the return of security and stability to more archaeological and tourist sites.

 The number of tourist guides decreased from 1,300 before the war on Syria to 79 guides at the beginning of 2019, to 370 in 2021 , according to the Director of Tourism Services in the Ministry, Ramzia Ota Bashi, who indicated that the ministry is repairing the shortage by organizing courses in the governorates of Aleppo, Damascus and Sweida, and renewing old licenses.

Ota Bashi said in a statement  that the guides present did not stop their work because religious tourism continued during the war and with the return of safety, noting that there is a great cooperation between the owners of tourism offices and the ministry to facilitate the entry of tourists to the country.

According to Ota Bashi, there are no specific places for the guide to visit, but within the programs of the tourist offices there are visits to the markets of traditional professions because they constitute an attraction for tourists as well as archaeological sites.

Tourist guide Mahmoud Arnaout, head of the Tourist Guides Division in the Federation of Syrian Tourism Chambers, indicated in a similar statement that the tour guide obtains the license through his qualification and submission to a tour guide course, after which he is classified as a second-class trainee and after practicing work, carrying out missions and escorting tourist delegations, he is promoted to first class. After that, he is subjected to a test in which he explains in a foreign language about archaeological and tourist sites, to be transferred to the excellent class.

Arnaout stated that the tourism offices in Syria have 8 programs, and that the tourist chooses the program that meets his desires, pointing out that his work stopped at the beginning of the war on Syria, to return in 2014 by bringing in tourist groups interested in geology, archeology and itinerary.

K.Q.