Dubai, UAE: With momentum continuing to accelerate across Dubai’s tourism industry, the Dubai College of Tourism (DCT), a part of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), is ramping up efforts to increase the number of professional tour guides to cater to Dubai’s diverse visitor profile, further enhance the overall tourism experience and maintain the city’ position as one of the world’s most recommended travel destinations.
The latest drive by DCT is to encourage talented individuals to pursue a career as a tour guide. The College runs a world-class year-round training programme for tour guides with the aim of helping prospective candidates obtain a valid Dubai tour guide license, which is a prerequisite for those interested in taking up this occupation. The training programme hosted by DCT is delivered entirely online and designed to make the process of getting the Dubai tour guide license as convenient as possible, while teaching participants how to correctly present Dubai and its culture to international visitors, as well as key hospitality skills.
As Dubai continues to lead global tourism recovery with campaigns and initiatives worldwide to further consolidate and sustain its global appeal in both existing and emerging source markets, DCT envisages that the arrival of visitors from a range of nationalities and cultural backgrounds will create high demand for tour guides, especially those with specific language skills including Portuguese, Spanish, Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian, Slovakian, Czech, Poland, Romanian and Hungarian.
Essa Bin Hadher, General Manager, Dubai College of Tourism, commented: “With the steady increase in global travellers making Dubai their destination of choice and with the industry continuing to regain its vibrancy, it is crucial to deliver exceptional visitor experiences across the board in line with the vision of His Highness, Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai to make the city the world’s most preferred and visited destination. To achieve this, it is important to develop a knowledgeable and well-rounded workforce including professional tour guides from different nationalities to enable them to confidently impart the correct knowledge and information about the emirate to tourists from around the world. Our world-class tour guide training programme is easily accessible from anywhere and will pave the way for successful participants to become professional Dubai tour guides, who will ultimately play the role of ambassadors promoting the city’s finest traditions, experiences and hospitality. Tour Guides with specific language skills will be in demand and we encourage aspiring guides to apply for a license.”
The training programme is currently available in English and Mandarin and to enroll for the programme, one has to meet certain requirements, which are listed in the online training platform. Upon the successful completion of the programme, applicants will receive a digital certificate and a tour guide license that can be renewed every two years. Successful participants will have the opportunity to start their own tour company or work for a travel company as a permanent or freelance tour guide. So far, over 1,100 professionals have completed the 21-hour course. The tour guides are from 80 different nationalities including 158 guides from India, 192 from Pakistan, 221 from Egypt, 42 from the Russian Federation, 32 from Brazil and 26 from the Philippines. DCT also have a total of 78 Emirati tour guides, 39 of which have an active valid license.
Mohammed Kazim, an Emirati tour guide for Dubai said: “Dubai is part of us, part of our DNA, part of who we are, and the diversity of cultures, religions and people is so unique and it has been here so for many years. Being a licensed tour guide, allows me to communicate the story of this diverse city that spans time in the most appropriate manner by using accurate historical and current information about this melting pot that I belong to.”
Ayce Odabasi, a DCT tour guide graduate from Turkey said: “I am so happy to guide people around the Dubai I know and love. A city where heritage and culture embraces modern ideas and where the seemingly impossible is made possible. I love telling Dubai’s unique story and seeing all the people’s smiling faces.”
DCT also recently celebrated International Tourist Guide Day, which fell on 21 February 2022 by hosting the most recently graduated tour guides at a small event in Al Shindagha, which features a museum and is a historical attraction in old Dubai.
The positive industry growth has seen Dubai welcoming 7.28 million international overnight visitors between January and December 2021, paving the way for the hotel sector to deliver a stellar fourth quarter performance that surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The 2021 visitation data underlines the resurgence of the city’s travel and tourism sector and further validates Dubai’s recent selection as the world’s most popular destination in the Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2022.
