September 26, 2018
OSAA EESC organized an advanced training on Tour Guide Technics & Skills in order to increase job placement for the graduates of hotel management and accounting classes. This workshop was held in EESC for four days in cooperation with Herat-e-Bastan Cultural Organization and Aria Tourist Company. 
The main goal of this training is to create job opportunities for the graduates of hotel management & tourism and accounting classes and introducing them to the tourist companies and hotels as tour guide.
40 beneficiaries participated in this workshop 12 of whom were the graduates of hotel management and accounting, 5 of them were the employees of five-star hotels of the city and 23 of them were public job-seekers and interested applicants in learning the technics of tour guide.
First day of the workshop (General Introduction of Herat)
On the first day, the workshop officially inaugurated with the presence of Herat Information & Culture Department Head, Herat Tourism Director, Representatives of Aria Sair Company and Herat-e-Bastan Cultural Organization, Help Media & Culture Officer, OSAA Director, Employment Services Center Manager and 40 beneficiaries of the training program.
At the beginning, Mr. Aria Raufian, Head of Information & Culture Department of Herat, while appreciating the organizers of the workshop, said that the tourism industry is known as the second largest economic source in the world, and Afghanistan, in particular, Herat having beautiful tourist attractions can be a good source of income for the country. Organizing such programs will motivate and stimulate the growth of the tourism industry.
He continued, “In the recent visit of Herat Governor to Khorasan Razawi province in Iran, a joint cultural committee is established and one of the main point which was discussed during this visit was tourism industry and its effective role in economic development of Herat province that we will soon have the first tourism caravan from Mashhad to Herat city.”
Then, Mr. Wahid Ahmad Soltani, Tourism Director of Herat Info. & Culture Department, said that the goal to organize this workshop is to create and pave an appropriate way for the growth of tourism industry in Herat and the requirement to strengthen and train professionals. Therefore, I hope all participants benefit the training and complete the workshop successfully. As the foreign tourists need skillful and trained tour guides, so it is required in our city to train such individuals and start our activities in this regard.
At the end, Mr. Sayed Tawab Hossaini, OSAA Deputy Director and ESC Manager, wrapped up the session and added that this training is designed for 40 beneficiaries in for days who are interested in working in this industry and we will provide job placements for the graduates of this training in hotels and tourist companies after successful completion of the training.
After commencement speech and program introduction, the participants introduced themselves and the following topics were discussed on the first day of training:
– Herat history and background;
– History and creation of Herat;
– Short introduction on Herat ancient history;
– Introduction of Herat historical and ancient places.
Second day of Training (Tour and Travel Skills)
On the second day of training, after review of previous day topics, the beneficiaries were given the following topics on tour and travel skills:
– Introduction of tour guide;
– Personal characteristics of the tourist guide;
– Travel and tourism guide features;
– Skills in eloquence, announcing and tourist team management.
Third day of the training (Introduction to the tourism industry)
The following topics regarding Introduction to the Tourism Industry were provided on the third day of the training:
– Tourism condition in Herat:
– A perspective on the tourism industry in the present time;
– Tourism importance;
– Advertisement and marketing in tourism.
Fourth day of the training (Intra-city tour)
During the intra-city tour the beneficiaries visited the following ancient places.
– Ekhtiareddin Historical Citadel
During visiting this ancient place, Mr. Joya and Mr. Bahra, as tour guides, introduced Ekhtiareddin Citadel, Herat and communication museums. Then 10 participants presented information relating the history of the citadel and ancient places they had learnt during the training as tour guides to the rest of the participants.
– Chaharsoq Pool
After visiting Ekhtiareddin Citadel, the participants visited Chaharsoq Pool located in Old City of Herat which is the largest ancient pool in Herat province. In this ancient place, 10 beneficiaries presented information regarding Old City of Herat, canals and other historical pools of Herat.
– Synagogue
At the end of the intra-city tour, the tour team visited Mosian Synagogue. After providing a brief info. about this place by Herat-e-Bastan Tourism team, 10 beneficiaries presented information regarding this 150-year-old monument, the history of Jews in Herat province and their residency sites, cemeteries and other holy places.
Conclusion
Based on a MoU signed between OSAA and Herat-e-Bastan Cultural Organization, 5 of the workshop graduates will be hired in this organization. The workshop was design based on the general introduction of Herat, familiarity with the tourism industry and in-town tourism skills.
Other graduates of the workshop were introduced to the International Commerce Hotel, Mowafaq Hotel, Arg Hotel, Sadaf Hotel, Nazari Hotel and some tour and tourism services companies.
Source: Help Media and Culture Department.