VALENCIA, Negros Oriental (PIA) -- Tour guides in Valencia town had the chance to update their skills as the Department of Tourism (DOT) conducted a six-day back-to-back training on community tour guiding and Filipino Brand of Service Excellence (FBSE).

A total of 52 tour guides underwent walking tour coaching to improve their skills as the industry’s frontliners.

DOT, in partnership with the Valencia municipal government, has provided training for tourism workers on tourism reception, tour guiding techniques, and effective communication skills.

The town of Valencia is a first class municipality located in the highlands of Negros Oriental that offers various tourist spots such as Mt. Talinis, waterfalls, and museums, among others. 

Part of the training is a mock tour of the geodiversity of Mt. Talinis, as hiking to the volcano is a popular adventure among visitors. 

“It is our goal to capacitate our tourism industry workers for them to be able to provide quality service leading to customer satisfaction and increase competitiveness of our industry that will subsequently lead to increase in tourism arrivals and receipts,” said Cynthia Monzon of DOT-7. 

DOT also introduced the FBSE program in training to sustain excellence in hospitality and enhance the quality of tourism services.

More confidence 

Maurina Buladola, secretary of the Valencia Eco Guides Association (VEGA), said the training has made her more confident as a worker in the tourism industry. 

“Daghan jud kaayo ang akong nakat-onan niining maong training. Akong na realize nga ang pagka tour guide mahimo pod diay nga profession. Mas confident na ko nga mo guide karon tungod sa bag-ong learnings na akong nakat-unan sama sa proper handling sa mga bisita. Among dakong pasalamat sa facilitators,” said Buladola. 

(I have learned a lot in these training sessions. I realized that tour guiding can be a profession. I am now confident to guide because of my new learnings, like proper handling of visitors. We are grateful to all the facilitators.)

Valencia tourism officer Des Tilos, Jr., said the training is in response to the need to capacitate the tourism frontliners with the right skills and attitude to become “effective stewards of the town’s tourism industry.” 

“The local government of Valencia shares the same vision with that of DOT to capacitate our tourism frontliners in order to level up the kind of service we extend to our visitors,” said Tilos. 

The more satisfied the tourists are, the better it will be for the local economy as more tourists will be coming into the town, he said. 

“This translates to a vibrant tourism industry that creates jobs for the locals,” added Tilos. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental)