Investing in tour guides training pays back

"It would have been even greater if the guide had known anything about the birds. He was very nice, but admitted he had little knowledge of birds"

" Our guide seemed to be a nice person, but had few "guide" skills"

" It was a waste of money because our guide didn't know much about the birds"

When I found these comments I was devastated! Millions of dollars in fancy infrastructure, marketing, equipment but the outcome of the guide service is so terrible that it destroy the benefits of the investment overall.

The last 15 years Panama went from being the Latin America Cinderella to become one of the fastest growing nation in the area with an ever expanding tourism offer and a bright future for the industry of pleasure and leisure.

This future could be truncated, limited or even destroy if we, as a country, don't correct the “magic formula” we had used to make our tourism industry grow: new hotels, thousands of new rooms, new flights, better airports and very limited investment in TOUR GUIDES!!!

Coming to Panama to learn about its diversity and having to listen to a poorly trained guide is like watching TV in a foreign language without the captions!!!

No matter how beautiful is the hotel room, how glamorous was the bar nor how stunning was the view of the skyline, the modern visitors are seeking for more “engaging and educational experiences” Experiences in which they can do and learn about things they do not normally know or do!

Going to Pipeline Road to birdwatch without a birdwatching guide is simply a waste of time!

And so many things in this country are not written in any guide book or information panel that having a local expert who can advise and uncover the wonders laying just behind a tree becomes a mos.

Seems like our legal system, the tourism authorities and the long range policies for the tourism industry only price construction of new hotel, new facilities and does not care about the overall quality and the guide services provided in the country. Seems like the vision of tourism in Panama is limited to exclusively eating, sleeping and shopping. There are no incentive that create the conditions to train the best guides of the region so our visitors get to learn more about this extremely rich nation in which a melting cacophony of colors, nature, cultures and history move along a history of connectivity.

Since I started guiding I heard of tourism companies complaining about how difficult was to hire a great guide. Very few ever invested in training! The few who did they seldom checked the quality of the outcome and the comments at the beginning of this note are the result of it.

In contrast, I will give you the result of months of good training and a well planed investment on preparing the guides of the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center so they delivered beyond the expected:

“A guide is very worthwhile. She knew where to look and what to look for. She also took a spotting scope which made it much easier to see the birds and animals”

“Also, the naturalist guides that are currently working at the Center do not speak English. However, they are quite knowledgeable about the birds and the area and are very friendly”

“Great guides that speak English and really know the wildlife in the area and there is a lot”

In few words Panama is in need of better tour guides, not more hotel rooms!