You must have heard the popular anecdote of a tour guide interpreting the Mebar Tsho (the burning lake) in Bumthang as Guru Rinpoche’s swimming pool or the telling tales of the two statues at Babesa talking back-to-back? And beat this, a guide explaining to a tour about a local cuisine made of cow hide calling it ‘leather curry’.
These are just a few stray anecdotes of tour guides distorting historical facts into fiction that have become common day jokes in Bhutan. There could be more. While many may have taken it lightly, at its underbelly rests a more serious issue – that of the quality of tour guides in Bhutan.
And perhaps, among a host of issues plaguing the industry, the quality and professionalism of guides has been given the least significance. There maybe reasons. The quantum increase in the inflow of tourists and an evident deficiency of qualified guides in the country leave the tour operators with limited choice. And the tour operators make do by hiring guides who are on the prowl with just a basic guide training.
The consequence is there for all to see. There are tour guides who almost haggle although subtly for tips in cash or kind from the guests. There are those who wear casual dress while on tour. This could be a case of few rotten apples but there are guides who even go to the extent of vying for opportunities to sleep around. And then there is this whole culture of commission introduced by the guides where they take tourists to only those handicraft or souvenir shops who give them a percentage cut from the total goods purchased.
All these bode ill for the tourism industry in Bhutan. Maybe not in the short while but over an extended period of time, as more tourists get the whiff of this unseemly side, chances are tourists may give a second thought before choosing Bhutan as a destination.
After all tourism is all about keeping up the image and Bhutan has had a successful run so far. Tourism has taken the proverbial proportion as the goose that lays the golden eggs. And we cannot risk it just because of a few guides gone out of kilter.
A tour guide, as the first contact person to the visitors, is literally the ambassador of Bhutan. Tour guides represent everything Bhutanese. How they talk, behave, interact and interpret Bhutanese culture and history will have a lasting impression on the minds of visitors to whom we promise a lifetime of experience and memories.
The bottom-line is there is an urgent need to produce capable, confident and qualified guides. There is even more need to foster and inculcate ethics in the present crop of tour guides. For we know they are at the forefront and the first impression they make, makes all the difference.
Original story by Bhutan Today
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Tour Guides and Ethics
You must have heard the popular anecdote of a tour guide interpreting the Mebar Tsho (the burning lake) in Bumthang as Guru Rinpoche’s swimming pool or the telling tales of the two statues at Babesa talking back-to-back? And beat this, a guide explaining to a tour about a local cuisine made of cow hide calling it ‘leather curry’.
These are just a few stray anecdotes of tour guides distorting historical facts into fiction that have become common day jokes in Bhutan. There could be more. While many may have taken it lightly, at its underbelly rests a more serious issue – that of the quality of tour guides in Bhutan.
And perhaps, among a host of issues plaguing the industry, the quality and professionalism of guides has been given the least significance. There maybe reasons. The quantum increase in the inflow of tourists and an evident deficiency of qualified guides in the country leave the tour operators with limited choice. And the tour operators make do by hiring guides who are on the prowl with just a basic guide training.
The consequence is there for all to see. There are tour guides who almost haggle although subtly for tips in cash or kind from the guests. There are those who wear casual dress while on tour. This could be a case of few rotten apples but there are guides who even go to the extent of vying for opportunities to sleep around. And then there is this whole culture of commission introduced by the guides where they take tourists to only those handicraft or souvenir shops who give them a percentage cut from the total goods purchased.
All these bode ill for the tourism industry in Bhutan. Maybe not in the short while but over an extended period of time, as more tourists get the whiff of this unseemly side, chances are tourists may give a second thought before choosing Bhutan as a destination.
After all tourism is all about keeping up the image and Bhutan has had a successful run so far. Tourism has taken the proverbial proportion as the goose that lays the golden eggs. And we cannot risk it just because of a few guides gone out of kilter.
A tour guide, as the first contact person to the visitors, is literally the ambassador of Bhutan. Tour guides represent everything Bhutanese. How they talk, behave, interact and interpret Bhutanese culture and history will have a lasting impression on the minds of visitors to whom we promise a lifetime of experience and memories.
The bottom-line is there is an urgent need to produce capable, confident and qualified guides. There is even more need to foster and inculcate ethics in the present crop of tour guides. For we know they are at the forefront and the first impression they make, makes all the difference.
Original story by Bhutan Today
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