After many years of unfavorable reports from our cruise ship visitors to the Grenada Tourism Authority (GTA) and to its predecessor — the Board — and to others regarding inaccurate (historical) information, deportment of tour guides, fees charged which are unrelated to the service provided and tour routes taken that cannot be considered appropriate, the GTA in collaboration with the Willie Redhead Foundation (tWRF) have decided that corrective action be taken to put an end to this unfavorable impression which is not in keeping with the mantra: ‘PURE GRENADA, the spice of the Caribbean.’
In this regard it was also agreed that this initiative should be the opportunity to regulate the industry in keeping with the new Tourism Act and Regulations. 7 tour routes have been identified within the town to be displayed in a new brochure to be given to the visitor on arrival, with the length and cost of each route, and conditions which may apply.
The 3 components of the training course comprised: Logistical support by the GTA, Training and Training Content by tWRF and Certification and Registration by GTA.
The training was held at the UWI Centre (Marryshow House) from 16-20 October 2017, which commenced with 14 participants. The 5-day course ended with 10 participants: 2 having fallen ill and 2 drop-outs. The successful participants will be registered by the GTA and be provided with an identification badge and T-shirt.
The tWRF facilitators of the course were Mandoo Seales, Gloria Payne-Banfield and Norris Mitchell with logistical support from the Quality Assurance Department of the GTA under the direction of Allison Hall.
At the end of the course, the participants evaluation of the training, gave the providers and excellent grade and recommended that the training be at least once a year before the start of the cruise season in October-November.
tWRF
