Six principles for tour guide training and sustainable development in developing countries

Our on-going research on ecotour guide training in Latin America is exploring tourism's potential role in stimulating professional growth and employment opportunities in peripheral communities through the training of local guides. Guide training programs, which target residents of peripheral or rural communities help ensure that the same local communities that endure the impacts of tourism also reap the economic benefits. Research into effective training of guides is needed, and in particular research into the development, delivery and outcomes of training programs for ecotour guides in developing countries. This paper reports on the most recent phase of a research project that examines the interpretive guiding component of a six-week training program delivered in April and May, 1999 in Panama and later delivered as two shorter, more focused interpretive guiding courses, one in Patagonia, Argentina (March 2000) and one in Galapagos Islands (Ecuador, September 2000). The context for the courses is presented first, followed by six principles for designing and implementing guide training in developing countries. It is posited that guide training initiatives that adhere to these six principles are more likely to make positive contributions to longterm conservation and sustainable development.