Tour Guides Surigao Sojourn

Tour Guides Surigao Sojourn

           Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall , the seasons remind us of our environment, the climate must have mixed up as global temperature continues to increase  weather have changed. it was a sunny morning when I packed up my bags, took the first flight to the Queen City  of the south, it was a bit cold so I had to wear warm clothes, just as we touched down in. Mactan, it was warm and then the hoodie had to be removed out of perspiration.

          The next day, it drizzled as we checked in for an early morning flight to the City  of  island Adventures, Surigao. This is my fourth time to visit the city, many times were related to fiesta in the city and the province and a speaking engagement. This  time tho, I had to take a leave, booked a flight and a room at Gateway about five minutes from the airport. The Alliance of Tour Guides of Occidental Negros members Maricar Dabao, Betsy Gazo, Cidni Mapa , Artie Lacson  and me saved for this trip, the 7th National Tour Guides Convention and General Assembly. There are about ten accredited associations from all over the Country  with the Philippine Federation of Professional Tour Guide Associations Inc. also known as TGFED.

 

          The convention started with a tour as we went around the city of Surigao, the group were divided into Culture, a tour highlighting history and favorite tourist destinations with participants taught to dance the. Bonok Bonok and learned songs as well, . second is Adventure tour where I took part of for an island hopping tour, visiting  Basul Island (Basul was coined from the term mamasol or to catch a fish)-a private owned island best for swimming and trekking with its crystal clear waters and fine sand. We also visited  San Pedro Cantiasay Wooden Footbridge, a scenic 391 meter wooden footbridge connecting villages at HAningad  island and Nonoc Island, this is where I saw children diving and showing off their swimming skills. We  also visited  Buenavista Cave where Artie at 70 was able to track  and explore the picturesque stalactites and stalagmites. Maricar,Cidni and Betsy had a Nature Tour experience exploring ecotourism destinations, Silop Cave, Day-asan water village and Mangrove forest, we were all in our convention. the tours were perfect as the sun came up the day we explored Surigao, the food served were native, we had a party of gusto, lato, sa-ang , fresh fish and other native delicacies.

            Presidential proclamation 574, S. 2013  declares every third Monday of June as National Tour Guides' Day, this time 179 DOT Accredited guides, 12 associations gathered in this city to celebrate our day. Secretary Ramon Jimenez delivered his message on video, he said that Everyone  thinks he can be a tour guide but only a professional tour guide understands being a tour guide. we have to and be reminded to do the following: 1. Make everyone feel welcome, tour guiding means welcoming people from all walks of life. 2. How do you make them feel intelligent, by making  them truly capable of understanding the significance of history. 3. Most meaningful task is,  How will you make them remember, let them be a part of the most exciting things to do in places you take them to. as Tour Guiding is not only difficult but the most exciting job in this world.

TGFED NEW OFFICERS

Mentors anOfficers

Tourism Officers/Guides

Bohol Guides

            Department  of Tourism Director Rica Bueno of the Office of Tourism Standards came to attend the General Assembly, she shared some tips on the Revised rules and regulations for DOT Accreditation of Tour Guides, 1. Validity of accreditation will be two years. 2. There will be categories of tour guides, community guides, regional guides, specialist guides who has the necessary skills like caves, river, culinary, heritage. 3. Leveling of guides will either be Junior , Senior or Master guide. tour guides should  acquire  new skills and knowledge annually and should learn abouth  the history of your city, province, region. In the future, a National tour guiding qualifying exam, 3 assessments written, mock tour assessment on foot and on board and panel interview, she mentioned that all this changes will bring  Philippine tourism in greater heights. It was a fulfilled three day event.

ATON

National Tour Guide lecturers

         In Negros Occidental, we have 4 DOT Accredited Tour Guides with more than ten other trained guides by the DOT, we are represented through the Alliance of Tour Guides of Occidental  Negros, as this was also the election time, ATON is now represented in the Board, there were 17 candidates, and as ATONs representative  and senior trainer for tour guiding of the DOT, I  got elected among the four members of the Board and voted as National Secretary of TGFED,  it pays to have friends , make friends and be part of other associations. we learned a lot with our sojourn in Surigao, linked with other provinces, Pangasinan Provincial Tourism sent 16 tour guides,, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Cebu, Bohol,  Baguio , Caraga, Palawan, Davao and other tour guides were supported by their local government units. The 8th TGFED Convention will be held in Manila next year, hopefully we will have more tour guides from NIR , as we develop our skills and promote our  island Region and bid for the 2018 Hosting with the support of our stakeholders.