Validation of the learning of tourist guides

The work of many years of guides, travel agents, researchers and other tourism professionals, and the opinion and evaluation of tourists about the work of the guides, have pointed out to us the importance of having the knowledge, skills and attitudes is essential in their training and performance.

But the work of the guides has diversified and specialized in the last twenty years, so the priorities in their training have broadened. Among the factors that have motivated this evolution, the need for comprehensive knowledge of their work environment, the geographical and cultural characteristics, the recreational activities they carry out, duration, physical effort, difficulty, safety, health, risk level, equipment, materials stands out. specialists, organization, logistics, weather conditions, legislation and, above all, the expectations and characteristics of its customers.

This diversification and specialization has led to various changes in tourism activity around the world. It opened the possibility of implementing recreational activities in non-traditional tourist spaces, labeled spaces for athletes, explorers, researchers and adventurers, interacting with rural activities, wild natural spaces and with social groups unfamiliar with visitors and their needs.

This opening has generated many benefits for local communities, to diversify the recreational alternatives of tourist destinations and the unique experiences that visitors enjoy.

But this opening has also generated impacts that must be addressed to prevent them from overflowing and affecting the general conditions of the environment and its inhabitants. In addition to this, the conditions generated by COVID 19 this year have complicated those conditions and scenarios.

Although the expectations of tourist destinations, host communities, tourists, specialists and local authorities to have a resilient, strong, empathetic, regenerative and sustainable industry seem novel, these conditions are considered by the actors of the adventure and nature tourism for more than 20 years.

A strategy implemented to increase the competitive capacity of the sector and a regional development with these characteristics has undoubtedly been the collaborative work of the actors of adventure and nature tourism.

We know that everyone’s work and commitment contributes to this desired change, but we want to highlight the professional performance of the tourist guide, who, due to his multidisciplinary scope and leadership, can facilitate processes and link the work of all actors.

Therefore, the importance of continuous training, of aligning its functions to the demands of its clients, to the conditions of tourist resources and to the existing regulations, which result in optimal performance and the official validity of their training.

In order to carry out its function, in Mexico the Tourist Guide must have a credential granted by the Federal Secretariat of Tourism, which certifies the experience and knowledge of the services it provides, in accordance with the following Official Mexican Standards, which are mandatory in all the national territory:

NOM-08-TUR-2002.

• General Guides

• Guide specialized in specific topics or localities of a cultural nature

NOM-09-TUR-2002

• Guides specialized in specific activities in any of the following modalities

Nature-oriented tourism	Adventure tourism
Basic environmental interpretationEnvironmental interpretation specialized in:Marine faunaBird watchingWhale watchingWhale SharkPhotographic Safari	DivingCave divingRaftingKayakingSea or lake kayakingBasic hikingHiking with climbing Hiking with mountaineering Hiking with mountain bikingHiking with CanyoningHiking with Speleism

This Credential is an official recognition that provides security to tourists, the community and other providers of tourist services.

Educational Institutions, Training Entities and Evaluation Entities registered and recognized by the Institute of Tourism Competitiveness ICTUR, dependent on the Secretariat of Tourism of Mexico participate in this process of training and evaluation of the guides.

Considering the importance of collaboration between sector actors and their professionalization, the Adventure and Nature Tourism Fair, ATMEX, has promoted for several years the generation of strategic alliances between buyers, suppliers, academia, authorities, communities, developers, consultants and specialized media.

ATMEX has included an Academic Program designed around three main guidelines: inspiration, connection and knowledge, to discover and inspire initiatives among those who will be the future leaders of this industry, from the voice of great national and international experts, with which It has contributed to the professionalization, specialization and competitiveness of the daily work of service providers, and in particular of Tour Guides.

It is important to comment that the ATMEX 2020 Academic Program has, as in previous editions, the official recognition of ICTUR. This recognition gives official validity to the workshops and seminars given during ATMEX, where information, quality standards, trends, best practices, studies, failure stories that have allowed finding the path to success and other factors aimed at the professionalization of the Tour guides.

This official recognition facilitates the administrative processes for the endorsement of the credentials, which show the constant updating that they must comply with every four years, according to the applicable regulations.

With these actions, ATMEX has contributed to the birth, growth, development and specialization of guides, companies and brands that are benchmarks of adventure and nature tourism in Mexico, not only through promoting commercial alliances, but also through the link between the different actors in the sector and the collaborative works that have arisen from there.

Although there are many advances, there is still a long way to go to have a resilient, strong, empathetic, regenerative and sustainable adventure and nature tourism industry. The participation of other actors is still required, with constant, professional and committed work.

You can also participate,

we invite you to identify our common goals

and the actions we can take!