How to be a South Africa Tourist Guide
Individuals considering pursuing a career in tourist guiding must first complete the required training and assessment with accredited institutions before proceeding to register with the relevant Provincial Registrar.
What are the qualification requirements for tourist guides?
CATHSSETA is the Sector Education and Training Authority responsible for training and education in the fields of Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport.
Amongst other portfolios, they perform the function of an Education, Training and Quality Assurance (ETQA) body which accredits training providers, quality assures the programmes that are offered by such providers and ensures that learners are certified once they have been deemed competent against a particular qualification.
Once a person has completed an assessment as a tourist guide, the person will receive a formal, recognized qualification in tourist guiding that can be measured as a profession against the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for tourist guiding. The Act reinforces the need for tourist guides to be in possession of a South African Qualification Authority
(SAQA) recognised/registered competency. This can be achieved through a CATHSSETA-accredited training provider, or with institutions of higher education whose programmes are accredited by SAQA.
There are (3) categories of tourist guides :
nature, culture and adventure
Nature guides are knowledgeable about the natural environment including in-depth knowledge about the flora and fauna of a particular area. A nature guide
may specialise in certain fields i.e. conservation area, national parks, nature trails etc.
Culture guides conduct tours with emphasis on cultural heritage. A culture guide may specialize in certain fields i.e art, township history, cultural experiences in rural villages, museums, historic buildings etc. Adventure guides conduct guided outdoor recreation leisure activities with an element of risk involved eg. Abseiling, hiking, mountain climbing etc.
Tourist guides are further categorised according to the areas in which they operate e.g. site or provincial guides.
A site guide is a person who usually guides within a site e.g. at Cango Caves, Shakaland etc. A provincial guide is a person who guides in one or more provinces e.g. Gauteng and/or Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal etc.
A provincial tourist guide who is competent to guide in all nine provinces is typically referred to as a national guide.
What will the Accessors be accessing ?
The current guiding qualifications are made up of a collection of unit standards or building blocks. Each unit standard represents knowledge that a person must have,
specific to his/her profession. These unit standards were devised in close consultation with tourist guides and other stakeholders.
Requirements to be a registered tourist guide
Provincial Registrars are appointed in each of the nine provinces to register tourist guides. Applicants must satisfy the following requirements before they are considered for registration.
- Proof of competence recognised by SAQA.
- A valid first aid certificate issued by an institution recognised by the Department of Labour.
- A completed and signed application form accompanied by the prescribed fee.
- A signed copy of the code of conduct and ethics for tourist guides.
- Proof of South African citizenship or in the case of a non-South African citizen, a valid working visa granting permission to work as a tourist guide.
- Four (4) passport size photos.
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