Education and training of tourist guides in Turkey

Abstract

Tourism is an important sector improving continually especially because of its contribution to the countries, economy and providing a huge employment opportunity for developing countries. Being a developing country, Turkey has demonstrated an enormous growth in tourism in recent years, both in tourist arrivals and tourism receipts. It is necessary for the tourism sector employees to get an education on tourism in order to give a qualified service. Together with the developments in tourism area, education and training of tourist guides have also gained much significance. Tourist guides are one of the most important players to improve tourism and promote the country as required. Well-trained tourist guides may provide benefits for tour companies and increase level of customer satisfaction. The aim of this study is to search the education and training of tourist guides in Turkey and to contribute to the related literature. In this study, the education and training of tourist guides and its importance in Turkish Tourism are emphasized. Recommendations are also made to improve the education and training as well as improving quality of services provided by tourist guides.