Licence made mandatory for tourist guides in Oman

Muscat: Becoming a tourist guide will no longer be easy or open to everyone as the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has issued new regulations categorising the job as a professional one.
A tourist guide will now have to obtain a proper licence to do his job, according to a senior official at MoT. The ministry announced the new regulations recently at a tourism market in Oman. Maitha Al Mahrouqi, undersecretary of MoT, said the ministry will issue licences to tourist guides after they have undergone two procedures.
“Candidates should pass a test and an interview in order to get the licence. Everyone can apply, even college students,” said Al Mahrouqi. She explained that after obtaining the licence, college students can also work during the weekend.
“This is to regulate the tourist guide field as earlier it was to anyone who wanted to become a guide without having enough knowledge,” said Al Mahrouqi.
She added that the tourist guides will be categorised, including local, regional and international guides, for the whole country.
“The ministry will also issue professional tourist guide licences to those who are experts and have good information about a specific area, such as a traditional guide or a beaches guide,” said Al Mahrouqi, adding that such guides have exhaustive information about a particular place and the services provided in the area they are sharing information about.
“It is an easy procedure. Candidates can just come to MoT or its directorates to apply and pass the test and interview,” said Al Mahrouqi, adding that the ministry has formed a committee to hold a meeting every week to examine candidates.
Aziz Al Jahdhami, an Omani based in Muscat said he has been guiding tourists for the past decade.
“I get calls from companies for several individual assignments. My role is to drive the company’s vehicle and speak to tourists about the history of Oman in general and the area we are visiting specifically,” said Al Jahdhami.
He added that he usually gets good money after spending almost a full day with the tourists. “I gave my business card to several travel agencies and some tourism companies,” he said, adding that he will apply to the ministry as he feels it will be easy to pass the test and the interview.
“It’s a good move and will organise the market. I came across several tourist guides who barely speak English and sometimes provide incorrect information about historical places in Oman.
“Such a bad image of a tourist guide is likely to vanish after enforcing this regulation as the ministry will keep a record of the tourist guides, making it easy to question them whenever something wrong happens.”