On February 21, 2023, an event related to "February 21 - International Tourist Guide Day" was held in the Tourism Department of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with the participation of tourist guides operating in the autonomous republic and "tourism volunteers of Nakhchivan".
Akbar Novruzov, the director of the Department, who opened the event with an introductory speech, said that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, always focuses on the development of tourism as one of the important areas of the country's economy. In recent years, purposeful measures have been implemented in the direction of promoting the tourism potential of our country in the international world, as well as in the field of development of various types of tourism. New tourism facilities, summer-winter tourism complexes, hotels, and historical-cultural reserves have already been built in all regions of Azerbaijan. It was emphasized that the attention and care given to the tourism sector at the national level has led to the dynamic development of this field in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which is an ancient human and cultural abode, a museum of natural resources, and is called the "Gate of the East".
The director noted that the rapid development of the tourism sector in the autonomous republic has greatly increased the demand for personnel with high professional and professional levels. In this regard, it is necessary to mention separately the demand for guides in the organization of excursion work. Excursion service is an integral part of the complex service offered to tourists. This is equally necessary for both local tourists and foreign tourists visiting our country. Guides have important responsibilities in properly promoting the history, culture, treatment centers, fauna and flora, leisure and entertainment centers of our autonomous republic and conveying it to tourists. A tourist guide is a person who provides local and foreign tourists with detailed information about the geography, history, economy, art and main cultural centers, museums, material and cultural historical-architectural monuments of the regions of our republic along the tourist routes, as well as the ethnographic characteristics of the region's population. Persons acting as a tourist guide should have foreign language skills, high communication skills, fluent, business and intercultural communication skills, detailed knowledge of the country's geography, history and culture, and worldview.
It was noted that the measures taken in the direction of increasing the professional skills and development of the guides are regular in nature. For this purpose, various trainings and courses are organized for them. Opportunities are created for our guides to exchange experience with local experts. Thus, on June 29, 2021, a training called "Improving the technical and professional knowledge of guides on tourism routes available in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic" was organized by the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Tourism Department of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. At the end of the training, participants who successfully completed the training were presented with certificates and listener certificates. In addition, modules I, II and III of the "Professional guide" training were held for tourism volunteers during the past period. Also, conditions have been created for volunteers participating in the "Tourism Volunteer" project to participate as guides in festivals held in the autonomous republic, in info-tours and other cultural and mass events.
It was noted that the purpose of this meeting is to gather tourist guides operating in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic on February 21 - International Tourist Guides Day and to strengthen the relationship between professional guides and tourism volunteers.
At the end of his speech, the Director congratulated the tourist guides, as well as all representatives of the tourism sector, on the occasion of February 21 - the International Tourist Guides Day and wished them success in their future activities.
Then, speaking at the event, Suleyman Rustamov, head of the "Statistics and certification sector" of the Tourism Department of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, noted that the rich natural resources, ancient historical and architectural monuments, unique mentality, favorable geographical location of our autonomous republic are of particular importance in the development of tourism. It is already becoming an attractive place for international tourists. On the one hand, the development of tourism is determined by the construction of a strong infrastructure, the creation of modern hotels and recreation centers, and on the other hand, it places a heavy duty on the guides to meet the tourists coming to the country at a high level. The provision of high-standard service to tourists coming to the country depends on many factors. From this point of view, the role of guides, guide-interpreters in the organization of tourism-excursion work should be mentioned separately. Today, the quality of the guiding service is primarily determined by the qualification level, professional knowledge, experience, and organizational skills of the specialists working in this field. The level of services provided to tourists depends greatly on the knowledge and experience of the guide.
The speaker noted that the professionalism of a tourist guide is also determined by his personal qualities. These qualities include confidence, principledness, hard work, humility, simplicity, enthusiastic approach to one's profession and self-criticism, that is, the ability to correctly evaluate one's own activities.
Then Natig Pashayev, a member of the World Federation of Tourism Guides Association and the Azerbaijan Tourist Guide Assocation, continued the event with a practical exercise on guiding activities at the "Khan Palace" State Historical Architecture, Momine Khatun and Open-Air Museum Complex, and stated that the guide guides tourists to the environment, living nature , must make every effort to ensure respect for sights and monuments, as well as local traditions, and protect the tourism reputation of our country. He also noted that after the introduction, the guide introduces the rules of conduct by instructing tourists. He gave detailed information to the participants about exiting the bus, placing them near the object, returning to the bus, observing the excursion time, viewing the tourist objects located nearby on the route, displaying the objects and its main methods, the relationship of the tour guide with the tourist group.
At the end, the questions of the participants were answered.