Tourism Management Perspectives 6 (2013) 3–7

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Tourism Management Perspectives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp

Tour guiding in Zimbabwe: Key issues and challenges

Dzingai Kennedy Nyahunzvi ⁎, Cleopas Njerekai
Midlands State University, P. Bag 9055, Senga, Gweru, Zimbabwe

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Although it is widely documented that tour guides can make or break a tour, there is limited research around
Received 15 October 2012 the key issues and challenges facing the tour guiding profession, globally. Against this backdrop, this study
Accepted 24 November 2012 brings to the fore the key issues and challenges facing Zimbabwe's tour guiding profession. Data for this
study was collected through mainly semi-structured interviews that were held with a range of stakeholders.
Keywords:
The multi-stakeholder approach adopted in this study aimed to capture emic views in line with prior re-
Tour guiding
Issues
search. Findings suggested a matrix of challenges that faced the tour guiding profession including lack of
Challenges job security, low remuneration, a limited and expensive training curricular and low career development op-
Stakeholder perspectives portunities. Key among the paper's recommendations is that the depressed tourism environment obtaining
Tourism in Zimbabwe among other constraints has to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The paper also indicates
future research priorities.
© 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
A significant international literature (e.g. Ap & Wong, 2001; Cohen,
1985; Holloway, 1981; Pond, 1993; Prakash, Chowdhary, & Sunayana,
2011; Zhang & Chow, 2004) stresses the strategic contribution made
by tour guides in enhancing tourists' overall experience and impression
of a destination. Ap and Wong (2001) further posit that tour guides can
make or break a tour as they are capable of transforming a tour into a
memorable experience or vice versa. Seen in this light, the quality of
the service rendered by tour guides' is influential in securing repeat
and referral business for a destination (Zhang & Chow, 2004).
Despite the acknowledged important role of the tour guiding profes-
sion in influencing service quality in the tourism value chain, there is a
paucity of studies on the key issues and challenges facing the tour guid-
ing sector, globally (Ap & Wong, 2001; Holloway, 1981; Zhang & Chow,
2004). Indeed, Holloway's (1981) observation some 30 years ago of the
paucity of research surrounding this profession as noted by Ap and
Wong (2001: 561) “still applies today.” Thus, the bulk of the literature
in the public domain has focused on other areas such as giving practical
hints or advice on tour guiding (e.g. Black & Weiler, 2005; Cross, 1991;
Curtin, 2000; Huang & Wang, 2007; Mancini, 1990; Mason & Christie,
2003; Pond, 1993) and unraveling the tour guide's function and role
(e.g. Cohen, 1985; Holloway, 1981; Salazar, 2005; Zhang & Chow,
2004).
That said, Ap and Wong's (2001) examination of the key issues and
problems affecting the tour guiding sector in Hong Kong, Japan marks
⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +263 54 257579; fax: +263 54 260233.
E-mail addresses: nyahunzvidk@msu.ac.zw (D.K. Nyahunzvi), njerekaic@msu.ac.zw
(C. Njerekai).
the first significant break from the dominant themes in the pre-2000 in-
ternational literature. Worth noting is Ap and Wong's (2001: 551) ob-
servation that, “…very few studies about the professional status and
issues faced by the tour guiding profession have been reported in the
English-based literature to date and this study would represent one of
the first attempts to do so.” Using a multi-stakeholder approach, Ap
and Wong (2001) established a matrix of constraints that affected the
tour guiding sector including the lack of due recognition of the tour
guiding profession by the general public, the tourism industry and the
government, low remuneration packages, unethical practices adopted
by travel agents and tour companies and the limited availability of
training opportunities.
Ap and Wong (2001) called for similar studies to be conducted in
different contexts; a call that has largely remained unheeded particu-
larly in the African context. It is in light of this backdrop, that this
paper critically examines the state of the tour guiding profession in
Zimbabwe. In doing so, this paper brings to the fore one of the
oft-neglected but important aspects of the tourism industry in the Af-
rican context. Zimbabwe is a landlocked southern African country of
some 13 million people that is bordered by South Africa, Mozam-
bique, Botswana and Zambia. The tourism industry in Zimbabwe
peaked in the late 1990s with the country receiving some 2 million
international tourists in 1999. Thereafter, following the 2000–2008
macroeconomic and political instability, tourism arrivals and receipts
dramatically fell by over 60% (Manwa, 2007). Following the forma-
tion of a Government of National Unity (GNU) and the introduction
of a multi-currency environment in 2009 as part of a suite of mea-
sures designed to address the unprecedented macroeconomic and
political instability, the tourism industry is on the rebound. Thus,
this paper seems timely as it may provide insights that may be used
to consolidate the country's tourism recovery efforts.

2211-9736/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2012.11.003
4 D.K. Nyahunzvi, C. Njerekai / Tourism Management Perspectives 6 (2013) 3–7
2. Literature review
Following Ap and Wong's (2001) seminal paper, there has emerged
a significant stream of research that aims to capture the state of the tour
guiding profession in varied contexts. For instance, Chowdray and
Prakash (2008) unearthed a range of problems in India's tour guiding
sector including the use of unlicensed and untrained guides, poor work-
ing conditions and remuneration packages and a paucity of training
facilities across the country. To address these shortcomings, Chowdray
and Prakash (2008) recommended a range of solutions including a
more proactive role by tour guides' associations, the provision of
group insurance for guides, improved training for guides and remuner-
ation packages.
Mak, Wong, and Chang (2011) using a multi-stakeholder approach
that also involved interviewing three practicing tour guides found a
plethora of factors that led to poor service provision by tour guides in
Macau. For instance, Mak et al. (2011) report that tour operators set
shopping quotas that tour guides were supposed to meet, that is, tour
guides were instructed to ensure that tourists bought a specified value
of goods on shopping trips. This led to tour guides coercing tourists to
purchase goods thereby changing the guides from their focus on deliv-
ering quality service to assuming a salesperson's role (Mak et al., 2011).
In addition, intense competition between inbound tour operators led
some operators to reduce the tour guide fee and in worst cases, to re-
move it altogether in order to save costs (Mak et al., 2011). Still, some
operators went to the extent of making tour guides bid for or buy the
right to receive tour groups compelling the tour guides to adopt “an un-
desirable opportunistic and money-oriented mentality” (Mak et al.,
2011: 208).
Elsewhere, Hillsdon (2009: 1) found that in the UK, the unregulated
nature of the tour guiding sector was a major problem in that “…anyone
could call themselves a tour guide and set up a business without the
need for training or accreditation.” The absence of regulation meant
that some of UK's tour guides operated without health and safety train-
ing or public liability insurance. Hillsdon (2009) further established that
the highly respected professional qualification scheme for tour guides
in UK, namely the Blue Badge Scheme was costly (requiring between
$3000–4000) and lengthy (course duration was some 18 months). In
addition, the Blue Badge Scheme's traditional heritage-based approach
that emphasized imparting historical knowledge of UK's heritage was
ill-suited to the needs of the emerging ‘niche tours’ such as the ‘green
London’ and ‘market tours’ that gave priority to entertaining, authentic,
informal and personalized experiences (Hillsdon, 2009).
In Ireland, CHL Consulting Company Limited (2009) reported,
among other things, major problems in recruiting qualified tour
guides especially those with the desired language skills, the predom-
inance of inexperienced and under-qualified guides in the sector and
a training curricular that did not meet the needs of the guides as well
as lower pay rates compared to other European Union countries.
Turning to the African continent, a review of the international liter-
ature revealed very little research focused on the key issues and chal-
lenges facing the tour guiding sector. The few exceptions were two
unpublished dissertations (i.e. De Beer, 2011; McIntryre, 2007) focusing
on South Africa's tour guiding sector. Specifically, De Beer's (2011)
study found inter alia, that tour guides were overworked and underpaid
and that most worked without any formal contracts as well as medical
and insurance cover. De Beer's (2011) study made a number of policy
recommendations aimed at standardizing and professionalizing the
tour guiding sector including that legislation should be used to ensure
the adoption of fair labor practices and to encourage employee unioni-
zation, operators needed to respect the country's laws on minimum
wages and provide medical aid benefits.
With specific reference to Zimbabwe, the tour guiding sector has
received very little attention from researchers. Indeed, this paper ap-
pears to the best of the authors' knowledge, a pioneering effort that
also attempts to compare practices in the country's tour guiding
sector with international benchmarks. The later task is facilitated by
an emerging stream of literature (e.g. Black & Weiler, 2005) that ex-
amines how various quality assurance and regulatory mechanisms
that have been implemented in some countries have fared. These
measures include the use of codes of conduct, professional associa-
tions, awards of excellence, training and professional certification.
Apart from mapping Zimbabwe's position in relation to international
best practices, the paper evaluates the quality of training offered to
tour guides. In doing so, the paper partly responds to Maunder and
McIntyre's (2008: 1) observation that “there is very little published
research on the evaluation of the training of nature-based tour guides
and the methods that have been put in place to assure quality in the
[tourism] industry.”
3. Methods
Due to the paucity of studies around the tour guiding profession in
Zimbabwe this study adopted an exploratory research design. The
study involved a series of face-to-face, semi-structured interviews
that were held with key stakeholders of the tour guiding profession.
In specific terms, the key informants included 30 practicing tour
guides, representatives of three tour guide training institutions, the
Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association (ZPGHA),
the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) and the Zimbabwe Parks
and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA). The ZPWMA is re-
sponsible for the country's national parks estate.
Each of these stakeholders was purposely chosen as it was consid-
ered that they possessed more intimate knowledge and experience of
the tour guiding profession. Purposive sampling is recommended by
Strauus and Corbin (1998) for studies of this nature where some sub-
jects have intimate knowledge and experience of the phenomenon
under investigation than others. In more specific terms, the ZTA was
chosen as it is responsible for setting and monitoring standards in the
tourism industry. In similar vein, the ZPGHA was chosen because it is
a voluntary organization that represents the interests of professional
hunters and tour guides while the ZPWMA provides the syllabi and
sets the examinations for professional hunters. The above was com-
plemented by an analysis of secondary data sources that documented
tourists' evaluation of tour guides' services. Lastly, tour guide training
institutions were engaged to facilitate an understanding and evaluation
of the nature and quality of the existing tour guide training programs.
The semi-structured interviews described above were held be-
tween February 2012 and August 2012 with each interview lasting
an average of 30 min. Willing stakeholders were asked a range of
questions surrounding the perceived status of the tour guiding pro-
fession and the key issues and challenges that faced the profession.
The semi-structured interviews were supplemented by personal ob-
servations and document analysis. The qualitative material obtained
through these multiple data collection methods was content analyzed
to reveal dominant themes and patterns following Veal's (2006)
guidelines. The next section presents the findings of the study follow-
ing the main themes that emerged.
4. Presentation and discussion of findings
4.1. Tour guides' socio-demographic information
This study revealed that it was impossible to determine the exact
number of tour guides that were operating in the country. This arose
because some tour guides did not register with the responsible licens-
ing authority (ZTA); the registration fees were US$50 per annum. The
unregistered tour guides operated illegally and only came to the at-
tention of the licensing authority in cases of service failure. It also
emerged that the tour guides were reluctant to pay the US$50 per
annum registration fees partly because there were companies ready
to employ them without being registered. It was discovered that
 D.K. Nyahunzvi, C. Njerekai / Tourism Management Perspectives 6 (2013) 3–7
such companies paid lower remuneration packages to the unlicensed
tour guides than those who employed licensed guides. Furthermore,
some of the tour guides expressed reservations regarding the require-
ment that they should submit their original tour guides' certificates
with the ZTA in order to be registered. It was felt this requirement
would thwart the guides' attempt to secure employment outside
the country.
Further discussions with the relevant stakeholders also revealed that
the tour guide profession was male-dominated. The male-dominated na-
ture of the tour guiding profession is consistent with international trends
which suggest that the working conditions are perceived as more suited
to males (De Beer's, 2011). In terms of age, the tour guiding sector was
dominated by the 19–40 age-group. Follow-up enquiries revealed that
this reflected the need for energetic personnel although these findings
contrasted with De Beer's (2011) South African study that found that
her sample of 60 tour guides was dominated by people in the 44–64
age group.
4.2. Tour guides' education and training
There were several interesting findings regarding the provision of
tour guiding and training in the country. It emerged that the ZPWMA
set the syllabi and exams for the professional hunting course while the
ZPGHA provided course material for the first phase of the professional
hunting course at a cost of US$140. Candidates of this ZPGHA-mediated
course material would sit for the ZPWMA's theoretical Learners exami-
nation in order to acquire the Learner's License. The Learner's License
was then used to seek employment as a tour guide. However, a review
of the syllabi revealed that it did not offer much content and direction
in terms of assisting one in providing guided interpretation. Thus, the
holders of the Learner's License could be considered as ‘tour guides by
default.’ Our personal interactions with these tour guides also proved
that there were clearly ill-prepared for guided interpretation in such
places as museums, city tours and so forth. In contrast, Ap and Wong
(2001) report that one tour guiding course in Japan offers such relevant
courses as tour guiding management, destination knowledge of Hong
Kong, customer service, contingency planning and two practical sessions
on coach and walking tour commentaries.
Other trainee ‘tour guides’ studied on their own for the Learner's Li-
cense and paid US$100 to the ZPWMA for the exam. This cohort of
guides expressed that studying on their own was difficult because
they did not have access to the desired data sources such as the internet
and resource persons to consult. The ‘trainee guides’ felt that short
face-to-face tuition (workshops) and supervised practicals (fieldwork)
should be part of the curriculum. The guides also revealed that to obtain
a professional hunter's license, the holder of a Learner's License (LL)
would ‘shadow’ or ‘tail’ professional hunts for two years or more as an
apprentice using the LL for identification. It was found that for one
tour operator, it cost some US$300 per day to accompany a hunt for fif-
teen days as part of the apprenticeship. During the apprentice, the
learner must obtain an Advanced First Aid Certificate at a cost of some
US$110. Thereafter, the ZPWMA would arrange a proficiency field test
that if passed, would lead to the award of the Full Professional Hunter's
License (FPHL). The cost of this proficiency test per sitting was $200 at
the time of research. Candidates who failed the field proficiency test
would redo the apprentice and then sit for another field proficiency ex-
amination after at least a year. It must be stressed that the ZPWMA's
professional hunting course was perceived by the majority of the stake-
holders as the standard qualification for guided interpretation yet the
later has its own unique demands.
It was found that only one private institution in the entire country
was offering six month tuition for the ZPWMA's Learner's License at a
cost of US$68 per month. The course was offered in the country's second
capital city and at most, it enrolled 15 students per intake. After the six
month tuition, students of this private institution would then sit for the
ZPWMA's Learner License at a cost of US$100. The main concerns raised
5
by stakeholders about such private institutions centered mainly on the
quality of the tuition and the lack of oversight by the Ministry of
Education that has seen the emergence of unregistered colleges in the
country.
A fourth training option for the tour guiding course was provided by
one local university that was located in the country's capital city. The
local university provided its own tour guiding curriculum, set and
marked the associated examinations. Graduates of this three month
course that cost US$140 in tuition fees would receive a certificate
from the university and proceed to pay US$50 per annum as registration
fee to the ZTA after acquiring a First Aid Certificate at a cost of US$110.
Thereafter, the graduates could work in any part of the country as tour
guides. The local university enrolled on average 30 students per year
while its minimum entry qualifications were ‘A’ levels including Math-
ematics and English Language at ‘O’ level.
A key concern that arose from our interactions with the stakeholders
was the lack of coordination and standardization of the training curric-
ular and industry's input in the setting up of the syllabi. A further
interesting point raised was the overly theoretical nature of the training
offered by training institutions. This contrasts, for example, with
Salazar's (2006) account of the practice-oriented one year diploma
tour guiding course at a private college in Tanzania. Much more impor-
tantly, a review of the syllabus and past examination papers showed
that emphasis was placed on the acquisition of general knowledge
about the country's flora and fauna, key attractions, firearms and gener-
ic codes of ethics for the tour guide. Thus, it was puzzling how this train-
ing material could be used to offer guided interpretation for bird
watching tours, for example. That is, concerns were raised that the cur-
riculum was too general yet guided interpretation concerns specialized
interests such as cultural tours to specific tourist nuggets. Furthermore,
unlike the Indian (see e.g. Chowdray & Prakash, 2008; Prakash &
Chowdhary, 2010) and the South African (see e.g. De Beer, 2011) train-
ing models, tour guides' training in Zimbabwe did not have a tier system
where one moved progressively from being a local to a provincial or na-
tional guide as one acquired more training. Another startling finding
was that the majority of lecturers for the tour guiding course did not
have either any formal tour guiding qualifications or practical experi-
ence as tour guides.
Overall, the key issues of concern to tour guides were the per-
ceived high costs of the tuition and the lengthy period of the appren-
ticeship period, if one wanted to become a professional hunter. In the
words of one trainee tour guide: “The tuition fees are not in line with
our low salaries, so for one to save about US$400 for the fees and
exams is a great challenge, if not impossible…” There was also a general
concern about the lack of tour guiding training facilities across the
country. Furthermore, our interactions with tour guides revealed
that the majority started off their careers by enrolling in institutions
offering tourism and hospitality degree/diploma/certificate programs.
This was usually followed by the acquisition of a tourism job that in-
cluded tour guiding duties hence awakening interest in the profes-
sion. This group of tour guides admitted that they were “tour guides
by accident and tour guiding was never our dream profession when we
enrolled with our respective training institutions” as succinctly put by
one tour guide. Another group of tour guides started off with no for-
mal training at all and remained so while others learnt from watching
experienced and formally trained guides. It was established that these
tour guides' lack of formal training compromised their bargaining
power in terms of working conditions and remuneration. The above
analysis also points to the low entry barriers associated with the
tour guiding profession in Zimbabwe hence its low status among
the general public and employers and the variable levels of service
standards across the sector. Here, connections can also be made
with tour guides in Hong Kong where Ap and Wong (2001: 556) ob-
served that “there is no real incentive for a new comer to obtain for-
mal training at an educational institution offering formal programs,
when it is not necessary to have a certificate to secure a job.”
6 D.K. Nyahunzvi, C. Njerekai / Tourism Management Perspectives 6 (2013) 3–7
4.3. Tour guides' professional conduct
It was found that tour guides' professional conduct was governed
by ZTA; a body that was also responsible for licensing tour guides as
stated above. In addition to the oversight role played by ZTA, training
institutions provided courses that covered ethics. While, it appears
that there are enough safeguards, there is a need to establish a de-
tailed and formal written code of conduct that covers all tour guiding
aspects from dress codes to handling customers as has been done by
India, for instance (see Chowdray & Prakash, 2008). This code of con-
duct could be a good starting point at raising the standards of service
in this sector, if it is accompanied by appropriate sanctions for misde-
meanors by tour guides as is the case with India (see Chowdray &
Prakash, 2008). It was also learnt that the ZPGHA–the representative
body of the tour guides and professional hunters–had a membership
of less than twenty tour guides. The limited membership suggests the
need for a large-scale recruitment drive, if the tour guides' interests
are to be advanced more effectively. It would be ideal if the above is
undertaken after the ZPGHA has revisited its mission and member-
ship benefits.
4.4. Tour guides' working conditions
It was established that tour guides were employed as either perma-
nent or contractual workers. In general, the former were employed by
well-established and large tour operating companies. The large tour op-
erators practiced circuit tourism as they were multinational entities,
that is, there were in a position to move tour groups from one country
to another thereby escaping the depressed international tourism de-
mand that affected adversely the small and independent tour operators.
It was found that most tour guides earned between US$200 to US
$600 per month; these were generally low salaries as the country's pov-
erty datum line at the time of the research was pegged at US$600. It was
further learnt that tour guiding was often combined with arduous phys-
ical or maintenance related duties. In the words of one tour guide: “The
idea that if tourists are not available, I am told to go and fix the fences or dig
trenches will, if any opportunity arises, see me leaving this job.” Quizzed, as
to why the tour guide did things that were not part of his job descrip-
tion, the tour guide said that he was told by his manager that thousands
of people in the country were unemployed and would readily fill his po-
sition. It is worth noting that at the time of study, the country's unem-
ployment stood at a staggering 80%.
The seasonal nature of tourism in Zimbabwe was another signifi-
cant issue among the tour guides. It appeared that the seasonal nature
of tour guiding employment limited the bargaining clout of the tour
guides. With regards to the free lance and part-time tour guides;
the major concerns were the low and unstable income streams due to
the depressed post-2000 tourism environment obtaining in Zimbabwe.
In this connection, most tour guides wished for the return of the ‘boom
years’ of the late 1990s when Zimbabwe recorded its peak tourism
arrivals and tour guides' services were in great demand.
This study revealed that the tour guides in the country were a vul-
nerable group in terms of safety and security at the work place. The
majority of the tour guides did not have protection in terms of life
cover and medical aid despite the fact that some of the activities
they undertook with tourists were life threatening e.g. walking with
lions, white water rafting, elephant riding and so on. Furthermore, it
was found that there was no specific practical-oriented training for
such activities as water rafting and canoeing for the tour guides. Our
interactions with tour guides revealed that the majority of the tour
guides did not belong to any labor union and were not aware of the
existence of the ZPGHA (the country's sole representative body of
the tour guides). In addition, the US$70 membership fee that was
charged by the ZPGHA was cited as too prohibitive by some of the
tour guides.
4.5. Tour guides' grievances
There were several reservations expressed by the tour guides about
their profession. The majority of the tour guides complained of the poor
state of the country's tourism infrastructure especially roads, airports,
hotels and the erratic provision of water and electricity. It was pointed
out that at some tourist attractions, the sanitation facilities were in
poor state while in cities, litter, vendors, beggars and touts were a seri-
ous concern. These factors that were beyond the control of the tour
guides were said to lead to poor tourist experiences. Similar findings
have been reported in other contexts by several researchers. For exam-
ple, Chowdray and Prakash (2008): 295) found that the police was per-
ceived by tour guides as “not doing enough to control vendors and
beggars [who] continue to cajole and irritate tourists.”
The majority of the tour guides bemoaned their heavy reliance on
tips, the lack of job security and raised concerns around the low remu-
neration packages. The tour guides also lamented the low status
accorded to them by employers, the government and the public in gen-
eral. On a related note, it was interesting to note that one tour guide ad-
mitted to making mistakes in his representations of particular bird
species to tourists but believed that, “if you treat tourists well, they will
forget about your shortcomings.” When quizzed further on this, the
tour guide admitted that this was a misplaced belief that should be
replaced by adequate product knowledge although finding the requisite
knowledge was difficult because of lack of the necessary resources at his
workplace such as the internet and access to wildlife documentaries.
Furthermore, our interactions revealed that the majority of the tour
guides lacked proficiency in not only several Western languages but
even some local languages as well as intimate knowledge of the
social–cultural environments they worked in. The authors also es-
tablished that there were inadequate facilities across the country for
learning foreign languages as was the case with tour guiding training
facilities.
Asked where they saw themselves in the next five years, 80% of
the tour guides anticipated moving to neighboring South Africa. The
vision of the local tour guides is interesting in that, it contradicts re-
cent South African studies (e.g. De Beer, 2011; McIntryre, 2007)
which report the prevalence of generally low and unstable remuner-
ation packages in the sector. The rest of the tour guides reported that
they would move to other perceived lucrative sectors of the local
economy while only one tour guide envisaged setting up his own
tour operations outfit. In general, the tour guides had a ‘survivalist ap-
proach’ towards their jobs; there were in the profession due to lack of
better options and would readily leave, if better opportunities arose.
In terms of promotion, most of the tour guides perceived their jobs
as the ‘ceiling’ because they did not have the requisite managerial
skills and training for such posts as tour managers or co-coordinators.
5. Conclusion
This case study gives credence to the assertion by several re-
searchers (e.g. Ap & Wong, 2001; Black & Weiler, 2005) that the
tour guiding profession is not accorded the attention it deserves by
various tourism stakeholders. From a comparative perspective, it ap-
pears that some challenges facing the tour guiding sector in Zimbabwe
are also found in other contexts while others are unique. With regards
to the latter, a key theme from this case study is that the depressed in-
ternational tourism demand in Zimbabwe appears the greatest chal-
lenge for the tour guiding sector. Tourism service providers such as
tour operators and game parks in such environments struggle to make
their businesses survive, let alone run profitable operations. This in
turn adversely affects the remuneration and working conditions offered
to tourism employees such as tour guides. Thus, it is argued that this
large-scale context in which tour guiding takes place should also be
addressed if the service provision by tour guides is to match interna-
tional best practices.
 D.K. Nyahunzvi, C. Njerekai / Tourism Management Perspectives 6 (2013) 3–7 7

The above should be accompanied by a tour guiding curriculum
that emphasizes experiential learning and the acquisition of specific
sets of interpretive skills in relation to the country's vast wealth of at-
tractions. Such a reconfiguration would facilitate producing a person
“who guides groups or individual visitors from abroad or from the
home country around the monuments, sites and museums of a city
or region; to interpret in an inspiring and entertaining manner, in
the language of the visitors' choice, the cultural and natural heritage
and environment” to borrow the definition of a tour guide by the
European Federation of Tour Guides Association (EFTGA) (1998). In
addition, India and South Africa's training frameworks that categorize
tour guides into three levels on the basis of their training should be
adopted. In sum, efforts must be directed towards the establishment
of a more rigorous, widely accessible, practical-oriented and coordi-
nated training program if destination Zimbabwe is to live up to its
reconfigured tourism marketing posture. Parallel efforts must also
be directed at revamping the role of the ZPGHA, setting up a code of
ethics and improving tour guides' terms and conditions of service as
well as the licensing and registration systems.
Finally, this small-scale study could only engage a few stakeholders
because of time and financial limitations. Thus, similar studies involving
more stakeholders and other developing country contexts are required.
Future studies should identify ways of improving the existing tour
guide training curriculum particularly through incorporating practical-
oriented learning or fieldwork exercises. Efforts in this direction could
also produce engaging scripts or narratives of the country's tourist attrac-
tions that are delivered in the visitors' language.
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