This was revealed by Diannille Taylor-Williams, Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, during her appearance on “Working for You” on Wednesday, November 16. She explained that the Ministry decided to host these courses as a way of assisting the operators in knowing and understanding the history of St. Kitts and Nevis, so that tourists in return can better understand and have a greater appreciation for the islands.
“You are asking the visitors to trust you so you also need to refresh your knowledge of the destination,” she said, while adding that some people are of the view that because they underwent training in the past there is no need for them to go through it again. “There is always something new because I have taken the island tour many times and every time I go, especially with a different tour guide I pick up something new and that is what we try to share with them.”
Mrs. Taylor-Williams said that in order to become a taxi driver, one must go through a training course.
“Part of the training course is destination awareness and so all these historical facts are shared with the taxi operators,” said the assistant secretary. “But what we have also done is have an annual refreshers course and what we say to some of the taxi drivers, especially when we decided to do it annually, when they were resisting to attending the training is – would you go to a doctor who does not do regular refreshers courses? Would you trust him?”
She noted that there are little things that unless research is done one would not know, so it is vital for all taxi and tour operators to get on board, update their knowledge on the history of the islands and give the tourists the opportunity to enjoy the rich history and culture for themselves.
