A Study on the Principles and Practices of Tour Guiding in Addis Ababa
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Date
2013-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Tour guides are one of the key figures in the development of tourism around the globe. Similarly,
they are playing a significant role in Ethiopia. Even though there are some knowledgeable,
ethical, and well qualified tour guides; there are guides who are repeatedly blamed for poor and
unethical practice by different stakeholders. But all the blames and accusations were pointing
towards tour guides. This study is mainly motivated by these one sided reports and limited
scholarly attention given to tourism professionalism in Ethiopia. The study was conducted
through mixed research method and descriptive design. Based on the findings of the study, the
tour guiding practice of Addis Ababa city was found to have many problems. These problems are
not merely the result of tour guides fault; it is all stakeholders' failure in terms of creating
healthy working environment. Tour guides have their own weakness, especially in terms of
organized way of practice and professional development. Similarly other stakeholders were not
supporting the practice of tour guiding. Generally, the study revealed that problem with the tour
guiding practice of the city is a sum of multifaceted causes and the solution can also come from
the involvement of all stakeholders in the tourism business. In addition, the study is not limited to
identifYing the problems and causes; it is filrther extended to pointing out the possible
mechanisms which can improve the tour guiding practice.
Key terms: Tour guide, Tour guiding, Problem, Challenge, and Mechanism.
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Keywords
Tour guide, Tour guiding, Problem, Challenge, and Mechanism