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Community colleges
certify tour guidesQuestion: In Hawaii, are there any requirements to become a tour guide?
Is there a state certification or licensing program for tour guides? If so, who provides the educational program for prospective tour guides?
What resources do they rely on to educate future tour guides?
Answer: There are no government-required standards to become a tour guide.
However, partly through initial funding by the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, a training and certification program for tour guides is offered through the University of Hawaii's community colleges.
The idea was to set some standards for tour guides, with certificates awarded to those who successfully complete the course.
A "Basic Manual for Hawaii's Tour Guides" was developed, touching on everything from how to pronounce words to the history and geology of Hawaii.
Since the program began in 1994, more than 1,500 people have been certified as tour guides, said Dan Kinoshita, program coordinator the state Labor Department's Employment Training Fund.
The training and certification program was created through the department's former Tourism Training Council, which was part of the Commission on Employment. The commission has since evolved into the Workforce Development Division.
Kinoshita explained that the Tourism Training Council had applied for a grant with his office to start the program, with members of the tourism industry helping to develop the curriculum.
The Labor Department is no longer providing funding for the program.
"It's supposed to be self-sufficient right now," Kinoshita said.
"It's institutionalized in the community colleges," but businesses themselves can offer the certification and, in fact, "some of the larger tour companies do their own certification of their workers ... The industry, so to speak, is carrying the ball, in cooperation with the community college system."
On Oahu, Kapiolani Community College offers a 24-hour noncredit course leading to a certificate. It's part of the Interpret Hawaii program.
Kaleo Patterson, consulting director for Interpret Hawaii, explained the course takes a comprehensive look at Hawaii's language, culture, geology and history, as well as the basic standards of being a professional tour guide.
With the lack of state funding, the number of people taking the course has dwindled considerably, he said.
However, a shorter "training module" on Hawaii's language and culture has been developed. About 8,000 people in the visitor industry took part in the two-hour training last year, mostly through the commitment of companies such as the Kahala Mandarin, Starwood Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Outrigger Hotels, Duty Free Shoppers, and airport concessionaires, Patterson said.
For more information about either the tour guide certification program or the shorter program, call 734-9324.
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