Cultural Heritage Specialist Guide Training

Cultural Heritage Specialist Guide Training Programme

guide

In 2007, PHT was entrusted by UNESCO and Kementerian Pelancongan Malaysia (the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism) with the training and certification of UNESCO Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides for George Town, Penang. Accredited trainers from within PHT (Ms L.L.Loh-Lim & Mr Laurence Loh) as well as from UNESCO and the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), Macao SAR, together with local experts, conducted the 6-day (pilot) course at the Malaysian national level.

In 2009, two Regional Training of Trainers Workshops on Cultural Heritage Specialist Guide Programme were held in Macao (from 12 to 16 January) and Borobudur (from 10-15 August). The two workshops were run by trainers from the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), Macao and UNESCO, Bangkok. Representatives from Ministry of Tourism Malaysia (MOTour), Badan Warisan Malaysia (Mr Mark Gibson) and Penang Heritage Trust (Ms Ho Sheau Fung & Mr Leslie James) attended the workshop to devise an outline curriculum for training Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides for Melaka and George Town that is appropriate and suitable to the Malaysian Guide Training National Curriculum. On 29 July, PHT and BWM were appointed by MoTour to develop and deliver the national training curriculum, the trainees’ manuals, reading lists (for both George Town and Melaka) and 30-minute video showing a pilot training session based on Modules 1 & 2 requested by UNESCO for use at the Borobudur workshop.

The goal of developing the programme for Melaka and George Town is to set new standards where the Cultural Heritage Specialist Guide Programme will raise professional capacity in guiding visitors at world heritage sites. It aims to provide the highest level of visitor experience, to raise awareness about cultural heritage and conservation issues and to foster awareness of community participation and long-term sustainability of these sites. The visitor to George Town & Melaka, World Heritage Site, will benefit from the best trained cultural heritage guides.