by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 11:59 AM ET, Wed September 1, 2021
Tourism Cares has partnered with The Travel Corporation, The TreadRight Foundation, TripSchool and the Media Arts Institute of Alabama to begin a path for more diversity within the tour guides and directors across the nation, called The Pathways Project.
Tour guides, as front-facing members of the travel and tourism industry, should represent not only the tour operators they work for but also the destinations they guide travelers through, as well as the travelers themselves. Fostering a more diverse workforce through Tourism Cares, The Pathways Project initiative aims to recruit, train and place individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds in positions as tour directors, interpreters, cultural heritage tour guides and storytellers.
Each individual who goes through the program will be provided with online training through TripSchool, an active mentorship and an in-person training boot camp, as well as assistance in finding employment.
"We are committed to recruiting, training and mentoring Black, Indigenous and other underrepresented individuals and encouraging them to pursue careers in the group and escorted tourism industries," said Leon Burnette, the founder of Media Arts Institute of Alabama, who is responsible for the vision of this program. "Their representation in travel preserves our nation's diverse history and ensures our authentic stories and the nuances of the culture's traditions, arts, and events that they know so well are shared."
The Travel Corporation has gifted the program with its initial capital required to begin the program through its non-profit, The TreadRight Foundation. The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) also applauded the initiative.
"We train hundreds of tour directors and guides through our various courses and keep hearing the same refrain - 'I wish I had discovered this career sooner.' Unlike other hospitality careers, tour directing & guiding takes you out into the world, free from bosses and offices, and lets you share your love of culture, history, and food with eager travelers. We're so pleased to be part of the Pathways Project to offer career training and mentorship to new, diverse communities," said Mitch Bach of TripSchool.
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