tourism

El Valle guides shape up

Tour guides in El Valle de Antón seek job security and safety regulations in a new organization.

Local guides claim that children and amateurs put visitors in danger with their inexperience.

rafael quezada/la prensa

rugged: Local tour guides in the popular El Valle de Antón began to discuss establishing regulations within the industry after three visitors and their child guide died in an accident earlier this year.1115964

Several groups that promote the popular eco-tourism destination of El Valle de Anton, in the Coclé province, announced that they will be banding together in order to better safeguard their work as guides.

The idea of organizing the service will benefit the tourists in that only guides with local experience will give tours, and not the outsiders that currently operate in the area, explained Rodolfo Méndez, an independent guide.

According to Méndez, many guides arrive from outside the area and displace local guides because there is no system of regulating tourism activities. Those guides, he added, often come directly from the capital and launch into the mountains without knowing much about either the attractions or potential hazards of the region.

“We want the Panamanian Tourism Institute to consider the need to create an entity where guides can be affiliated and their jobs protected,” he said, mentioning that the activity of giving tours is often the principal source of income for local families who don’t have access to permanent jobs. “We [locals] know very well the region of El Valle, where it’s safe to walk and what places to visit.”

Zulema Rodríguez, of the Travel Association of El Valle de Anton, commented that several recent accidents involving tourists in the area could have been prevented if they had been attended by experienced guides with a focus on safety.

“They don’t know the reality of the place, the idiosyncrasies of the people or the tourist attractions of the region, which I consider a disadvantage for the tourist who really wants to appreciate El Valle,” said Rodríguez.

Safety concerns have simply not been addressed, he added, and noted that there are many cases where minors undertake tours, leading visitors into areas without taking the necessary precautions.

Earlier this year, three visitors and their child guide died, after being struck by lightning in a mountain pass near La India Dormida, a notoriously treacherous area, spurring debate over how to regulate the local tourism industry.

Rodríguez said that a tentative new organization of tour guides, Valle Verde, has since been formed, replete with regulations that emphasize both the physical and job safety of its local members. So far, over 20 guides have registered.

Responsibility and experience are the fundamental traits of any Valle Verde guide who wishes to give a tour or excursion to any site in the El Valle region, he added.

Carolina Navas, director of the provincial office of Panamanian Tourism Institute, said that the request for the guides and was included in the country’s tourism master plan and will be reviewed.