Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre celebrates International Tourist Guide Day

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (SZGMC) marked the International Tourist Guide Day, which falls on Feb.21 every year and serves as a vibrant tribute to the unsung heroes of travel — the tourist guides.

Dedicated to the profession of tourist guides, the day provides an opportunity to highlight the profession on the world stage. These knowledgeable navigators work day and night weaving cultural tapestries and bridge continents and hearts.

The theme for International Tourist Guide Day 2024 is "Tourist Guides; Our Guardians in Promoting and Encouraging Green Tourism."

On this occasion, the SZGMC expresses its pride in its national team of cultural tour specialists, highlighting the role they play in conveying the civilisational message of the mosque and embodying the values of tolerance and coexistence between different cultures of the world.

Amina Al Hammadi, Acting Director of the Worshippers and Visitors Services Department, SZGMC, stated, “The cultural tour specialists at the mosque keep pace with the prestigious position it has achieved on the world tourism map, which has made it a destination for millions, including high-level figures, VIP officials and tourist delegations from different parts of the world.”

“The number of tours provided by the cultural tour guides at the mosque during 2023 reached 5,538 tours, which were attended by 73,461 visitors,” said Al Hammadi, adding that the guides presented the bright civilisational façade, informing the mosque's visitors about the rich cultural heritage of the United Arab Emirates, the vision of its wise leadership, and the values of its founder, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, which promote building bridges of communication and finding channels for civilisational dialogue between different cultures of the world, based on noble values, which reflect the bright image of the state and its moderate approach.

"In line with the centre's belief in the importance of investing in national human resources and harnessing the energies of young Emiratis to convey the message of their homeland to the world, the centre is constantly working to develop their skills and invest their energies to provide cultural tours with high international standards, keeping pace with its position among cultural and religious landmarks, and its leadership as a reference standard in the region and the world."

She pointed out that in this context, the centre is working to train a team of cultural tour specialists to provide tours in Russian, Chinese, and Hebrew, in addition to attracting qualified cultural tour guides who speak several other world languages such as Italian, French, Turkish, Korean, and Urdu.

She noted that the centre has trained a number of cultural tour specialists to provide tours in sign language, which allows them to convey the civilisational message of the mosque to all categories on the widest scale. The esteemed travel and tourism website TripAdvisor has ranked the mosque 7th as the top tourist and most popular attraction in the Middle East among the top 25 tourist attractions. Such accolades are a testament to the mosque's enduring appeal and ability to captivate visitors from all corners of the globe. With its rich cultural heritage and awe-inspiring architecture, the mosque continues to enchant and inspire travellers, leaving an indelible mark on their hearts and minds.

Al Hammadi also noted that in this context, the centre continues to offer programs that fall under the umbrella of "The Young Builders", with the aim of investing the energies and talents of young people and youth from the UAE and preparing a generation of qualified and competent cultural tour specialists. The most important of these is the Ibn Al Dar programme, which has graduated 190 students, 44 of whom have joined the centre as cultural tour specialists, including 12 graduates who have joined the work on a full-time basis, and 32 graduates on a part-time basis. The annual programme trains Emirati nationals for work as cultural tour guides. The five-week training focuses on enhancing skills and providing knowledge of UAE's cultural heritage.

WAM