[ Cleaning Station - Digital Art Photo by BRM ]

ECOTOURISM MANAGEMENT

This is a basic overview. We are addressing 'people' management here and that can be broken down into two parts - management of your guests and management of your staff.

Guest Management

Above all else - the safety of your guests is all important. The most dangerous part of their journey should be their trip to the airport back home - which is considerable in some major world cities! The physical dangers to your guests that require special attention - the possibility of illness from mosquitoes, food or water. So special precautions need to be in place to protect the guests at this level.

Guests should be met at their port of entry to insure their smooth transit through whatever formalities that are required to enter the country and that their possessions are kept under control until the final destination.

The whereabouts of each guest needs to be monitored at all times. This is primarily a safety issue, but your guests will also appreciate being looked after in such a way that they are not left out of any activity - or just left behind somewhere!

Staff Management

Of the 'specialists' in your staff:

Managers - the 'Host' manager is usually the one with the most maturity, patience, and sophistication. The 'Operations' manager is the one with all the energy and attention to detail.

Cooks - they should have very thorough training in personal hygiene and culinary sanitation. Some knowledge of international dishes is a plus, but in most cases the guests would be delighted to eat the typical food.

Drivers & Assistants - English is the recognized international language, so anyone working in this capacity should have adequate knowledge of English.

Eco-guide - it is obvious that they should have good people skills, and great passion and keen knowledge about the subject of the tour. In this day of inexpensive radio communication and GPS - every guide or off-site guest should have these tools with them as well.

'BLUE AMAZON' is available for evaluation and training of all staff members.