From the acute economic crisis that led Cuba to the “Special Period”, as a consequence of the fall of the socialist camp and the collapse of the economic system in which our country was inserted, a branch of the economy, until then underused, wasted and largely unknown, it was imposed as the "locomotive of the Cuban economy": tourism.
Regardless of the need for the accelerated creation of an infrastructure capable of supporting this boom, there was also the unavoidable need to work on the formation of the human capital that would make it work, since quality and competitiveness acquired, in the new context, a relevance and a leading role, perhaps as never before.
In this presentation we intend to present some considerations about the lines of work of the training system for tourism workers, specifically in the specialties of Tourist Animation and Tourism Guides, since these are the specialties in which the author accumulates a greater experience of work, and because of the importance of their graduates as "ambassadors of Cuban culture."
DEVELOPING
The Hospitality and Tourism Schools have the mission of training and developing, among other aspects, the Human Resources (HR) of the Tourist System in the territory, with a broad general - comprehensive culture and a high sense of economic efficiency and ethical values; in close alliance with educational, scientific, professional and business institutions to promote the development of a competitive destination of peace, health and safety.
Although these objectives are common to all levels and specialties of the training system regulated by FORMATUR, as a guiding center, in this exhibition, based on our work experience, we refer to two very specific specialties: Tourist Entertainment and Tourist guides.
In the most recent study plan (F-14), already in force throughout the Formatur system, it is stated:
Proposal for Tourist AnimationThe animator as a cultural agent of tourism, must have solid and comprehensive knowledge of Cuban and local culture in all its manifestations: music, theater, dance, architecture, crafts and heritage as well as the most relevant expressions of Cuban artistic production in the various manifestations, and must incorporate it at different times to the entertainment programs both day and night, know how to communicate it in foreign languages, master the local tourist guide and stay updated on cultural events to answer any questions from customers. For this reason, animation programs must be exponents of the identity and cultural traditions of the country and the locality, they must avoid the banality and lack of authenticity of the offer,organically combining entertainment with spiritual enrichment.
Proposal for Tourist GuidesThe tour guide, for his part, is also a cultural agent of tourism and must, therefore, possess solid and comprehensive knowledge of Cuban and local culture in all its manifestations: music, theater, dance, architecture, crafts and heritage, as well as the most relevant expressions of Cuban artistic production in the various manifestations, and it must be incorporated into the practical application of the techniques of guiding and interpreting the heritage (natural and cultural), mastering the local tourist guide and staying updated, to respond to any question from customers. The tourist circuits must be exponents of the identity and the cultural traditions of the country and the locality, integrating the veracity of the relevant cultural information for each tourist resource,with the amenity and charm of a good communicator.
Hence, for both tourist guides and tourist animators, the inclusion in their training programs of subjects that have their object of study in topics related to art, culture and national identity is a necessity.
These programs respond to the need of these workers to gain in the development of their professional skills. For this reason, it is organized with the perspective of emphasizing those aspects of Cuban culture where the student gains understanding and enrichment of their system of knowledge, skills and values,
The improvement of teaching, at the teaching, labor and research level, will allow us to locate our history and culture in the most representative frameworks of universal culture, hence the debate on the event of Cubanness and what is Cuban has occupied a space of important reflection in dissimilar environments.
On the other hand, the knowledge of Cuban Culture and the History of Cuba, allow access to the study of the forging elements of our nationality, as well as the character and essence of the social transformations that have occurred in Cuba.
The design of the study plans of the technical profession Tourism Animation, such as that of Tourism Guide, part of the concept expressed in the NC3001 Human Capital Management where the competence is defined as «Synergistic set of knowledge, skills, experiences, feelings, attitudes, motivations, personal characteristics and values, based on demonstrated suitability, associated with superior performance of the worker and the organization, in correspondence with technical, productive and service requirements. "
This definition leads us to a derivation of the perspectives towards which these plans should focus: knowing (conceptual), knowing how to do (procedures) and knowing how to be (attitudinal). All of them aimed at responding to changing situations in the work environment The plan is oriented towards a constructivist approach, giving value to formal education and the work context, where competences are built from the analysis and the process of solving problems and dysfunctions that occur in the organization.
The programs are an important way to increase in students, the possibilities of defending the values of Cuban society, and thus enhance their professionalism as exponents of our culture and our nation. A very important aspect: these contents should stimulate in students the desire and need to update themselves through self-improvement and research, because only then will the objectives of the course be fully met.
In the case of the training of tourist guides, it is based on the following pillars:
General objectives:
- Mastering the main phenomena and personalities in the history of art in Cuba that allow to expand knowledge and promote the good performance of the activities carried out by tourist guides.
Basic Competence:
- It disseminates the emblematic and unique characteristics of the natural, historical and cultural heritage on each tour, rigorously applying the techniques of group work, guiding and interpretation, establishing in an entertaining and instructive way an interactive communication with the client.
Specific skills:
- Prepares and executes the guiding process in different tours based on the knowledge he has of the natural, historical and cultural heritage. and the techniques of group work, guiding and interpretation
The Tourist Entertainer develops his professional activity in hotels, tourist accommodation on the beach, city or campsites, extra-hotel facilities, nightclubs or other entities that provide recreational services.
General Training Objective - Manage at your level the processes involved in the development of animation programs, integrating into the technology of their design and application the historical-cultural approaches that make up our nation and its technical-artistic and psycho-artistic production. most emblematic sociological, which allows the interpretation and satisfaction with quality of the recreational needs of the clients through effective communication.
Basic Competence
Executes the process of recreation and tourist animation taking into account the design, promotion, execution and evaluation of the activity in its professional scope, with effective communication in mother tongue and foreign, satisfying the recreational needs of clients with ethics and quality, actively promotes the values of Cuban culture contributing to the achievement of social, economic and environmental objectives.
The Tourist Entertainer is a fully trained professional, with an attitude of change to respond effectively and dynamically through the performance of different and varied programmed activities, to the needs of the clients in relation to the satisfaction of their recreational expectations. It is at the same time a promoter of cultural heritage and the most authentic and varied expressions of the country's culture.
Specific skills: Interacts with the interlocutor fluently and spontaneously without unnecessary pauses, with socioculturally appropriate expressions. He speculates, suggests, persuades in social and labor settings. Understand general content texts. He writes texts controlled either by the subject or the extension related to his personal and work life, he promotes activities related to recreation and tourist animation, corporate values of the entity and culture in his mother tongue and abroad.
Both specialties integrate subjects that contribute to the artistic education and aesthetic appreciation of students such as workshops on Cultural Activities, Practice of games (emphasizing the rescue, revitalization and insertion of traditional Cuban games within animation programs), Society, culture and tourism, City animation, Cuban and Caribbean musical genres and dances, (Tourist Animation) and Cuban Culture, Cuban Art and Heritage Interpretation (Tourist Guides).
Art education as a necessary subject of a general nature, present at all levels of the Cuban educational system, acquires a decisive role for those who opt for a specific professional training, where the management, interpretation and assessment of cultural topics becomes cornerstone of the fulfillment of some of the objectives and results of their work activity, as they will provide the necessary knowledge for the analysis, interpretation and evaluation of works of art through the language of forms and visual thinking, taking into account that in In today's highly technical society, the field of traditional plastic arts has been enriched with the contribution of other manifestations from the visual media,so that the universe of the image is part of everyday reality.
Likewise, the work of art, together with other sources of historical knowledge, constitutes, in itself, a valuable document and an indispensable and singular testimony to know the future of societies, while being virtualized as a transforming element of these. For this reason, it is essential to study the work of art in its socio-cultural context as a starting point for the analysis of the different factors and circumstances involved in the process of creating the artistic work; At the same time, it is necessary to teach to appreciate the art contextualized in the visual culture of each historical moment, at the same time emphasizing the fact that artistic works have another dimension as they last over time as objects susceptible to different uses and social functions in each epoch.
Por otro lado, la importancia del patrimonio artístico, los desafíos que plantea su conservación, junto con el potencial de recursos que contiene para el desarrollo inmediato y futuro de la sociedad, constituye otro motivo fundamental que demanda una adecuada formación que promueva su conocimiento, disfrute y conservación. De una acertada educación artística y estética inducida al individuo, dependerá la capacidad de este para lograr un proceso apreciativo completo del fenómeno estético, y por ende de una correcta y adecuada construcción del conocimiento.
However, there are problems with the training that, of these subjects, students who enter the Formatur system in these (and other) specialties bring, although in the case of Tourism Guides, it is not so accentuated, since they access With the higher level expired, in the case of the rest (Tourist Animation within them, even having an aptitude test that differentiates it from the rest), there are serious difficulties regarding the expiration of objectives supposedly fulfilled at the end of pre-university education (Minimum requirement to access the specialties offered in the different Hospitality and Tourism Schools in the country).
Among the most pronounced weaknesses are:
- Lack of knowledge about art. This knowledge is limited to stereotypes and names, more repeated by imitation, than known as referents. Low cultural level, which is expressed by little or no inclination towards reading, towards less commercial cinema and music, weak knowledge of history and other elements related to culture that could create a predisposition for the appreciation of a work of art. The lack of interest in these subjects is also evident.
Taking these aspects into account, the study plans have been created and renewed. The selected topics, in many cases, respond to concerns that the students themselves have expressed in the courses that have been developed in recent years. This has been done based on direct exchanges with them and the results of different surveys and studies applied in order to validate the programs themselves, as well as the pertinent adjustments.
It is an essential requirement in these training plans that each program be developed with the necessary flexibility, according to the characteristics of each school and each territory in order to avoid the schematics that sometimes limit the development of the creative spirit and take advantage of the historical - cultural potentialities of the environment and the locality.
A high percentage of these plans rests on practical activities, based on the use of real work scenarios, while extracurricular activities - properly motivated and oriented - must constitute a significant element in the development of teaching activities.
It is also essential to visit the institutions, monuments or urban spaces studied to which you have access, regardless of the geographical region in which they are located, but fundamentally of their locality, read, historic centers, colonial fortifications, museums and galleries.
The city of Matanzas, considered precisely the "Athens of Cuba" in the 19th century, Cárdenas, the so-called "City of First Fruits" and Varadero, as the most important tourist center in the country, have enough historical, cultural and patrimonial values to add value to the product they offer.
From the achievement of these precepts, the graduate of these specialties will be able to creatively apply the methodologies, techniques and procedures of tourist animation and guidance in physical-recreational, recreational, cultural activities, evenings and shows for the purpose of of animation and promotional driving to places of interest.
Finally, it should be noted that the training process within the FORMATUR system has constant monitoring from the implementation of improvement and updating courses, Postgraduate, diploma and master's degrees, in all the specialties that make it up, thus contributing to maintain a continuous process of updating and improvement of the staff employed.
CONCLUSIONS
The efficient training of human resources at the different levels that make up the labor and business structure of MINTUR, constitutes the key to success in its management.
Applying and promoting the principles of Cubanness and the patriotic and ethical values of the Cuban people through the professional work of tourism workers is a solid pillar and the hallmark of this service, having specialties such as Tourist Animation and Tourism Guides a great responsibility in the success of this endeavor.
The knowledge and skills in the field of appreciation of the arts, constitute a component of extraordinary value in their training, allowing to structure the future professional performance of the graduate on the basis of good taste, measure and the critical approach necessary for the development of the activities and to guarantee that the customer perception process is appropriate (customer-viewer-participant).
It is required to draw up pedagogical strategies that allow from the different training profiles to go in search of an authentic and genuine Cuban, promoter of national and local culture and capable of incorporating the cultural dimension in superior performance, adding value to services and products, It is necessary to creatively focus the work of cultural education, which arises from the study of traditions and customs, from collective learning, from the transformative teaching and business practice, so that Cuban tourism is a genuine exponent of our cultural identity.
Students in training must internalize that: culture and tourism are an inseparable pair. Culture enhances the values of the tourism product and identifies the features that distinguish us as a nation to the extent that our identity has been confirmed and that the visitor wishes to find it in their tourist experience. The Tourism Worker acts as a linking element that promotes a destination with wide possibilities, possessing a general culture that allows the defense of national identity in the face of neoliberal globalization. These elements make up a system whose validity is given not by the design of a culture for tourism, but by the organic and natural insertion of tourism in the authenticity of the cultural proposal.Converting culture into a weapon and shield of the nation is an imperative for the successful development of Cuban tourism.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- MSc. Vivian Ester Muñoz Franco Program of the subject: Society, Culture and Tourism. EHTVC Tourism Development Department. 201 4Commission for the Improvement of Study Plans and Programs Basic
Curriculum Document “F 014” Training profile: Tourist Animator. 2014 Commission for the Improvement of Study Plans and Programs Basic
Curriculum Document “F 014” Training profile: Tourism Guide. 2014.MSC. René F. Ojeda Alfonso. Commission for the Improvement of Study Plans and Programs
Basic Curriculum Document "F 09" Training profile: Tourism Guide. 2013. Cuban Art subject program
