English abstract
The main purpose of the study was to determine how tourist guide training can develop knowledgeable and qualified guides in Qatar. The study focuses on the status of tourist guiding in Qatar and determines how tour guiding can benefit Qatar's economy. Data for this study was collected through self-administered structured questionnaires in the categories of tourism stakeholders, tourists, residents, businessmen, expatriates and youth in Qatar. The research determined a sample size of 100 respondents. The data collected was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 17.0) software analysis tool. Findings revealed some challenges which included a need for trained and qualified tourist guides in Qatar as well as tourist guiding regulation becoming an important tool in increasing training and development for tourism stakeholders, and can be a major contributor to the country's GDP. One of the key suggestions is that the tourist guiding licensing program should work towards establishing a tourist guiding regulation within the current tourism law in Qatar. This will ensure having legal guides and operators who are able to do their job following international accreditation standards.
