Attractive lectures for tourist guides
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Reaching Hearts and Minds of Guests through Quality Information
Director of the Tourist Board, Odeta Sapač, pointed out the Board shall organise free tours for tourists this year, weekly, in Croatian, Italian, English and G
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The goal of the lectures was to acquaint the tourist guides as thoroughly as possible, this in concrete terms too, with our cultural and historical and natural heritage, so they can afterwards, in direct contact with guests, transfer the insights and get the guests interested in individual activities. Simultaneously, along with general information they received having passed their professional examinations, we wanted to enable them receiving some less known, less published and less presented facts on Rovinj, its history, characteristics and beauty, from our top lecturers and experts in different domains, said Director of the Tourist Board, Odeta Sapač.
According to President of the Rovinj Society of Toruist Guides, Alberto Košara, it is precisely further training, as well as life-long learning that is the foundation for having quality, able and educated guides, while the exceptional turnout to the lectures is the obvious confirmation of quality as well as the need for organising the same. Actually, stressed Košara, along with the happy tourist, our common goal is to represent Rovinj and its surroundings as best we can. The very one-day lecture attracted an unexpectedly large number of guides, but citizens as well, who wanted to glean as many information on Rovinj as possible from first-hand sources, professionals. That is, the full-day programme encompassed a list of lectures offering well known facts, while special emphasis was given to those information less known, which cannot be obtained from books and printed materials. Marino Budicin, a researcher of the Centre for Historical Research, simultaneously the vice-Mayor of Rovinj, suggested the tourist guides an itinerary that differs from the commonplace. He also presented the eco-museum the Batana House, and explained the manner of constructing the batana boat – the characteristic fishing vessel with the flat bottom, a recognisable symbol of the town.
The museum curator, Katarina Marić, spoke of permanent exhibits and exhibitions held in the Heritage Museum, as well as on the topic of archaeological finds in the town territory. She also lectured the guides on the topic of the Hütterott family, who, in 1890, purchased the island of St Andrew (the Red Island), Maškin, Šturago and St John (Sveti Ivan na pučini), as well as parts of land, in particular the area of the Forest Park the Golden Promontory (Zlatni rt). Special attention was also given to the perhaps the most striking sight of the town – the Church of St Euphemia, spoken of with inspiration by the Rovinj parish priest, Milan Zgrablić, who also gave a few words on the issue of good manners and the behaviour ethics within sacred objects.
There was also talk of the protected natural areas of Rovinj – Zlatni rt, Škarabi, but also those spaces less known to tourists, such as the unique geological monument worldwide, the Fantazija quarry (Cave di Monfiorenzo spoken of by Slavko Brana, an associate of the public institution "Natura Histrica". Brana also acquainted the guides in further detail on the characteristics and beauty of the Bay of Lim and the Cave of Romualdo, as well as of the islands around Rovinj and the shore area that was proclaimed a significant landscape scenery as early as 1968. The professional lectures were finished by a tour of the old town centre, along the new itinerary devised by Marino Budicin.
In the Church of St Euphemia, the guides found out about additional curiosities of this grand construction, but also information that cannot be found in literature. The full-day educational gathering was ended within the taverna of "Matika", where the guides were greeted by members of the Italian Cultural and Art Association "Marco Garbin", and where they were able to get the latest information on the activities of the Batana House from the leader of the folk group Batana. At the end of the gathering, some 90 guides received materials from the lectures so they could have everything they were able to hear during the day in writing. They also learned from Director of the Tourist Board, Odeta Sapač, that the Board will this year organise free tours for tourists weekly, in Croatian, Italian, English and German, while guided cycle tours will occasionally be organised.
