Wilderness Enhances Innovative Guide Training Across the Group
In order to ensure that Wilderness continues to recruit and train the industry’s best guides, and to guarantee they are experts at weaving experiences around guests’ unique preferences, the company recently appointed Sean Robertson as Wilderness Group Head of Guide Training and Simon Collier to head up Guide Development.
“Sean and Simon’s tremendous experience and knowledge of guiding and training will offer great learning and growth opportunities for our staff, who are at the forefront of anticipating and sharing nature’s most thrilling moments with our guests. As Group Head of Guide Training, Sean will focus on technical skills training, while Simon’s focus will be on mentorship and hospitality, overseeing the standardisation of both across the Group, with a focus on career growth and development”, noted Alexandra Margull, Wilderness Chief Operations Officer.
Sean and Simon will complement Wilderness’ regional guide training teams whose curriculums combine intensive training and regular refresher courses with ongoing mentorship, and opportunities for future growth and development. Wilderness also offers various incentives and cross-pollination opportunities, where guides get to visit neighbouring countries and guide in new regions, learning from others and sharing knowledge.
“Guides perform the essential task of translating the natural areas where we operate to guests in a way that results in lasting memories and a better understanding of our world”, she added. “Training therefore plays a vital role in ensuring our staff are able to create meaningful wilderness journeys – whether family-friendly adventures, teaching guests how to track and understand the iconic wildlife, or how to better photograph their safari – all with the intention of inspiring a love of nature and positive action at the same time”.
In addition to reinvigorating the guide training leadership team, Wilderness has also rolled out a series of innovative initiatives across all regions of operation. Already in 2023, 58 Wilderness guides have attended a comprehensive course held in the Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, Botswana, and a number of specialised and other private guides have conducted training in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
“The Linyanti training and refresher course was a tremendous success, with four groups at a time being hosted at Wilderness Linyanti Tented Camp for a week’s training. The interactive sessions encouraged team-building and provided a learning opportunity for our guides to share experiences and knowledge with each other, enhancing guest relations, and reigniting their passion for guiding”, said Alexandra.
Wilderness Rwanda also proudly congratulated Assiat Ingabare for becoming the first Field Guides Association of South Africa (FGASA)-accredited female guide in Rwanda. She joins Herman Nkusi and Venuste Ndungutse, who also achieved their FGASA qualifications in 2023.
An essential part of guide training is identifying and encouraging young professional guides to attain the next level of their qualifications and to further enhance their growth within the company. In this way, dedicated guides and naturalists are able to share their knowledge with the staff and guests, creating a love for Africa and ensure the ongoing protection of its biodiversity.