GATN Program Managers Training, April 22-27, 2014
Last Updated (Monday, 05 May 2014 17:33)
The GATN Program Managers Training Workshop
The GATN Program Managers Training Workshop was successfully held during 22-27 April 2014 at Chiangmai YMCA in Thailand. Sixteen Program Managers from local YMCAs of our region who were offering alternative tourism programs or hosting bilateral exchanges in their respective YMCAs participated at the Training Workshop.
This Workshop was part of a series of programmes planned to provide further training for Program Managers from local YMCAs and to help strengthen the implementation of CHANGE principles within our alternative tourism programmes – tourism that seeks to be Community centered, Holistic in approach, Advocating global citizenship and networking, Nature conserving, Gender and child sensitive, and Economically viable.
The main objectives of the Training Program were to:
- Discuss current issues and trends in alternative tourism.
- Develop skills in developing alternative sites
- Develop marketing strategies for the promotion of Alternative Tourism.
The Chiangmai YMCA was chosen as the host of the training workshop because it has developed some very vibrant alternative tourism sites. This provided our participants with an on-site training on how to develop programs adhering to the CHANGE principles of Alternative Tourism.
The Training Workshop opened with a worship led by Mr. RachanManeekarn, General Secretary of NCY Thailand and a reflection by Ms. PatcharawanSrisilapanan, Vice-President of APAY. Earlier, Mr. RachanManeekarn and Ms. ChularatPhongtudsirikul, Acting General Secretary of Chiangmai YMCA, welcomed the participants to the Workshop at the welcome dinner hosted the Chiangmai YMCA.
Resource persons for the workshop include Ms. KatesaneeChantrakul, Project Coordinator of ECPAT Foundation of Thailand, Mr. Andrew Leo, YMCA Singapore and Ms. Annegret Zimmerman, Consultant for Responsible Tourism, Bread for the World, together with Mr. Richard Kaing, Mr. Duncan Chowdhury, Mr. Chan Beng Seng from APAY.
The Workshop discussed some important current trends in Alternative Tourism such as Sustainable and Responsible Tourism: Trends and Challenges, Climate Justice & Environmental Issues, Preventing child trafficking and prostitution, Voluntourism and Customers of Alternative Tourism. Other sessions focused on the practical aspects like skills in developing and marketing a good site, code of conduct of the hosting the and sending YMCAs, risk management and dealing with controversial issues. The participants also discussed a certification checklist to help maintain a high standard in our programmes so that we can work towards branding our Alternative Tourism sites.
One of the interesting parts of the program was the day-long exposure trip through which the participants had the opportunity to have a glimpse of what Chiangmai YMCA was offering in their Alternative Tourism Program. The village of Baan Kampheng had very successful income generating projects with homestay programme, coffee growing and production of hydro-electric power. These projects generated a substantial income for the community to help run their own additional social welfare programmes. The main attraction of the homestay programme was the beautiful natural forest surrounding the village which the villages worked hard to protect. The homestay also included activities such as tracking to a waterfall, learning about the flora and fauna and making crafts such as tea leaf pillows, making the homestay an interesting experience.
During the Workshop we received news that among the victims of the ship tragedy in Korea, six of the young people were student members of the Ansan YMCA. A special memorial act was incorporated into the morning worship led by participants from Indonesia. Staff members of the Chiangmai YMCA also participated in this worship as special prayers made for the victims in each one’s own language.
The APAY hopes to organise more of such similar training workshops at national and sub-regional levels to help our local YMCAs combat the negative impacts of mass tourism with alternative tourism programs that are Community centered, Holistic in approach, Advocating global citizenship and networking, Nature conserving, Gender and child sensitive, and Economically viable.
The APAY thanks the Chiangmai YMCA for all their hard work in preparing and hosting this Training Program.
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| Participants learning to make tea leaf pillows | Special prayers for families and victims of the Korean ship tragedy |