Tourism is one of Oregon’s largest economic sectors, with guided tours playing a crucial role in the tourism and outdoor recreation industry. Guides, such as fishing guides, along with visitors and residents, significantly impact natural resources.
Natural resource managers and rural community leaders face various challenges, including job creation, fire management, drought, safety, education about natural resource management and the economic impacts of visitors. However, professional development training for small guide businesses is often financially and time prohibitive.
The Oregon Marine Board, Travel Oregon and Oregon Sea Grant each play a role in supporting the Oregon economy and natural resource management through their work with professional guides, tour operators and outfitters.
Oregon Sea Grant and Oregon State University Extension offer the Guide and Outfitter Recognized Professional (GORP) course, a training and certification program designed for professional guides and outfitters that aims to enhance the skills and knowledge of guides, helping them stay current with industry trends and best practices.
In 2024, Travel Oregon initiated a collaborative project with Oregon Sea Grant, covering the costs for guides participating in the Travel Oregon “Why Guides Program.”
This collaboration stemmed from efforts in 2023 when Miles Phillips, professor for sustainable tourism with Oregon Sea Grant Extension, worked with the Oregon Marine Board and Travel Oregon to form the Oregon Guide Working Group. This group meets quarterly to share updates on guide-related programming, discuss issues to and identify opportunities for outdoor recreation guides, such as fishing guides.
As a result of this collaboration, Travel Oregon developed a special offer promoting the Oregon Sea Grant guide training program to a statewide list of select tour businesses in early 2024. Thirteen businesses participated in the GORP training, with all costs covered by Travel Oregon. This first-of-its-kind collaboration led to guides from these 13 businesses becoming GORP-certified, paving the way for future collaborations.
In 2024, the content for the GORP course titled “Global” was fully reviewed and translated into Spanish. This new content is being integrated into the online GORP course platform, making it available to anyone interested in a Spanish-language version of the training, regardless of their location. This could benefit Oregon guides specializing in serving Spanish-speaking visitors, young adults in workforce development programs, and guides in Spanish-speaking countries.
By providing accessible professional development opportunities and expanding training to Spanish-speaking communities, the collaborators are enabling economic growth, promoting sustainable tourism and ensuring the responsible use of our natural resources for future generations.