Sri Lanka National Tourist Drivers Association conducted the 34^th training programme to upgrade the skills of tourist drivers with the endorsement of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) on Friday (4) at the Ex-Servicemen Association, Fort. Sri Lanka National Tourist Drivers Association is the largest tourist drivers association with a membership base over 5,500 and has set up its training arm named ‘Academy of Tourism Studies’ to train tourist drivers who are in the informal sector. The main objective of these training programmes is to enhance the capacity of tourist drivers to strengthen them with skills and management capabilities and give the existing workforce of tourist drivers training with necessary theoretical knowledge and practical exposure, the SLTDA said in a press release. “Besides, the informal sector tourist drivers will be brought to the mainstream of the tourism industry with the recognition of an Identity Card and a Certificate for their training,” the statement added. Some of the subjects taught in the four-day training programme include Tourism and Trends in Lanka, Challenges, Opportunities and impact of tourism to the country, Customer Relation, Customer Care & Customer Satisfaction, Role & Responsibilities of a Tourist Driver, Essential First Aid Practices for a Tourist Driver. A written Examination based on lectures is conducted to assess the suitability of the respective candidates and the minimum pass Mark is 45%. Candidates who are successful at the written examination will be eligible to receive an authorized Tourist Driver identity Card. Tourism is a fast-growing sector in Sri Lanka during the last few years as a result, there is a high demand for manpower requirement especially for tourist drivers for the tourism industry. Therefore SLTDA along with the National Tourist Drivers Association have extended an open invitation to all the Drivers engaged in the Tourism Sector to be a part of this training programme.