Unseen Comprehension 14

Do you have friends or relatives in other parts of Bangladesh? Do they come to see you? Do you sometimes go to see them? When they come to you, they are visitors. When you go to see them, you are visitor, Are you good with visitors? Are you friendly with them? Perhaps, one day somebody comes to your villages to your village and you do not know him. Does your friend know him? If nobody knows him he is not a visitor. He is a tourist. Are you afraid of strangers or are you good with strangers or are you good with strangers? Yes? Are you good with strangers? Then, perhaps, you should try to get a job working with tourists. When visitors come what do you like to do with them? Do you show them interesting places near your home? Do you show them your school or the mosque, the temple or the Thana Administration headquarters? Perhaps, there is a tank full of water, or an Edgah or canal teeming with fishes. If you are interested in these places, you would become good as tourist guide. But are you good at History? You must be keen on History if you want to be a good tourist guide.

Many tourist need hotel which is comfortable to stay in. Hotels need boys and girl who are quick at learning. Some learn to cook. Others are needed at the front desk in the hall. These people welcome tourists. They are helpful with heavy bags and packets. They answer the telephone. One job is that of cashier. The cashier writes bills. He takes money from the tourists. He gives them receipts. You must be quick at arithmetic if you want to be a cashier. You need to calculate rapidly. A bigger hotel also has a house keeper. She goes to the bedrooms and sees if they are clean and ready for the tourist. Some hotels have catering manager. He buys the things the hotel needs, like meat and vegetables. He sees that the restaurant is working well. The Parjatan Corporation gives training in jobs like these. The Tourism Training Institute is in Dhaka. Different courses are useful for different jobs. Some courses are short, lasting only a few weeks. You need several months for others. Most tourist guides are students who work part-time. When Bangladesh becomes popular with tourists from overseas, many more full-time Tourist Guides will be needed. The Parjatan Corporation has already over 700 full-time workers but most of these are not Tourist Guides. Their work, however, is useful for Bangladesh. They are busy planning for the future.