Affiliations: [a] Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor, Brežice, Slovenia
| [b] Faculty of Logistics, University of Maribor, Celje, Slovenia
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Dr. Mitja Gorenak, Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor, Cesta prvih borcev 36, 8250 Brežice, Slovenia. Tel.: +386 8 20 54 010; E-mail: mitja.gorenak@um.si.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Traveling is becoming more and more accessible, thus more people can come into contact with certain diseases while traveling. Various diseases are on the rise, especially because more people than ever before are traveling. Special groups of people who are traveling more than the average person are tour guides and tour managers, which increases their exposure to these diseases. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article is to see how much tour guides and tour managers know about health-related diseases that they may encounter when they are working. METHODS: A link to an online questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 500 randomly selected tour guides and tour managers; we have collected 120 valid responses, which represent 24.00% of the selected sample of Slovenian tour guides and tour managers. RESULTS: We have found that tour guides and tour managers are acquainted with exposure to certain travelers’ diseases, and but know relatively little about the symptoms. However, we have also found that tour guides and tour managers do know what the proper preventive measures for these diseases are in the majority of cases. CONCLUSIONS: The current state of knowledge in this area is still alarming, and tour guides and tour managers need to get educated or educate themselves mostly about the symptoms and also about preventive measures. Here we also see the possibility for travel agencies or professional associations to participate and help raise the awareness of risks posed by certain common travelers’ diseases.
Keywords: Preventive health care, travelers’ diseases, tour guides, tour managers
