UNEMPLOYED from the district of Rimavská Sobota, especially from the micro-region Teplý Vrch, will be given the opportunity to become tour guides and souvenir producers.
The opportunity comes thanks to an educational centre that has been training people in the region since March, the Pravda daily wrote.
"The project is supported as part of the Human Resources Operational Programme and is co-financed from the European Social Fund," said project manager Miroslava Bartoková.
The training will last for seven months.
"A group of about 10 long-term unemployed people will go through 275 hours of training with expert lecturers, who will teach them about tourism," Bartoková said. "Upon finishing they will receive a certificate and be able to decide in which of the seven spheres they would like to work.
They can become tour guides, souvenir producers, businesspeople in agrarian tourism, marketing specialists, etc."
The people will receive employment in one of the already existing tourist facilities in the Teplý Vrch micro-region, which includes 17 communities.
"Our main goal is to teach people about the region's needs," Bartoková said. "We have various opportunities in tourism here, such as reservoirs, educational pathways, a Gothic Road, and cremation burial sites."
Pavel Nadok, mayor of Teplý Vrch and chairman of the region, welcomes the opportunity.
"There are 300 unemployed people in our village and tourism is one of the chances for development," he said.