Over the past years, Peja municipality has topped the list of important touristic destinations in Kosovo. The increase on demand for adventure and new touristic attractions has encouraged the investment of the tour operators, touristic agencies and municipality of Peja, in developing new products, all aiming to offer the best experiences to the visitors from different countries. The highlights of the region, namely the development of Via Ferratas has not only increased the number of tourists but also surfaced the need for improved support services such as those of mountain gtour guides.

PPSE, the project of The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation project partnered with Marimangat e Pejes who delivered a training for 16 guides in 1) First Aid and Medical Care and 2) the worldwide models, building techniques, equipment description and practical training on the Via Ferrata product. Out of 16 participants, 12 are new to the profession and training while 4 others have been working as Zip Line guides for which this was a refresher training.

Genc Matoshi is a first-time trainee and a nature enthusiast. He has climbed Via Ferrata’s across Kosovo and has now decided to guide others to do the same. He was extremely happy to have been part of the training and is looking forward to continue and share his experiences with increased safety in this amazing activity. For him, having first aid knowledge is so important because it will also help him be more confident in skills gained so far and allow him to promote the sense of safety, which is necessary for every tour guide.

For Donika Matoshi, a student that also works as a guide, this is the third time to be participating at the first aid training. She says they are very attentive before they leave for any of the adventures, in order to avoid having to perform first aid in the first place. “The first aid training is very important because yes, these things don’t happen every day but they can happen and if the guide or the person that you are supposed to trust has no information or doesn’t know how to perform the first aid then it is very bad for the client too. This is too important now to know. Although we are out guiding almost every day, we always repeat the security measures and using the equipment. We repeat them all the time just so that we don’t forget even the tiniest detail”, concludes Donika.