300 Best Russian Guides to Show 20,000 Guests Russia's Achievements and Opportunities

On January 31, the online module of the training program for thousands of guides and welcome desk coordinators of the upcoming World Youth Festival was completed. The Festival will take place in the Sirius Federal Territory on March 1-7. Based on the results of the online module, the experts selected 300 specialists who will complete a full-time training module and participate in the main youth event of 2024. 20,000 young Russian and foreign leaders in various fields from education and science to business and media will participate in the WYF 2024. The organizer of the Festival Tour Program is the More Than a Trip program of Rosmolodezh.

Recruiting the team to work at the World Youth Festival was done on a competitive basis. More than 5,000 people from all over Russia had applied. During the two-week online training, tourism professionals, students of specialized universities, museum workers, interpreters, and other specialists got acquainted with the cultural heritage of the Krasnodar Territory, the history of the transformation of the Sirius Federal Territory and the philosophy of the World Youth Movement. They also learned what is the standard of useful trips under the More Than a Trip program what the Festival venues have in store for the guests of the region in the spring. The School of Guides participants also learned how to provide first-class service and how to behave in non-standard situations.

"All participants of the training program will receive certificates of completed training and become Guides of Meanings. They will join the professional community of guides that is being developed today through the More Than a Trip program. We have selected 300 specialists to work at the WYF 2024. They will be the ones who will try to connect with young people on 8 themed routes through Sirius, Sochi and surrounding areas. The Festival will bring together the brightest and most talented young men and women from all over the world. Through interactive tours, foreign guests as well as our compatriots will not only learn about Russia's hospitality, but also identify new areas of youth cooperation," said Oleg Makarov, Advisor to the Head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh).

The best specialists were selected by experts from Rosmolodezh, the More Than a Trip program, the World Youth Festival Directorate, and the Russia International Exhibition and Forum and winners of the Masters of Hospitality competition of the Russia – Land of Opportunity Presidential Platform. Among the criteria for their evaluation are the results of tests based on the results of the online training module, professional portfolio, knowledge of foreign languages, work experience at major events, etc.

During the full-time training phase, which begins in Sochi on February 16, the guides will learn their routes in practice and supplement them during test tours.

Polina Alutina, 19, from Konakovo in the Tver Region, is one of the future guides of the Festival.

"I am happy to be a part of the World Youth Festival. This is an opportunity to share with the guests knowledge about Sochi and Russia, about the opportunities our country offers to young people who are striving for development. I am studying tourism at the Russian State Social University in Moscow. Working at the WYF 2024 will give me the opportunity to combine theory and practice. School of Guides organizers and experts made sure all students learned as much as possible about the upcoming Festival, the important nuances of working with guests, and the Festival values," she said.

Polina Kurilova from Sochi, who took part in the More Than a Trip projects several times, also spoke about her experience with the training program.

"What I remember most during my training were the workshops held by Zhanna Fedaeva, the representative of the More Than a Trip program. The analysis of real situations at the Russia International Exhibition and Forum at VDNH and the tips on communication with guests, which the experts gave us, will certainly be useful at the WYF 2024. Learning about the professional experience of experts working as guides was particularly valuable. This will help me not only to tell the guests about the sights of the route in an interesting way, but also to cope with any unusual situations during the tours. All the students of the school are supporting each other and are looking forward to working at the Festival," she said.

During the WYF 2024, the Sirius Federal Territory will be transformed into the World Youth City. 14 welcome desks will be set up in 10 city hotels and other locations to provide information about the More Than a Trip program and register for tours. The routes are also accessible to participants and guests with disabilities. The tours will be available in Russian, English, Chinese, Arabic, and French.

The top ten regions by the number of applications from guides to work at the Festival, along with the Krasnodar Territory, included Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Moscow, Sverdlovsk, Belgorod, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara Regions, and the Krasnoyarsk and Primorsky Territories.

Overview:

The World Youth Festival will take place in 2024 according to the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the development of international youth cooperation. At the first meeting of the Organizing Committee chaired by Sergey Kiriyenko, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration, it was decided to hold the Festival in the Sirius Federal Territory.

20,000 young leaders in education, science, international cooperation, culture, volunteering, charity, sports, business, media, etc., including 10,000 foreign participants, will take part in the WYF 2024. For the first time in the history of the festival movement young people aged 14-17, 500 from Russia and 500 from abroad, will have the opportunity to participate in the event.

The World Youth Festival is organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) and operated by the World Youth Festival Directorate.

More Than a Trip is a program that has allowed more than 170,000 young people to see unique places in Russia, learn about university and industrial achievements, develop socially significant projects and make new friends. Active participants and winners of Russian projects go on trips around the country. They are schoolchildren, students, young specialists from the regions, and family members of military personnel.

The More Than a Trip program is implemented by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) as part of the Make Tourism More Accessible federal project of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry national project. It is part of the project line of the Russia – Land of Opportunity presidential platform and is being implemented with the support of the Movement of the First, the Russian Knowledge Society, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and the Rossotrudnichestvo.

Prepared by the WYF 2024 Press Office