Chesapeake Bay Storytellers Training
Tour leaders: enhance your tours or create new ones about the majestic Chesapeake. Engage with experts about Chesapeake Bay nature, heritage, ecology, and ways to help the Bay. Improve presentation skills and discover how to make your tours interactive and engaging for your clients.
Chesapeake Bay Storytellers Training Registration
Join us for this one-of-a-kind opportunity for you to grow and enhance your tour business! Don’t miss out on this valuable training. Become a Chesapeake Bay Storyteller!
The Maryland Department of Commerce Office of Tourism and the National Park Service have partnered to train you as a Chesapeake Bay guide, watermen and women, or land and water-based tour provider to create or enhance engaging and informative tours for your customers. Learn about Chesapeake Bay nature, heritage, and ecology, and find ways to help the Bay. Improve your presentation skills and discover how to make your tours fun and relevant for your customers. Attract more guests to your tours.
Upon completion of the training and preparation of a Chesapeake Bay-themed tour, participants will receive official recognition and promotion of their tour business or organization as a certified Chesapeake Bay Storyteller. Tour businesses will receive a $400 stipend per participant to help defray costs of attendance, travel and meals.
Participants agree to:
- Attend all online and in-person training sessions at their selected location
- Develop a land or water-based tour that your organization/business will offer for a minimum of 2 years, beginning in Summer 2023
- Provide reports on customer participation and feedback
Maryland Department of Commerce Office of Tourism will:
- Provide a $400 stipend per participant to tour businesses
- Provide recognition and promotion of your organization/tour business as a certified Chesapeake Bay Storyteller
- Provide free marketing for your tours, including video of your tour experience, web content, social media and email blasts, printed materials, and more!
Training Dates and Locations:
The training sessions run on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from 9 - 11 a.m. online via Google Meets on the following dates:
March 1 - 2, March 15 - 16, March 22 - 23, March 29 - 30, and April 5 - 6
In person practical sessions will be held at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, MD from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on the following dates:
March 8 - 9, April 19 - 20, and April 26
Foul weather make-up day is April 27. This date will be used only if a prior session needs to be canceled.
Register here. Registration deadline is February 23.
