Blazing a trail through history

Latte and two BlackBerries to his right-hand side, Ahmed Abdulla al Mehairbi points to the dark scars that run along his index fingers.

Fishing, he explains, the old-fashioned way. None of this pole and spool business. Like his ancestors, he has practised the art of using a stick, box, net and string. As the fish is caught, the thread pulls along the inner lengths of his fingers, leaving friction burns. "In time, the skin will darken," he said, concerned less with the aesthetics than the loss of the technique. After wandering between various jobs, Mr al Mehairbi became the first Emirati tour-guide trainer in the country and one of the driving forces behind the popular tours of the unmissable Sheikh Zayed Mosque. Thousands of tourists to Abu Dhabi have been captivated by his engaging and reverent trips through the ornate marble building.

His passion as a tour-guide trainer is matched only by his rediscovered love of his culture and its traditions. Since joining the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA), he has learnt much about the hidden arts of his ancestry. "The saluki hospital, the falcon hospital. These weren't explained to us as nationals and I had no idea what was going on in there," he said. Before becoming a guide trainer, Mr al Mehairbi worked as an accountant, a secretary and in human resources.

"I was looking from one place to another, always looking for another adventure," he says. Eventually he found himself volunteering for a summer camp in Fujairah that taught leadership skills. When the ADTA began searching for tour-guide trainers, he had the skills and soon found his calling. "When I finished school I didn't think to be in tourism. But it was in the blood. God discovered it," he says.

He describes tour guiding as an almost inherited, mystical quality. Guides are ambassadors for their country, he says. "Tour guide is a job of passion. It isn't something you step into and then out of. It's a sensitive job. It is in the genes," he says. Currently, there are two types of tour guides operating in the country: expatriates, who comprise the majority of the profession, and a handful of nationals.

Daunted by the perceived low pay and long hours and in the face of more attractive jobs in the Government and private sectors, Emiratis are often slow to think of a career in tourism. It is a challenge being addressed by the ADTA, which is holding seminars in high schools and training sessions for college students. Mr al Mehairbi is also involved in training and developing both national and non-national tour guides.

The ADTA's goal is for five per cent of its workforce to be Emirati by 2012. Programmes have also been installed to train Emirati tour guides at museums in Al Ain by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. Mr al Mehairbi says he believes the emirate needs at least 100 Emirati tour guides, 10 to work at the Sheikh Zayed Mosque alone. However, one of the largest obstacles facing Emiratis entering the field is a lack of education about the sector.

"Before I joined the ADTA, I had no awareness about tourism," he says. "As soon as I joined, the things I discovered really changed my life a lot. It made me more committed to make changes in my country as a UAE national." Between the developments of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums on Saadiyat Island, to the Formula One race circuit on Yas Island and the resort developments in Al Gharbia, Mr al Mehairbi says he believes tourism is where the future of the country lies.

"To the new recruits, I say they need to know how important this job is to the future of the country, how to serve the leadership as an ambassador of the country," he says. "I'm excited. I know this will improve the life of UAE nationals. There's a huge place for us to be a part of it. Now I'm encouraging my friends to get into tourism." Mr al Mehairbi's ambition is to be part of the guide and tour training at the major museums to open on Saadiyat. Until then, he is continuing to reconnect with his past.

Every week he heads to the Meena port in Abu Dhabi to sit with the old men in their majlis. "At the fish market, I just sit with them and talk about life and the past. This is how you bring back memories," he said. One elderly man can tell the type of fish swimming in the water by the shape and direction of the currents. With the advent of speedboats, fishfinders and GPS, these are the skills that are being lost.

"Because his son lost interest in these skills, no one has inherited that from him," he said. Mr al Mehairbi had never visited the falcon hospital, where the majestic birds are healed, until he joined the tourism authority. "The way of life now has changed a lot," he explains. "In my father's generation, he would have had a falcon." Mr al Mehairbi says his new-found passions for both tourism and the history of his country's culture run in tandem. The UAE has developed indoor ski hills, shopping malls and the world's most luxurious hotels. But to make tourism a lasting and permanent feature of the country, Emiratis like him must look to the past.

"When tourists come to visit, they don't want to see the lifestyle of the UK or the US." jgerson@thenational.ae For more in this series, visit www.thenational.ae/people