Licensing of tourist guides in Malaysia was introduced in 1975 and I was among the pioneer batch to receive certificates from the Tourist Development Corporation (TDC), which was formed three years earlier.
TDC must have modelled its name after Kuala Lumpur Tourist Association (KLTA) that was set up in 1963, as both organisations used the word tourist instead of tourism. Tourists could not have the time nor interest to set up their own association while in Kuala Lumpur.
At a seminar in the mid-1980s, I pointed out that TDC’s name should be changed to Tourism Development Corporation, but the director-general retorted “we are not discussing grammar today”.
Later, the marketing arm of the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism, which took over the functions of TDC, was named Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board. About a decade ago, KLTA changed its name to Kuala Lumpur Tourism Association.
From 1990 to 2000, I was part time lecturing tourist guide courses and official assessor for the practical examinations, which half of the candidates failed on average because of insufficient practice, as most of the time was spent listening to lectures.
Some of the courses could be around 100 hours, but this changed after the Ministry of Tourism collaborated with the Department of Skills Development and started using the National Occupational Skills Standard (NOSS) for Tourist Guides (Level 3) in training.
Level 3 NOSS normally requires between 1,600 to 2400 training hours, but exception was made for tourist guides and only Tourism Ministry to conduct the exams, as licences were issued to those who passed and awarded the Malaysian Skills Certificate.
Total training hours for tourist guide courses are 500 hours, with 80 hours practice using a tour bus, 160 hours working on academic assignments and 260 hours in classroom lectures. Part-time courses are spread over four to six months, with most of the candidates expected to pass.
While most trainees could learn to present information memorised by them to pass exams, many may be poor in attitude, discipline and interpersonal skills, which are far more important for front line service staff.
A lot of emphasis had been placed on local knowledge, which is very important to tourists with special interests, as they require tourist guides specialised in specific fields. But for leisure tourists, it is people skills that matter most and determine whether visitors are enjoying their holidays.
As a tourist guide in the 1970s, most of my tourists were from the United States and Australia. Their main source of information about Malaysia was through travel guide books and many were eager to discuss with me what they have read.
Today, anyone interested to visit a destination could easily watch many videos available online. Likewise, those with special interest have access to documentaries. In between holidays, many people are armchair travellers by watching travel programmes on television or looking at internet websites, including Google Earth and Street View.
Now, most people travel independently instead of joining tour groups. Many travellers use destination apps for information or make reservation for hotels, restaurants and shows, and transportation apps for private transport that are cheaper and more readily available than taxis.
Even those on group tours could easily use their phone to look up for information, which are usually more current than those learned by tourist guides years ago. Also, people are more at ease using their phones than approaching others to ask, and their answers may be subjective.
Clearly, the role of tourist guides should not remain as it was decades ago. Local tourist guides could make a quantum leap into the future if the Ministry of Tourism and Culture compels them to embrace technology.
Instead of attending several Continuous Tourism Related Education (CTRE) seminars just to collect the certificates needed to renew their tourist guide licence, it would be better if they make short tour reports using video clips sent through Twitter. This is far more effective than sitting out CTRE seminars playing with their phones.
Tourist guides should become videographers, making commentaries while recording the videos and sometimes in selfie mode. A good handphone can record quality videos, which could be forwarded to the tourists’ phone, allowing visitors to share or relive their experiences back home.
Such skills could be picked up in a day by attending a workshop, which would be honed over time by recording and submitting the videos through Twitter or posting them online. Capturing real experiences of tourists beat static brochures or dry information anytime.
Tourist guides taking visitors to the countryside must learn to become skilled drone pilots, as mounted cameras deliver closeup views of places too far or dangerous to reach, apart from enhancing the safety and security of tourists in secluded areas.
Some rural sites could be designated drone flying zones, allowing large number of tourists to go there to practise their skills freely and enjoy their hobby, which they could not back home. Competitions could be organised for licensed drone pilots to take aerial shots of cities and towns, which can be a breath-taking sight even for the locals.
Embracing technology would allow tourists and tourist guides to look forward to a more exciting future. Not doing so will leave them trapped in a time warp, which is not much different from 1964 when the first tourist guide course was organised by KLTA more than five decades ago. – YS Chan
