The country faces a critical shortage of tour guides able to speak foreign languages.There is nothing new about this.
Tourism Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Ong Hong Peng said only 744 out of the 8,701 tour guides registered with the ministry could communicate in foreign languages like French, Korean and Arabic.
Only 105 were conversant in German, 37 in French and 30 in Russian, while the rest knew other languages.
“Tour guides with such skills are in high demand and are paid about RM450 a day, compared with RM220 paid to other guides,” he added.
Dr Ong was speaking to reporters after presenting certificates to 333 tour guides, who completed their foreign language proficiency course, at a convocation ceremony at the Malaysia Tourism Centre here yesterday.
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