Trained guides to serve tourism sector

BRUNEI welcomed a new batch of qualified tour guides certified by the World Federation of Tour Guide Associations (WFTGA) recently to help serve in the development of its tourism industry.

Some 37 local tour guides received the WFTGA certificate at a presentation ceremony from the event's guest of honour, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR), Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar, after completing the eight-day training course.

Speaking at the ceremony was Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer of Brunei Tourism Board, who spoke on the importance of the training to help frontliners understand how to serve Brunei's customers.

Sheikh Jamaluddin took the opportunity to thank the trainers and asked the now qualified tour guides to pass down what they have learned to their fellow colleagues.

Also speaking at the event was Mary Kemp Clarke, lead trainer for WFTGA, who stressed that today's tour guides are professionals who have a passion and enthusiasm about the work they do, and congratulated the qualified tour guides in joining the professional ranks.

This is the second time the Brunei Tourism Board has organised courses in collaboration with WFTGA, and the programme attracted not just staff from tour agencies, but also from the Forestry Department and museums.

Among the recipients was Aya Kato, a Japanese tour guide who has served in the tourism industry for more than a year under Freme Travel Services.

The 22-year-old said that the reason why she came to Brunei was because she wanted to learn English and work in the tourism industry at the same time.

The graduate from Kanda Institute of Foreign Language said that after being trained by WFTGA, she now feels much more confident as she has learnt the professional way to answer questions and how to guide tourists in a proper manner.

WFTGA is a non-profit organisation affiliated with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation representing 51 countries around the world, and is the world leading authority in tour guide training.

The Brunei Times