(Seated front, from left) Sharzede, Hii, Ting, Suriya and Bob with the RSTG license recipients. – Picture by Zaheera Johari
MIRI: Tourist guides must comply with the government’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) in order to regain the confidence of tourists in the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Assistant Minister Datuk Sebastian Ting.
He said as the tourism industry begins to pick up after some three months of shutdown due to the Covid-19 Movement Control Order, tourist guides now have responsibilities under the new norm to ensure tourists follow health and safety protocols.
“Therefore, a tourist guide plays the role in gaining tourists’ trust for a safe travel in the state post Covid-19,” he said during the presentation of the Regional Specific Tourist Guide (RSTG) licence here today.
Ting said his ministry was working with the Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) on the necessary SOPs for the gradual re-opening of the tourism industry, including for tour companies, tourist guides, hotels, homestays, museums and national parks.
He added that the state would continue with the Visit Sarawak Campaign with a focus on strengthening the ‘Sarawak More to Discover’ brand and promoting five unique experience themes in the state namely Culture, Adventure, Nature, Food and Festivals (CANFF).
“We are shifting our focus to domestic tourism in view of the travel and movement restrictions. Thus besides continuing with the Visit Sarawak campaign, a new post Covid-19 campaign is implemented with a new tagline ‘Rediscover Yourself in Sarawak!,” Ting said.
Ting also said that though Covid-19 had seriously impacted the tourism industry negatively, he believed with concerted effort, concrete plans and focused strategies, Sarawak’s tourism industry will emerge stronger and back to its glory.
Later at a press conference, Ting said the RSTG course was organised by his ministry in July last year in collaboration with its federal counterpart and SATT College to address the shortage of tourist guides in the state.
“This move is to further boost tourism and enhance efficiency of Sarawak tourism industry’s service delivery. The 19 new licensed tourist guides will definitely boost the tourism industry in the northern region,” he said.
He added that his ministry would look into organising similar RSTG courses in Kuching, Sibu and Bintulu, with Yayasan Sarawak providing financial assistance in terms of loan to those interested in attending the course.
Also present at the function were the ministry’s permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee, MOTAC Sarawak director Suriya Charles Buas, Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chief executive officer Sharzede Datu Salleh Askor and Bob Zakaria from SATT College.