Opportunity to be certified as travel consultants
CONSULTANTS are experts who provide professional advice and usually occupy senior positions in large or important organisations. But in the travel industry, staff seated at the front counter are called travel consultants just because customers seek information or advice from them.
There is great disparity of experience and expertise among travel consultants in Malaysia. Doing the same job for a long time is no guarantee that these workers are very knowledgeable, as their exposure may be limited to relatively few customers or markets.
However, with structured exposure and engagement with many customers, a new hire with just a year’s experience can gain more knowledge than those seated behind the counter for 10 years but repeating just one month’s experience 120 times.
Travel consultants who have not visited the destinations they are selling can only regurgitate what they have read, seen pictures or videos of or learned from others. They are as interesting as lecturers delivering dry academic talks gleaned from books.
On the other hand, travel consultants who have led tour groups are more convincing when they describe vividly the destinations they have visited and give tips on how to get the best experiences or bargains as well as the pitfalls and dangers to avoid.
Clearly, some counter staff are true travel consultants while others are not, and such expertise is honed on the job. A fresh graduate with a bachelor’s or master’s degree cannot be a travel consultant, and neither can someone with a PhD in tourism.
To separate the wheat from the chaff, experienced travel consultants should seek certification for their expertise from the Department of Skills Development, popularly known as Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran (JPK).
Under the Recognition of Prior Experiential Learning (RPEL), travel consultants can be awarded Level 3 Malaysian Skills Certificates, popularly known as Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM), without having to study for a course that may take up to 2,400 hours or two years.
Those with a minimum of three years’ experience may obtain the Level 3 SKM for Tour Leader & Travel Consultation under RPEL.
But putting together a portfolio comprising a record of their past experience can be daunting, as JPK requires sufficient proof.
In the past, individuals determined to compile the portfolio spent their own money to hire experts to help them put together the required details. Many experts in other industries have managed to obtain their SKM this way, including a few who have obtained diplomas (DKM) or advanced diplomas (DLKM).
In the future, the government is likely to announce a policy requiring all industry personnel to be certified, but enough time will be given to existing practitioners. Those who have already been certified will be in a very comfortable position and can make long-term plans in the industry.
Fortunately, the Human Resources Development Corporation (Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad), which manages the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), is lending a helping hand for those who are keen to have a head start. It is now sponsoring a programme at full cost for those with a minimum of three years’ experience as travel consultant and tour leader to obtain the Level 3 SKM through a tourism training institute without having to pay a single sen.
Those who wish to be certified as travel consultant and tour leader by the Department of Skills Development and sponsored by the Human Resources Development Corporation may attend a briefing at 11am on Oct 31 at 25-29, Second Floor, Jalan Belia, Kuala Lumpur.
Candidates who successfully obtain their SKM can be proud of the fact that they have contributed to the increase in the number of recognised skilled workers in the country. It would also motivate them to perform at a higher professional level.