Tour guides hit hard
O Arrivals dip over Covid-19 fears
PETALING JAYA: Tourist guides are facing tough times as they hardly have any jobs due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Malaysian Tourist Guides Council president Jimmy Leong Wie Kong said people are afraid to travel.
He said 95% of licensed tourist guide have no assignments. “There is uncertainty,” he said.
“The Covid-19 outbreak has had a domino effect on other industries. Given such a gloomy outlook, starting a career in another industry has limitations.”
He said this uncertainty in the travel trade could go on for several months and would be a further blow to tour agents.
“One way to help guides is to promote local travel. For this to be successful all those involved in the tourism industry need to work together,” he said.
“Many people are not travelling due to what can be described as a domino effect. As companies face hardships, people tend to cut their travel.
“Workers are afraid to go on holiday because they feel uncertain about the future, this can be described as negativenegative-negative all around.”
He said one plan was to rely on tourists from the Middle East and Europe but the outbreak has disrupted backup plans. International flights into Johor have dropped by about 80%.
Leong said Chinese tourist arrivals are expected to drop by as much as 90% for the first four months this year and the tourism industry would be affected for the next six to eight months.
One of the biggest blows was the dismal number of arrivals from China. It has brought to a halt the lucrative Chinese tourist arrivals business.
Leong urged companies to invest in training instead of laying off staff so that hotels and travel agencies would have experienced staff in key positions when the economy recovers.
He said the government should provide subsidies for such courses with few restrictions.