Follow Singapore Investment Immigration and follow Life in Singapore: With the completion of integrated resorts, the Singapore tourism industry will see a robust demand for professional tour guides. Over the next five to ten years, the local demand for tour guides is expected to double, reaching nearly 4,000 individuals. Industry insiders point out that as China becomes Singapore’s second-largest source of tourists, the local demand for professional Mandarin-speaking tour guides will also increase significantly.
According to forecasts by the Singapore Tourism Board, by 2015, the annual number of visitors to Singapore will increase from the current 9 million to 17 million, and annual tourism revenue is expected to triple to $30 billion, which means the tourism industry will require a large number of professional tour guides.
Currently, the number of professional tour guides in Singapore is approximately 2,000. With the establishment of integrated resorts and the increase in visitors to Singapore, the demand for local tour guides is estimated to be at least 3,800.
Furthermore, while Singapore hosted a total of 850,000 Chinese tourists last year, there are currently only 740 tour guides in Singapore who are fluent in Mandarin, failing to meet the demands of the tourism industry.
It is estimated that by 2015, Singapore will need nearly 2,000 professional Mandarin-speaking tour guides. Local tour guides are mostly English-speaking, and a future challenge for this industry is to increase the number of tour guides proficient in other languages, while simultaneously improving the overall quality of these guides.
“We do not just need tour guides who can speak Mandarin; we need local tour guides who can speak standard Mandarin.”
Regarding how to attract more people to join the profession, the Deputy President of the Guide Association pointed out the need to change local perceptions of the tour guide industry, enhance practitioners' sense of belonging to the profession, and attract more young people to work in the tourism sector.
Additionally, as tour guides act as civilian ambassadors representing the country, it is necessary to cultivate high-quality practitioners for this industry while developing Singapore's tourism sector.
“After the completion of the integrated resorts, the demand for tourism industry personnel, especially for tour guides, and the improvement of their quality, will be both a business opportunity and a challenge for the entire Asia-Pacific region and the Singapore tourism industry.”
Tourism Board begins launching residential area tourism packages
At the same time, the Tourism Board has begun launching residential area tourism packages, promoting homestays to attract foreign tourists who wish to experience the daily lives of Singaporeans.
Regarding the increasing number of Chinese tourists locally, exchanges between the two countries in the tourism industry are very vibrant. The Tourism Board also invited the famous local singer JJ Lin, who has a high reputation in China, to serve as a tourism ambassador this March. It is believed that in the coming years, there will be many opportunities for cooperation and exchange in the tourism industry between China and Singapore.
In terms of future training for tourism industry talent, Singapore and China have many opportunities to learn from each other. Chinese tour guides generally possess comprehensive professional knowledge, but there is still room for improvement in service quality, which requires learning from Singaporean industry players.
