Malaysia To Get South Korean Help Over Korean-Speaking Tour Guides

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya MANADO (North Sulawesi), Jan 12 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is to get assistance from South Korea in getting Korean-speaking tour guides to handle travellers from the republic visiting the country. Malaysian Tourism Minister Dr Ng Yen Yen said a representative from South Korea attending the Asean Tourism Ministers Plus Korea Meeting here Thursday has assured her of help in the matter. "Up to now, we have not had anyone who has taken up this opportunity. So I have requested the Asean Plus Korea to help us, and he (the representative) is quite happy to do so," she told Malaysian journalists here. Dr Ng is here attending the Asean Tourism Ministers Meeting, which entered its second day today with a meeting between the Asean tourism ministers and their dialogue partners China, Japan and South Korea. She will also attend the Asean Tourism Forum, scheduled to be opened by Indonesian Vice President Boediono here Thursday night. The minister said Malaysia has relaxed the policy prohibiting foreign tour guides in the country only in the case of South Korea because it is difficult to get Korean-speaking tour guides. The relaxation will allow South Korean tour guides to accompany tourists from the country visiting Malaysia, she said. The tour guides, she said, would however be subjected to a two-week training on Malaysia "because they must know our Malaysian culture, our uniqueness, our special values and so on". Dr Ng said Malaysia would also be sending its specialists on "Malaysia, My Second Home" programme to attend a big tourism conference scheduled to be held in Japan in April this year in an effort to attract more Japanese to participate in the programme. Presently, Malaysia is ranked the number one top destination for Japanese preferring long stays abroad. During the meeting Thursday, Dr Ng also reported that national carrier Malaysia Airlines would be increasing its frequency to some of the Asean cities such as Manila, Phnom Penh, Jakarta and Medan as well as to Beijing beginning March 25 this year. The move would see flights to Beijing being increased to twice a day from currently only once daily while flights to Manila would be increased by 50 per cent, seeing two flights on certain days in addition to the once-daily flight at the moment. The move is part of the efforts to help enhance Asean tourism, she said. -- BERNAMA