The Tourism Bureau wants to simplify the qualification process for tour guides in preparation for more tourists from Southeast Asia, which is part of the government’s “new southbound policy.”
However, industry sources said the efforts have been stymied due to the lack of guides competent in Southeast Asian languages.
Industry leaders met recently to discuss changes to regulations surrounding the certification of tour guides, such as no longer requiring guides to pass tests in the languages of groups they are assigned to; they only need to be competent in English or Mandarin.
Last month the government launched trial one-month visa-free entry for tourists from Thailand and Brunei.
Starting this month, visitors from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos will be able to apply online for visa-free entry.
Under the old regulations — which required guides to speak the language of the tourists they were leading — the industry had difficulty launching into new markets. For example, while there are plenty of language-competent guides for visitors from Japan and South Korea, few tour guides speak Vietnamese.
However, under the new regulations, even if tourists from Vietnam can only understand Vietnamese, guides can still lead them if their tour leader speaks English or Mandarin and can act as a translator, the bureau said.
The bureau said that despite the new regulations, it would continue to promote language courses and tests for guides, and would work with the Ministry of Education, new immigrants and foreign nationals to develop a pool of individuals competent in Southeast Asian languages.
There are just 47 tour guides who speak Thai, 27 who speak Indonesian and 18 who speak Vietnamese, the bureau said.
“There are 13 languages that tour guides can test in, along with accompanying remedial language courses. Nevertheless, the number of foreign nationals who pass the tests is still low, since a portion of the test is in Chinese and the questions are difficult,” a bureau official who wanted to remain anonymous said.
“The bureau plans to approach testing institutions and ask them to make adjustments to the testing system. We will discuss the possibility of increasing the number of annual tests and the number of languages to be tested. We hope to see the difficulty level of the tests decreased to encourage new immigrants to consider becoming tour guides,” the official said.
Given that modifying the testing system involves legislative changes, there is no quick way to solve the guide shortage problem, the official said, adding that the bureau will work with travel agencies and guide associations to find short-term solutions.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS