One-to-one or individual services, developed in China for several years and
which can cost thousands of yuan a day, are maturing. Unique themed packages,
such as Tibet culture tours, western desert exploration, South China river
travel and rock climbing tours have been promoted thanks to the existing senior
and capable tourism professionals and the intensified market competition. At the
same time, however, requests for the quality of services to be improved are
amplified.
Service consciousness
The basic requirements for a foreign tour guide in China are strong language
skills, a rich knowledge of the local conditions, not only natural but also
social, familiarity of customs and living styles, competency to deal with
emergencies or unexpected accidents, as well as sound relations with local
governments and embassies or consulates.
In the long run, due to the ever-increasingly intensified competition, a
travel guide in this specific sector should boast the ability to design unique
lines and packages to satisfy the high-end individual clients, and develop
projects to differentiate his or her services from rivals, as well as organize
and co-ordinate the operation of various teams.
Most importantly, and rather complicatedly, gifted high-end travel guides
should be people with acute service consciousness - being considerate, careful
and scrupulous - and have bubbly personalities.
"The above, attributed to training and experience as well as an inherited
gift, is difficult to be measured via hard assessment tools," says Wang Ligang,
professor with the Tourism Institute at Beijing Union University.
Wang further stresses the job of a travel guide has both physical and mental
demands.
On the Chinese mainland, the position of a tour guide is somewhat regarded as
a job for young people; in some developed nations, however, older people are
welcomed, especially for cultural, museum and some other in-depth tours, says
the professor.
'Fast progress'
Experts say China should boost the senior tour guide pool via the expansion
of education channels.
Wang believes vocational education should be improved, with on-the-job
training enabling guides to put their theoretical knowledge into practice.
"We expect China to further enhance its travel service soon, but we have
already seen fast progress in the past few years," says Hanawa Akihiko, a
Japanese businessman who has worked in Beijing for five years and takes his
family travelling around the country nearly every year.
He suggests domestic travel firms introduce some practical training courses
or experienced experts from developed tourism markets to effectively upgrade
services.
(China Daily 04/10/2006 page7)
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