About Us

SARAWAK TOURISM

The history of tourism in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo which dates back to 1968, was more than just meet the eye. It was a weird but interesting beginning. Not only it didn’t start directly from tourism but apparently from a mere personal fishing hobby of our Tourism Pioneer collaborated with his Caucasian friends, which later turned out to be a regularly executed annual event. From there, his passion spanned into a successful tourism agency only to be pursued quickly by 2 other agencies. Venturing off the beaten track in Borneo’s wilderness in search of rainforest dwelling natives, was their norm of business then. Soon news spread like wildfire to Europe through words of mouth by his Caucasian friends. The result was amazing with the Neckermann, Ocean Liner, Kuoni Travel and Thomas Cook Holidays arriving group after group, series after series, just to name a few.

TOUR GUIDING IN SARAWAK

During the first decade of our tourism industry, most tour guiding was done by the agency’s bosses themselves backed up by their peers. Soon we saw an urgent need for Tourist Guides. In 1975, our first batch of Tourist Guides sprung off. The recruitment for more Tourist Guides were slow and tough then merely because not only the profession was hardly heard of, but interviewees were hesitant about accepting the tough nature of the tasks.

With the absence of Uncle Google and Auntie Wikipedia, this profession was made even more tougher – we were turning into historian, adventurer and zoologist of sorts. When the situations became unbearable, we remember at one point we have to congregate in clusters to conduct our own educational workshops to update, upgrade and elevate to suit the endless questions we received from our guests over time.

SARAWAK TOURIST GUIDES ASSOCIATION

Eventually, a small group of us – the veterans decided to form a more organized, effective and functional body to comprehend our needs and wants. That was in the year 1987 which saw the dawn of Sarawak Tourist Guides Association. With all the vision, missions, action plans properly laid out, our Protem Chairperson Madam Lily Fung led us to meet the Late Encik Idris Osman of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) to seek his advices and to launch our movement.

In 1991, Sarawak Tourist Guides Association was officially inaugurated by Malaysian Tourist Promotion Board (MTPB). Over a span of 33 years, we have seen a relative number of changes. Notably, we have members who are holders of the Blue (City) and Green (Nature) Badges’ which were later synchronized into Region Specific Tourist Guide’s Badges. Today, not only have we grown to a sizeable organization of 30+ members, we are also affiliated to Malaysian Tourist Guides Council and Sarawak Tourism Federation.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TOURIST GUIDE

Being a Tourist Guide is no mere profession – it’s a commitment to education, a dedication to engagement, and a passion for sharing their places of interest with the world. It’s about striking the balance between historian, educator, and companion. With the recent global health issues concerning Covid-19, their roles have taken them a step further – by and large, an increasing number of them are already certified as First Responders in First Aids or even as OSH-C (Occupational Safety & Health Coordinator). Moreover, they are often deemed as a country’s mini ambassador in tourism and their industry without any doubt have a high expectation from them. In a nutshell, Tourist Guides are expected to:

Be in their best disposition when representing their country/regions.
Interact with their guests at all levels while encouraging locals to do the same.
Be passionate about learning and sharing useful information with visitors.
Bridge the gap between marketing promises and visitor expectations.
Have positive mindset about their country, government, people and destinations.
Encourage local capacity building to boost local economy.
Driving heritage conservation, preservation and gentrification of historical assets.
Fostering nature appreciation among the visitors.
Promoting cultural understanding and religious respect.
Give feedbacks on new potential tourist attractions to industry players.
Involve themselves in at least one specialized field such as cultures, heritage, birding, or frogging, just to name a few.

About Us

SARAWAK TOURISM

TOUR GUIDING IN SARAWAK

SARAWAK TOURIST GUIDES ASSOCIATION

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TOURIST GUIDE

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