FORTY tour guides have been given a week to explain their “illegal guides” protest on Sunday or risk having their licences revoked.

The Tourism and Culture Ministry’s Sabah office director, Ahmad Zaki Abu Bakar, said an investigation found that the tour company accused of illegally hiring guides from China did not violate any laws, adding that the incident at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) was bad for tourism.

“We are giving them (the 40 guides) time to come forward and explain themselves,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

“We have reason to believe that the protest may have been driven by greed.

“Tour guides earn a commission when they take on shopping tour ‘assignments’, but don’t earn a single sen if a foreign tour leader is ‘dominant’ in such assignments, as the commission goes to the tour leader.”

In the incident, some 70 Chinese tourists were left stranded upon arrival at KKIA when a group of local tour guides from the Sabah Tourist Guides Association (STGA) and Sabah Native Registered Tourist Guide Association confronted three guides who they claimed were hired illegally by a tour company to welcome the tourists.

The three guides then fled the scene, along with a foreign tour leader.

Zaki said the tour guides’ protest caused loss of income for the three guides, adding that it was not illegal for a foreign tour leader to accompany tourists from their home country on tours.

However, he said, earning commission from shopping tours violated the Tourism Industry Act 1992, and those who flouted the law could be fined up to RM5,000 or jailed for two years.

Tour guides in Sabah can earn up to RM10,000 a month in commission.

“The prospect of earning a high commission causes some tour guides to be choosy when it comes to the type of tours they take on,” said Zaki.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said the tour guides’ decision to hold a protest was short-sighted.

“The way they did it, at the airport, was wrong. The tourism industry in Sabah is fragile.

“We are trying our best to bring in more tourists. We can’t afford to lose out on tourism.

“Sabah faces stiff competition from countries like Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, and yet, there are those trying to ‘damage’ the industry here.”

The Malaysian Insight noted that STGA president Grace Leong resigned following the incident. – July 19, 2017.