TOUR guides, reeling from another body blow after the government tightened standard operating procedures (SOP) further during the third movement control order (MCO 3.0), are finding work elsewhere to stay employed.

Some have successfully transitioned to other jobs – such as becoming delivery men, estate agents and e-hailing drivers – while those not as successful have been burdened with excessive debts.

However, even those who have found work said it was not easy. Many are now suffering from depression with some even resorting to suicide after they could not service their mounting debts.

Ben Chong, 37, a successful tour guide of 12 years became unemployed during the first MCO in March last year.

Initially, he became an e-hailing driver but after advice from his relatives, he became an estate agent because it was a more stable income.

He said he has decided to stick with his current profession, even if the tourism sector recovers after the pandemic.

“My current job provides a more stable income. If the tourism industry recovers, I will not go back,” Chong said.

“I may keep my tour guide licence as a back-up in case I can no longer do this. I will then have the option of going back if necessary.”

Chong said he had a hard time transitioning to his new job, having to fork out his own money as an initial investment.

However, he counts himself lucky as he knew how to make money as a tour guide and had saved most of his income.

Chong added that two tour guides that he knew had committed suicide during the pandemic due to financial problems.

“There is always a way to overcome a problem. When one path is not working, we can change to another path, but we didn’t expect the pandemic to drag on for so long.

“It’s affecting other industries as well as the tourism sector that is affected, but other industries too.”

Tour guides suffering from depression

Lim Bam Soon, the deputy president of the Joint Tourist Guide Association of Malaysia said the pandemic had an impact on the mental health of tourist guides, as well as the economy.

Many of them do not see a way out of the pandemic soon, but they still have to pay taxes to the government.

“During the pandemic, tour guides have zero income and yet they are being taxed. This had put everyone under pressure and financial debts.

“Travel agencies will go bankrupt when they run out of money to pay taxes. The pressure has also gotten to tour guides where some have even committed suicide.

“It seems like the government doesn’t really care what happens to the tourism sector during the pandemic,” he said.

Lim said during the first MCO, tour guides had a hard time finding other jobs as they did not have any professional qualifications. Only those who joined a sales or services sector did not need a diploma or work experience.

“They have turned to jobs such as e-hailing drivers, food delivery riders, hawkers and direct selling to eke out a living, which is just enough for daily expenses but what about savings?”

When the pandemic was somewhat under control last year, the government allowed travel bubbles between states as part of the recovery movement control order (RMCO). This saw tourists flock to islands such as Langkawi to relax.

Lim said that, even if tourism resumes in green zones, people visiting these areas don’t need to hire tour guides.

He is also worried that in the two years it will take to manage the pandemic, existing tour guides may pick up other talents, while senior tour guides might retire, leaving no one to train new guides.

He added that many tour guides have also decided not to return to the job full time after the pandemic subsides, but rather do it as a side income. They want to keep their licence.

Tour guides must up-skill

The tourism sector is one of the largest contributors to Malaysia’s economy. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that RM100 billion was lost from this sector due to the pandemic.

To help the sector recover, the government had launched a 10-year plan to restart tourism. It is estimated that it will take at least four years for the industry to fully recover.

Erina Loo, the founder of Malaysian Women Tourist Guide Association said she has been actively conducting tour guide courses and professional training since the third wave of the virus as she believes the tourism sector will change after the pandemic subsides.

She believes tour guides need to improve themselves to cater to “post pandemic tourism”, otherwise they will not be relevant.

Loo said the Ministry of Tourism has provided online tour guide courses since March this year. She has been busy researching and conducting online training to, in turn, train new tour guides and at the same time enhance the knowledge of existing tour guides.

“Tourism is a global problem. Many tour guides who obtained their licence in 2019 do not have enough experience leading groups. During this period, we hope these tour guides are able to improve their language skills.

“English proficiency alone is not enough. We expect that when travel resumes in 2022-2023, most tours will involve business travellers going overseas.

To lead a business group overseas, tour guides need more in-depth travel knowledge.

“I also encourage tour guides to customise travel packages to recommend Malaysia to foreign tourists. This can be done online.

“In terms of gaining more in-depth knowledge, we may not see results immediately. Discovering new talents and building human resources takes more than a year to train. We must keep encouraging the tour guides to take online courses and certification to ensure that they are up to date,” she said.

Loo said, to lead a business group, a tour guide news to have professional travel knowledge for business travellers to discover new places and things as they are not expecting the guide to tell them stories.

Though business travellers can do their own research, Loo said she had developed tour packages for islands, museums and trains to help families who wish to travel abroad after the pandemic.

Loo believes that travel is a way of life and even with the pandemic, she believes tour guides can come up with plans for short distance travel.

She also realised that many frustrated tour guides have decided to switch careers due to unemployment and financial pressure which led many of them to depression.

Having realised this, she told instructors in the online courses to provide positive reinforcement so that the tour guides can regain their confidence.

Currently, Loo said 17,000 tour guides are registered with the Ministry of Tourism.

Under the stimulus packages announced by the government, tour guides and tour bus drivers received a one-off RM600 allowance.

So far, 6,000 tour guides have applied for it, excluding tourist guides in Sabah.

The tour guide licence has to be renewed every six months or it will be revoked.

Loo said though tour guides have changed careers to make ends meet during the pandemic as a “temporary” measure, they will still keep their hard-earned tour guide licence. – May 29, 2021.