The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is set to open new language
schools in major provinces across the country in a bid to shore up the
nation’s lack of skilled tour guides.
Tourism and Sports
minister Somsak Pureesrisak said touristy cities including Chiang Mai
and Pattaya are in need of guides who can conduct tours in a third
language due to a big jump in tourist arrivals from China and Russia.
Initially, the language schools will offer free courses to interested
students.
The TAT is set to survey each area to determine
language courses needed. The agency will proceed to propose a budget
request for the project in the next ministry meeting.
Somsak
also made known that Thailand attracts a large number of low-income
visitors, with upscale tourists accounting for only 10 percent. If the
country is to reach the government’s target for tourism revenue at 2
trillion THB in the next five years, the number of high-end visitors
needs to increase by 20 percent, highlighting the need for additional
tour guides and operators.-VNA