Foreigners can be Malaysia tour guides

Foreigners can be Malaysia tour guides

MALAYSIA: Foreign students in Malaysia will be allowed to work as temporary tour guides as part of efforts to boost tourism, Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Monday.

"This is part of our effort to improve the ability of tourist guides so that visitors to Malaysia can feel more comfortable," Najib was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Tourism Minister Leo Michael Toyad said students who could speak Arabic, Spanish, Korean, French, Russian and other languages were welcome to apply. "This kind of experience can be an inducement for them to choose Malaysia to further their studies," Toyad said.

He said students chosen for the positions would undergo a short course about the industry.

Malaysia was hoping to lure 20 million tourists in 2005, earning the country 35 billion ringgit (US$9.3 billion). Tourism is Malaysia's second-largest foreign exchange earner, grossing about 30 billion ringgit in 2004 from 15 million visitors. -- AFP