| Also featuring: | The system protects tourists |
Registration and licencing systems have been introduced to guarantee high quality service to the foreign tourists.
However, little attention was paid to outbound tour escorts. They were seldom perceived as professionals, thus having a low professional status.
Mr. Daniel Wong, who has been tour escort for 8 years, said, “In the past, people thought that everyone could be an outbound tour escort. They usually looked down on us.”
Yet the situation has started to change now that the Certificate Examination for Outbound Tour Escorts has been introduced by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong.
This regulation came on the books on 1 July 1999. It states that all outbound tour escorts must obtain an “Outbound Tour Escort Permit” before they can lead an outbound tour.
Mr. Joseph Tung, the executive director of the council, said the objective of the system was to enhance the professionalism of the tour escorts.
To obtain the permit, tour escorts need to sit for an examination consisting of two parts. The first part is a written examination, while the second part is a practical examination assessing problem-solving skills.
Candidates are granted a permit once they pass the examination.
The syllabus covers essential information about the roles and responsibilities of tour escorts, such as techniques in handling risks and accidents, as well as first-aid skills.
To sit for the examination, applicants need to attend certificate courses provided by the council.
Candidates may be exempted from the course only if they get a recommendation letter from their employers together with a first-aid certificate.
Miss Ivy Chan is the assistant manager of the Training and General Administration Department of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong.
She said, “In the past, there was no formal training for outbound tour escorts.
“Even if there was training, it was in-house training provided by travel agencies themselves. Small-scale companies could not afford it. Hence not all tour escorts could receive training,” said Miss Chan.
The course instructors, who are also the invigilators of the examination, are appointed by the council’s training team and are experienced, professional tour escorts.
According to Miss Chan, the pass rate of the examination is about 70 to 80 percent. Usually candidates sit once or twice for the examination before they pass.
There is no limit on how many times each tour escort can sit for the exam.
Although the permit is required before tour escorts are assigned outbound tours, this regulation has no legal authority.
Said Miss Chan: “Its establishment was contributed by all the member agencies and the council. It is like a set of internal directives.
“It is agreed that if a tour escort leads an outbound tour without a permit, the corresponding travel agency will be penalized by the council.”
The maximum penalty is termination of membership on the council.
Based on the Travel Agents Ordinance in 1988, membership on the council is a pre-requisite for travel agencies to obtain licences.
If its member agencies have violated any of its directives, the council may terminate its membership.
It is believed that the implementation of the permit system is good both to the outbound tour escorts and the travel industry.
Miss Wan Cheung, a 40-year-old freelance outbound tour escort with 4 years’ experience, agreed that regulation guaranteed better service to tourists.
Said she: “The course familiarises us with the work of outbound tour escorts and we can acquire basic knowledge like how to get visas and deal with emergencies.
Mr. Dick Lai, another tour escort, has been in the field for 6 months. He agreed with Miss Cheung. The course gave him a chance to learn.
Examination results are decided not only by answers: Candidates’ calmness in problem-solving is counted too.
The regulations, although offering an opportunity for outbound tour escorts to learn essential information about the industry, do exert some pressure on them.
Mr. Lai said, “A fresh tour escort’s workload is very heavy.
“The examination put extra pressure on me. I felt rather frustrated during the preparation period.
“When I failed the examination the first time, I started to doubt my ability and wanted to give up.”
The encouragement of his friends and colleagues made him even more stressed because he did not want to disappoint them again.
Moreover, his salary dropped because he could not lead an outbound tour.
Although Miss Cheung agreed that the workload of tour escorts is heavy, she said that they should learn how to deal with the pressure.
Said she: “I think it is not reasonable to say that the examination creates extra workload for the tour escorts. They need to get used to it.”
Despite the pressure, the licence does secure them jobs.
Since there were no restrictions on the criteria for tour escort employment before the implementation of such system, travel agencies would hire anybody to lead an outbound tour.
According to the executive director of Hong Thai Travel, Mr. Dominic Au Yeung, travel agencies in the past employed tour escorts without a uniform standard.
Hong Thai Travel considers both the academic qualifications and personalities of the applicants.
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For Hong Kong Student Travel Limited, interviews are more important.
According to Miss Vanessa Dik, the personnel officer of Hong Kong Student Travel Limited, the applicants’ immediate responses during job interviews are the most crucial consideration.
Nowadays, the requirements of the licence acts as a set of directives for travel agencies to employ tour escorts.
Miss Dik said that since then they would only recruit applicants with permits.
Mr. Lai said that the licence also enhanced their mobility. With the certificate at hand, the tour escort doesn't need reference letters anymore when transferring to other agencies.
In addition, the licence enables outbound tour escorts to perform their jobs more easily overseas.
Said Miss Cheung: “In the past, travel agencies would provide us a certificate to prove our identity.
“However, the certificate did not bear any photos. Our identity was often doubted when we moved in and out of scenic spots.
“With an outbound tour escort permit that bears our photos, we can gain easier access to scenic spots,” said she.
Nevertheless, some travel agencies still claimed that they employ applicants without certificates.
Mr. Au Yeung of Hong Thai Travel said, “We would train those recruits and recommend them to take part in the examinations.
“They are required to work as a customer service officer first and attend a 1-week in-house training course.
“After they have taken and passed the examination, they are assigned escorting duties.”
China
Travel Service has adopted practices similar to those of Hong Thai Travel.
Mr. Cheng Chun is the general manager of China Travel Service.
He said that letting unlicenced staff to work as customer service officers taught them skills to deal with customers and familiarised them with the characteristics of different countries.
Nevertheless, Miss Bellie Wong, personnel marketing manager of Hong Kong Yau Ma Tei Travel, doubted the usefulness of the permit.
Said she: “Tour escort permits do not mean that they are professional since candidates who have just reviewed for several hours can still pass the examination. This permit is no more than a sheet of paper.”
Miss Wong further said that the curriculum for the course includes some basic elements and was insufficient.
Since communication skills are important to tour escorts, she said introducing a language improvment courses would be more constructive.
Concerning the drawbacks of the system, some tour escorts also expressed their opinions.
“The work of tour escorts usually does not involve any writing tasks,” said Miss Cheung, the tour escort. “Hence it may be difficult for them to pass the written test.”
Mr. Lai agreed. “Some experienced tour escorts think that their main duties are to ‘talk’ and to ‘do’, but not to write,” he said.
Mr. Lai said one experienced tour escort had failed the examination because he answered questions based on his own experience.
After three failures, he determined to answer the questions based on textbooks. He passed finally.
Hence Mr. Lai doubts the fairness of the examination.
He said, “Answers are subjective. Those who give impractical and unrealistic answers can still pass the examination.”
In the meantime, the regulation may also lead to a loss of human resources.
Ms. Cheung said, “I know an experienced outbound tour escort who failed the examination several times and finally quit his job simply because he could not get a licence.
“Losing such an experienced tour escort was a loss to the whole industry.”
At the moment, Miss Cheung said that there are still quite a lot of tour escorts who do not regard the licence as a sign of professionalism.
“I think the council should promote the system more to both the public and to tour escorts so as to enhance the reputation and professionalism of tour escorts,” said she.
Mr. Lai said that there is still room for improvement in the examination.
Said he: “The answers to the datebased-questions should be modified to (accept) more than one answer.
“There is always more than one solution to a single problem. It is too subjective if there is only one answer.”
Unless the drawbacks in the examination and system are solved, the
permit may not significantly upgrade the standard of the tour escorts.
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With this permit, tour escorts can be assigned to lead outbound tours. However, such permits are valid for only 3 months. Within this period, holders are required to pass the practical examination or else they will not be permitted to lead outbound tours when their provisional permit expires. However, application for the provisional permit
must be made through a licenced travel agent and the applicant
must be a full-time staff. A recommendation letter from the employer
is also required to certify that the applicant has no previous
tour-escorting experience. |
