Tour guides in region to learn new language

CEBU, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT-7) will conduct a training on Mandarin language for tour guides in preparation for the influx of Chinese tourists who are  expected to visit the region.

DOT-7 Regional Director Joshur Judd Lanete II bared that his office has identified 15 tour guides from Cebu and other provinces in Central Visayas to take intensive Mandarin classes.

The language training is seen to break the language barrier which is a huge concern among Chinese tourists.

Cebu Association of Tour Operations Specialists (CATOS) President Alice Queblatin confirmed that tour operators are having difficulty in handling the Chinese visitors because of the language barrier.

Most of them don't speak, or even understand simple English. What sustains them is the Google Translate app.

According to Lenete, once the region will be able to develop a pool of Mandarin-speaking tour guides, Chinese arrivals are expected to double or triple, as the Philippines is becoming the new travel sensation among the Chinese tourists.

Based on the latest arrival record from DOT-7, Central Visayas registered a high of 68 percent growth of Chinese visitors from January to May this year.

A total of 147,914 Chinese visited the region in the first five months of this year, a good indication of an upswing momentum.

China is the region's top three tourist market after Korea, which ranked first and Japan which landed on the second spot.

The renewed economic ties between the Philippines and China sealed after the state visit of President Rodrigo Duterte last year, is linked to this high volume of Chinese arrivals in Central Visayas.

Next year, Lanete said DOT will be mounting more roadshows in China so the country will get a bigger share of the traveling Chinese market.

Recently, the DOT announced that tour operator Sun Fair International, which has offices in Xiamen and Hong Kong, has already committed 10,000 Chinese tourists from the cities of Shanghai, Xiamen, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hong Kong, and Beijing.

The additional Chinese tourists will make up a diverse group of leisure travelers, divers and adventure seekers, businessmen, culinary enthusiasts, shoppers, and even employees on company paid tours.

According to Lanete, having a little over one million Chinese tourists to visit the Philippines for a year is not enough, considering that a great majority of them are now spending for travel and shopping outside of their country.

In July this year, China outranked the US, bringing it up as the country's second largest tourist market source, next to Korea. (FREEMAN)