Selangor’s Community-based Tourism Bolsters Cultural Identity
51 local tourist guides graduated from training course, for the first Selangor’s Community Host Programme
Selangor State Government through Tourism Selangor has implemented a special program to train and recognize the “local community host” that will act as ‘tellers’ of interpretation in local places, heritage and culture to visitors and tourists. The training program for the Selangor Community Host is the first program organized to have and train local tour guides throughout the State of Selangor and is seen to provide job opportunities and to contribute to the source of income of the local economy especially for the tourism industry.
It is a specialised training programme, which is the first of its kind that was created to give training for individuals to become tour guides for visitors, with inclusivity as a guiding principle for sustainable growth and development in tourism. This programme initiated by Tourism Selangor is in partnership with Empire Putra College and supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
At present, 51 tour guides have passed the training process of the programme which came from 6 districts such as, Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam, Kuala Langat, Hulu Selangor, Hulu Langat and Klang. These aspiring local tour guides successfully completed the 6 months training program based on the ‘Community Tour Guiding” module provided by Tourism Selangor. The training programme featured contents about tourists’ consumption psychology, the development trend of tourism market, the basis theory of tourism, on-site teaching in tourism site, local culture and heritage experience package development and many more.
Chairman of Standing Committee of Culture & Tourism, Malay Tradition & Heritage of Selangor said, “This Programme has been extremely positive and informative highlighting the opportunities that exist within the industry and outlining a pathway to develop our careers and secure employment in the sector. Having qualified tour guides in Selangor especially in rural areas ensures that we can remain competitive and allow visitors to enjoy the varied land and infrastructures incorporating our cultural and natural heritage.”
The course is conducted using the ‘Community Base Tourism Delivery Management’ approach that will provide benefits to the local communities involved. The results of this program will provide local tour guides among local residents who know more about the history and stories of tourism products available in their respective areas and can be told to tourists from local and all over the world.
