CYBERJAYA, April 29 — Tourism industry operators have been urged to comply with the Asean Tourism Standards to raise the quality of service and promote a good tourism image for the country.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said there was a tendency among foreign tourists currently to not use registered tour agents due to the low quality of service of some tourism industry operators.
“That’s why tourism industry players need to rise up and strengthen their services and establish a new initiative to attract more tourists to our country,” he said in a speech read by his ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Roslan Abdul Rahman at the Asean Tourism Standards certificate presentation ceremony here today, where 107 industry players received their certificates.
Tiong also said that he had instructed that engagement sessions be held with stakeholders to overcome issues regarding the quality of tourism services in the country.
The Asean Tourism Standards are a set of standards by Asean countries to improve service quality in the regional tourism industry in line with the Asean Tourism Strategy Plan 2016-2025 to make Asean a leading international destination.
There are nine existing standards, including the Asean Green Hotel Standard, the Asean Homestay Standard, the Asean Community Based Tourism Standard and the Asean Clean Tourist City Standard. — Bernama