Only 25.4% of those who acquired the tourism interpretation guide license in special language areas need to improve the number of problematic human resources and plan long-term human resources supply and demand during actual activities
#1. The Gomes family of Spanish citizens recently visited Korea due to the popularity of K-pop Demon Hunters. I wanted to ask for Spanish help from major tourist destinations, but it was a shame that it wasn’t smooth.
#2. Vietnam is very interested in Korean cosmetics thanks to its popularity in K-beauty. Recently, Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, traveled to Seoul with her friends. I wanted to solve various questions, but there was a limit in Vietnamese.
As the number of tourists visiting Korea has increased rapidly in recent years, the problem of manpower supply and demand of tourism interpreters who greet them in person is also emerging seriously. In particular, there are very few professionals who can respond to the surge in demand from tourists in special language areas such as Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
According to an analysis of data received from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism by Rep. Lee Ki-hun (Gyeonggi Goyang Byeong), a member of the Democratic Party of Korea of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, the number of tourists in Europe has increased by 181%, 150.6% in Southeast Asia, and 99.9% in the Middle East over the past three years. This is a number that proves that tourism demand is diversifying.
Under the current “Tourism Promotion Act,” only license holders can guide foreign tourists. However, the current manpower structure of tourism interpretation guides is not keeping up with rapidly changing tourism demand. Some point out that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization, which are the main supervisors of management, may be on the sidelines.
According to the current status of qualifiers over the past decade, 92% of the total was concentrated in English, Chinese, and Japanese, while only 8% of the special language (southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East) were. The annual average number of successful applicants in the special language area is about 100, which is insufficient to cope with the rapidly increasing demand for tourism in the special language area. However, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization are not responding.
The bigger problem is that even if you obtain a certificate, it does not lead to actual activities. According to a survey of tourism interpreters conducted by the Korea Tourism Organization, only 25.4% of the total 5,138 respondents are currently working as tourism interpreters. The rest had only activity experience (36.1%) or no activity experience (38.5%), and there was a large gap between license retention and actual active personnel.
“In order to strengthen the competitiveness of the tourism industry, it is urgent to prepare institutional support and manpower utilization measures to lead to actual activities, not just to issue certificates,” said lawmaker Lee Ki-heon. “In particular, it is essential to establish a long-term manpower supply and demand plan at the government level to expand tourism interpretation guides in special language areas.”
Jang Joo-young Travel + Reporter
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