Debated in Parliament on 9 Jul 2013.
Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan asked the Minister for Trade and Industry if he will provide an update on the review of the regulatory framework, enforcement, changes and enhancements to the tourist guide industry which the Ministry and Singapore Tourism Board have embarked on.
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Mdm Speaker, over the past two years, STB has stepped up enforcement action against unlicensed tourist guiding activities. The enforcement checks increased from 200 in 2011 to 247 in 2012. In the first five months of 2013, STB conducted another 105 checks. STB is also working closely with other agencies, such as MOM and ICA, to take action against unlicensed tourist guides.
STB is also reviewing the regulatory framework for tourist guides and travel agents. The aim is to strengthen the enforcement powers of STB officers on the ground and increase the penalties to more effectively deter illegal tourist guiding activities. The review is ongoing and amendments to the relevant legislation and regulations will be implemented progressively.
STB needs the support of the industry stakeholders to effectively curb illegal tourist guiding. STB has stepped up its engagement with stakeholders such as the NTUC Tourist Guide Chapter and the Society of Tourist Guides, inviting them to give feedback on enhancing regulations and enforcement. STB will continue to work closely with stakeholders on ideas that can be incorporated in the ongoing regulatory review.
Madam, I thank the Second Minister for the answer. Three supplementary questions. First, we have received feedback from our NTUC Tourist Guide Chapter activists that some of these unlicensed guides are still operating and the investigations, when reported, take quite a while before enforcement action is taken. My question is: what is MTI and STB doing with regard to that?
Secondly, we are aware that foreigners are needed for certain native languages, but are MTI and STB considering ring-fencing this profession to Singaporeans as they act as ambassadors for Singapore?
Finally, how do MTI and STB intend to further promote professionalism in the industry?
Madam, I thank the Member for his questions. On the first point about the problem of illegal tour guiding persisting, from STB's perspective, the enforcement activities continue. As I elaborated earlier, they have stepped up the activities. Inevitably, there will be some instances which persist. The other element in this is the regulatory review. We need to ensure that STB has the full range of powers in order to be able to take action on the
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spot on the ground when some of these activities are detected. This is one of the areas we are working on and that might account for, in some instances, some delay after enforcement to be able to bring the perpetrators to book.
On the second point of ring-fencing the profession, statistically today, of the over 2,000 registered tourist guides in Singapore, less than 5% are foreigners. They serve very specific niche purposes, including in some instances, guiding in foreign languages – Russian, Korean and so on. They serve a useful and important purpose. More importantly, the overwhelming majority of our registered tour guides are Singaporeans and locals who understand our context best, and therefore they enjoy a significant comparative advantage in this sector. At this stage of our assessment, there is no need for such ring-fencing as the Member has suggested. However, we will continue to track this matter and see if there is any need for further intervention in that regard.
Thirdly, on professionalism in the sector, this is an on-going effort. This is also why as part of our efforts in productivity and enhancing the value-add from the tourism sector, STB is working with the whole range of stakeholders to see how we can, not just professionalise but also enlarge the job scope so that we are able to create greater value out of this service industry.
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