Some of the participants of the English for Beginners course held by the Mersing Tourism Association and Tourism Johor.
ENHANCING the skills and competency of tourism operators is part of the industry’s recovery process to better serve tourists in Johor.
Mersing Tourism Association (MTA) secretary Ahmad Firdaus Shaik Omar said it had collaborated with Tourism Johor to conduct upskilling and reskilling programmes.
“Many of our programmes had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We now plan to kick-start these programmes again.
“Some of the programmes will involve safety and marine awareness, for which we will partner with other NGOs and local councils,” he said.
MTA has started an English language course for beginners this year to improve their soft skills.
“This is the first time we have held such a programme and we managed to get 30 participants.
“They included boat operators, tour guides and island-hopping operators as well as hotel and resort workers.”
It was conducted by lecturers from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia with support from Tourism Johor, said Ahmad Firdaus.
“We have one more programme with Tourism Johor, which focuses on improving island-hopping activities around Mersing island,” he said.
This programme is scheduled to start before the monsoon season in October.
Meanwhile, MTA plans to make the Johor Sumpit Challenge and Aboriginal Festival an annual event.
“We want to make the event an official programme in our tourism calendar from Aug 7 to 9 every year.
“The programme started in 2018 and continued in 2019 before it was postponed in 2020 and 2021.
“We want to make it our flagship product,” Ahmad Firdaus added.
The event will see tourists spending time with the Orang Asli community in Kampung Peta and taking part in their day-to-day activities as well as cultural programmes.
