KUALA LUMPUR: Nobody is more determined to make a good first impression of the country to international visitors than the Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister.
Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing has vowed to conduct spot checks on Tourism Malaysia helpdesk counters to ensure they are adequately assisting visitors and staffed by personnel capable of speaking languages like Chinese and Arabic, among others.
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In response to the increasing number of red-eye flights arriving at international airports, the ministry is taking proactive measures to ensure that these information counters are functioning optimally.
“I have instructed Tourism Malaysia to place officers who can speak various languages at the helpdesks.
“Due to the rising number of international tourists coming to Malaysia, the Tourism Malaysia helpdesk counters at airports must provide services in multiple languages and have enough staff to assist tourists, especially the elderly,” he said.
A red-eye flight departs at night and arrives the next morning.
Tiong expressed an intention to personally oversee the operations of the helpdesks.
“I am going to conduct a spot check very soon.
“We want to see if Tourism Malaysia is properly addressing this task.
“We want them to help because some tourists struggle with processes like using an automated gate system,” he said.
Tiong highlighted common issues faced by tourists at the autogate, which include not knowing how to scan their passports or where to place their hands for fingerprint scanning.
“We are trying to overcome these issues,” he said.
He added that the Prime Minister has instructed the Home Ministry to improve the necessary infrastructure at airports.
