TCI Faculty of Tourism Unud Facilitates the Improvement of Mandarin-Speaking Competence for Tour Guides in Bali

The Tourism Confucius Institute (TCI) Faculty of Tourism, Udayana University (Unud) organizes community service activities, especially for members of the Bali Indonesian Tour Guide Association (HPI). The service activity in the form of a Mandarin language training class was officially opened by the Dean of the Faculty of Tourism, Udayana University, Dr. I Wayan Suardana, SST. Par., M. Par., on Tuesday (5/7/2022) in Nusantara Room, Agrocomplex Building, Sudirman Campus, Denpasar.

Head of TCI Faculty of Tourism Unud, Dr. Drs. I Made Sendra, M.Si in his report, community service activities are a form of follow-up to the signing of the LoI (Letter of Intent) between the Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and the Chairperson of the Bali HPI DPD. The training was attended by 86 participants from various divisions who are interested in improving their Mandarin language skills such as the Japanese guide division (25 people), Korean guide (24 people), Russian guide (12 people), French guide (8 people), English guide ( 7 people), Dutch guide (6 people), and German guide (2 people).

“The service activities will be carried out over the next three months. Through this training, it is hoped that all participants can improve their Mandarin language skills and also understand Chinese culture," he said.

Referring to data on tourist visits to Bali, before the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese tourists had become the dominant tourist market in Bali. The number of direct Chinese tourist visits to Bali experienced a significant increase from 2008 – 2015. In 2008, Chinese tourists were ranked as the fifth highest. Then in 2012, they were the second highest after Australian tourists. This position lasted until 2016. Furthermore, in 2017 Chinese tourists were ranked 1st until 2019.

"Based on online questionnaire data in China during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bali is still a favorite destination for Chinese tourists. We hope that the People's Republic of China will open its borders for direct flights from China to Indonesia, especially Bali, before the G20 Summit is held," said Made Sendra.

With this training, the Dean of the Faculty of Tourism hopes to improve the quality of service for Chinese tourists. “The local Bali guide is as a mouthpiece, as an ambassador for Bali tourism. Still have to hold culture tourism as the identity of Bali tourism. So, tour guides must not only be able to speak the language, but can convey Balinese cultural content well," said Wayan Suardana.

The chairman of the DPD HPI Bali, I Nyoman Nuarta, on that occasion expressed his appreciation to the committee who had worked on the agreement that had been agreed between HPI Bali and the Faculty of Tourism Unud related to increasing the competence of speaking Mandarin in Bali tour guides. He also admitted, the need for tour guides for tourists from China is very large. "This training is the first pilot project, hopefully it will have a positive influence on other friends so that in this segment of Chinese tourists there is an improvement in behavior in scouting," he hoped.