'Severe Shortage of Interpreters' Daegu City's Ingenious Plan... Recruiting Trainees from Employment-Vulnerable Groups

Dedicated Tourist Guide Training Target: 30 in 2021 → Up to 50 by 2022

The scene of Seomun Market in Jung-gu, Daegu, bustling again with customers on the afternoon of May 18.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Daegu City announced on the 20th that it will recruit trainees for obtaining the Tourist Interpreter Guide certification to prepare for the 'post-COVID-19' era, train experts in the tourism sector, and create jobs for tourism personnel.

Before the spread of the novel coronavirus infection in February, the number of Southeast Asian tourists visiting Daegu increased by 14.7%, from 76,077 in 2018 to 87,251 in 2019. However, securing tourist interpreters for special language groups such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam has been challenging.

As of 2019, the status of personnel holding the Tourist Interpreter Guide certification shows that 22,583 people (71% of the total) are concentrated in the metropolitan area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon). Daegu has only 734 people, accounting for 2.3%, indicating a severe shortage of tourist interpreter guides.

Accordingly, Daegu City and the Daegu Tourism Association will recruit '2020 Tourist Interpreter Guide Certification Trainees' from the 21st to the 31st of this month.

The recruitment targets are residents of the Daegu area aged 18 or older, including multicultural families, women with career interruptions, and job seekers. The selection process consists of a first round of document screening and a second round of interviews. Applicants can download the application form from the notice section on the Daegu Tourism Association website, fill it out, and submit it via email.

The final trainees will receive step-by-step training over three months from June to August, including theoretical and field practice education (first stage), certification written exam preparation (second stage), and interview training (third stage). On September 5, they will take the certification exam administered by the Korea Industrial Human Resources Corporation (Q-Net).

The Tourist Interpreter Guide certification training course is free of charge, covering everything from textbooks to exam registration fees. To motivate trainees and enhance project outcomes, scholarships will be provided for vulnerable groups and for outstanding academic achievement.

Park Hee-jun, Director of the Daegu City Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, stated, "We will do our best to contribute to the training of Daegu-style tourist interpreter guides equipped with deep knowledge and understanding of Daegu's history, culture, and tourism, as well as to the creation of tourism jobs."

Meanwhile, Daegu City has set a goal to cultivate 30 dedicated Daegu tourism guides by 2021 and up to 50 by 2022. The plan will be implemented in stages: Phase 1 (Warm Up) certification training (2020), Phase 2 (Set Up) guide intern recruitment (Tourism Foundation) and travel agency support (2021), and Phase 3 (Value UP) capacity building and new job creation (2022).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.