International Journal of Entrepreneurship
Volume 25, Special Issue 4, 2021
1
1939-4675-25-S4-45
Volume 25, Special Issue
Print ISSN: 1099 -9264
Online ISSN: 1939-4675
EFFECTIVENESS OF TOUR GUIDES’
COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT HISTORICAL
ATTRACTIONS
Suppachai Chanwanakul, Mahidol University
ABSTRACT
Tour guides are a part of the tourism industry whose roles are like key employees
introducing tourists to businesses and allowing them to experience it profoundly
.
Some
businesses need the tour guides in both direct and indirect ways to help them publicize and
introduce their businesses to people more, so the tour guides’ English communication skills
are
extremely essential
.
Therefore,
this research mainly aims to evaluate the effectiveness of tour
guides’ English communication skills at historical attractions
. A
sampling group consisting of
400 foreign tourists is used
who have used tour guide services
at historical attractions from Thai
tour guides
.
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients as well as ETA correlation coefficients
are
used for the data analysis
.
The research discovers that welcoming the tourists and self
-
introduction are at the highest level
.
They can communicate in English correctly and
appropriately with the ability to present information naturally
.
According to the result of the
correlation coefficient analysis between the tourists’ personal data and effectiveness of the tour
guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions, it is discovered that the tourists’
religions are positively associated with the tour guides’ communication skills is at a low level
with a statistical significance of 0
.
05
.
Keywords
:
Tour Guide, English, Communication Skill, Historical Attraction, Thailand
INTRODUCTION
The tourism industry in pre-COVID-19 crisis had been an outstanding industry
worldwide as it brought vast income to many countries leading to development in several sectors
(Razzaq, Sharif, Aziz, Irfan & Jermsittiparsert, 2020). Likewise, Thailand has been one of the
countries driven by tourism for decades. It created over three trillion baht of income for the
nation in 2018. Moreover, there are about 38 million foreign tourists visiting Thailand each year
(Ministry of Tourism and Sports, 2018; Fongtanakit, Somjai, Prasitdumrong & Jermsittiparsert,
2019; Jermsittiparsert & Chankoson, 2019). After the spread of COVID-19, the tourism industry
has been severely impacted and is at the lowest point currently. Regardless of the current
struggling situation, the tourism industry will be able to rebound right after the end of the
pandemic. Consequently, to prepare for the return of the tourists, developing the tour guides’
English communication skills is necessary as it is a medium for mankind to build good
relationships with each other regardless of continents or countries. It is the key to blend
nationality, cultural, or traditional differences and help people to live together peacefully while
reducing individuals’ conflicts. English language has long been the world’s lingua franca. It is a
second language in several countries where English is not their native language (Ahmad, 2016).
Hence, no matter which work or occupation one does for a living, English language skills are
considered to be essential basic skills to develop. Likewise, Tour guides are a part of the tourism
industry whose roles are like key employees of the organization. They introduce tourists to
businesses and allow them to experience it profoundly. Some businesses need the tour guides in
both direct and indirect ways to help them publicize and introduce their businesses to foreigners
more.
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Volume 25, Special Issue 4, 2021
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A tour guide is one of the careers that significantly requires English communication
skills (Al-Okaily, 2021) due to the role as the country’s representative introducing a nation’s
culture to foreign tourists along with businesses to people globally. Therefore, good English
communication skills will be a medium linking the tourists’ understanding with information
about the attractions (Leclerc & Martin, 2004). Moreover, pronunciation and vocabulary usage,
which are parts of listening and speaking skills, are important skills for the tour guides (Le,
2020). To present information about the nationally important historical attractions which is
highly sensitive and profound to foreign tourists, the tour guides need to have English
communication skills and ability to choose vocabulary well to avoid miscommunicating the
information. They also play a major role in building a good experience for the tourists
(Mackenzie & Raymond, 2020). As a result, it is highly important to focus on the management
of the tour guides’ communication effectiveness at the historical attractions to develop their
foreign tourist guiding skills. Besides, the literature review related to this issue is still limited.
Objectives
1.
To evaluate the effectiveness of the tour guides’ English communication skills at the
historical attractions
2.
To suggest a guideline for developing the tour guides’ foreign tourists guiding skills
Concepts and Theories
Tour guides’ Communication Skills
Tour guides’ communication skills refer to the ability to explain roles and relationships
of something such as tourist attractions, historical backgrounds, or general stories while
publicizing an organization at the same time. It aims to educate, entertain, or encourage tourists’
awareness more on preservation and value of things (Tuntipisitkul & Chimpimon, 2018). Tilden
(1957) adds that it helps raising the tourists’ understanding and awareness on value of the
attractions. Not only do the information and stories relate with each other, more importantly,
they must have presentation techniques to draw the tourists’ attention before revealing the key
information they want to express. Saentong (2002) proposes that good tour guides’
communication skills requires the following qualification: motives, traits, self-concept,
knowledge, and skill. Meanwhile, Kaewkasi & Hetthong (2019) as well as Tuntipisitkul &
Chimpimon (2018) who study the tour guides’ English communication problems find that they
encounter English communication problems, especially in listening to different English accents
among non-native speakers. This is considered to be an obstacle for the tour guides, so it is
greatly essential to quickly develop their communication skills, especially English language so
that they become professional which can help building reliability for the organization.
Important Topics of Tour guides’ Communication Skills
As tour guides play a role as cultural ambassadors, they need to be well-rounded and
able to tell a story about the country or other subjects accurately. More importantly, they must
express it in a cheerful way which can create enjoyment among the tourists. They also play a
role in introducing them to the organization more (Wozniak, 2010). Therefore, communication
skills should not be taken for granted. English communication skills are required for presenting
information to the foreign tourists effectively (Mak et al., 2010; Lin et al., 2014; Al-Okaily,
2021). Important topics for their communication skills include appropriate vocabulary and idiom
usage, using grammar correctly based on the story, using correct word order and conjunction,
clear pronunciation of words and sentences, intonation in the presentation, punctuation in the
storytelling, fluent storytelling, and using appropriate language level with the foreign tourists
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(Aunruen, 2005; Lo & Sheu, 2008; Wozniak, 2010; Kaewkasi & Hetthong, 2019; Ketphan,
2019).
Tour Guides’ English Language Usage
English communication aims to respond to the demands of learners with different
occupations who want to apply English in their careers appropriately and effectively
(Prachanant, 2012). As the tour guides are parts of tourism industry, English is required for
interacting with the foreign tourists (Huang et al., 2010). However, communication problems
can occur due to knowledge, educational, cultural, and language differences between the tour
guides and foreign tourists, so it is vital to reduce miscommunication problems as much as
possible (Sitthilad, 2020). Problems of English language usage among Thai tour guides are
mostly related to grammatical speaking errors, appropriate idiom usage, listening skill, and
interpretation skill (Hewings, 2004; Aunruen, 2005). These problems are caused by the
difference between the sound system of Thai and English language. To learn any foreign
language, it is not only about knowing vocabulary and sentence structure, it is necessary that one
must also understand a meaning of the word pronounced (Sitthilad, 2020; Tamba, 2017).
Principles of Presentation
English language is tremendously important in the tourism industry as a communication
tool. A number of academic institutes offering English for tourism course have emerged to
support the growth of tourism and hospitality industry (Prachanant, 2012). Pronunciation is an
essential skill to learn. If a learner cannot pronounce a word, it can lead to many problems and
obstacles when learning. It is not enough for tour guides to know only vocabulary and sentence
structure. They must also be able to pronounce sounds in English language clearly so that native
speakers can understand them (Tuaycharoen, 2001). As defined by Torut (2001), a good English
speaker is a person who can pronounce the sounds in English accurately and closely to native
speakers along with clear and correct intonation. In this way, the native speakers will be able to
understand what the foreign speaker says. Stress and intonation are necessary in English
pronunciation (Ronakiat, 2005). Changing stress and intonation can affect the meaning of words
and appropriateness in communication (Kelly, 2003; Griffiths, n.d.).
Therefore, English pronunciation for presentations is a key to help tour guides learn and
develop their pronunciation skills and confidence. Besides, correct pronunciation is also
necessary for speaking and listening. It makes the interpretation become more efficient which
can reflect the organization’s image.
METHODOLOGY
Population and Sampling Group
This research is designed as a quantitative research in which researcher conducts the data
collection through purposive sampling by collecting questionnaires from 400 foreign tourists
who have used a tour guide service to visit historical attractions, based on Yamane (1973)’s
calculation as there are 39,916,251 foreign tourists visiting Thailand (Ministry of Tourism &
Sport, 2019).
Data Collection
Regarding data collection and validity check, the researcher selected a questionnaire as a
tool for the data collection designing the questions based on a literature review of trustworthy
sources to follow the objectives of this study. After the mentioned procedure, it was reviewed by
three experts to reassure its validity: 30 sets of the questionnaire were applied among the
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sampling group before using Cronbach's alpha coefficient to check the reliability revealing a
value of 0.852 as a result. This is regarded as acceptable since it turns out to nearly equal 1.
Before the actual usage of this questionnaire was distributed among the sampling group, human
research ethics were examined as well.
Data Analysis
In the data analysis procedure, two statistical methods are employed: descriptive and
inferential statistics. Firstly, descriptive statistics used in this procedure include mean and
standard deviation. Secondly, inferential statistics including Spearman’s rank correlation
coefficients and ETA correlation coefficient are applied for analyzing variables associating the
effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions. A benchmark
of the respondents’ opinions on the effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication skills based
on their personal data is conducted by using T-test and one-way ANOVA.
RESULTS
An analysis result of the respondents’ opinions on the effectiveness of the tour guides’
communication skills at the historical attractions are done by using mean and standard deviation
as shown in Table 1 – 3. The result of the respondents’ personal data relating to the effectiveness
of the tour guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions is carried out by using
Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients and ETA correlation coefficient as shown in Table 4.
Lastly, an analysis of the effectiveness benchmark of the tour guides’ communication skills at
the historical attractions is done by using T-test and one-way ANOVA as shown in Table 5 – 6.
Table 1
SHOW LEVELS OF THE RESPONDENTS’ OPINIONS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
TOUR GUIDES’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT THE HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS IN THE
ASPECT OF THE ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE IN DIFFERENT TOPICS WITH AN
APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE LEVEL
Ability to communicate by using appropriate English language level
Opinion Levels
(
n
=400)
X
S.D.
Level
Rank
1. Greeting visitors and self-introduction
4.39
0.51
High
1
2. Introducing themselves and their team
4.09
0.31
High
4
3. Introducing a tour program
4.35
0.51
High
2
4. Informing rules and regulations of the tourist attraction
3.38
0.53
Average
10
5. Informing time appointment
3.87
0.34
High
5
6. Giving directions
3.85
0.36
High
6
7. Warning tourists when necessary
3.41
0.59
Average
9
8. Explaining an overview of each tourist attraction
4.11
0.35
High
3
9. Explaining background and importance of the tourist attraction
3.08
0.36
Average
11
10. Sharing trivia and stories about the tourist attraction to the visitors
3.82
0.40
High
7
11. Giving recommendation about souvenirs available at the tourist
attraction
3.74
0.45
High
8
12. Using appropriate language to solve unexpected problems
2.98
0.24
Average
12
Total
3
.
75
0
.
20
High
According to Table 1, the tourists’ opinions on the effectiveness of the tour guides’
communication skills at the historical attractions mostly show that they think that the tour guides
have the ability to communicate in different topics is at an appropriate language level, especially
welcoming tourists and self-introduction, introducing a tour program, and explaining about an
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Volume 25, Special Issue 4, 2021
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overview of each attraction. However, the skill to be improved is appropriate language usage
when dealing with unexpected problems.
Table 2
SHOW
LEVELS OF THE RESPONDENTS’ OPINIONS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
TOUR GUIDES’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT THE HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS IN
THE ASPECT OF THE TOUR GUIDES’ ENGLISH COMPETENCY
A tour guide’s ability to use English language
Opinion Levels
(
n
=400)
Xˉ
S.D.
Level
Rank
1. Using accurate and appropriate vocabularies
4.48
0.65
High
1
2. Using accurate and appropriate phrases
4.40
0.64
High
3
3 Using grammar correctly in accordance with the story
3.03
0.20
Average
6
4. Using correct sentences
2.96
0.19
Average
8
5. Using correct conjunctions to link sentences
2.81
0.41
Average
9
6. Pronouncing vocabularies and sentences clearly
2.99
0.22
Average
7
7. Using intonation in the presentation
2.74
0.45
Average
10
8. Spacing when telling a story
4.02
0.18
High
4
9. Fluency of story telling
3.82
0.40
High
5
10. Using appropriate language level with the tourists
4.44
0.63
High
2
Total
3
.
57
0
.
22
High
According to Table 2, the tourists’ opinions on the effectiveness of the tour guides’
communication skills at the historical attractions mostly demonstrate their thoughts that the tour
guides’ English competency is good, especially using correct and appropriate vocabulary and
language level. On the other hand, they should improve their intonation in the presentation.
Table 3
SHOW LEVELS OF THE RESPONDENTS’ OPINIONS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TOUR
GUIDES’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT THE HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS IN THE ASPECT
OF THE TOUR GUIDES’ PRESENTATION SKILL
Presentation ability
Opinion Levels
(
n
=400)
Xˉ
S.D.
Level
Rank
1. Be knowledgeable on the subject
4.40
0.51
High
2
2. Be able to present the subject precisely
4.29
0.49
High
5
3. Be able to present naturally
4.43
0.60
High
1
4. Encourage the tourists to participate in the presentation
3.38
0.51
Average
12
5. Create a positive atmosphere during the presentation
2.82
0.40
Average
15
6. Have story telling techniques
3.43
0.63
Average
11
7. Be able to understand different tourists’ accents
2.99
0.22
Average
13
8. Be able to summarize the gist of the story
2.98
0.24
Average
14
9. Be able to answer tourists’ questions
4.37
0.51
High
3
10. Have good interaction with the tourists during the
presentation such as facial expression and eye contact
3.95
0.28
High
8
11. Telling a story with confidence
4.36
0.59
High
4
12. Giving the tourists a chance to ask questions
4.12
0.37
High
6
13. Stand at an appropriate distance from the tourists
3.53
0.53
High
9
14. Have background knowledge on cross-cultural
communication
3.48
0.57
Average
10
15. Use appropriate posture during the presentation
4.03
0.20
High
7
Total
3
.
77
0
.
23
High
According to Table 3, the tourists’ opinions on the effectiveness of the tour guides’
communication skills at the historical attractions appears that they acknowledge the tour guides’
presentation skill is at an impressive level, especially the ability to give a presentation naturally,
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being knowledgeable about the topic, and being able to answer the tourists’ questions. However,
they should improve their ability of creating a nice atmosphere during the presentation.
Table 4
SHOW CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS BETWEEN THE RESPONDENTS’ PERSONAL
DATA AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TOUR GUIDES’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT
THE HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS
Personal Data
The effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication
skills at the historical attractions
Value
p-value
Gender
=0.160
0.074
Age
r
sp
=0.067
0.178
Education
r
sp
=-0.044
0.377
Occupation
=0.145
0.358
Income/year
r
sp
=-0.065
0.193
Status
=0.055
0.157
Continent
=0.141
0.356
Religion
=0.143
0.025*
Purpose of visiting to Thailand
=0.094
0.084
*p<0.05
r
sp
=Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficients
=Eta
According to Table 4, the analysis result of correlation coefficients between the
respondents’ personal data and the effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication skills at the
historical attractions shows that the tourists’ religions are positively associated with the tour
guides’ communication skills at a low level with a statistical significance of 0.05 (
=0.143,
p<0.05). Meanwhile, gender, age, marital status, continent, occupation, average annual income,
educational level, and travelling purpose to Thailand are not associated with the effectiveness of
the tour guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions at all.
Table 5
SHOW A BENCHMARK OF THE RESPONDENTS’ OPINIONS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE
TOUR GUIDES’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT THE HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS BASED ON
GENDER *P <0.05
The effectiveness of the tour guides’
communication skills at the historical
attractions
Male (n=172)
Female (n=228)
t
p-value
Xˉ
SD
Xˉ
SD
Total
3.68
0.18
3.74
0.18
-3.226*
0.001
Table 6
SHOW AN ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE TO COMPARE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TOUR
GUIDES’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS AT THE HISTORICAL ATTRACTIONS BASED ON
PERSONAL DATA
Personal Data
Source of variation
SS
df
MS
F
p-value
Age
Between group
93.229
34
2.742
1.172
0.240
Within group
854.281
365
2.340
Total
947.510
399
Education
Between group
11.389
34
0.335
0.748
0.848
Within group
163.488
365
0.448
Total
174.878
399
Occupation
Between group
74.221
34
2.183
0.995
0.480
Within group
800.889
365
2.194
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Total
875.110
399
Income/year
Between group
204.363
34
6.011
1.092
0.337
Within group
2008.877
365
5.504
Total
2213.240
399
Status
Between group
21.531
34
0.633
1.123
0.297
Within group
205.866
365
0.564
Total
227.397
399
Continent
Between group
150.464
34
4.425
1.076
0.358
Within group
1500.534
365
4.111
Total
1650.998
399
Religion
Between group
37.077
34
1.091
1.175
0.236
Within group
338.673
365
0.928
Total
375.750
399
Purpose of visiting Thailand
Between group
27.743
34
0.816
0.725
0.873
Within group
410.955
365
1.126
Total
438.698
399
According to table 5 and 6, they show that male and female tourists have different opinions
towards the effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions
with a statistical significance of 0.05. Regarding other data including age, educational level,
average annual income, marital status, continent, religion, and travelling purpose to Thailand, it
is noticeable that the tourists have indifferent opinions towards the effectiveness of the tour
guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions.
CONCLUSION
According to tourists’ opinions on the effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication
skills in the aspect of 1) “the ability to communicate in different topics with an appropriate
language level” are overall at a high level. When considering by topic, it reveals that the three
topics receiving the highest average are welcoming tourists, self-introduction, introducing a
travel program, and explaining about an overview of each attraction. However, the topic with the
lowest average is appropriate language usage when dealing with unexpected problems; 2) “the
tour guides’ English competency” is overall at a high level. When considering by topic, the
study shows that the three topics receiving the highest average are correct and appropriate
vocabulary usage, using an appropriate language level based on each tourist, and using
appropriate idioms, whereas the topic with the lowest average is using intonation in the
presentation; 3) “the tour guides’ presentation skill” is overall at high level when considering by
topic, being able to give a presentation naturally, being knowledgeable in the presented topic,
and being able to answer the tourists’ questions. Meanwhile, the topic with the lowest average is
creating a nice atmosphere during the presentation. Furthermore, the analysis result of
correlation coefficients between the respondents’ personal data and the effectiveness of the tour
guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions demonstrates that the tourists’ religions
are positively associated with the tour guides’ communication skills which are at a low level
with a statistical significance.
DISCUSSION
Tour guides play a major role in presenting the nation’s culture among foreign tourists
visiting Thailand. Communication skills are considered as the key in this career as well as a
major element of hospitality and tourism industry (Matkasimova & Makhmudov, 2020).
Meanwhile, the English language is the lingua franca people use to communicate worldwide
(Bobanovic & Grzinic, 2011; Morris & Maxey, 2014). Hence, the main objectives of this
research is to evaluate the effectiveness of the tour guides’ English communication skills at the
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historical attractions. The result demonstrates that most of the tourists’ opinions on the
effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions appears that
they think their skills are at a good level. They can communicate in different topics with an
appropriate language level such as welcoming tourists and self-introduction, introducing a tour
program, and explaining about an overview of each attraction. Especially, they can use correct
and appropriate vocabulary and language level. Excitement, nervousness, or an unexpected
situation can cause their English to sound confusing for the tourists sometimes, and they
probably cannot understand what the tour guides say. Consequently, it is vital to improve
intonation in the presentation because mispronunciation or incorrect intonation can lead to the
tourists’ misunderstanding (Ronakiat, 2005; Kelly, 2003; Griffiths, n.d.). Torut (2001) adds that
tour guides must have good English speaking skills and be able to pronounce English words
correctly and closely to a native speaker as much as possible. They must also pronounce with
correct intonation based on language level as well. Similarly, Papassaro & Klomkul (2020)
further suggest that tour guides need to develop a variety of vocabulary usage along with a nice
and polite communication method in order to communicate with the tourists. In addition,
creating a nice atmosphere during the presentation is another topic to be improved. If they
cannot present historical contents attractively, the tourists will get bored and not be impressed
with that trip. Therefore, improving presentation techniques to be more interesting, exciting, or
convincing is not less essential for their performance than other topics. The result also shows
that the tour guides’ presentation skill is at a good level such as expressing information
naturally, being knowledgeable about the topic, and being able to answer the tourists’ questions.
However, it can be noticed from the result that the tour guides’ skills requiring improvement are
appropriate language usage when dealing with unexpected problems, intonation in the
presentation and ability to create a nice atmosphere during the presentation. These skills reflect
that good and flawless communication will build the tourists’ trust towards the tour guides’
efficiency and standard (Bobanovic & Grzinic, 2011).
According to the correlation coefficient analysis between the respondents’ personal data
and the effectiveness of the tour guides’ communication skills at the historical attractions
including age, educational level, occupation, average annual income, marital status, continent,
religion, and travelling purpose, it can be noticed that the tourists’ religions are positively
associated with the tour guides’ communication skills at a low level with a statistical
significance. This agrees with Boonnumsirikij (2019)’s study which finds that religions can
influence the tourists’ decision to use a service due to social norm that focuses on livelihood and
living as a society. Considering the context of each religion, it can be seen that they are different
from each other. Likewise, Mattila, et al., (2001) also discovers that the tourists’ religions relate
with their behaviors on choosing the destination, expectation towards service quality, and type
of destination. Moreover, the study also collects information about major social marketing and
public policies in the tourism and hospitality industry (Abu-Alhaija et al., 2018). On the other
hand, Forghani, et al., (2019) sees that religions do not have a significant statistic relation with
the tourists, but facilities, activities, and add-on services are still important elements to be
developed since they are dominant factors influencing the development of religious tourism
(Sammani, 2018). According to the research’s result, businesses or other organizations related to
the aforementioned topics can improve and develop the tour guides’ skills to be more efficient,
which can indirectly benefit the businesses in building their strength and uniqueness with their
quality human resource as suggested in the recommendations.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
Promote and develop the tour guides’ ability to use appropriate language when dealing with unexpected
problems as well as intonation practice for presenting information to the tourists. It is also necessary to
maintain and keep developing their efficiency in expressing information naturally, being knowledgeable about
the topic, and being able to answer the tourists’ questions.
2.
Promote and develop the tour guides’ ability to create a nice atmosphere during the presentation to make the
information sound more interesting, exciting, and convincing to the tourists
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1939-4675-25-S4-45
3.
Promote and being mindful about the tourists’ religions. Organizations can build their strength and uniqueness
by showing their mindfulness about the tourists’ religions such as preparing a place of worship or suggesting
hygienic foods and beverages permitted in their religions.
4.
Promote and develop a “best practice” of the presentation through a real-time or off-time training by creating
lessons for development. Creating a learning model for the tour guides to learn from “best practice” should be
done to promote the development of English communication skills as it allows them to learn from both various
successful models and mistakes in form of real-time and off-time lessons.
5.
Develop and create a tour guide’s center application or “tour guide learning application” by applying tour
guide’s frequent mistakes as main data for the application and focusing on mobile device learning. In the
globalization era, it is undeniable that nothing is more convenient than learning through a mobile device as it is
compact so that it almost becomes a part of the human body. Therefore, to allow the tour guides to learn about
the frequent mistakes real time, creating a learning application by focusing on mobile device learning will
become the most effective way for them to learn.
6.
Promote and support the tour guides to consistently reskill and upskill their performance each year or creates a
credit bank system for each course or training session at a college or university in order to promote lifelong
learning education among the tour guides. Due to a change of people’s lifestyle nowadays, learning at schools,
institutes, or universities might not meet the demands of full-time employees or those who cannot manage to
attend the class as scheduled by the institutes. As a result, adjusting a learning method to match the tour guides’
lifestyle is necessary because their working time is flexible, and their daily lifestyle can be constantly changed.
So, promoting a study based on a credit bank system or lifelong learning education can become the learning
method that can greatly meet the tour guides’ demand. Moreover, it can help facilitating them for learning new
things anywhere and anytime.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Dr. Suppachai Chanwanakul is a full-time lecturer at the Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Mahidol University. The author would like to express his appreciation to the Faculty of Liberal
Arts, Mahidol University. Also, this research was supported by Srinakharinwirot University. The
author truly appreciated the kindness from the college.
REFERENCES
Abu-Alhaija, A.S.A., Yusof, R.N.R., Hashim, H., & Jaharuddin, N.S. (2018). Religion in consumer behavior
research: The significance of religious commitment and religious affiliation.
International Journal of
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