Lee (left) speaks at the roundtable session with (from right) Andreas, Ting and Teo.
MIRI (March 19): Labour shortage may affect the recovery of the tourism sector but by digitalising some of the (tourism) services can push the sector forward, said Sarawak Transport Minister Dato Sri Lee Kim Shin.
Speaking to reporters after a roundtable panel discussion on ‘What if labour shortage is a long-term threat to a sustainable recovery for tourism’, Lee said the digitalisation of services was a good way to effectively promote local tourism and possibly its recovery.
“Introductory video can be done in ways that give people a realistic experience similar to that of virtual reality, where they can have a quick view of what Sarawak has to offer, and also e-map to study the place, before actually coming here.
“It is thus crucial to utilise the local talents to produce such products. Even though we are still experiencing labour shortage, the tourism industry can still recover, albeit slowly, if we know where to look,” said Lee.
One of the services that can play a part is transportation – air travel and e-hailing.
“Air tickets and e-hailing bookings can be done as easily at the tip of your finger. This convenience creates good travel experience to travellers. This is the best example of digitalising services,” said the Senadin assemblyman.
On the shortage of labour in tourism, Lee said that retirees who are still healthy and interested to work in the tourism sector, could undergo training and pursue a new career post-retirement, perhaps as tour guides or other related work scope.
“We have a lot of people with ample time and energy and may be interested to do this. Relevant agencies can provide some sort of training courses for them,” he added.
The roundtable panel discussion, which was conducted by Prof Andreas H. Zins, was attended by Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts I Datuk Sebastian Ting and president of the Malaysia Association of Hotels Sarawak Chapter John Teo.
The session was part of the two-day Borneo Sustainable Development Goal (BSDG) Summit happening at Coco Cabana here, from March 18 to 19.
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