Second Reading Speech By Mr S Iswaran, Minister In The Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister For Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, On The Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill

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Second Reading Speech By Mr S Iswaran, Minister In The Prime Minister’s Office And Second Minister For Home Affairs and Trade & Industry, On The Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill, In Parliament On Monday, 17 February 2014

Madam Speaker, I beg to move, ‘That the Bill be now read a second time’.

Introduction

2.             Tourist guides play an important role in the Singapore’s yield-driven tourism strategy to create high quality, authentic and differentiated travel experiences for tourists.  They are licensed by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge, language proficiency and professional conduct to do their job well.  This licensing framework is provided for in the Singapore Tourism Board Act and its subsidiary legislation.  It was last reviewed almost thirty years ago.

3.             Our tourism landscape has evolved since then.  Tourist arrivals to Singapore and the region have risen steadily, fuelled by the rise of affluent Asian middle class travellers.  Visitor arrivals to Singapore have almost doubled over the last decade.  In 2013, we welcomed 15.5 million visitors who spent $23.5 billion in Singapore, marking four consecutive years’ of growth in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts since the global financial crisis in 2009. 

4.             These growth opportunities have encouraged more locals to take up guiding and higher value work, such as bespoke travel experiences for the discerning traveller.  The number of licensed tourist guides has increased over the years, growing from less than 1,500 in 2004 to almost 2,400 today.  

5.             However, competition from other tourist destinations has been rising and we need to take steps to maintain our competitive edge. We need to strengthen our regulatory framework to uphold guiding standards and accommodate new guiding models that will help Singapore diversify our offerings to tourists.

6.             It is thus timely for Government, in consultation with industry stakeholders, to review the regulation and development of the tourist guide industry.

Strengthening Our Regulatory Regime

7.             The Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill marks the culmination of almost a year of work by MTI and STB officers to strengthen our regulatory framework for tourist guides.  MTI and STB had consulted extensively with some 150 stakeholders, including the Society of Tourist Guides Singapore, the NTUC Tourist Guide Chapter, other members of the guiding community, travel agents and key attractions operators. 

8.             The tourist guide industry has, in general, welcomed the proposed changes to the regulatory regime, while travel agents and attraction owners recognise the benefits of higher guiding standards and improved service quality that the proposed changes will bring.  I want to thank all who have contributed to this effort, and for their valuable suggestions which have helped MTI and STB to develop and refine the Bill.

9.             Let me now outline the key amendments proposed in the Bill. 

Enhanced powers of investigation and enforcement against unlicensed guiding

10.        Unlicensed guiding tarnishes the image, and impedes the professional development, of the industry and licensed tourist guides.  It has become more apparent in recent years with the rapid growth in visitor arrivals.  While STB has stepped up enforcement against unlicensed guiding, legislative amendments are needed to address limitations in the current regulatory regime.  For example, STB cannot compel uncooperative suspects to submit to investigations.  Foreign offenders may leave the country before investigations are complete.  STB also does not have the powers to search premises and take evidence.  This has made it difficult for STB to follow up on suspected cases of unlicensed guiding. 

11.        Clause 6 of the Bill introduces Sections 19L to 19N to strengthen STB’s investigative and enforcement powers against unlicensed guiding.  With these provisions, STB’s officers will have the necessary and proportionate powers to arrest suspects who refuse to provide their personal particulars during preliminary investigations.  They will also be able to search premises and the people found within, and take evidence, when they reasonably believe that unlicensed guiding has taken place in the premises.  STB’s officers will also be empowered to question persons who may be linked to suspected cases of unlicensed guiding.  Anyone who obstructs STB’s investigations or provides false information can be fined up to $5,000 under Sections 20 and 21, as described in Clause 7. 

12.        Today, STB’s officers face an additional challenge in taking enforcement action, even when they reasonably suspect that unlicensed guiding is taking place.  This is because, to prosecute a person for unlicensed guiding, STB must also prove that he or she has been or will be remunerated for his guiding work.  However, as tourist guides often do not transact money in public places, and the parties involved are generally not forthcoming with evidence of such transactions, STB’s officers are often unable to take immediate or effective action against unlicensed guiding. 

13.        Clause 6, Section 19C aims to address this limitation.  This provision allows for the presumption that an individual carrying out guiding activity of a certain scale and degree of organisation is doing so as a vocation, i.e. they are doing it for remuneration.  The individual thus has to be licensed as a tourist guide to carry out such activity, failing which he would be deemed to have committed an offence.  This provision facilitates the proving of the offence and also allows STB to take timely enforcement action against those who are reasonably suspected of unlicensed guiding activity.  A suspect can rebut this presumption by showing proof that he or she has not been, and will not be, remunerated for the guiding activity.

14.        Complementing these provisions is Clause 8, Section 25A which empowers STB to compound offences on the spot for swift enforcement.  If the suspect refuses composition, STB can serve him or her with a notice to attend court under Section 19O, as described in Clause 6.

Updated offences and penalty framework to maintain deterrent effect against unlicensed guiding

15.        Clause 6 Section 19B expands the offences of unlicensed guiding and hiring unlicensed guides, and Section 19F prohibits certain activities that are related to unlicensed guiding. For example, some tourist guides allow

their tourist guide badges to be used by unlicensed guides.  Such improper conduct is made an offence under Section 19F.

16.        The maximum penalty for each offence has also been raised to maintain its deterrent effect.

Codes of practice and other measures to lift guiding standards

17.        Besides enforcement against unlicensed guiding, we also need to work with industry to raise the professionalism of licensed tourist guides.  To this end, Clause 6 introduces Section 19G which empowers STB to issue codes of practice.  These codes of practice will be developed by STB in consultation with industry.

18.        Non-compliance with these codes, licensing conditions and other provisions of the STB Act will be dealt with under Section 19I.  This section allows STB to impose financial penalties administratively, and set the quantum in line with the severity of non-compliance, subject to a maximum of $1,000.  This allows for calibrated action against licensees, beyond the current options of warning, suspension or revocation of licences.

Facilitating differentiation by capabilities and experience to boost competitiveness

19.        Tourist guides also need to upgrade their skills, and be able to differentiate themselves by their capabilities and experience.  This in turn allows for greater differentiation in remuneration and more avenues for career progression.  For example, a tourist guide may choose to specialise in a particular field through professional development courses that equip him or her with the requisite domain knowledge and skills. 

20.        Formal recognition from STB and industry is an important incentive for tourist guides to pursue such upgrading and differentiate themselves.  Hence, Clause 6, Section 19E will empower STB to tier licensing categories according to the capabilities, experience and other proficiencies acquired by tourist guides.

Accommodating emerging guiding models

21.        At the same time, we want to accommodate emerging guiding models, and facilitate innovation and productivity enhancement efforts across the tourism industry.  For example, owners of attractions and galleries are increasingly engaging their own guides and volunteers, with rigorous in-house training and curated itineraries, to cater to various visitor segments at their premises.  Volunteer guides, like the Tiong Bahru residents who banded together to curate heritage trails in their neighbourhood, are also doing their part to help visitors understand and experience their community with greater depth and nuance. 

22.        STB wants to support more of such ground-up initiatives, including some which need not be subject to licensing requirements.  The exemption framework provided for in Sections 19B and 25C under Clauses 6 and 8 of the Bill will allow us to do so.  Certain groups, like heritage and nature guides, could be exempted from licensing, and can continue creating new experiences for visitors so long as they meet certain conditions which STB will establish with the relevant stakeholders and lead agencies.

Raising Capabilities, Creating Good Jobs

23.        Madam Speaker, the legislative changes I have outlined are only one aspect of our efforts with stakeholders to raise the quality of the tourist guide industry.  STB, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), NTUC and STGS are studying various non-legislative measures to help local tour guides enhance their guiding skills, take on higher value work and improve their career prospects.  These include reviewing the competency roadmap and training curriculum for tourist guides, making training more accessible, and tailoring capability development initiatives for their members.

Conclusion

24.        Madam Speaker, the Singapore Tourism Board (Amendment) Bill will help STB tackle unlicensed guiding more effectively, raise the professionalism and standards of guiding, and accommodate new guiding models.  Together, these initiatives will sharpen Singapore’s competitive edge as a tourism destination.

25.        STB will continue to work closely with the industry on capability development and other initiatives, to position our tourist guide industry for quality growth.    

Madam Speaker, I beg to move.