Reevaluation of Taiwanese Tour Leaders' License Practicality and Continuation

Abstract

A tour leader is recognized as a critical factor in the success of the travel and tourism industry, and in some countries a tour license is required for those who want to conduct an overseas package tour. The government of Taiwan has imposed many restrictions on tour leaders. There has been a long debate on whether a licensed tour leader performs better and whether the current licensing system is practical for quality assurance. Many practitioners and researchers suggest that the current licensing system should be reexamined to better fix the needs of the travel industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the licensing system of tour leaders, subjects of the written examinations, and the training courses. We also investigated the differences in the performance between licensed and unlicensed tour leaders. Semistructured interviews with travel agencies and tour leaders were conducted. Data from a seminar were collected. The results of this study showed that the contents of the examination should be modified with less emphasis on theories. The current training program lacks practical exercise and the current license system does not facilitate tour leaders' performance quality.