Hana Tour helps multicultural students

By Kang Seung-woo

Jo Seong-jun, a naturalized Korean born in China, never thought about pursuing a career in the tourism industry when he was a high school student ― despite his keen interest.

There was no information, no reference materials and no one that he could rely on in terms of career counseling at the time, according to the 21-year-old.

But a few years after finishing school, Jo, who arrived in Korea in 2011 after his mother married a Korean man, is now one of 15 people at Naeil Irum School who are developing skills to follow their dreams in the tourism sector.

Naeil Irum School is an annual vocational training program for youths not attending a school by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. And Hana Tour, the nation's largest travel agency, is participating in this year's program as an operator in charge of nurturing talents of culture and tourism as part of a project by its newly launched lifelong education center Hana Academia.

“My mother recommended this program to me after getting the information at a nearby multicultural family support center,” Jo told The Korea Times.

“This has led me to set my sights on becoming a state-certified tour guide.”

In order to become a licensed tour guide, applicants have to pass foreign language tests and a more challenging exam about Korean history, the nation's tourist attractions and tourism regulations. At present, only a licensed person can guide foreign tourists, according to the law.

Given that they are good at foreign languages, the biggest sticking point is the exam related to Korean history and tourism, and the Naeil school's curriculum is most focused on that, according to Hana. Along with classes geared toward the test, students also take other tourism-related classes.

“Korean history is really important for the tour guide license, so we have many history classes, which help me a lot in preparing for the test,” Jo said.

It is the first time for a travel agency to join the ministry's job training program.

The participating students, aged between 19 and 24, actively join the classes and are eager to absorb what they learn.

During one class, students each gave presentations about their proposed itineraries as if they were tour guides for foreign travelers visiting Korea. Following each presentation, the students and the teacher discussed the feasibility of the speaker's travel plans.

In addition, they take classes for five hours per day from Monday to Friday, but students barely skip classes, Hana noted.

According to Choi Won-sul, head of Hana Tour's Human Resource Development Department, the travel agency initially began the vocational training program as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).

“The nation has an increasing number of twenty-something young adults from multicultural families, but there are few programs to prepare them for jobs. Given the circumstances, we devised the curriculum and applied for the gender ministry's program,” he said.

“Above all, we hope the training program will help those students qualified for guiding tourists from their foreign parents' countries.”

However, Hana also believes the students could become important human resources when the company is considering focusing on inbound tourism, he added.

Choi said the program may pay dividends as early as next year.

“Although those who want to become a tour guide have to get a license, there are also some others who want office jobs at travel agencies, hotels and duty-free shops and they'll be ready to start working from next year,” he said.

In addition, by the end of the course, the students will hold certifications in CPR and airline ticketing, which will give them more opportunities.

“While teaching them about getting a tour guide license, we also give them information on the hotel, duty-free shop and other travel industries,” Choi said. “During the program, we are helping them develop their aptitude.”