A. Purpose

According to the Travel Industry Ordinance, all outbound tour escorts must hold a valid tour escort licence before they can take up tour escort duties. This course aims to systematically teach tour escorts basic tour escort skills and related knowledge, and to help candidates prepare for the “Licensing Examination of Tour Escorts ”.

In addition, applicants for a tour escort's licence should meet the following criteria

1. have reached the age of 18;

2. have completed Hong Kong’s Form 5 education under the 5-year secondary academic structure or Senior Secondary 3 education under the New Senior Secondary academic structure (or equivalent Hong Kong or overseas qualifications);

3. have passed the licensing examination specified by the Travel Industry Authority  (TIA) within two years prior to submitting the application for a license;

4. have completed a pre-examination training course specified by the TIA;

5. hold a valid certificate of first aid skills or other similar certificate issued by an organization specified by the TIA; and

6. meet other requirements set out in the Travel Industry Ordinance.

Applicants for tour escort licence must produce the original document, for inspection by TIA, for the relevant educational attainment, completion of training course and first aid qualification.  When submitting a licence application, please note that the examination result and first aid qualification are subject to limited validity.  An expired result or qualification will not be accepted as meeting the relevant requirements. 

If you have any questions about the licensing criteria, including whether you meet the qualification criteria, please email enquiry@tia.org.hk or call (852) 3698 5900.

For more information on the application criteria and related details of the tour escort license, please click here for the website of the Travel Industry Authority (TIA).

B. Course Description

1) Target

Individuals who want to become licensed tour escorts

2) Course Enrollment Requirements

- Aged 18 or above; and

- Have completed Hong Kong’s Form 5 education under the 5-year secondary academic structure or Senior Secondary 3 education under the New Senior Secondary academic structure(or equivalent). 

3) Course Overview

        The new program consists of 28 hours of face-to-face classroom sessions, 2 hours of role-play assessment and a new 3-hour written examination.

        Upon completion of the face-to-face classes and the role-playing assessment, students are required to complete the self-study hours of the course before the written examination, and will be able to complete the whole course after obtaining a pass in the written examination.

       *Note: Students are required to apply for the Licensing Examination of Tour Escort separately (please click here to enrol the License Examination of Tour Escort).

- Written examination for the course is designed to simulate the licensing examination so that students can adapt to it in advance.

4) Course Content    

1. Work as a  tour escort

•           Definition of tour escort

•           Relationship between tour escorts and travel agents

•           Definition and scope of services of travel agents

•           Requirements of a competent tour escort

•           Role and responsibilities of the tour escort

•           Comply with professional ethics

•           Skills of leading a tour

2. Relevant legislation and regulations

•           Travel Industry Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation, and Directives for Licensees

•           Prevention of Bribery Ordinance

•           The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance

•           Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance

•           Basic Law and The National Security Law

3. Customer rights and          protection

 •          Travel Industry Compensation Fund and notes for e-levy system

 •           Notes for travel insurance

4. Operations of outbound  tour 

•           Make preliminary preparations prior to the departure of the outbound tour groups

•           Provide hotel information and check-in service during an outbound tour

•           Arrange catering, guided sightseeing and shopping activities for outbound tour groups

•           Manage outbound tour return arrangements and conclude the tour

5. Customer services

 •           Provide customer service to outbound tour group during a tour

•           Provide value-added services

•           Solve common customer problems

•           Handle tourist disputes and complaints

6. Minimizing Risks

•           Recognize the potential risks of various tourism activities

•           Reduce the risks and losses during the journey

7. Handling Crises

•           Handle unexpected incidents

•           Case studies

5) Class size*

      5 to 30 persons

     * Remarks: The minimum number of trainees for each class of the training course is 5 and the maximum number of trainees is 30. When the minimum number of trainees for each class is not sufficient, the TIC Industry Training Division will inform the trainees by email that the class will be canceled. Trainees will be arranged to enroll in the same course within two months and all administrative fees incurred due to the course transfer will be waived.

6) Course Venue

Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong Training Center 

Room 1706, 17/F, Fortress Tower, 250 King's Road, North Point, Hong Kong. 

7) Course Fee (including course materials)    

     Price per person $7500

 *Note Tuition fee subsidy: Staff of TIC member travel agents (including employees and self-employed persons) holding a valid Travel Agents License or holders of a valid Tour Escort Licence and a valid Tourist Guide Licence are eligible to apply for the Tourism Industry Development Fund. Successful applicants will receive a 70% subsidy on the cost of the training activities they have attended, provided that the cost of each training activity is not less than HK$500. The maximum amount of subsidy for each travel agent is HK$30,000 per year. The subsidy year starts from January 1 of each year and lasts until December 31 of the same year.

*Application form must be submitted before the commencement of the course.

8) Course Requirements

Completion Requirements

Attendance at face-to-face classes

Day 1 / Day2 / Day 3 / Day 4, requirment:100%

Role Play Assessment

Out of 11 items, achieve 7 passes or more out of 11

Self-study hours

To be completed before the written examination of the course

Course Written Exam

Score ≥ 50%

Written examination and role-play assessment will be conducted at the end of all module topics. In the role-plays, participants are required to apply what they have learned in each module to deal with crises in the areas of risk, legislation, operations, customer protection and service.

Graduation Requirements

1) Pass the role-play assessment (with at least 7 out of 11 items graded as “Attained” or “Distinction”); and

2) Pass a written examination of the course (50% or above is considered a pass); and

3) Achieve 100% attendance; and

4) Completion of the self-study hours of the course.

Remarks:

Late arrival, early departure or leaving the course during the course period will also be regarded as insufficient attendance (absence of more than 15 minutes). To obtain the Certificate of Completion, students must achieve 100% attendance in all classes, pass the Role-playing Assessment and the Written Examination, and complete the Self-study Hours of the course before the Written Examination.

*If candidates have any doubts about their assessment results, they may apply to the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) for a review of their assessment results, please contact the TIC for details. Both the candidates and the assessor will receive the assessment guidelines before the assessment so that both parties can have a full understanding of the content and requirements of the assessment. Candidate may apply for a review of their assessment results if they are in doubt. Candidate may submit a written request for review to the Industry Training Department within 30 days after the release of the assessment results and pay the administration fee. TIC will reply to the candidate on the review result within three weeks after the application, but will not inform the candidate of the reasons. The result of the review is final.

Absence Arrangement: Students with insufficient attendance in any part of the course or/and unsatisfactory performance in the Role Play Assessment or/and failure in the course examination are required to re-enroll in that part of the course and pay the tuition fee for that part of the course.

Applicable to repeaters/replacement candidates only

Fee (per person)

Day 1 Course, HK$ 1570

Day 2 Course, HK$ 1570

Day 3 Course, HK$ 1570

Day 4 Course & Role Play Assessment, HK$ 1,880

Course Written Exam, HK$ 900

9) Course Language

Chinese, supplement with English,

including textbook and assessment/examination material.

10) Course Instructors

     The course instructors have rich experience in escorting tours and have worked in the travel industry for more than 10 years, with at least 5 years of experience in travel agent training or related work.

     All instructors are with rich experience in escorting tours and at least five years' experience in travel agent training or related work, and also hold a valid tour escort licence.

C. Course Certificate

    1) Participants are required to fulfill the graduation requirements of the course in order to be awarded an e-Certificate of Course Completion by the TIC, which will be issued by email within two weeks after completion of the course.

    2) All certificates will not be reissued. If a student needs another certificate of course completion from TIC, he/she must submit the request in writing and pay the necessary administrative fee.

*Enquiry: Please send email(training@tichk.org) or call 2807 1199.