He saidk that those with the required know-how were needed in areas such as hotel and spa business as well as to he tour guides who were able to render quality service to tourists.

“We’d like to move upmarket; even tour guides must be more knowledgeable about tourism products. Tourists nowadays expect more quality and better delivery,” he told reporters after delivering the keynote address at the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Annual Conference 2012 here yesterday.

Noting that tourism was a very competitive industry, Wee said that industry players should be more innovative and dynamic in undertaking their business.

On another matter, Wee said that efforts were being made to address the shortage of therapists in the country’s spa industry, noting that the majority of spa employees were foreigners.

He further said that the industry would be streamlined with a view to weeding out spas offering dubious services.

In his speech at the one-day conference themed ‘Transforming Tourism Industry in Malaysia Towards 2020′, Wee said that the bigger challenge for the Malaysian tourism industry was to increase tourism yield, with the target being the doubling of the expenditure of average tourists. ‘