(Bandar Seri Begawan, 10th) Laksamana College of Business hosted a two-day "2025 ASEAN Member States Chinese Language Training and Capacity Building Workshop."
This workshop was co-organized by the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and the Tourism Development Department, with Dk. Tutiaty Hj Abdul Hamid, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism of Brunei, invited as the guest of honor.
This significant regional capacity building event brought together 60 tourism product managers and tour guides from ASEAN member countries and Timor-Leste, with an additional 88 participants joining online, to share and learn together.
The workshop aims to help tourism industry practitioners in the region better respond to the growing Chinese tourism market by equipping participants with four core competences: basic Chinese communication skills, cross-cultural communication ability, quality service awareness, and regional cooperation spirit, thus comprehensively elevating the professional standards of ASEAN's tourism industry.
In her speech at the ceremony, Dk. Tutiaty Hj Abdul Hamid emphasized the increasing significance of the Chinese market, noting that Brunei's tourism sector is showing encouraging signs of recovery. As of August 2025, Brunei received a total of 28,714 Chinese tourists, accounting for more than 15.5% of all inbound passengers on Royal Brunei Airlines.
The majority of Chinese tourists visit Brunei for leisure, family reunions, or business. Given China is listed as a key target market for Brunei in 2025, this data fully reflects the strong return of tourism confidence and steady revival of bilateral connectivity.
The successful hosting of this workshop will help build a more professional and competitive regional tourism team, offering Chinese visitors higher-quality and more attractive travel experiences, thereby promoting the continued and sustainable development of ASEAN's tourism sector.
The Tourism Development Department will remain committed to enhancing the professional standards of local hotel and tourism personnel, formulating relevant standards for the industry, and ensuring that tourism professionals possess the skills and knowledge needed to provide high-quality service, thus further enriching the overall experience of visitors to Brunei.
Since March this year, Brunei has implemented a visa-free policy for all Chinese citizens, allowing them to stay in Brunei for 14 days. This move further consolidates Brunei's status as an ideal destination for Chinese tourists.
This timely and strategically significant policy not only greatly increases convenience for Chinese travelers to Brunei, but also deepens the friendship between the two countries, laying a solid foundation for further strengthening bilateral cultural and economic exchanges.
Brunei's cruise industry is also showing robust development. Over the past year, Muara Port has welcomed several large international cruise liners, including the "Viking Sun" and the luxury cruise ship "MV Mediterranean," the latter of which has called at Brunei twice, carrying several thousand passengers.
Looking ahead, Brunei anticipates welcoming more cruise ships from China, further consolidating its role as an emerging destination in the regional cruise industry.
As Brunei's national airline, Royal Brunei Airlines now operates direct flights to Brunei from Nanning and Hangzhou; regular flights to and from Beijing and Hong Kong are also ongoing. This solid connectivity network greatly strengthens the ties between Brunei and China, enabling Brunei to better meet the soaring tourism demand of the Chinese market.
This workshop aims to provide tourism product managers and tour guides in Brunei and the ASEAN region with the professional tools needed to respond to the increasing trend, focusing on four main objectives:
First, help tourism professionals acquire basic Chinese skills for smoother communication with Chinese tourists; next, develop cross-cultural communication techniques, including effective body language and best practices for handling guest complaints; third, comprehensively upgrade the service abilities of ASEAN tourism practitioners to ensure high-quality experiences that meet Chinese visitors' expectations.
Through knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences among participants, the workshop further strengthens regional cooperation and collaborative development.
This workshop was co-organized by the ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and the Tourism Development Department, with Dk. Tutiaty Hj Abdul Hamid, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism of Brunei, invited as the guest of honor.
This significant regional capacity building event brought together 60 tourism product managers and tour guides from ASEAN member countries and Timor-Leste, with an additional 88 participants joining online, to share and learn together.
The workshop aims to help tourism industry practitioners in the region better respond to the growing Chinese tourism market by equipping participants with four core competences: basic Chinese communication skills, cross-cultural communication ability, quality service awareness, and regional cooperation spirit, thus comprehensively elevating the professional standards of ASEAN's tourism industry.
In her speech at the ceremony, Dk. Tutiaty Hj Abdul Hamid emphasized the increasing significance of the Chinese market, noting that Brunei's tourism sector is showing encouraging signs of recovery. As of August 2025, Brunei received a total of 28,714 Chinese tourists, accounting for more than 15.5% of all inbound passengers on Royal Brunei Airlines.
The majority of Chinese tourists visit Brunei for leisure, family reunions, or business. Given China is listed as a key target market for Brunei in 2025, this data fully reflects the strong return of tourism confidence and steady revival of bilateral connectivity.
The successful hosting of this workshop will help build a more professional and competitive regional tourism team, offering Chinese visitors higher-quality and more attractive travel experiences, thereby promoting the continued and sustainable development of ASEAN's tourism sector.
The Tourism Development Department will remain committed to enhancing the professional standards of local hotel and tourism personnel, formulating relevant standards for the industry, and ensuring that tourism professionals possess the skills and knowledge needed to provide high-quality service, thus further enriching the overall experience of visitors to Brunei.
Since March this year, Brunei has implemented a visa-free policy for all Chinese citizens, allowing them to stay in Brunei for 14 days. This move further consolidates Brunei's status as an ideal destination for Chinese tourists.
This timely and strategically significant policy not only greatly increases convenience for Chinese travelers to Brunei, but also deepens the friendship between the two countries, laying a solid foundation for further strengthening bilateral cultural and economic exchanges.
Brunei's cruise industry is also showing robust development. Over the past year, Muara Port has welcomed several large international cruise liners, including the "Viking Sun" and the luxury cruise ship "MV Mediterranean," the latter of which has called at Brunei twice, carrying several thousand passengers.
Looking ahead, Brunei anticipates welcoming more cruise ships from China, further consolidating its role as an emerging destination in the regional cruise industry.
As Brunei's national airline, Royal Brunei Airlines now operates direct flights to Brunei from Nanning and Hangzhou; regular flights to and from Beijing and Hong Kong are also ongoing. This solid connectivity network greatly strengthens the ties between Brunei and China, enabling Brunei to better meet the soaring tourism demand of the Chinese market.
This workshop aims to provide tourism product managers and tour guides in Brunei and the ASEAN region with the professional tools needed to respond to the increasing trend, focusing on four main objectives:
First, help tourism professionals acquire basic Chinese skills for smoother communication with Chinese tourists; next, develop cross-cultural communication techniques, including effective body language and best practices for handling guest complaints; third, comprehensively upgrade the service abilities of ASEAN tourism practitioners to ensure high-quality experiences that meet Chinese visitors' expectations.
Through knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences among participants, the workshop further strengthens regional cooperation and collaborative development.