The Jakarta administration is set to provide English language training for residents of the Thousand Islands regency in North Jakarta to prepare them to welcome foreign tourists.

The head of the Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency, Tinia Budiati, said the training center and tourism certification unit of the agency would be in charge of training the residents.

“The unit aims to train the residents to welcome guests and teach them simple English conversation skills,” Tinia said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com.

Training the Thousands Islands residents would be the priority of the unit because the regency had been included in the national strategic tourism plan (KSPN), Tinia said.

Therefore, the agency hoped a lot of residents would join the training, she said.

During a meeting to discuss the 2018 city budget at the council office on Friday, the head of commission B of Jakarta City Council, Yusriah Dzinnun, suggested the administration provide training to Thousand Islands residents.

“Tour guides shall be given language training. I've seen the residents are still shy about greeting foreigners,” she said.

The Thousand Islands regency has become an increasingly popular tourist destination. (cal)