Philippine Immigration Officer Completing Chinese Course Airport Future or Achieving Barrier-free Communication

The Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) said that 47 immigration officers recently graduated from Chinese courses, which will enable them to use Mandarin to interact with Chinese citizens.

The above-mentioned immigration officers completed the training of basic Mandarin courses on November 10, which means that airport immigration officers can greet Chinese tourists warmly and conduct basic greetings and dialogues in the future.

"This newly acquired skill for immigration officers will promote positive customer interaction and enhance cross-cultural communication. Not only will we enhance the overall travel experience of Chinese visitors to the Philippines, but we will also consolidate the Philippines' position as a hospitable tourist destination," said Norman Tansingco, director of the Bureau of Immigration (BI)."

Entry and exit records show that before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, Chinese citizens ranked second in the number of inbound foreign tourists.

It is reported that the first-level basic Mandarin courses offered by Chiang Kai-shek College (CKSC) total 50 hours, of which one class is held at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from July 11 to October 3, while the other class is held at the Immigration Bureau headquarters from July 10 to October 9.

Meanwhile, the Confucius Institute at the Diliman Campus of the National University of the Philippines provides 36 hours of online courses for immigration officers across the country, from August 29 to November 16.