KUALA LUMPUR - A love for travelling since childhood has been worth it for Lee Sei Loong, as he was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records in January this year as the first tour guide from Malaysia to have explored all 195 countries in the world.
Lee, 47, who has been in the profession since 1996 visited all these countries while serving various travel agencies.
Among the countries the father of two has visited are Afghanistan, Uganda, Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, China, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria,Tuvalu, Bhutan, Senegal, North Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Somalia and several more in addition to setting foot on the North Pole.
Feeling grateful, Lee said he was proud of the recognition and will always try to give his best as a travel professional.
"This recognition has not only instilled in me the courage to continue trying new things, but is also an an important proof of my carrer accomplishment," he told Bernama recently.
As he shared his career journey, the Global World Tour & Travel founder said being a tour guide, one needs to be equipped with knowledge about the tourism industry.
"The duty of a tour guide is to accompany clients, either individually or in groups, when they travel or visit tourist attractions.
"Normally, I will arrange the tourist visas, convey information, prepare a commentary, answer any questions as well as ensure that the itinerary is filled with interesting activities," he said.
Despite feeling pleased with what he has done, Lee said he could not avoid facing various challenges and obstacles throughout his career.
Among them is having to deal with all kinds of customers and their personalities, immigration bureaucracy, the different food available in the countries visited, in addition to the increase in the cost of air fares which affect the price of travel packages.
"However, these are considered as small challenges because we encounter more fun along the way especially when we are able to gain customers’ trust and they keep coming back to us,” said Lee who has almost 30 years of experience in the tourism industry.
Even though it is always exciting to travel to other countries, Lee, who hails from Seri Kembangan, Selangor is proud to be a Malaysian as to him, dry bread at home is better than roast meat abroad.
"Malaysia is truly unique and you cannot find this uniqueness in any other country in the world,” said Lee who plans to document his experience as a tour guide in the near future. - BERNAMA