REVEALING
ASIA's
SECRET WORLD HERITAGE SITE
Lenggong
CASH
PRIZE
US$10,000
Best World Tourist Guide
intro
The World Tourist Guide Challenge would be held from June 21 – 25, 2026 at Lenggong Valley, Malaysia.
Lenggong Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, showcasing a prehistoric treasure trove, unlocking secrets of paleolithic and neolithic civilizations, world’s oldest rainforests in the world, in existence for more than 130 million years old (yes, its true!!), and Southeast Asia’s oldest, most complete human skeleton (true again – traced back from early human migration out of Africa!!).
Lenggong Valley has remained largely off the radar, retains a unique identity of mystical million-year-old prehistoric caves, tales of ancient human-migratory routes, archaeological treasures, and the oldest human skeleton aged over 10,000 years (simply astonishing!!).
To truly discover Lenggong, you will need to rewind the clock to 2.6 million years (Age of Humans), then imagine a valley carved out by a catastrophic meteorite impact (1.83 million years ago – yes, its true!!), cloaked with volcanic dust (74,000 to 75,000 years ago – shockingly true!!) and nurtured civilizations in its ancient caves.
An open-air museum, complimented with magnificent natural and physical landscape, Lenggong Valley remains Asia’s best kept secret https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160518-malaysias-11000-year-old-treasure-trove
description
Tourist Guides are the front troops of tourism. However good the package, it is the guide whom delivers the product to the consumer. The success of a good tourism product depends largely and is measured diligently on the guide. A good guide can present unique attractions, attributes and sell a destination on a whole.
Apart from motivating the younger generation joining the industry, to augment the pool of qualified and dynamic guides already active in the sector, responsible tourism is important to all stakeholders and the World Tourist Guide Challenge aims to be the platform creating an unprecedented event-charged environment placing emphasis on tourist guide profession and its fascinating facets being part of the colossal tourism economy.
Often considered a highly-skilled, experience-competent and knowledge-based profession, it is with not much visibility that the profession has been accorded due recognition, and the World Tourist Guide Challenge reveals the demands of this multi-skilled profession granting it an opportunity to be showcased, and display the wealth of competencies required for the future of guiding (Future of Work – redefined).
new narrative
The World Tourist Guide Challenge develops a completely new knowledge domain for tourist guides elevating its profession to a stature recognizing:
- professional guiding demonstration;
- presenting an arsenal of knowledge of the destination;
- placing emphasis on existing tangible and intangible knowledge, insights into conservation, preservation and protection of the environment, advocating sustainability and building eco-systems;
- harmonizing multiple variables instead of optimizing single ones with intent delivering a fascinating tourism product;
- being authentic Storytellers facilitating new experiences, and allowing them to grow from specs to spectacular;
- conceptualizing the Future of Tourist Guides through avant-garde technologically-savvy applications with the infusion of Ai enabling creativity revolutionizing the future of work;
- producing ideas, innovation and solutions applying commercial strategies maximizing improvements in economic, environment, human and social developments where tourism revenues are reinvested into the economy aiding communities and reshaping lives sustaining livelihoods.
concept & details
- open only to 16 tourist guides from 7 Continents (1 Guide per Country, to be represented from Africa, Asia, Europe, North & South America);
- participating tourist guides must be registered/licensed tourist guides representing the official tourist guide association/organization in their respective country of origin;
- eligibility would be for tourist guides engaged in the profession for a min. of 3 years
- tourist guides would participate at a tutorial workshop over three (3) days prior to the World Tourist Guide Challenge at Lenggong, Malaysia; and the workshop would be conducted by Department of National Heritage, District Council of Lenggong, Forestry Department, Lenggong Museum, Lenggong Geopark & local tourist guides;
- for the World Tourist Guide Challenge, each tourist guide would be responsible for a group of 10 tourists accompanied by a film crew;
- tourist guides would have to put-up a professional and spectacular individual performance of guiding tourists while being filmed live;
- each Tourist Guide would be given a trail and presentation of the best description of trail as a tourism product would determine wining team, eventually eliminating other Tourist Guides;
- feedback and comments on the performance of each tourist guide/s, would be discreetly described and shared by the 10 tourists accompanying the tourist guide/s, determining the overall tourist guide/s presentation of the trail;
- four (4) elimination stages would take place;
- from 16 tourist guides, 6 tourist guides would be eliminated in Stage 1;
- 5 tourist guides would be eliminated in Stage 2;
- 2 tourist guides would be eliminated in Stage 3 and;
- the final elimination in Stage 4 would consists of 3 tourist guides eventually determining the best World Tourist Guide Challenge Champ 2026.
- Best World Tourist Guide walks away with US$ 10,000.00 Prize Money
..brings out the best of what Malaysia has to offer to the world in a single, event-packed year.
The World Tourist Guide Challenge compliments Visit Malaysia 2026.
mice
Conference:
Emergence of Tourism Economies
for
World Heritage Sites
Creating sustainable tourism ecosystems aiding WHS economies worldwide
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Time: 0900 – 1630 hrs
Venue: KKTM Hall, Lenggong
Tourism is ranked third by the UN Tourism and nations are constantly seeking to increase their tourism revenues, cater to diverse consumer needs, while addressing seasonal nature of tourism.
Exploring various forms of tourism, cultural tourism has emerged as a significant alternative motivating nations to recognize its historical and cultural values through UNESCO, and the creation of World Heritage Sites (WHS), when carried out in line with sustainable tourism principles, can potentially yield substantial financial benefits for both the region and the local economy.
Gain insights into new economic-clusters optimizing on WHSites and the unexploited colossal accompanying sectors would be presented here…
*Limited to 250 persons only
Forum
The Future of Tourist Guides
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Time: 0900 – 1630 hrs
Venue: KKTM Hall, Lenggong
Rethinking old systems (being a Storyteller), and embracing new technological platforms (curating content on available gadgets), the advancements in robotic technologies, artificial intelligence and digital applications would evidently prepare the grounds for occupations, especially tourist guidance in the tourism industry.
Conventional human touch and emotions, and human expression of feelings about tourist spots exhibits how tourist guides eloquently present information, create authenticity in experiences, empowering people becoming actors, and not spectators; remains the yardstick balancing the equilibrium instead of digital voices, apps, and virtual tours.
The session presents an arsenal of wealth in the industry attributing to curating the perfect content…
*Limited to 250 persons only
distinguished speakers
Ally Jape
Travel Host
Zanzibar
Jane Rai
Virtual 360º Tour Guide
Malaysia
Slovenia
Dr. Vanessa Gowreeskunkar
Vice President, ITSA
India
Abdul Nasir Jalaludin
aka ‘Nash’
Rumah Tiang 16
Malaysia
Himalchuli Gurung
Head, APAC
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
France
Tuan Mohd Amzari Bin Mohd Arzami
District Officer
Lenggong Municipal Council
Malaysia
Aruna Francesca Maria Gujral
Director General
ICCROM
Italy
Faisal Abd Rahman
ICOMOS
Malaysia
Recognizing IP & specialized as a driver for
skills
economic
growth
Creating an ecosystem for knowledge-sharing, new marketplaces for the future, skills deployment and building an intellectual Tourist Guide movement.
Producing ideas, innovation, solutions and initiatives benefiting humanity, accelerating alternate means building new economic clusters advocating sustainability and changing conventional narratives.
Make an impact across diversified economies, aid communities and develop a social entrepreneurship movement of change makers facilitating business and economic possibilities.
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