Tourist guides adapt as AI and social media reshape travel habits

Caption language: en · Fetched: 2026-07-12

Tourist guides now see fewer tour opportunities as more travelers are choosing to explore Singapore on their own, prompting guides to adapt by moving beyond traditional tours. Beatrice Yeoh with more. >> This is the Singapore's second biggest hawker center. >> For the past 10 years, Jack Yeoh has been introducing visitors to Singapore, sharing its history, culture, and food. But the job has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of large tour groups arriving on coaches. Today's travelers are increasingly planning their own itineraries using social media and more recently AI. >> Now we have to change because of the big tour group is lesser and the lesser because of the consumers' behavior change. We can't use the old method to do the new market. It's a no way. It's difficult to survive.

Now in more competing the market because we have so many young tourists and then more energetic, more knowledgeable, more technique and then better than us. >> The shift has been felt across the industry, especially among Mandarin-speaking guides. >> Anecdotal reports roughly about 50% as high as 50%. In fact, yesterday I was talking to two tourist guides. One told me that in the month of June 70% drop. In the month of May, 40%. That's an English tourist guide. For the Mandarin-speaking one, however, he told me the number is 80% drop in June and 50% in May. So, that's a huge drop. And the Mandarin-speaking guides are more heavily affected. >> To keep up with changing travel habits, Jack has reinvented the way he works. Today, he offers more personalized and niche experiences from cycling tours to heritage walks and night tours.

His personal favorite, private food experiences through Kampong Glam, Little India, and Chinatown, which he says is the quickest way to connect people. And while algorithms can suggest where to eat, he believes they can't replace what makes a great guide. >> He has overcome the human touch, a personal walk side by side. So, we we go with the tourist very fast, very slow, and very effectively. And eventually, every single person has a story, and the tourist will share their own story with us. So, we become the friend at the end of the very good friend. And you know, we tourist went back in their hometown, we still keeping in touch, and they also recommend this is the best tour guide they ever met.

>> [laughter] >> The Singapore Tourism Board adds that technology isn't replacing tourist guides, but giving them new tools to create more authentic and immersive experiences. >> The main challenge is that now because traditional package tours are on the downside, many of them do not have enough jobs to go around. And so, they have to resort to their own social media and their own personal experience and and the natural market to market themselves. >> To help the 4,000 licensed guides stay competitive, STB has updated its training framework, encouraging them to build skills in areas such as storytelling, social media marketing, and generative AI, so they can continue meeting the evolving expectations of today's travelers.