Nelspruit — Tourist guides in Mpumalanga are being trained to speak foreign languages and will be ready by the time South Africa hosts the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Provincial economic development and planning MEC William Lubisi told a meeting of the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) that receptionists, petrol attendants, taxi drivers and other front line representatives should also be prepared for the soccer showpiece.

"Very soon we will be enrolling our tour guides for lessons in foreign languages in preparation for the 2010 World Cup," he said.

"We call upon all representatives of different companies and institutions represented at this gathering to follow suit and train their frontline staff about the worth of our province," he said.

He said front line workers created either a good or bad impression for visitors.

"While managers are working on strategic visions, it is the foot soldier on the ground who either kills or make a success of those visions," he said.

He said his department had created a training programme that included foreign language courses, the retraining of existing guides to meet the challenges of South Africa and awareness campaigns aimed at tour operators and other product owners.

"My department is also engaged in a programme to produce a critical mass of knowledgeable tour guides," said Mr Lubisi.

About 33 new black tourist guides are trained each year in Mpumalanga to try balance the ratio of black and white guides in the province.

Thirty-three black local tour guides have already been trained to speak French, and will next be learning Chinese, German and Portuguese.

"Research found that the majority of our tourists speak French and it is more accommodating if their hosts speak a familiar language," said spokesperson for the department of economic development and planning, Smanga Shongwe.

He said only black registered tour guides had been selected for the course and that they all came from the Kruger National Park.

"We only chose black guides because we want to increase the role played by black tour guides in the tourism industry," he explained.

The guides were taught basic French by Alliance Française teachers who gave lessons in White River and Secunda.