Students in Mongolia help decrease crime against tourists

AKIPRESS.COM - A total of 40 selected students are working in the Mongolian capital as volunteers to provide information services for foreign tourists as part of local efforts to boost tourism, Xinhua reports. The students who are proficient in English are expected to provide foreign tourists with all the information they need and protection-related services during the tourism peak season or until the end of August. They started working on Monday under an annual program launched six years ago, which is aimed at making Ulan Bator a safer place for foreign visitors.
"Majority of foreign tourists visiting Mongolia travel through the capital city. So, ensuring the safety of tourists is one of the priorities for us," Tsend Enkhtuvshin, deputy head of Ulan Bator's tourism department, told Xinhua.
"In an effort to attract more tourists by creating a safer environment, we are running the program called "Student Police" in collaboration with Ulan Bator's police department for the sixth year in a row," he added.
The program has helped reduce the tourist-related crime in the capital city, the local police department said.
To diversify its mining-dependent economy, Mongolia has been striving to develop tourism in recent years. Official data showed the East Asian country received 529,370 foreign tourists in 2018, up 11 percent from the previous year, while earning over 596 million U.S. dollars, an increase of 29.6 percent.
Mongolia has set a goal of attracting 1 million foreign tourists and earning 1 billion dollars in tourism revenues by 2020.