The Bali chapter of the Indonesian Tourist Guide Association (HPI) has resumed its guide certification program in response to an increase in the number of tourists from non-English-speaking countries, an official said.

Registration for the current round of certification will be open from Dec. 29 to Jan. 20. The HPI hopes to find more qualified guides who are able to speak Russian, Korean and Chinese.

“We are lacking guides who can speak Russian, Mandarin and Korean, while the number of tourists from these countries has increased,” head of the Bali chapter of the HPI, Made Sukadana, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

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Preliminary vote counting Monday in the Gianyar election had Tjokorda Oka Ardhana Sukawati with a slight lead over incumbent regent A.A. Gde Agung Bharata, with 50.72 percent of the total votes.

Ardhana is backed by the Golkar Party and the Gianyar People’s Coalition (KRG), while Bharata is supported by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which holds nearly half the seats in the regency’s legislative body.

Bharata won the vote in Gianyar district, his main stronghold, as he comes from the Gianyar royal family, with 30,524 votes compared to 19,902 votes received by Ardhana.

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