SA TOURS' Jason Ang is used to attention.

At travel fairs, middle-aged women will point at the tour leader from afar,then come up to him and say: "Oh, so you are that Jason Ang. I've heard so much about you."

Mr Ang, 38, has been in the travel business for 15 years and has led close to3,000 people on packaged tours overseas. He specialises in trips to Europe. He studied economics and management in a Pre-University centre but never considered a career in the finance world. "I always knew I would join theairline or tourism industry," he says. "When I was young, I loved to read anything and everything I could about travel. I also knew I did not want a deskbound job."

When he was 18, he took part in a TV trivia game show organised by the then Singapore Broadcasting Corporation, which tested him on a pet topic. He chose to answer questions related to tourism and walked away with $1,000 cash, the top prize.

He joined travel agency Namho Travel Services after his national service where he learnt about travel reservation systems and the finer points of customer service.

A few months later, he joined SA Tours. When it made a call for unmarried staff willing to go on long-haul journeys to Europe, he seized the opportunity.Now an assistant manager of outbound tours, Mr Ang, who is bilingual, leads about 10 groups to Europe a year. When he is not travelling, he handles sales at the office.

Despite his seniority, he makes it a point to update himself on European destinations. About 60 reference books line his bookshelves at home and he surfs the Internet to check on developments.

His fans range from young couples to middle-aged women and senior citizens.Some even wait at his office to buy him dinner or drinks.

The personable bachelor obliges when he can but won't date ex-customers. "I can go drinking with them, but beyond that, it's too sensitive," he says. "People do buy me little presents but usually I just let the relationship die if I feel uncomfortable."

He thrives on the crises that can occur during a trip.

When a passenger came down with acute gastric pains in Monte Carlo, he braved heavy rain to find a pharmacy that would prescribe medication.

"I was in my shorts and it was raining cats and dogs," he recalls. "But the next day, the passenger recovered and I had this warm feeling inside."