Many localities across Viet Nam are at risk of a shortage of tour guides after the domestic tourism has rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the summer. However, Da Nang has not much affected by this crisis as most tour guides have returned to work despite their hard and unstable work.

A tour guide (middle) is introducing tourists to the Hoa Phu Thanh Tourist Area in Hoa Vang District. Photo: D.H.L

No shortage of tour guides

Mr Vo Van Anh, the Chairman of the Da Nang Tourist Guides' Association said that the city’s tourism industry is gradually recovering from the pandemic crisis. In generally, there is no shortage of tour guides in the city while the hotel sector is facing worker shortages because many employees in this sector switched jobs during the pandemic.

“No shortage of tourist guides in the city is attributed to many tourism graduates for the jobs available in the industry and with economic recovery as well as returning tour guides to work after changing their career and moving to other fields as real estate or life insurance salespeople during the pamdemic. Besides, foreign language tourist guides can take on the job of leading domestic tourists on local tours to places of interest", said Mr Vo Van Anh.

The Da Nang Tourist Guides' Association now has more than 4,100 members, including around 2,000 English speaking guides. Viet Nam has seen a signficant increase in international tourist arrivals from Asian countries in recent years, including Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and China but there is still no shortage of guides in such languages in the city. However, Da Nang is experiencing a bit lacking in French and German speaking tour guides as most of them are older people due to lower than expected results in training for such languages at local universities, leading to not meet the demand for such tour guides.

A number of universities in Da Nang have cooperated with foreign schools to help their students to seek opportunities to study abroad as well as explore their local cultures in a bid to improve their practical skills.

On June 24, the Da Nang University of Foreign Languages ​worked with the Internship Japan to faciliate its students to get paid internship and work in Okinawa City.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Van Long, the University’s Vice Rector said that the school will continue to coordinate with the Internship Japan to increase practical access opportunities for its students. Meanwhile, the Asian languages programs at the Dong A University which offer Chinese, Japanese and South Korean languages help trainees attain proficiency in these languages and gain a deep understanding of cultures in these countries.  In addition, the school gives its students practice opportunities at companies where their trained Asian languages are used. As a result, the school’s graduates find it easier to seek a suitable job, especially in the tourism industry as they meet their recruiters’ requirements.

Tour guides at high risk of being lost their jobs to more qualified ones

There are no specific requirements to become a tour guide, as skills are gained while working. However, tour guides face a higher risk of being lost their jobs to more qualitifed ones.

Mr Nguyen Ngoc Anh, the Chairman of the Da Nang Travel Association, said that tourists now take not only classic tours but also new ones to explore new tourist attractions. Hence, the city is in need of qualified and experienced guides.

In fact, domestic tourists donot want to listen to presentations of tourist attractions where they visit as they prefer to take pictures of these places and explore and experience the beauty of these places in their own personal preferences. Therefore, deep knowledge of tourist attractions are not required for such tour guides but they need to respond appropriately to diverse situations, while they must be equipped with the necessary soft skills, including singing, reading poetry, and storytelling to entertain tourists. This provides a chance for fresh graduates from the city’s tourism schools to become tour guides for domestic tourists.

However, tour guides for foreigners need to have a good knowledge of local history, culture and traditions as well as features of local tourist attractions. They must inform, interpret, educate, interact and communicate with international tourists about the destination, its history, culture, and nature in an effective, entertaining and interesting interpretive ways. They must satisfy international visitors by helping them comprehend the tourist destination, eventually satisfying tourist expectations, depending their needs.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG – Translating by H.L