Based on people’s subjective viewpoint, tour guiding is considered a rewarding job because as a tour guide, you will be able to go everywhere without spending money, have an attractive salary and always shine with a smile on their face. Besides, tour guiding is one among the top of long-term, sustainable and promising professions in the future.
Tour Guiding is not for those who are not sociable, whose soul is not open or like to rest and stay idle, it is the job with trips, from north to south. This is a tough and high pressure job. Not only does it require many qualities such as knowledge, foreign languages, aptitude, health, experience, passion, but also when becoming a tour guide,you have to accept a stressful job with a spontaneous timetable. The job also requires you to have a great knowledge of geography, culture and history of your country as well as other countries and update related information regularly; as well as the ability to handle unexpected problems arise, etc.
A challenging job
Not only can you go here and there, admire the beauty of all regions, be exposed to many civilizations in the world, stay in “multi-star” hotels, Tour guides are also free to express themselves because they are always the center of a group’s attention. However, those who become a tour guide only to seek for the above rewarding aspect will never be able to stay with the profession, because while tourists can relax, admire the scenery and immerse in nature, the tour guide has to work restlessly to keep things moving as scheduled. They have to be able to share their understanding of the destination in a lively and interesting way, to please all tourist’s needs as well as to keep the atmosphere always vibrant and sociable at the same time. Tour guides cannot rest when tired and even have to work harder to maintain the positive atmosphere as the closer to the end of the visit, the more tired the tourists are. After a long day of walking and talking continuously, in the evening, the tour guide has to prioritize the group’s food and rest. The accommodation for tour guides depends on tour allowance/budget and usually high-end hotels are for tourists only. Those are just constant struggles, tour guides must always be ready to deal with uncertainties, from broken cars, broken roads, weather changes that distort the route, and handle them decisively and sharply.
Bang for one’s buck!
The challenges a tour guide faced can be seen as the motivation to nurture their passion for tour guides to nurture their passion. The stressful working environment forces the guide to constantly practice. The more tours led, the more tour guides accumulate “job experience” and practice their ingenuity, confidence, boldness in communication , etc.
Currently, our country’s tourism industry has a human resources shortage, learners studying this major do not worry about unemployment, but they have to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills, constantly explore and learn, accumulate personal experience to be more sensible and able to respond promptly to all situations. In addition, they must pay attention to physical training and must accept and not be afraid of challenges. In fact, there are a lot of male tour guides, but the majority of learners studying this profession are female.
To become a Tour Guide
To become a Tour Guide, you must first take part in the entrance exam with group D subjects (including Mathematics, Literature, and Foreign Language) of an institution in tourism, and you must study these subjects well. When you enter the University or College of Tourism, you need to study a lot of subjects, and must be able to speak or represent well. Therefore, you need to have a good vocabulary, a good foreign language and a deep understanding of the destinations. At the beginning of the tourist season, travel agencies often come to the institution that provides training in tourism to recruit students who are eligible to meet their requirements for tour guiding. This demand is increasing, and results in the foundation of the agencies specialized in employing freelancers.
Currently, there is an increasing number of tourists in big cities and tourist attractions (spiritual tourism, beach resort, etc). This will be the hottest job in the coming years – with a growing trend. Many companies with different types of services are constantly opening such as:
– Tours organization
– Touring cars organization
– Ticket sales, hotel reservations
Advice: Young people who major in tourism and want to become a tour guide, please refer to Sam Son Hotels websites (You can contact these hotels to practice tours, every year there are thousands of people making online reservations through this portal!)
Will you take the challenge?
There is the fact that only a few large companies can afford a team of full-time professional tour guides, most of the travel and tourism companies only deploy 3-5 operators on duty at the office, so the team of freelance tour guides is commonly used. During the high season, some companies employ up to 20-30 freelancers regularly. However, with limited knowledge and experience, student freelancers are only employed to participate in Domestic Tours and City Tours such as guiding students on a tour, guiding companies and businesses on their vacation, etc. This is not only an opportunity for many students to try their hand at the job, but also an opportunity to earn a significant additional income.
Accumulate job experience
The more you go on tour, the more experience you’ll accumulate, especially in ingenuity and boldless in communication, or how to make jokes and tell funny stories to dispel tiredness and stress for guests; or simply distinguish how VAT invoices are different from regular payment invoices, etc.Gathering experience after each trip is essential to continue a new trip. With their youth and fearlessness of challenges, the young people have equipped themselves with courage and confidence to follow the path they have chosen, etc.
Lack of highly qualified human resources
Only in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, human resources for tourism, especially those with university degrees, are still quite modest. According to the investigation results of the Department, the city currently has nearly 300 travel businesses, but only 1,746 international tour guides have been granted official tour guide ID cards to work. Most of these tour guides speak English while there is a serious shortage of tour guides of other foreign languages. Even the whole city has only 30 guides using languages, such as Korean, Italian, Spanish, Indonesian, etc.
TIKTOK