Tour guides must be… tough!

Mr. Pham Thien Vu started his career as a tour guide in 1999 after graduating from Saigontourist College, Course I. In 2002, he received a scholarship to study Tourism Management in the Netherlands. He founded the ITE SERVICE travel company in Ho Chi Minh City in 2009. In 2013, he settled in the US and founded VUS LINKS TRAVEL, providing land tours for the Asian and Vietnamese markets. During his career, he has traveled to more than 60 countries, present on all continents in the world.

Mr. Pham Thien Vu - main speaker of the exchange session "Travel - Guide: Luggage and opportunities" organized by the Faculty of Tourism on September 21, 2016

Explaining his burning passion for the job, Mr. Vu said: I love the feeling of conquering and discovering beautiful lands around the world. New spaces, magically beautiful places and interesting cultural customs in different regions give me endless passion. And then at the end of each trip, no amount of fatigue and hardship can stop him from eagerly starting new trips.

Before the concerns about career opportunities of students, Mr. Pham Thien Vu affirmed: a career in the tourism sector has a very promising future, especially in Vietnam. When people have satisfied their basic needs of food and clothing, they will be interested in the need to expand their knowledge. This is an increasingly urgent need and will never stop. This promises that the tourism industry that students are investing in is completely in the right direction.

“To be a tour guide, you have to be… persistent,” Mr. Vu emphasized. Not to mention professional knowledge, but to be a tour guide, you need to forget yourself for the job, not afraid of rain or sun, not afraid of hardships on long journeys. “A tour guide must first and foremost be a service person, but they are also a cultural ambassador,” Mr. Vu said. In Vietnam, many travel companies do not pay attention to the position and role of tour guides, but in the US, this is a highly respected profession. It is not too much to say that the tour guide is the soul of the tour. Because whether customers experience the tour service and receive cultural and historical knowledge in each region is complete and satisfactory or not depends on direct interaction with the tour guide.

A good tour guide needs both extensive knowledge of culture and history of regions and professional skills. “Knowledge and English are the two things that help us succeed” - that was Mr. Vu's mindset from the first days he got acquainted with the profession. Mr. Vu could confidently communicate with foreigners when he was only 15 years old. He can use English fluently for many different activities, from communication, chatting to singing. He loves reading books, especially books about history, culture, politics and considers it a valuable investment for his career and future. Thanks to that, he can talk for hours about Hanoi culture, or can explain in depth about the Indian culture of eating with hands. Mr. Vu has traveled to all states of the US and is extremely familiar with famous European landmarks, even more than the locals.

One of the secrets to Pham Thien Vu's success and appeal as a tour guide is that he has many talents and excellent professional skills. All of these are due to his efforts to learn and practice. He can speak the accents of all three regions of Vietnam, knows how to cook and has served in restaurants abroad, and studied at Ho Chi Minh City College of Art... It is from his love for cuisine that he has successfully connected with tourists from many regions around the world, promoting Vietnamese cuisine to international friends. As a bridge between tourists and locals, a tour guide must understand local culture; understand customer psychology; know how to present impressively and attractively; know how to plan and flexibly solve problems that arise during the trip...

The speaker’s advice for students majoring in Tourism is to always be curious, observant, eager to learn and always prepare thoroughly before each trip. To compete in the current tourism labor market, each person needs to “know themselves, know others”, be aware of their strengths and weaknesses in order to be able to market themselves well, be quick to find “gaps” in the market and create breakthrough development opportunities when the opportunity arises.

Above all, what makes a tour guide successful in his profession? Without hesitation, Mr. Vu said: it is passion for the profession, sincerity in relationships, dedication to customers and awareness of maintaining one's own image. The speaker ended his speech with practical advice for young people: put aside all fears and self-doubts in your heart, dare to commit and try your best to become a real tour guide.