The heartache of the guides who can’t return to their profession

The profession of tour guide (HDV) has been a dream since his student days VT Tung (Hanoi). When entering the profession in 2016, Mr. Tung set himself a route to stick with the profession: starting with simple tours, then striving to lead high-class tours, VIP groups and then take guests abroad from the nearest market. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced VTVT tour guides and many workers to leave the tourism industry, temporarily or permanently.

According to the report of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Covid-19 epidemic has caused the tour guide team to live in a precarious situation due to little work and unemployment; Many tour guides have to switch to temporary jobs such as driving motorbike taxis, delivering goods, selling insurance, consulting real estate…

“Former tour guide” VTNhung moved to a new job about 10 months ago. Photo: VTVT

“Former tour guide” VT Tung said that insurance or real estate consulting has many similarities with the tour guide profession, so many HDVs choose this job while the tourism industry is “paralysed”. Mr. Tung said: “Every tour guide has good presentation skills, skills to convey information and arouse joy for customers. There are many colleagues of mine who choose insurance to wait for tourism to return, but I myself decided to switch to this profession for a long time”.

Sharing with a VOV.VN reporter about the reason for quitting tourism, Mr. Tung recounted how the Covid-19 period caused him to fall into unemployment, his family faced many difficulties, so he had to start a small online business in the hope of traveling. Schedule back soon. However, the pandemic lasted, so he decided “to find work that is less vulnerable than tourism, able to work in any volatile context or period”.

“I chose the job of training for insurance sellers. During the Covid-19 epidemic, not only HDVs but a lot of people who lost their jobs chose the profession of selling insurance, while the trainers were lacking. Health and insurance Even after the epidemic, the society has paid more attention to danger. Thanks to my skills after many years of working as a tour guide, I quickly adapted to the new job,” said Mr. Tung.

Russian guests returned to Khanh Hoa from November 2021, but were absent from the end of March 2022. Source: Anex

Unlike Mr. Tung, Mr. BVKh (Khanh Hoa) is a tour guide specializing in serving Russian-speaking guests in Nha Trang. After about a year and a half of losing his job due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Quite returned to work from November 2021 but continued to be unemployed at the end of March 2022 due to the absence of Russian guests. In the past few months, Mr. Kha has returned to a seasonal job such as when tourism “freezes”, which is an interpreter, delivery person, supermarket worker… According to Mr. Kha, there are about 40 Russian-language guides in Nha Trang. , but now they all go to do other jobs such as real estate, motorbike taxis, security guards, accessories…

“I entered the profession from 2009, until March 2020, I was unemployed because of the Covid-19 epidemic. After working for a few months, now I quit, I don’t know when I will have Russian guests back. However, I still hope I hope to return to the job of a guide, because Russian has been attached to me, but I’m blood related, and now it’s difficult to find another job” – Mr. Quite shared.

While the tourism boom has caused a serious shortage of tour guides in many places, Mr. Tung and Mr. Quite both have their own concerns and are also happy that their colleagues “cannot do all the work” this summer. Mr. Le Hong Thai – Deputy Director of Hanoitourist Travel Company said that now the tour guide team who regularly collaborates with this company has lost about 30% compared to before the Covid-19 epidemic. The reason is that many people have left Hanoi to return to their hometown, have switched to another profession or are not ready to return, because the tourism industry is still quite precarious.

Tung said he still misses the tourism profession, but not only he but many former colleagues have not returned to work as tour guides, some have even promoted to a management position in other fields: The trend of self-organizing tours, buying travel services and products online is growing strongly, so the role of travel agencies and tour guides may be blurred in the future. The final event of the tourism industry, while now this pandemic has not ended. So I am confident with my decision to switch, and have a clear career direction with my current job.”

According to the guide’s share, the specialty of the tour guide profession is that they often go away from home, if at peak times, they can only go home for a few days a month. Away from family, health damage, so many HDVs determined to only do this job at a young age, then withdrew to work as a manager or accumulate to open their own company. Tung said the Covid-19 pandemic made many tour guides realize “it’s time to stop” to switch to a more suitable position and job. Having been with the new job for about 10 months, Mr. Tung has had a clear direction, with many ambitions and goals to strive for.

“Seeing my colleagues return to the profession, I am very happy for them. But for me at this time, returning to be an HDV is no different from returning to the starting line” – Mr. Tung shared.