Tour guide training: Need for connection between schools and businesses

(Baonghean) - According to those in the profession, currently in Nghe An, the number of truly reputable tour guides can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This is raising big questions about tour guide training and the quality of tour guides in travel agencies.

Mr. Nguyen Tat Hau - tour guide of Anh Em Travel Company has been in the profession for 10 years, has been a tour guide for many travel agencies and is considered one of the most "hardcore" tour guides in Nghe An today. When asked what factors help a tour guide build his own brand, he only concluded that: As long as you love the job, are passionate and want to conquer it, "you will succeed no matter what".

That said, to have the “brand” of a good tour guide like Mr. Hau, it is not simply a matter of love for the profession. Because after graduating, to improve his skills, he had to learn a lot of things on his own, from foreign languages ​​to many practical skills.

Mr. Hau said: “There were times when the tour was canceled due to traffic jams, and the group could only eat at 3pm, but when I had finished taking care of the guests and sat down to eat, the guests seemed dissatisfied, and blamed me for not liking the meal, and said rude things, which made us unable to swallow even though we were very hungry. However, I still had to explain carefully, and promised to work closely with the kitchen on the next trip. And that is the skill I learned after the trips.”

Tour guide Nguyen Tat Hau (right) guides foreign tourists on a tour of Con Dao.

A tour guide studying at a school that specializes in tourism must learn all the professional subjects of room service - table - bar - reception, food preparation - tour guide - travel, foreign languages... "In addition to the training program according to the regulations of the ministry, the school also has extracurricular programs for students such as field trips and internships at businesses and tourist areas in and outside the country.

In addition, the school also provides students with foreign languages, life skills, and soft skills. However, after graduation, to adapt to the dynamic and innovative service industry environment, students always need to be able to update and accumulate new knowledge and skills, suitable for business needs," said Mr. Phan Dang Truong - Deputy Head of Training Department, Nghe An College of Tourism.

However, what schools with tourism training codes always affirm "after each training course, students can integrate well into the travel environment and can compete with experienced tour guides" is completely unrealistic. Because according to Mr. Ta Khac Uyen - Chairman of Nghe An Tourism Association, there are currently 200 tour guides in Nghe An, but only about 1/3 of them have cards, and only a few dozen people are considered good tour guides, the rest are considered to lack practical experience and especially lack soft skills.

Soft skills, if trained in school, will include: situational response skills, work organization skills, sales skills, and hotel operations. For training facilities that have this class, it is often only taught in a basic, poor way without really allowing students to interact and experience real-life situations. So if it is really considered a practical subject in school, it is not enough.

In addition, to be able to become a good tour guide, students majoring in Tourism need to be trained in at least one rare foreign language at a proficient communication level. However, to train this foreign language requires a time schedule, while most schools only train in English, French, etc.

Mr. Ta Khac Uyen - Chairman of Nghe An Tourism Association said: "Currently, our unit has 6/14 tour guides with cards, but among these 6 tour guides, only a few have rare foreign language certificates (such as Lao, Thai, Korean, etc.) and most of them have to study more after graduation. And although they are professionally trained, most of them are not confident when they go to work. This is also partly due to the training work in schools."

According to Mr. Uyen, "The training in schools with tourism codes and tour guides is still most needed to train practical skills and secondly, it is necessary to train foreign languages ​​​​at standard C (English, French) so that students who want to improve the quality of their tourism degrees and certificates can quickly access international study programs. And the quality of tour guides in the province is also improved thanks to that strategy and solution."

Thanh Nga