It was 10.30 pm when Pham Quang, a domestic tour guide, finished his dinner and shower. He had just completed a tour to Ninh Binh. 

Quang said as the tour finished early, he would have time to rest before he departed for Ha Long Bay the next morning. Sometimes tours finish at midnight and he has only several hours to sleep.

According to Quang, the number of tours has increased since March 2022, especially during the April-May holiday, and is expected to soar in summer. He works all days of the week, from morning to midnight. On ordinary days, Quang goes with students to do sightseeing and picnicking. On weekends, he goes with travelers.

Quang said he feels lucky as he can come back to work after two years of staying at home and support his mother’s food shop.

“The pay is not higher than that of pre-pandemic time, and I am as busy as a bee, but I am happy as I can return to work,” he said.

According to Quang, travel firms are seriously lacking domestic tour guides. Some former tour guides have returned after they shifted to other business and the income from the new jobs was not attractive. Meanwhile, many tour guides have left permanently.

In tour guides’ forums and chat groups, the lack of domestic tour guides is a hot topic. Travel firms are seeking new workers in anticipation of the tourism boom in summer.

Doan Tuan from Hanoi Toserco affirmed that all travel firms are facing the tour guide shortage. Because of the pandemic, many tour guides have shifted to other business, while the number of tour guides returning to work is modest. Meanwhile, the number of travelers has soared by 200-300 percent.

In tour guides’ forums, one can read a lot of advertisements on job vacancy which say travel firms accept first-year and second-year students with no tour guide card as well.  For every one major tour guide with practicing card taking care for three buses of travelers, there should be two students who act as assistants. On weekend, even tour operators are also ready to go.

It’s now very difficult these days to recruit tour guides in large quantities (15-20 guides at once), with practicing cards. Even when successfully recruiting tour guides, travel firms dare not assign tasks to them as they are not sure about the quality of the guides.

Tuan explains that tour guides did not work in the last two years, therefore, their knowledge and skills have lost. Meanwhile, travel firms need tour guides urgently. The quality of fourth-year students or new graduates is not equal and they lack experience. Therefore, travel firms have to organize training courses for these tour guides.

Training

A report showed that before the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam had 26,700 tour guides who had practicing cards, including 16,965 guides for international tours, 8,743 for domestic tours and 1,000 guides at destination points. Since the pandemic broke out, 90 percent of tour guides left for other business.

Nguyen Van Tai, CEO of Vietsense Travel, said though he was warned about the labor shortage when the pandemic ends, he could not imagine that the shortage would be so serious at this moment.

Meanwhile, Tuan said that the tour guide shortage would last until the end of this year or early the next year.

According to Tai, this is because the number of in-out tours is not as high as domestic tours. Meanwhile, in-out tour guides have better income than domestic tours because they can receive commissions when travelers buy goods and tips. 

In general, foreign travelers go in small groups, while domestic travelers usually go in big groups. Domestic tour guides not only have to provide information and explanations to travelers, but they also have to organize performances and games.

“In other words, domestic tour guides have to work harder, while their incomes are lower, therefore, they tend to shift to work for in-out tours when they have more experience,” he explained.

In a forum of northern tour guides, K, a Chinese-speaking tour guide, is consulting with people about whether he should come back to work as a tour guide, or continues his current job which brings the income of VND20 million.

In reply, Nguyen Nhu Quynh, an experienced domestic tour guide said K should continue his current jobs and take some tours on weekend. The summer tourism season will not last long and it will end in September.

K is a Chinese speaking tour guide, therefore, he won’t have in-out tours in the immediate time because China still has not reopened its tourism market.

Also according to Quynh, it’s difficult for in-out tour guides to compete with domestic tour guides, because domestic travelers have visited most famous attractions and after Covid-19, they tend to seek original, unfamiliar destination points. Therefore, not all tour guides are confident enough to take tours.

Ngoc Ha