Businesswoman Vu Quynh Anh, CEO of Hoang Minh Travel and Trading Services Joint Stock Company (Hoang Minh Travel), is not a person who likes to be idle. She dared to give up many promotion opportunities in state-owned enterprises , along with a dream income, to start her own business, become CEO of Hoang Minh Travel - the leading travel agency specializing in tailor-made groups in Vietnam and live a meaningful life.
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| Businesswoman Vu Quynh Anh, CEO of Hoang Minh Travel. |
I was born to do marketing and tourism.
The conversation with CEO Vu Quynh Anh took place at a coffee shop in Hanoi's Old Quarter, one day in late April. Enjoying a cup of aromatic coffee, watching international tourists leisurely explore Hanoi with surprise and curiosity clearly shown on their faces, the businesswoman's eyes sparkled as if she herself was exploring a strange land: "Those foreign tourists must be very excited about the unimaginable things in Hanoi".
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For me, work experience is very important. Every day, I learn from my seniors in the profession, from school and from life. Every failure is a valuable lesson leading to success. 
- CEO Hoang Minh Travel Vu Quynh AnhBorn and raised in the mining land of Quang Ninh, which is also a place blessed by nature with valuable resources for tourism development, in addition to knowledge and marketing skills, CEO Vu Quynh Anh also has a passion and special love for the tourism profession, which, as the businesswoman said, is a "happy profession" that has brought her a meaningful life.
“Every time I take tourists abroad, I get to experience with them the cultural characteristics of new lands. Immersing myself in the aristocratic atmosphere with timeless architectural works in the UK; being satisfied with the luxurious lands in Europe; being overwhelmed by the greatness of the country and people of Russia; enjoying a multi-ethnic society in the US; freely exploring the majestic landscape and massive cultural treasures in China; getting lost in the fantasy world in faraway Africa; being fascinated by the tourism marketing “technology” of Korea; being amazed as if going back to the past of Vietnam in the 1970s in Myanmar… All are unforgettable memories in my life. Every day, I love life more, love customers, love colleagues and cherish the tourism profession,” she shared.
After graduating from the Faculty of Economics , Hanoi National University and studying Korean, Vu Quynh Anh pursued a marketing career at the Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group and studied for an advanced MBA at the National Economics University. The female CEO recalled that in the early 90s of the last century, when the country had just opened up, being good at Korean, she supported state-owned enterprises and departments, branches and sectors on business trips to Korea. After translating and completing the work, she led the delegation to visit Korea. Therefore, the marketing staff and tour guide continuously acquired a lot of knowledge, historical sites and destinations in the "land of kimchi". “My understanding of the country and people of Korea naturally and deeply permeated my being. Thanks to my experiences and doing many similar jobs as an outbound travel agency, when I entered the tourism industry, combined with my expertise and marketing skills, I grasped it very quickly,” she said.
Sharing the opportunity to work in the tourism industry for more than 20 years, CEO Vu Quynh Anh expressed her gratitude to her former boss. Because he advised her to work in tourism because she was very talented. “He said I was dynamic, creative, responsible, and would definitely succeed in the tourism industry. Until now, I am still grateful for his guidance. And it is true as he said, I was born to do marketing and tourism,” she confided.
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| CEO Vu Quynh Anh She is one of the first people to explore the outbound tourism route for Vietnamese tourists to Korea. |
Before working in tourism, CEO Vu Quynh Anh never thought she would be able to set foot in more than 30 countries up to this point and there will be many more in the future. When taking tourists to explore the world, she always worries about how to introduce the country and people of Vietnam to friends around the world. Among them, Korea is the place she has the most affection for. She is also one of the first people to explore the outbound tourism route for Vietnamese tourists to Korea.
“From the opportunity to learn Korean and travel between the two countries many times since Korea did not have an embassy in Vietnam, I realized that Korean people are very affectionate and enthusiastic towards Vietnamese people. From the first time I came to the land of kimchi, I was filled with a feeling of familiarity,” she recalled and commented that the landscape in Korea is not too prominent or famous, but they know how to do tourism, know how to turn the impossible into the possible, know how to communicate to attract international tourists. Tourists coming to Korea spend and shop a lot, bringing in huge revenue and profits from on-site exports. As a marketing expert, the female CEO said: “Korea is one of the best communication countries in the world. Cinema, Kpop, fashion, beauty... help attract tourists very effectively.”
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| Korea is the place CEO Vu Quynh Anh has the most affection for. |
Don't like to be idle, stay in place
As an enthusiastic, creative person who does not like to be idle and stagnant, although she is a promising face, in 2018, at the age of 43, Ms. Vu Quynh Anh still decided to leave the state-owned company and become the CEO of Hoang Minh Travel to realize the ideas she had been nurturing for many years.
With experience in marketing and the strength of handling group tours, meeting the needs of customers with quality tours, CEO Vu Quynh Anh encountered many difficulties in the early days of running a private enterprise. However, thanks to her ability to market and build schedules, organize services according to the needs, even exceeding the expectations of customers, the number of groups cooperating with Hoang Minh Travel is increasing.
The businesswoman commented: “After Covid-19, it is the “time” of MICE tourism”. In recent years, the trend of both group travel and organizing events, conferences, and seminars has been growing and being implemented by many organizations, units, and agencies to serve the development of the unit, while helping to regenerate the labor force of officers and employees. MICE tours (travel combined with conferences, seminars, events, etc.) are not only developing domestically but also abroad, especially tours combined with medical examination and treatment in Singapore, Japan, Korea, China, etc.
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| Sharing about the "happy profession", CEO Vu Quynh Anh said that working in tourism is like taking care of people, so she always keeps in mind that she must live and work with the most heart. |
Currently, for group guests, Hoang Minh Travel will design tours according to the needs of customers, going to many countries, near by in Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Korea, further to Dubai, Europe, America... The reason why the businesswoman prefers to do group tours instead of individual tours is because she can advise and help customers experience the best services, not the cheapest services. "Competing with quality, best meeting the requirements of customers, so partners who have used Hoang Minh Travel's services will become loyal customers and introduce many new customers to the company", the female CEO revealed.
For the businesswoman born in 1975, work experience is very important. “Every day I learn from my seniors in the profession, from school and from life. Every failure is a valuable lesson leading to success,” she shared, adding that although she was born into a family with good economic conditions and is educated, she is not afraid of any job, willing to do the work of a tour guide or a waiter.
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| CEO Vu Quynh Anh's secret to doing business in tourism is to anticipate possible scenarios and accept low profits to minimize losses as much as possible. |
Success is not by luck
She said that retaining group customers, especially those with high demands, is a hundred times more difficult than individual customers. CEO Vu Quynh Anh and Hoang Minh Travel are successful not because of luck but because of their own abilities. “Success starts with the belief that you will do a good job, followed by effort and trying your best. And sincerity and dedication are indispensable. Working in the service industry, you must be careful, meticulous, detailed, reputable, and make every effort to bring the best experiences to customers. When you have tried your best, you will have no regrets,” she affirmed.
Therefore, CEO Vu Quynh Anh said that Hoang Minh Travel's staff are all carefully selected. They are all university graduates or higher, know at least 2 foreign languages, and have good or excellent degrees. The basic salary of employees is over 10 million VND/person/month, not including sales bonuses, and the company pays 100% of the insurance. She believes that each employee's family must have a life without having to worry too much about food and money, then they will be able to focus on their work, be creative, and stay with the company for a long time.
Sharing about her “happy job”, the businesswoman said that working in tourism is like taking care of people, so she always keeps in mind that she must live and work with the most heart. “When I am an employee of a travel company, I not only need to build my personal brand but also protect the brand of that company. When I am a CEO, my personal brand is also the brand and reputation of the business, so I always have to be responsible and dedicated,” she said.
That is why, in the past, when she was working at the Vietnam Coal Tourism and Trading Joint Stock Company, when organizing a tour for a group to Korea, a customer suddenly had a stroke, she decided to go against the regulations, to protect the safety of the customer. She said, according to the regulations, when there is an incident, the tour guide must call the operator to report, then the operator reports to the Department Head, the Department Head reports to the Director for advice. “As an operator, when the situation is critical, asking for advice according to the procedure will take a lot of time, affecting the customer's life, so I decided to transfer the hospital fee, send a local tour guide to take the customer to the hospital, and the Vietnamese tour guide will continue to lead the group according to the schedule. At that time, I just thought, I had to save the customer first, their life is the most important. And I was ready to take responsibility to the company. Later, the tour guide recounted that if he had been a few minutes later, he would not have been able to save the customer. At that time, I felt so happy to have contributed to protecting the customer's safety," she recalled, her eyes unable to hide her emotions.
In tourism, especially in the travel industry, it is difficult to avoid risks from external impacts, so to minimize damage, the female CEO revealed that the secret is to anticipate possible scenarios, accept low profits to minimize damage as much as possible. She said that for groups of tourists going on foreign tours, including using low-cost services as well as 5-star services, Hoang Minh Travel always sends 2 tour guides to serve the group, including 1 Vietnamese tour guide and a local tour guide.
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| Protecting customer safety is always the top priority for CEO Vu Quynh Anh. |
When organizing tours to Con Dao, customers request to experience Hon Bay Canh; tours to Hoi An, customers want to go to Cu Lao Cham, Hoang Minh Travel always discusses with customers very carefully before departure. In case of bad weather, the company will not "force it", try to finish the program but change to another service to ensure the safety of tourists.
CEO Vu Quynh Anh also always advises customers not to buy cheap tickets because of the risks related to changing the date or not going at all, losing everything. If customers want cheap prices, they must commit to problems occurring, customers accept losing the ticket price. Therefore, the Covid-19 epidemic hit, many businesses holding cheap tickets suffered losses, but Hoang Minh Travel did not have to compensate customers at all, but the airline had to do whatever it set out.
She said that in 2020, a group of tourists went to Da Lat and flew back to Hanoi the next day, but today the weather was bad, Cat Bi airport was closed, and it would reopen 3 days later. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 epidemic was complicated, and if social distancing was implemented, it was unknown when the group would be able to return. Therefore, she discussed with the group and worked with Vietnam Airlines to change tickets from Cat Bi airport to Tan Son Nhat airport, because Cam Ranh airport (Nha Trang) was also closed. The whole group woke up at 4 am, traveled from Da Lat to Ho Chi Minh City to fly to Hanoi.
Keep the spirit of unity
As a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam MICE Tourism Club (VMC), CEO Vu Quynh Anh said that according to statistics from the General Department of Tourism, revenue from MICE brings in 4-6 times more value than revenue from other types of tourism, due to the specific nature and standard services that MICE requires. A recent survey by VMC with Vietnamese customers shows that 25-40% of an organization's employees are sent on regular business trips as individuals and groups. Each large organization or enterprise usually has the need to use MICE services about 3 times a year, which is to organize business and project launches at the beginning of the year; organize a company trip combined with collective game activities in the middle of the year and organize a business summary - reward at the end of the year.
“The effect that MICE brings is not only the revenue of specific partners, but also the opportunity to promote and market well for tourist destinations. This is a great source of profit for Vietnam to focus on developing MICE into a strong industry,” said the female CEO, and commented that over the past 5 years, thanks to the modern investment in infrastructure and technical facilities, Vietnam's MICE tourism has been able to develop rapidly. However, the demand and potential of this type is huge, but Vietnam has only exploited a small part.
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| CEO Vu Quynh Anh is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam MICE Tourism Club (VMC). |
CEO Vu Quynh Anh believes that in order to exploit the “gold mine” of MICE tourism, it is necessary to continue to invest in systematic and large-scale infrastructure. Vietnam currently has many 5-star hotels, but the number of rooms and meeting room capacity is limited; not many convention and exhibition centers can meet the requirements of organizing events for large groups of guests, with a scale of several thousand people. Developing human resources for MICE tourism, enhancing qualifications, skills and service attitudes, and ensuring professionalism in customer service needs to be focused on.
“It is time for businesses to connect more closely with each other and local authorities to build new competitive products, promote strengths from tourism promotion to serving large numbers of visitors through MICE. Because in the opposite direction, MICE is also opening up investment space and greater opportunities for businesses,” CEO Vu Quynh Anh emphasized.
The female CEO believes that the Covid-19 pandemic has taught tourism workers a lesson not to be subjective, everything needs to be carefully calculated, thoughtful and flexible. Covid-19 has caused heavy damage to the green economy, but it is a test for tourism service businesses to bond, understand and share more with each other. Ministries, departments, branches and localities are also more closely linked. Press and media agencies also join hands to convey messages for the sustainable development of the tourism industry and the economy. The spirit of solidarity is rising strongly everywhere, like antibodies helping the green economy to quickly recover after being "hit" by Covid-19. "Hoang Minh Travel and I will continue to "tailor" services, refine products, and cherish the health of groups of guests according to orders; maintain the spirit of solidarity, join hands to help Vietnam's green economy recover and develop sustainably", CEO Vu Quynh Anh expressed.
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