Language barriers and cultural differences are inevitable when traveling from one country to another. However, not everyone understands that traveling is not simply “packing up and going”, setting foot in a new country, people will look at the behavior of individuals to evaluate the homeland they live in. On the contrary, the image of the local people is a core factor, contributing to building the local tourism brand in the eyes of international friends.
Recently, a short clip titled “selling 3 medium-sized pineapples for 500,000 VND to foreign customers” has caused a stir on social networks. In the clip, when negotiations failed, a female tourist threw Ms. NTT’s goods to the ground. Hearing the argument, many people around rushed to stop it, asking Ms. T. to return the money. The truth is unclear, but thousands of people have condemned and criticized the seller. When the authorities intervened and verified that the above information was incorrect, people learned that the root cause of the incident was largely due to language barriers, leading to disagreements between buyers and sellers.
The above story shows that, when faced with an event, especially conflicts in the process of providing services, society needs to have an objective and impartial view when evaluating a certain subject. Particularly for the tourism industry, to build a civilized operating environment, it is necessary to achieve harmony between the voices and interests of the indigenous community and international tourists.
The difficulty of people working in tourism services
For a long time, when talking about service work in the tourism environment, many people often think of negative things such as "ripping off" customers or overcharging during peak season. However, it is hard to deny that service work is inherently "serving a hundred families" and tourism and travel businesses have been and are facing many difficulties. In our country, one of the factors that contribute to these difficulties comes from the prejudices of Vietnamese people towards Vietnamese people.
Looking back at the truth of the story of selling 3 pineapples for 500,000 VND on Hanoi's Old Quarter, Mr. Phung Quang Thang, Permanent Vice Chairman Vietnam Tourism Association commented: “Currently, the rapid transmission of information brings both advantages and disadvantages. Many people do not have time to understand the beginning and end of the incident and rush to make assumptions and assign blame. When the authorities intervene, they do not care about the results and causes. For the tourism industry, this can seriously affect the operating environment and damage the Vietnamese tourism brand in the eyes of international friends.”
In just a few months, there have been many cases of tourists being overcharged when selling apples and donuts in the same area of Hanoi’s Old Quarter. People have not yet calmed down when the above information has appeared, causing everyone to tend to equate and immediately push the reaction to a climax even though it has not been verified. This series of incidents can create a chain reaction, negatively affecting the image of the local destination. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Hanh |
Obviously, the final decision of civil cases is made by the authorities. Only when there is a valid conclusion, each individual and group should clearly express their attitude and make appropriate assessments. Lack of calm in processing information and hastily sharing inaccurate images can have unpredictable consequences for the tourism system of the whole country.
Considering from another perspective, Master Vu Thanh Ngoc, lecturer School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Arts (Hanoi National University) said: “The public’s strong reaction to the seller is a predictable psychological development. In the 4.0 era, social networks have become popular and widespread, anyone can be a critic, a media leader. In addition, the crowd mentality makes few people dare to express their opinions in a counter-argumentative direction for fear of being criticized.”
Explaining the above phenomenon, Master Vu Thanh Ngoc further analyzed that the fruit sellers were immediately judged to have overcharged tourists, partly based on similar incidents that had occurred. And they had been the focus of discussions and were condemned in the newspapers for a long time. So with that much data, reality was distorted, public opinion was oriented: the sellers in the old town always "cut and rip off", and foreign tourists were not wrong.
Sharing the same view, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Van Hanh, Director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism Research and Development at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Ho Chi Minh City National University) shared: “In just a few months, there have been many consecutive cases of overcharging tourists when selling apples and donuts in the same area of Hanoi's Old Quarter. People have not yet calmed down when the above information appeared, causing everyone to tend to equate and immediately push the reaction to a climax even though it has not been verified. This series of incidents can create a chain reaction, causing the image of the local destination to be negatively affected.”
It is not difficult to realize that the rapid spread of unauthentic information has deepened prejudices against those working in the tourism industry. This situation has led to the phenomenon of Vietnamese people lacking trust in those working in domestic tourism, while international visitors may be skeptical when using services in Vietnam.
Requires all parties to act responsibly
In fact, since 2017, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a Code of Conduct for Civilized Tourism, which clearly stipulates the behavior, attitude, habits and manners of organizations and individuals when participating in activities in this industry. The subjects that need to comply here are not only Vietnamese people traveling domestically and internationally but also foreigners coming to our country.
Accordingly, the rules of conduct for organizations and individuals doing business in this field are clearly mentioned as: complying with local laws and regulations in tourism business; publicly posting and selling services at the right price; honestly consulting on products and services provided to customers; competing fairly, behaving properly, friendly and responsible; not soliciting, clinging to or pressuring customers; not having discriminatory behaviors or attitudes towards tourists...
As for tourists, the Code requires tourists to be civilized, self-respecting and responsible when participating in tourism activities. They need to comply with regulations, respect cultural differences and local communities; behave in a civilized, friendly manner, and have healthy entertainment...
Conflicts in tourism services have different contexts and causes. Many countries in the world have been flexible in coming up with appropriate policies and solutions. For Vietnam, more specific principles and regulations are needed for international visitors to build a truly civilized tourism environment, achieving a balance of interests between service providers and beneficiaries. Permanent Vice President of Vietnam Tourism Association Phung Quang Thang |
However, these regulations will only be effective if there is synchronous participation from relevant levels and sectors, along with the cooperation of businesses, tourism, culinary, transportation, shopping service providers, and the awareness of tourists and local communities.
Master Vu Thanh Ngoc, lecturer at the School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Arts (Hanoi National University) shared: “In the process of training human resources for the tourism industry, the teaching staff always emphasizes the key issue: tourism is to meet all legitimate needs of customers. Therefore, those working in this field must learn to be alert when accepting the problem, harmonizing many factors: tourists, local people, service businesses and destinations”.
According to records, foreign tourists come to Vietnam in two forms: group experiences and independent travel. For those who travel in groups, they often use the services of travel agencies, complying with the regulations set by the company and tour guides. Their rights are also protected, and they are informed about their responsibilities and experiences to minimize unnecessary risks during the tour.
As for those who travel alone, without using a service to avoid costs, they often rely on reviews on social networking sites and are quite wary of locals. Most of the time, travel incidents also occur in this group.
According to Mr. Phung Quang Thang, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association, tourism is a service that requires sophistication, helping beneficiaries to have a comfortable, happy and satisfied state of mind. Service providers must try to "please the guests when they come, satisfy the guests when they go". Therefore, they need to be patient to guide and support customers, avoiding conflicts between the local community and tourists. This is also a way to build a good image for the national destination.
Each locality has its own unique culture, language and community. The key to civilized tourism is to respect local culture and stay calm if there are disagreements or conflicts with service providers. At the same time, always keep an objective attitude towards multi-dimensional information. Above all, before exploring a new land, individuals need to thoroughly understand the regulations and customs. |
“Conflicts in tourism services have different contexts and causes. Many countries in the world have been flexible in coming up with appropriate policies and solutions. For Vietnam, more specific principles and regulations are needed for international visitors to build a truly civilized tourism environment, achieving a balance between the interests of both service providers and beneficiaries,” Mr. Phung Quang Thang added.
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