(Dan Tri) - After a period of leading tours, Phuc realized that foreign tourists really like experiential activities, so taking them to work in the fields, pick vegetables or ride buffaloes all leave interesting impressions on them.
Self-study foreign languages to become a tour guide
" Traveling for vacation is so strange, coming to Vietnam turns out to be farming and harvesting rice."
Do Ngoc Phuc humorously spoke to foreign guests in Spanish, making many people laugh. Listening to the 25-year-old man's fluent communication, few people knew that he learned the foreign language on his own to become a tour guide, without going to any school.
Phuc took guests on a tour of Hanoi streets.
Originally studying at the Faculty of Tourism and Travel Services Management of the University of Commerce (Hanoi), Phuc initially chose the major by chance, not knowing where his interests lay. During his student years, Phuc did all kinds of jobs from serving in restaurants, coffee shops to teaching assistant at an English center. The more he worked, the more the young man from Khoai Chau, Hung Yen , felt that it was not suitable.
In his second year of university, because he didn't know any English, Phuc boldly joined a club that led free tours for foreign tourists to practice his language. Gradually, he became more interested in this job because it gave him a feeling of freedom and comfort, not as constrained as working in an office.
When he was confident enough in the language, Phuc took on small tours such as motorbike rides or introducing cuisine around Hanoi to increase his income. Not long after graduating, his unfinished dream was put on hold due to Covid-19, the young man had to stay at home for a while.
Young man finds passion in being a tour guide.
In his spare time, he tried to learn Spanish by himself because he found the pronunciation easier than French and Italian. Over a year later, he took the Dele B2 certificate exam from the Cervantes Institute in Spain.
Luckily, when he got his certificate, tourism reopened, and Phuc gradually started to switch from guiding English-speaking tourists to the Spanish market. In addition to these two foreign languages, he is also learning Portuguese because he sees that the market for tourists using this language is also very potential.
He has been leading tours since his third year of university and now has about 5 years of experience. At first, Phuc only traveled around Hanoi. Then, he gradually expanded to locations in the North and Central regions such as Ninh Binh, Sapa, Ha Giang and to Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An.
Take guests to harvest rice, pick vegetables, and drink apple wine
As a freelance tour guide with a full license, Phuc is currently working with many travel companies. Each company has its own schedule to take customers to their destination. However, how to introduce and share with foreign customers is up to the tour guide's creativity.
After a period of leading tours, the young man from Hung Yen realized that, in the traditional way, tour guides simply convey historical and cultural knowledge to visitors and take them to places with beautiful scenery. But this way of doing things is no longer new.
Learning from the experiences of his predecessors, Phuc realized that new experiences are what remain in the hearts of tourists after each trip. That is why, on each tour, he tries to find some random activity for guests to experience.
First time touching a buffalo in real life.
"Many foreign visitors really like to experience the daily life of Vietnamese people such as farming, harvesting rice, and picking vegetables. Some people only live in the city and have never seen a buffalo or a banana tree in real life, so when I share these practical things, they are very excited.
Visitors also want to touch the thick and thin buffalo skin and wade through the rice fields. At first, most people were a bit shy, but with the encouragement of the tour guide and the locals, they really liked it," Phuc recounted.
Phuc's family hosted an intimate meal for a group of foreign guests. Mr. Enrique C.
anelles Corell, 41, was excited to experience something new. It was the first time he had threshed rice and cut grass with the locals, so the tourist from Spain was very excited.
"In Vietnam, I had new experiences that are hard to find anywhere else in the world. Before that, Phuc took me to drink Hanoi draft beer, which was very fresh and delicious at a cheap price. And on the trip to Mai Chau, we visited traditional houses and talked with friendly locals to better understand their lives. These were all memorable experiences," Enrique happily said.
Experience food at a market.
Most of the activities that guests experience are in rural areas or villages in Lao Chai, Ta Van (Sapa). Here, most of the ethnic minorities are farmers, so it is not difficult to find spontaneous activities for guests to participate in.
"Once when I arrived in Sapa, the car stopped at an area where farmers were cutting grass and threshing rice. I got out and talked to them. The people were very friendly and enthusiastically instructed the foreign group on how to do it.
I only play the role of a language transmitter to connect. Through these experiences, international visitors can better understand the lives of Vietnamese people, appreciate the labor involved in making each grain of rice, and have beautiful memories when returning home," Phuc shared.
The Spanish guest was excited about the new experience (Photo cut from clip).
Meanwhile, Christian Galvis Ariza, 41 years old, cannot forget the taste of "apple meow meow" (a funny way of calling apple cider).
"The taste of this wine is delicious. I really like the way of making wine by hand and enjoying it like a local. The experience in Vietnam is great," commented the Spanish guest.
In Hanoi, there are few farming experiences, so Phuc takes guests to visit the streets, winding around small alleys, experiencing local markets or visiting temples and pagodas.
Phuc took a group of foreign tourists to experience the streets of Hanoi and showed them how to choose fresh fruits and foods.
"This is an opportunity for me to tell guests about Vietnamese culture and beliefs. Guests are guided on how to burn incense, pray to Buddha, and learn about how people buy and sell in traditional markets," he said.
Income increases 2-3 times thanks to multilingualism
In the post-Covid-19 period, tourism in Vietnam in particular and the world in general is showing signs of recovery, but personally, Phuc noticed that the number of international visitors is not as high as before.
"Tourists spend more sparingly, not as freely as before. Many travel companies compete with each other by lowering product prices, so the income of tour guides tends to decrease," Phuc commented.
Being a tour guide brings Phuc many new friends from many countries.
However, with the advantage of Spanish, Phuc is quite confident in his ability and customer market. During peak periods, he has a full work schedule every month. When he has more free time, he works from 20 to 25 days a month. With such a working frequency, Phuc still ensures that his income does not decrease, even doubling compared to before.
"Compared to the time I worked as an English tour guide, Spanish is now bringing me a good income. Peak months can be three times more. I really hope the world stabilizes again so that the tourism industry can continue to develop, thereby making people's lives better," Phuc confided.
Photo: Do Ngoc Phuc
Dantri.com.vn
Comment (0)