1. Who is tour guide?
According to Clause 11, Article 3 of the Law Tourism 2017, tour guide is the person who is issued with a card for tour guiding practice.
2. Tour guides and tour guide cards
- Tour guides include international tour guides, domestic tour guides and on-site tour guides.
- Tour guide’s scope of practice:
+ An international tour guide may guide domestic tourists, inbound tourists outbound tourists;
+ A domestic tour guide may guide domestic tourists who are Vietnamese citizens nationwide;
+ An on-site tour guide may guide tourists within a tourism area and tourist attraction;
- To act as a tour guide, a person shall:
+ Have a tour guide card;
+ For the international tour guide and domestic tour guide, sign an employment contract with the travel service provider, tour guiding service provider or member of the socio-professional organization for tourism.
+ Sign a contract with a travel service provider or obtain an assignment order; for the on-site tour guide, the assignment given by an operator of the tourism area or tourist attraction is required.
- The tour guide card includes international tour guide card, domestic tour guide card and on-site tour guide card.
An international tour guide card and domestic tour guide card is valid for 05 years.
- The fees for assessment and issuance of tour guide cards shall comply with regulations of the law on fees and charges.
(Article 58 of the Law Tourism 2017)
3. Conditions for issuance of the tour guide card in Vietnam
- To obtain the domestic tour guide card, a person shall:
+ Have Vietnamese nationality, reside in Vietnam;
+ Have full legal capacity;
+ Have no contagious diseases and do not use any narcotics;
+ Hold an associate degree or higher in tour guiding; in case of an associate degree or higher in another major, a certificate of training in domestic tour guiding is required.
- To obtain the international tour guide card, a person shall:
+ Satisfy the conditions prescribed in Points a, b and c, Clause 1 of Article 59 of the Law Tourism 2017;
+ Hold a college degree or higher in tour guiding; in case of a college degree or higher in another major, a certificate of training in domestic tour guiding is required;
+ Have a good command of the foreign language registered.
- Conditions for issuance of on-site tour guide cards:
+ Satisfy the conditions prescribed in Points a, b and c, Clause 1 of Article 59 of the Law Tourism 2017;
+ Pass the on-site tour guiding examination hold by a tourism authority of the province.
(Article 59 of the Law Tourism 2017)
4. Rights and obligations of tour guides in Vietnam
- A tour guide has the following rights:
+ Participate in the socio-professional organizations for tour guiding;
+ Receive salary and other remunerations under the contract;
+ Complete refresher courses for tour guides;
+ In case of emergency or force majeure events, the tour guide has the right to adjust tour programs and standards of services provided for tourists.
- A tour guide has the following obligations:
+ Guide tourists in conformity with the assignment order or the contract;
+ Observe and guide tourists to observe Vietnamese and local laws; local regulations; respect local customs and practices;
+ Provide tourists with information on the tour programs, services and lawful rights and interests of tourists;
+ Guide tourists in conformity with the tour program, be civilized, considerate and wholehearted towards tourists; inform the person in charge of provision of travel services of the change in the tour program at the request of tourists;
+ Take responsibility for providing assistance in ensuring safety of tourists’ lives, health and property;
+ Complete the refresher course as prescribed in Clause 4, Article 62 of the Law Tourism 2017;
+ Wear the tour guide card during the tour;
+ The international and domestic tour guides must bring the assignment order given by the enterprise organizing the tour program, and tour program in Vietnamese during the tour. In case the tour guide guides international tourists, he/she must bring the tour program in Vietnamese and foreign languages.