Mục lục bài viết:
The first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic caused a crisis for tour guides, however, since the number of infections has increased, the lives of tour guides have become even more miserable.
Tour guides used to work continuously and travel everywhere, but now they are facing a temporary “unemployment” situation as the pandemic spreads. In the past, it was hard to get a chance to call my tour guide friend to invite him for a coffee because he was in one country today and leading clients to another country the next day. However, since the Covid outbreak, he happily accepts calls at any time. The nature of the tour guide profession is seasonal, heavily influenced and completely dependent on the tourism market. There are peak tourist seasons when they work day and night at full capacity and still cannot finish all the tours. Since the outbreak, the lives of tour guides have been significantly affected, including both official and freelance guides. My friend, who belongs to a domestic tour guide group, sometimes leads clients on outbound tours to countries like Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand. Since after the Lunar New Year, there have been no clients booking tours to Japan due to Covid-19. Clients from other countries are also very limited in their travel.
Meanwhile, domestic clients are also limiting their travel to some famous destinations, but the number is significantly lower. Last-minute tour cancellations are happening continuously, with customers willing to forfeit their deposits and even lose money on tours to ensure their safety. Most customers are afraid of contact in crowded places and the possibility of having to undergo quarantine after their trips, along with the psychological pressure from public opinion and those around them, so they prefer to spend money to stay home safely. For freelance tour guides, they receive payment after each tour, and without tours, they have no income at all. Therefore, during these days, they have to live off their savings accumulated from before, some have returned to their hometowns for a while to cut down on living expenses in Ho Chi Minh City, and some are even looking for temporary jobs during this difficult period. The life of a tour guide has changed 180 degrees in terms of time and daily work habits. There are no more early mornings to pick up clients for tours or to send them off at the airport during the early hours. The saying “I wish I could sleep in today,” which tour guides often say to each other, has now become a reality; the phone no longer needs an alarm, and the notes section on the phone is empty because there are no tours or anything to note anymore. The buffet breakfasts at 4-star and 5-star hotels that tour guides used to complain about during tours have now been replaced by a bowl of street-side noodle soup. In the mornings, there is more time to practice group exercises, learn a new language, and leisurely read books and materials because in the tour guide profession, the knowledge to be learned is infinite.
