People used to believe that being a tour guide was really fun, not strenuous, that it allowed us to visit a variety of new places, meet new people, marvel at a broad range of fascinating sights and discover the lives and cultures in countries around the world. However, a well-paid Tour Guide job demands many other special skills. These include an expert knowledge of each location, fluent foreign language ability, an outgoing personality and excellent health.
DTU students on a field trip to the Museum of the Ancient Citadel of Quang Tri
The DTU Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism has launched a contest entitled “I am a Tour Guide”, which runs from January 15th to March 15th, to identify these skills to all students and support and practice with them to become skilled Tour Guides.
The contest is composed of three rounds: qualifying, preliminary and final rounds. In the qualifying round, contestants must submit an introductory essay about a Vietnamese tourist site by email to tourguide@duytan.edu.vn with two hard copies to the faculty office in room 301, 254 Nguyen Van Linh in Dannang. The contestants with the best entries will then advance to the next round. In the second round, contestants will be asked to present a video or PowerPoint show of their selection and answer two questions testing their knowledge of its culture, people, history, commerce and natural resources. The top ten teams will then proceed to the final round.
DTU Students of Tourism receiving prizes at the “2015 Student Challenge for Central Vietnamese Tour Guides” contest
On March 30th, finalists will compete in a speaking contest, based on a video or PowerPoint prepared by the organizers. They will have to display their skills at engaging tourists in activities, such as singing, games, story-telling, quizzes and so on. The contestants will then have to answer questions from the jury. A first prize consisting of a tour of ASEAN countries will be awarded and sponsored by Duy Tan Travel, worth 5 million VND, with a second prize of 3 million and a third of 2 million. At the “2015 Student Challenge for Central Vietnamese Tour Guides” contest, organized by the Danang Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, DTU students won a third prize, a potential prize and two consolation prizes.
In addition to sending students to contests and taking them on field trips, DTU has made some special investments to the Faculty of Hospitality, by purchasing two 30-seat tourist buses for use on field trips to practice Tour Guide assignments, which are also available for the travel of DTU partners.
(Media Center)