Question

My company does tourism business. Are we allowed to hire foreigners for the post of tour guides?

Answer

Lawyer, Master Pham Thanh Binh answered the above question as follows:

About tour guides and tour guide cards

According to Article 72 of Tourism Law 2005 pertaining to tour guides and tour guide cards:

Tour guides include domestic tour guides and international tour guides.

• An international tour guide is enabled to guide both international and domestic tourists. 
• A domestic tour guide is enabled to guide only domestic tourists who are Vietnamese.

Tour guide cards include domestic tour guide cards and international tour guide cards. A tour guide card is valid for three years nationwide.

A Vietnamese tour guide with international tourists

About practice conditions and the issuance of tour guide cards

Besides, Article 73 of this Law disposes the conditions of practice and criteria for the issuance of tour guide cards as follows: 

A tour guide must have a tour guide card and sign a contract with a travel agency.

To get a domestic tour guide card, one must satisfy these following conditions:

• Have Vietnamese nationality, reside in Vietnam, have full legal capacity;
• Have no infectious disease and do not use any addictive substances;
• Own an intermediate professional degree or higher in tour guiding; in case of other majors, a certificate of training in tour guiding issued by a competent training institution is required.

To get an international tour guide card, one must satisfy these following conditions:

• Have Vietnamese nationality, reside in Vietnam, have full legal capacity;
• Have no infectious disease and do not use any addictive substances;
• Own a bachelor’s degree or higher in tour guiding; in case of other majors, a certificate of training in tour guiding issued by a competent training institution is required;
• Fluency in at least one foreign language.

Vietnam’s international tour guide card

Conclusion

According to above cited regulations, to act as a tour guide, one must have a tour guide card and sign a contract with a travel agency. To get a tour guide card, one of the compulsory conditions is to have Vietnamese nationality, reside in Vietnam and have full legal capacity.

As a result, foreigners are not eligible to obtain a tour guide card and become a tour guide in Vietnam. Thus, your company can’t recruit foreigners for the post of tour guide. 

Tags: being foreign tour guides in Vietnam, tour guide jobs in Vietnam, Vietnam’s Tourism Law, tour guide requirements in Vietnam, tour guiding in Vietnam, international tour guides in Vietnam, jobs for foreigners in Vietnam, Vietnam tourism