Born in a small village in the north of Viet Nam, Hoang Trong Giac or “Jack” completed a degree in Vietnamese culture and history, while simultaneously learning English, Chinese, and Spanish in college. Jack started his career as an adventure tour guide in Da Lat, taking visitors hiking, trekking, and mountain biking. He eventually moved to Ho Chi Minh City where he started his own tour business, Viet Nam Tour Guide (https://vietnamtourguide.com/en), after a short stint as an office worker. His tour business is among the thousands that shut down and took a financial hit because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I worked with three other tour guides and one sales person. My clients were mainly foreign tourists—from Singapore, Malaysia, and Philippines, and also from Europe.
“Before the pandemic, I welcome normally 50-100 tourists per month. We usually get group bookings. We would get a minimum income of about 5,000 US dollars per month. Our maximum income comes in December, when we would welcome 200-400 foreigners and earn about 50,000 US dollars/month. That really made money.
“After COVID-19 spread in 2020, we had zero tourists, zero income. But I still had to pay the staff for six months. We had to pay for rent and taxes. I also have a loan with the bank that I have to pay, about 50 US dollars per month. So, for two years, we had nothing (because) all international flights stopped and no tourists were coming in.
“COVID-19 came so fast. We didn’t know what to do. We were just waiting and thought that COVID-19 would pass after one or two months and we could get back to work. So, during the f irst year, we didn’t have income, we were just waiting.
“But in 2021, we decided to find another job. My staff started working for a property company, insurance company, and so on. I started selling products online. We earn little, just enough money so we could eat. It’s been a difficult time. I retained our office only for one year because the owner agreed to half of the rental price, but after that I let it go because I ran out of money in the bank.
“Because of the many paper requirements, most tour guides did not get much help from government (during the pandemic). Those who got help received very little money—not enough to get back to normal life. Many tour guides who volunteered (as frontliners) also caught COVID-19, some passed away.
“In Viet Nam, most tour guides work freelance. We don’t have social insurance because we would need to pay more taxes and contribute money. We never thought there would be something like COVID-19 coming so we did not buy insurance. I don’t have insurance in my company as well.
“On 15 March 2022, Viet Nam opened up (its borders) to foreign tourists. So now the tourists are coming. We are getting back to normal and no one cares about COVID-19 anymore since everybody has been vaccinated. We just wear masks and it’s okay.
“Now tourists can visit Viet Nam without being quarantined. They don’t need vaccine papers. They just need to take a COVID test 24-hours before leaving for Viet Nam. I see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“I started to advertise and got inquiries from tourists already. I have bookings from May to December. For now, it’s just me who will do the tour. I’ll wait until next month to make sure that we have enough tourist bookings to pay the salary of staff. Also, it may take another month or two to rehire the staff because they are working for other companies and are in another village now.
“I started to advertise and got inquiries from tourists already. I have bookings from May to December. For now, it’s just me who will do the tour. I’ll wait until next month to make sure that we have enough tourist bookings to pay the salary of staff. Also, it may take another month or two to rehire the staff because they are working for other companies and are in another village now.
“We are very happy that the government has decided to re-open. We hope that it will further ease up the entry policies for tourists.”
Interviewed by Joanne B. Agbisit. The conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. The views and opinions expressed in the text belong solely to the interviewee and do not reflect the official policy or position of ASEAN.
