Hanoi Free Tour Guides: How young people do community tourism for international visitors

On a stone bench by Hoan Kiem Lake, a Vietnamese female student is enthusiastically telling a Polish visitor about the legend of the Golden Turtle. Without a lesson plan or script, the tour guide brings excitement and a refreshing smile to the visitor. That simple moment is a true slice of Hanoi Free Tour Guides (HFTGs) – where young people contribute to renewing the appearance of the capital’s tourism with friendliness and closeness.

GenZ offers personalized experiences

After the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism trends have changed with high personalization. Experts say that international tourists have a need for independent travel, no longer satisfied with tours with fixed itineraries. They crave authentic experiences, want to immerse themselves in local life, and explore stories that have never been written in guidebooks. This need has opened up a strong development space for non-profit, human-centered models like Hanoi Free Tour Guides.

Founded in 2010 by a group of students from Hanoi Foreign Trade University, Hanoi Free Tour Guides (HFTGs) was initially just an English training project. However, after more than a decade, the project has become a community model with more than a thousand registered volunteers and hundreds of thousands of free tours in 9 different languages.

HFTGs do not stop at introducing the Temple of Literature, Hoan Kiem Lake or the Museum of Ethnology. The special point lies in the personalized experience that the young people bring to each visitor.

Karina, a tourist from Poland, shared: “I think what makes HFTGs different is the flexibility and personalization. I can choose my own starting time, take a coffee break when I feel tired, and especially decide which destinations I am really interested in. There are places I feel like I don’t need to spend too much time on, but there are also places I want to learn more about. HFTGs makes me feel like I am exploring Hanoi in my own way, not following a rigid schedule.”

Ms. Karina excitedly shared about the special and interesting tour at HFTGs.

Providing more information about HFTGs activities, Vice President of HFTGs Bui Thi Kim Ly shared that HFTGs is a non-profit organization, operating based on the voluntary and responsible spirit of students. Volunteers will act as local guides accompanying tourists to destinations. The biggest goal is not only to help tourists have authentic experiences, but also to help young people practice their bravery, soft skills and especially nurture their love for national culture.

Ms. Ly said that to become an official volunteer, students will go through a fairly systematic selection, training and practice process - from how to build a flexible tour itinerary, handle unexpected situations, to how to tell attractive stories about Hanoi culture.

“In the most recent recruitment round, HFTGs received more than 360 applications but only selected 50 candidates. This high competition rate is not intended to make it difficult for candidates, but rather a thorough screening process to find the right people. We not only need people who are good at foreign languages, but more importantly, we are looking for young people who are good at storytelling, have a deep love for culture and are sensitive enough to become a “bridge” between Hanoi and international friends,” Ms. Bui Thi Kim Ly shared.

Nurturing "cultural and tourism ambassadors"

Training session for new members of HFTGs. (Source: facebook Hanoi Free Tour Guides)

Many volunteers of Hanoi Free Tour Guides shared that, at first, they came to the organization just because they wanted to practice English or gain experience for themselves, but then stayed for many bigger reasons, which is because they love Hanoi.

Uong Thi Quynh Chi, a new member of HFTGs from Hanoi University, shared, “Meeting and talking with many tourists from all over the world has given me many valuable lessons. Not only new knowledge about culture, society or lifestyle, but also how to listen, how to sympathize and respect differences.”

The story of Hanoi Free Tour Guides is not only an inspiring community model, but also brings many cultural values ​​to develop sustainable tourism. Moreover, this model is like a form of word-of-mouth marketing that is extremely effective and reliable. Each tourist, after returning, not only brings with them photos but also stories and vivid memories of a close and warm Vietnam. They become natural "brand ambassadors", spreading the positive image of the country in a genuine way.

No need for business cards or name tags, the young volunteers of HFTGs are becoming cultural and tourism ambassadors in the most natural and simple way to international tourists. In the sustainable development flow of the tourism industry, community and non-profit models like HFTGs need to be cared for, supported and replicated, contributing to making Vietnam's image a close and safe destination for tourists.

According to hanoimoi.vn

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/hanoi-free-tour-guides-cach-nguoi-tre-lam-du-lich-cong-dong-cho-khach-quoc-te-post403481.html