AN INTERNSHIP REPORT

As a result, Ichoose this kind of job for my practicum period at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services.Furthermore, during this time at the office, I have also realized the tour guides’ impo

QUANG NAM UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

- -AN INTERNSHIP REPORT

Name: TRẦN THỊ HẰNG NI

Class: English K09

Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ TRUNG

Quang Nam, May 2013

AN INTERNSHIP REPORT

A INTRODUCTION

I Reasons for choosing the topic

English is recognized as aninternational language In other words, English is one

of the most popular means of communication the word over Therefore, it is widely used

in various fields such as economics, education, science, technology, especially in tourism

Tourism plays an essential role in the country’s development Being one of thefastest growing and the most profitable sectors together with one of the most job-attractedfields, tourism, non-smoking industry, brings chances to develop the country and topromote its images to the world And, among diversified classes of tourist serviceemployees in tourism, tour guides own the main duty of popularizing the country’sbeauty to domestic and foreign visitors They use English as their main language tointroduce and promote attractions Apart from guiding visitors, they are also responsiblefor abundant duties For example, they are also diplomats, messengers, and so on, atwork

As for me, a student of English, I am very interested in tourism activities.Especially, I am extremely keen on using English for the job as a tour guide As a result, Ichoose this kind of job for my practicum period at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services.Furthermore, during this time at the office, I have also realized the tour guides’ importantroles in tourism in general and in the office in particular

For all of the reasons mentioned above, I would like to choose the internship

report topic “A Tour Guide’s Roles in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services” I do hope that

the study will raise awareness of the job as a tour guide and their roles at work It alsoincludes some useful and practical suggestions for students of English to consider thiskind of job for their practicum periods and lives

II Objectives

This report concentrates on three objectives

First, it is written to discuss the importance and the effective application ofEnglish for the job as a tour guide in particular and in tourism in general

Second, it is set with the aim to raise awareness of the importance of touristservices

Third, it is intended to investigate into crucial tour guides’ roles to have positiveattitudes to the job

Last, the report also aims at giving some practical suggestions for Quang NamUniversity, the Department of Foreign Languages as well as for students of English sothat the students can get better results in their practicum periods

III Research subjects

Tour guides in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services are the subjects for the researcher

to focus on

IV Methodology

There is a combination of four methods to conduct this internship report

Firstly, I use the method of researching, collecting, analyzing and processinginformation and materials related to Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports, Hoi AnOffice of Tourist Services and 12 relics mainly in the city center of Hoi An Theinformation collected is from different sources such the internet, the center, the office, theofficial tour guides, and even Hoi An inhabitants This method gives me abundantinformation to write the report

Secondly, the report is carried out by using observation method That is, I observethe ways travelers are enjoyed by the tour guides to get experiences and information onthe attractions

Thirdly, consulting views and opinions from my supervisor Nguyen Thi Trung andthe office’s tour guides is often used It helps me to correct information and to receivesuggestions to implement the report

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Last but not least, the method of description is also applied in the way that I reflectwhat I observe in the tours, what and how information is collected as well as what I learnafter being in the practicum period.

V Results

I do hope that I will get a multitude of good results for my practicum period Firstly, I hope that when being a trainee at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services, Iwill have more opportunities to effectively apply my accumulative knowledge to thereality

Secondly, by doing the tasks committed, I will get lots of experiences and goodattitudes for my future jobs

Thirdly, I will supplement much useful knowledge about the relics in Hoi An inorder to learn more about the beauty of Hoi An as well as the country

Fourthly, my English learning skills for listening and speaking will be better asmuch as possible through communicating with foreigners frequently Moreover, other softskills, for example, situational solving skills, relationship making skills and so fourth,will also be enhanced farther

Fifthly, it is expected that I will be aware of English effective usages at work,especially for the post as a tour guide Furthermore, I will also take the tour guides’importance together with their necessary qualifications into consideration to get used tothe future jobs

Sixthly, I will fully and deeply investigate the organization as well as the functionsand responsibilities of each department of Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sportstogether with Hoi An Office of Tourist Services It will help me so much to understand

my roles at work and to do my tasks as a trainee better

Seventhly, I will be familiar with working environment and learn the ways to get

on well with colleagues

B CONTENTS Chapter 1: AN OVERVIEW OF HOI AN CITY CENTER FOR CULTURE AND

SPORTS AND HOI AN OFFICE OF TOURIST SERVICES

I Background information of the center and the office 1.1 Background information of the center

Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports is a career administrative unit directlydepending on Hoi An Municipal People’s Committee The center was founded based onthe Hoi An City Committee’s protocol No.294 on July 4th, 1997 It is considered to be astrong unit of the Culture and Information sector of the country as well as the world toreceive many forms of rewards such as The Class 3 Labor Medal in 2000, The Class 2Labor Medal in 2003, etc

1.1.1 Location

Address: Hoai River Square - Hoi An City - Quang Nam Province Proprietor: Hoi An Municipal People’s Committee

Telephone: (0510)3861327 Fax: (0510)3863761 Websites: www.hoianworldheritage.org.vn

www.hoianancienttown.vn Email: ttvh@dng.vnn.vn

1.1.2 Organizational structure

The center includes 10 groups of professional staff divided into three departmentsunder three deputy directors’ management, one traditional art performance house, and oneBai Chong eco-tourism area

During the city’s renovation process, the center has increasingly upgraded itshuman resources as well as the quality and quantity of its services At present, the totalnumber of the center employees is over 150 persons

The center’s organization is as follow:

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DEPUTY DIRECTOR Nguyen Thi Nhung

Specialized group 1 Specialized group 2 Group of project Group of Thanh Ha Pottery Village

DEPUTY DIRECTOR Tran Dinh Chau

Group of center office Group of Itinerant Propaganda

Group of Publish Literature & Arts Group of Hoai River Square

Traditional Art Performance House

VO PHUNG

1.1.3 Functions and responsibilities

The center owns the duty of organizing and celebrating movements, events,activities on art and culture, physical education and sports, mobile propaganda fordisseminating the Party’s policies and laws on Hoi An, and traditional festivals It alsointroduces, develops, propagandizes and promotes the world cultural and historicalheritages of Hoi An through activities on tourist services for domestic and foreigntourists

1.2 Background information of the office

Hoi An Office of Tourist Services was founded on October 15th, 1995 It wasdirectly dependent on Hoi An Department of Culture, Information and Sports In 1997,Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports was established, and Hoi An Office of TouristServices became the center’s unit then

Deputy Office Managers

Ho Thi Phuong Uyen – Chau Toan Khanh

Specialized

group 1

Group of Thanh

Ha Pottery Village

Group of

project

Specialized group 2

Tour

Guides Controller Nguyen

Phuong Dong

Ticket Salesperson Guides Tour Controller Ho Thi

Phuong Uyen

Ticket salesperson

Currently, there are 64 employees in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services Thisnumber accounts for more than two-thirds of the total staff number of the center.

1.2.3 Functions and responsibilities

Generally, Hoi An Office of Tourist Services is mainly responsible for organizingtourist programs around Hoi An city center, Thanh Ha pottery village and Bai Chong eco-tourism area in Cu Lao Cham Island Furthermore, the office is also in charge ofintroducing and promoting tourist products organized and implemented by the officeitself

Particularly, each group and individual in the office owns different responsibilitiesand functions

The deputy director Nguyen Thi Nhung is also the office leader Her assistants arethe two deputy office managers, Ho Thi Phuong Uyen and Chau Toan Khanh The threecomrades’ duties are to observe and manage all the office’s activities

Besides, there are two specialized groups, specialized group1 and specializedgroup 2 Each of them includes three different specialized parts They are a part of ticketsales responsible for selling visiting tickets, a controller checking execution activities ofbuying tickets by visitors when they are in Hoi An for getting sightseeing, and a part oftour guides in charge of introducing the relics in Hoi An city center by guiding thevisitors

Besides, the group of project is responsible for activities for “Hoi An LegendaryNight” on the 14th, every lunar month, and for “Non-motorized Vehicle Areas” Thisgroup is also in charge of expanding time and content of visiting activities in the eveningfor the visitors

In addition, the group of Thanh Ha Pottery Village is in charge of managing andguiding guests when they visit the village

II The roles of English in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services

English plays an important role in the office Most of tourists speak English Thus,English is the major language to communicate with foreigners Moreover, because of thejob’s requirements, almost the office’s employees are good at English skills They daily

use English to sell tickets and get guests’ bookings for tickets, to guide and enjoy thevisitors, for example They apply all English skills simultaneously, especially listeningand speaking skills

In short, in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services, English becomes crucial means ofcommunication and work

Chapter 2: STUDENT’S DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION

I General requirements

Spending my practicum period at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services belonging toHoi An City Center for Culture and Sports, I have to obey the office’s obligations,especially ones for the tour guides as follow:

1.1 The the office’s general requirements

Working attitudes

- Being smiling, helpful and courteous in communication and at work

- Standing up when welcoming as well as departing guests

- Not being allowed to do extra work in the office’s working hours

- Not being allowed to eat and/or drink and take others who are not the center’semployees to the office

- Guaranteeing to wear suitable clothes depending on specialized groups (suitswith ties for men, ao dai for women) and employee IDs at work

- Being responsible for combining the main tasks with extra activities such aspopularizing festivals, advertising and selling tickets for traditional arts…

- Using words at the right time and places

- Not being allowed to talk about unrelated topics on the center’s walkie-talkies

- Being responsible for preserving the center’s possessions

Advertising, welcoming and persuading guests to buy tickets to get sightseeing in

Hoi An city center.Specialized levels

- Continuing to learn to upgrade foreign language levels serving specializedtasks

- Gaining general knowledge about Hoi An’s history and culture in order toupgrade tourist service quality

Working hours

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- Being punctual

+ Dry seasons (from 1/4 to 30/9)

In the morning: from 6 am to 12 am

In the afternoon: from 12 am to 18 pm

In the evening: from 18 pm to 20 pm

+ Wet seasons (from 1/10 to 31/3)

In the morning: from 6.45 am to 12 am

In the afternoon: from 12 am to 17.30 pm

In the evening: from 17.30 pm to 19.30 pm

- Having managers’ permissions for being absent from work

2.1.1.1 The center’s (the office’s) requirements for tour guides

- Being enthusiastic and helpful at work

- Guaranteeing the quality and time for guiding guests at each attraction

- Not being allowed to speak out the national secrets

- Entirely following and guiding guests based on the center’s regulations

- Not being allowed to choose guests to guide

- Not being allowed to require guests to give tips after taking part in tours

- Not being allowed to wear gloves, comforters and sunglasses at work

- Being allowed to wear only sunglasses when it is extremely sunny

In short, the tour guides are required to master general knowledge about theattractions in Hoi An city center in terms of their histories, architectures, geographies, and

so on Besides, the tour guides have to get good health, excellent the job’s required skillssuch as communication skills, organization skills, situational solving skills, which helpsthem to be companions with visitors during tours In addition, the tour guides aredemanded for being mature and able to think logically and quickly to deal with problems

in the tours by chance Furthermore, they have to be patient and trustworthy to acceptresponsibilities and blames at work

2.2 The tour guides’ roles in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services

2.2.1 The tour guides’ tasks when working for the office

Their tasks are described generally as the following steps:

◊They meet tours’ members and the tour leader to make an introduction onthemselves.

◊They accept the tours’ routines to visit the attractions

◊They lead the tours to the relics

◊They share the information on the relics with the travelers

◊They end their tasks by saying goodbye and good luck to the visitors

2.2.2 The tour guides’ roles in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services

It can be said that the tour guides’ roles in the office are also their roles in the toursthey guide In fact, the tour guides perform multiple roles at work

Firstly, the tour guides are peaceful messengers They link Hoi An with otherregions the world over to make the world people’s friendships closer and closer They arerequired to be knowledgeable and perceived to hold the duties of making the visitorssatisfied, comfortable and enjoyable by giving them deeply full information andinterpretation of the attractions in Hoi An through tourist activities Therefore, the visitorswill get much information and cognition about Hoi An habitants’ real life in terms of theircharacters, religions, cultures, histories, and so fourth As a result, they understand eachother a lot They are keen on making friends Their friendships will become moretightened

Secondly, the tour guides are diplomats They meet tours’ members and make anintroduction as well as provide tourist services enthusiastically, hospitably andeffectively Furthermore, they are also the visitors’ companions, which means that theyhelp the travelers to deal with troubles or questions in the tours

Thirdly, they work as marketing employees The tour guides are representatives ofHoi An to promote its cultural and historical heritages, especially the relics, to domesticand foreign visitors Besides, they also provide the travelers with information on thecity’s heroic traditions and features

Lastly, the tour guides give their contributions to the national security protection.Through giving commentaries on Hoi An’s glorious history and passionate beauty, theyalso confirm the sovereignty of the city and the country They recall the visitors that Hoi

An belongs to Vietnam, an independent country Therefore, everyone coming here has to

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