Quoc said that a wave of illegal Chines tour guides, who enter Vietnam through tourist visas and spread lies about Vietnam’s history, has swept over the central city of Da Nang, the southern coastal city of Nha Trang as well as many other provinces.
Hstorian Duong Trung Quoc, Nationl Assembly member over four consecutive terms. |
To handle the problem, Quoc said that the government should penalize not only illegal tour guides but also leaders as well as officials working on the tourism departments, who “have yet to introduce feasible solutions.”
“They can set a rule that only Vietnamese tour guides, who know Chinese, are responsible for Chinese visitors. If visitors are not accompanied by Vietnamese guides, then they won’t be allowed to enter our tourist attractions. That’s it,” Quoc said.
Mentioning the fact that many Vietnamese tour guides act as sitting guides to help Chinese guides go around the authorities, the historian admitted: “It’s very difficult to handle as Vietnamese guides will present their own license and claim the others in the group are visitors.”
However, Quoc said that management officials should find ways to handle this; it's their responsibility. “If they can’t, then they should penalize themselves.”
Nguyen Su, former Party Secretary of Hoi An, an ancient town near Da Nang popular among tourists, echoed Quoc. He added that local travel agents often aim to draw as many tourists as possible. However, it’s impossible for Vietnam to promote tourism industry in such an arbitrary way.
“Loose management in tourism has resulted in serious consequences. I think Chinese people entering Vietnam and distorting its history is like confronting the whole country, not any specific city.”
Su added that in order to control Chinese tourists, the first priority is raising foreign language skills of local guides and authorities.
“We must improve Chinese of state officials. This will enable them to remind or penalize Chinese tour guides in case they distort our history.”
Previously on June 28, Da Nang's Tourism Department received photos and videos showing Chinese tour guides using yuan rather than Vietnamese dong to purchase goods. In addition, there was footage of a Chinese tour guide named Xue Chun Zhe distorting Vietnam’s history and culture.
The Vietnamese authorities in June also revoked the business license of a Nha Trang-based Chinese tourism agency for using fake documents to register the company and illegally employing Chinese workers.
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