New Vung Tau tourism officers help lost woman return to hotel after launch

A 68-year-old woman received help finding her way back to her hotel shortly after Vung Tau’s new tourism officer unit officially launched on September 1.

Tran Thi Tham, from Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoc Mon Ward, approached the officers after losing contact with her relatives. Dương Công Phong, deputy head of the Binh Duong Youth Volunteers team, called her family, but no one answered. Officers then took her back to the area where she had become lost and helped search for her relatives.

After nearly an hour without success, they asked whether she remembered the hotel where she was staying. When she provided its address, the officers took her back there.

The unit began with 50 tourism officers working in Vung Tau. Their duties include guiding and assisting visitors, helping elderly people and children who become separated from their groups, receiving reports of lost property and handling visitor feedback.

During a trial operation on August 28, the officers also found a five-year-old boy from Tay Ninh crying after losing his relatives. He had been travelling with his grandmother and could not remember how to return after using the toilet. The team calmed him, gave him water and asked questions until he remembered his home area in Don Thuan, Tay Ninh, and his mother’s phone number. They contacted his family and guided his aunt back to collect him.

Phong said he understood the child and family’s anxiety because he also has young children. The officers received training in tourism law, visitor conduct, traffic safety, basic English, team procedures and self-defense, followed by three days of practical exercises at key routes and tourist sites.

“

I also have young children, so I understand the child’s and family’s feelings. When we contacted the relatives, we felt relieved.