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Success for Nguyen Thi Hai Oanh is the success of a team, where everyone focuses on a single goal, which brings maximum benefit to the business and community. A perfectionist, the hardest lesson she has learned in the last five years is balancing life and work.
IWTA Committee connects with Nguyen Thi Hai Oanh, Founder & CEO Amazing English Tour, she shares more about women in travel, sustainable tourism and growth in the workplace.
Q. What advice do you have for young women aspiring to pursue a career in the travel industry?
A. Tourism is not only a challenging and vulnerable industry but also a rewarding and interesting profession. If you really want to liberate yourself, discover many places, love communication and choose this industry as your future career, you need to prepare the knowledge, skills and experience related to this field to be able to survive, sublimate and become different. In particular, you need to have an important quality: knowing how to serve and work with others gently, sociably and intelligently with an open heart.
Q. How can women support each other in the travel industry to foster a more inclusive environment?
A. In a volatile world of tourism, women can support each other by sharing travel information through their media channels about travel knowledge, good books, opportunities to participate in training programs for women in tourism and opportunities to travel abroad. Furthermore, women need to learn the lessons from inspiring female role models, on how they overcome challenges. I hope women would listen deeply, understand and work together in a nice and professional way.
Q. What has been the toughest lesson you learned?
A. After 5 years of starting a business in the tourism industry, the hardest lesson I have learned is balancing my life. I am a perfectionist and always want to bring a lot of value to my community, so I spend too much time on working and lack the time to take care of my son and myself. However, now I realize that at each stage I need to prioritize important things, so sometimes I need to enjoy the results then everything will be fine.
Q. How can travel startups contribute to sustainable tourism and environmental conservation?
A. Sustainable development is a trend, an important thing that our society is aiming for. So, each startup can contribute by building travel programs for customers that are aimed at environmental protection. In addition, employees are well-trained to become a green tour guide through words and guidance throughout the journey. Moreover, travel companies are also a channel to promote and spread this good image to their community and tourists.
Q. What kind of programs or learning opportunities do you think are important in a workplace?
A. Before thinking about programs or learning opportunities, I think we need to create a positive environment and corporate culture for people to do anything at work. In my opinion, we need to have internal training programs on green tourism, sustainable development, customer care, business branding, self-development. In addition, we need to have leadership programs so that each individual knows himself, his motivation to work and his goals in life. Ultimately, it is about creating conditions for everyone, especially women, to undertake challenging, creative work and we should accept the results to lift them to a higher level
Q. What does success mean to you?
A. For me, success now is the feeling of a journey to reach my goals. It was the time that I could discover myself and understand everyone around me. I have many chances to be creative, flexible and enjoy the ups and downs as well as meet amazing people along the way. Success to me is the success of a team and everyone focuses on a single goal, which is the maximum benefit of the business and community.
