Good romantic movies are fun to watch. It’s a couple of hours to spend watching two people fall in love and the process and incidents that lead them to realize that they like each other and probably want to date as well. Romantic comedies are easy to watch over a meal or a weekend. “A Tourist’s Guide to Love” is all about two people who come to be in touch with each other in a country that is native to one of them, and they begin to start liking each other’s company, much to their delight. Will they fall in love or end up becoming just friends?
Spoilers Ahead
Amanda Takes Off For Vietnam
Amanda is a travel executive who works for Tourista, a travel company run by Mona, her boss. Mona is planning to expand her business in Vietnam in a bid to get more tourists coming their way. Mona plans to acquire a boutique travel company based in Ho Chi Minh City that did not make much of a profit but has received great reviews from its customers. Mona wants to remain relevant in this business, and with Vietnam being the next big travel destination, she wants to grab the opportunity as quickly as possible. To make the business deal work and to understand the standing of Saigon Silver Star in the local market, she asks Amanda to travel to Vietnam to find out more information about how that travel company works and why it is not a profitable company anymore in the city. Amanda is more than happy to carry out this project because she has been in this field for a long time, and making this deal work would come easily to her. Mona, too, comes across as a good boss who wouldn’t put any undue pressure on Amanda to get her work done.
Amanda, though, is in for a surprise when she learns that her boyfriend, John, is waiting for her at the apartment for a special announcement. Expecting him to propose marriage to her after being in a relationship for five years, Amanda is excited to say yes and start a new chapter in her life. Amanda has her life sorted, and she has a boyfriend who is accommodating of her traveling lifestyle. She also loves John for who he is, and they seem to find comfort in each other. On reaching home, John announces that he is moving to Ohio for a job opportunity, and that he intends to break up with Amanda. Amanda is heartbroken to think John did not consider her before making a big life decision, and they had to resort to breaking up abruptly after five long years of love and commitment. Amanda, in a mood to get rid of the pain, takes up the Vietnam offer and flies off to distract herself with work. Travel comes with the package of letting herself be, and Vietnam will probably give her much-needed relief from her heartbreak.
On reaching Vietnam, she meets Sinh Thach, who is not just her tour guide for the rest of her trip but is also the nephew of Saigon Silver Star group’s owner, with whom she has made a booking to have a look at what they do differently. She has not revealed what her purpose is in visiting Vietnam, and she also does not reveal her profession to anyone. She notices that Saigon Silver Star works differently than the usual big travel companies. They believe in giving a personal touch to the tourists who visit their country. She is not sure if she should consider this a positive or negative point. Though Amanda begins jotting down points about what she finds to be right about the company and what things can be improved on to make their business profitable. This will surely help her and Mona make a sound decision about whether they should actually purchase the company after all. As their tour of Vietnam begins, Sinh comes across as a handy man who has many contacts in the city and is willing to help everyone who is part of the group as much as he can. He makes sure to give this trip a personal vibe. He is joined by his cousin Ahn, who happens to be the daughter of the owner of Saigon Silver Star. Sinh has a different approach to travel. As Amanda picks up books and a fixed itinerary, Sinh believes in traveling as an experience. One needs to keep one’s mind open while traveling and be open to experiencing new things. He thinks this is the only way to enjoy a new country and its culture.
Amanda, who is used to taking around books and a fully made-up itinerary, is not used to making impromptu plans as Sinh is suggesting. She is known for drawing up a full-fledged plan before heading to another country. Sinh helps her understand there is another way to enjoy traveling as well. Amanda finds it difficult to travel as freely and as openly as she can because she has never traveled that way. She believes in following the book to understand the local culture; Sinh tries to break this mindset of hers, but it will take time for her to think the way he does.
‘A Tourist’s Guide To Love’ Ending Explained: Was Mona Able To Purchase Saigon Silver Star?
As their travel throughout Vietnam begins, the country is gearing up for the new year, which is called Tet by the locals. Amanda and her fellow tourists, Sinh and Ahn, are having a good time. Sinh takes them to offbeat places and makes them live through experiences a big travel company wouldn’t introduce them to. So far, Amanda is finding this trip wholesome and something different than what she has experienced in any other country. Meanwhile, she and Sinh are getting along, and they seem to like each other’s company. Throughout their trip, Amanda and Sinh spent a lot of time exploring the places together. They form a bond, and she loves the fact that he challenges her to be different from other tourists. Amanda is happy to see what gives Saigon Silver Star all its good ratings, which is Sinh’s good knowledge of the local culture, something he was raised in. The personal touch given to his tour is at the top of her list of reasons why her boss should buy the company.
Sinh takes them to a sacred place that is unexplored territory. Amanda is impressed by the vast knowledge the man has of the local hideouts and unexplored areas. Amanda has a good feeling about the man she is hanging out with, and she starts praising him for all the things he has done for her and the group as a tour guide. She is impressed because she realizes he was right about being open to new travel experiences. She is glad Sinh took this decision to take them to a different place altogether; if he had not done that, she would not have had an epiphany about why travel is all about keeping the mind open. She requests that Sinh Thach be more impromptu from here on to the end of their trip. Amanda dares to be different because she feels she has always been rigid with herself. A change in her plan would mean she is ready to be open to more challenges, something she can apply to her life as well. She is glad Sinh came into her life.
Sinh is impressed by the change of mind Amanda is going through, and that’s why he and his cousin plan to take the group to their village to celebrate Tet with his family. The grandmother, who does not speak a word of English, picks up on some vibes between Sinh and Amanda. Amanda is more than happy to be near Sinh’s family. This is something she did not expect, but she is happy to experience his family’s traditions leading up to Tet. She is experiencing all the love being showered on her thanks to his intuitive grandmother, and she is happy to see how much Sinh’s life is assimilated into his local culture even though he lived in America for many years. Amanda, though asked about how she feels about Sinh, by his grandmother, with Ahn being the translator, responds that she likes him, but she and he live in two different countries, so she would always consider him her friend. On the day of Tet, the new year, Amanda and Sinh end up kissing each other, sealing the fact that they are in love. Amanda and Sinh are not sure how well she and he make this relationship work, but they know they want to be with each other. Amanda finally makes up her mind about Saigon Silver Star, and she asks Mona to put in a bid because she knows this business deal will be a success.
As they reach Hanoi, Amanda comes across John, who has flown all the way to meet her and possibly reconcile with her. Amanda was not expecting this to happen, and she introduced John as her ex-boyfriend. Since she has not mentioned anything about her life in America to Sinh, John’s arrival comes as a rude shock to him. Amanda, though, quickly makes up her mind on what she wants. She is sure she does not want to be with John because he was quick to choose his career over his relationship, and she is aware he is in town knowing he made a mistake by moving to Ohio in haste. Sinh learns from his cousin that Tourista has bought the Saigon Silver Star from her father. By mistake, John reveals that Amanda works for Tourista, and her journey to Vietnam was to make sure Saigon Silver Star was the right kind of firm for their business. Sinh is even more hurt, and he walks away from the conversation to cool it down. He is mostly hurt about the fact that Amanda knew he had plans to take over the firm and let it grow in his way, but now that Amanda turned out to be someone different, he plans to leave the city and cool down for a bit before he looks for another job.
Amanda breaks up with John over the fact that the breakup made her meet a version of herself that she did not know existed. She is also hurt about the fact that John did not ask her to move to Ohio with him, which pretty much meant that he did not love her at all. John realizes the mistake he made, backs off, and goes back to America. Meanwhile, Amanda convinces Mona to keep Sinh on as the person who will manage the company in Vietnam because she has seen how well he connects with the tourists. His way of dealing with people is the only way to sustain them in a highly saturated market, to which Mona agrees. Amanda goes to look for him when Ahn lets her know that he is going out of town to meet his father. Ahn takes her to the bus stop; Amanda crosses the traffic-filled road, which is her pet peeve, but she does this only for Sinh. “A Tourist’s Guide to Love” ends with Amanda apologizing because she knows she should have been honest with him about the John situation and her actual work in Vietnam, but she knows only Sinh can keep her on her toes, and she wants to continue living on the edge. This is something only Sinh can make possible. He forgives her, and they kiss to seal their love for each other.
