Tourism sector expects to benefit from ASEAN

Tourism sector expects to benefit from ASEAN

The ASEAN Community, scheduled to establish in 2015, is expected to greatly benefit tourism sector as the Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals (MRA-TP) among ASEAN members will take effect in all member countries.

The MRA-TP will serve as the foundation to lift tourism cooperation among ASEAN countries.

Currently, ASEAN has built common standards for six tourism areas, including reception, restaurant service and tour operation, with a total 32 work titles, except for tour guide.

Experts held that Viet Nam can apply the standards to save cost in building its own. Vietnamese tourism companies can refer to the standards to improve their service quality and competitiveness. Furthermore, they can recruit qualified workers from other ASEAN countries.

On the part of domestic tourism workers, they have the chance to find better jobs and can easily move to other ASEAN countries.

However, challenges will also come, and the sector will not be able to maximize the opportunities if it fails to enhance its competitiveness.

With the free movement of tourism professionals among ASEAN countries, Vietnamese tourism workers will face fierce competition from their regional rivals who are predicted to flock to Vietnam. Meanwhile, the sector also faces a high risk of brain drain when qualified staff go elsewhere for better working conditions and payment.

In that context, improvement of human resources quality is becoming urgent for Viet Nam’s tourism, which is considered key for the growth of the sector as well as a perquisite condition for its international integration.

According to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), around 1.8 million employees are working in Viet Nam’s tourism sector, a surge from only 12,000 in 1990. Each year, the sector needs nearly 40,000 new workers, but domestic training establishments graduate only 15,000, resulting in a serious shortage of qualified staff.

In Ho Chi Minh City, as many as 45 percent of local tour guides and operators, and 80 percent of receptionists lack adequate foreign language skills, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.

So far, a number of response efforts have been carried out, including the issuance of a revised set of tourism occupational standards (VTOS) to suit international standards. The new VTOS was built by the EU-funded environmentally and socially responsible tourism capacity enhancement programme.

According to statistics from VNAT, ASEAN countries welcomed 97.2 million foreign visitors in 2014, up 3 percent over the previous year, including 28.5 million who travelled inside the bloc./.

Source: VNA

Bài viết liên quan

	The 3rd Sakura Festival to be opened in April, 2015 The 3rd Sakura Festival will be held from April 3rd – 5th, 2015 at 30-10 Square (Ha Long City), according to the news from the meeting between leaders of Ha Long City People's Committee and representatives of Wanokai Association (Japan) on Nov. 24 in Ha Long City. Detail >>

	Mountain pass offers stunning panoramic vista of Ha Giang On a cool autumn day, my friend and I were lucky enough to visit Ma Pi Leng Pass, considered the king of all passes in Viet Nam, which locates in Meo Vac district in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang. Detail >>

	Da Nang sets up action plans for tourism in 2015 The Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on December 15th announced information and an action plan for Da Nang – Top Traveler’s Choice Destination on the Rise for 2015, the title awarded by the US’s tourism website TripAdvisor. Detail >>

	Ha Long Bay, Son Doong cave named beautiful places Ha Long Bay and the Son Doong cave have been named among the top 10 of the most breathtakingly beautiful places to visit on the planet by the global travel website GlobalGrasshopper. Detail >>

	Farming tours attract many visitors to Da Lat city Da Lat, city of flowers, has offered unique entertainment farming and agri-tourism to visitors, attracting more and more tourists to the city, the Nhan Dan (People) online newspaper reported. Detail >>

	Da Nang resort on World Travel Awards best list The InterContinental Da Nang Sun Peninsula Resort was recently named a World’s Leading Luxury Resort at the World Travel Awards (WTA) held at the Caribbean island of Anguilla. Detail >>

	Khanh Hoa sees sharp rise of RoK visitors Approximately 60,000 holiday-makers from the Republic of Korea (RoK) have so far this year visited the central province of Khanh Hoa’s Nha Trang city, doubling that of 2013, reported the provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Detail >>

	Dak Lak: camphor trees receive national heritage status Two Long nao trees, scientifically known as Cinnamomum Camphora, at Bao Dai Palace in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak officially received the Vietnam Heritage Tree title at a ceremony on December 17. Detail >>

	Ministries, localities join hand to develop tourism The Government has assigned specific tasks to ministries and localities nationwide to make tourism spearhead economic growth. Detail >>

	Son La calls for investment in Moc Chau tourism zone Son La province is calling for investment in its Moc Chau National Tourism Zone, which is expected to become a driving force for the tourism development of the locality as well as the whole northern midland and mountainous region. Detail >>