Tourism industry faces human resource crunch, says top official

The country faces a shortage of human resources for tourism projects that are proposed or under way, a top industry official has warned.

Speaking at a conference on Quality Assurance in Tourism Human Resources Development in Ho Chi Minh City last week, the Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VNAT) vice chairman, Nguyen Manh Cuong, said the shortage would be especially felt in some emerging tourist destinations like the northwest, central and Central Highlands regions where there is a dearth of training centers.

The demand for tourism employees in these regions is not high yet, but with many new projects on the cards, that would change, he said.

With the government seeking to make tourism a key sector by 2015, other areas too would face the problem, he added.

The VNAT said the industry has around 285,000 workers now, according to the administration. It would need 333,000 in 2010 and 500,000 in 2015, it said, adding that the industry faces training constraints.

Cuong explained that facilities and training equipment are lacking or are out of date as are the skills of trainers.

The structure of the local tourism industry is likely to change due to the emergence of new services such as serviced residences, event and entertainment management, Meeting-Incentive-Conference-Event (MICE) tourism, camping and resort management, cruise ships and tour guides who can speak foreign languages.

Cuong said the country needs international support in training to meet the new requirements.

The VNAT said a 12-million euro (US$15.1 million) project, which is partly funded by the European Union, has been launched to develop tourism human resources.

The tourism industry pulls in revenues of US$3 billion a year, according to the administration.

The country received 4.2 million international arrivals last year and estimates the figure to drop to four million tourists this year due to the global economic recession.

It targets 5.5 to six million tourists and $4 to $4.5 billion revenue by 2010, the VNAT said.

Reported by Minh Quang

Update from: http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=43879