Practice-based training needed to create high-quality tourism staff

TIN LIÊN QUAN
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The Vietnam Association of Tourism and associations of tourism in the Mekong Delta, HCM City, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh and Tay Ninh provinces sign agreements on training and development of human resources in hotel management with the Imperial International Hotel College and the Finance – Marketing University.

Nguyen Huu Tho, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Tourism, said Vietnam’s labor productivity remains low compared with other countries.

Singapore productivity is 15 times higher than Vietnam, Japan 10 times, and Thailand 5 times, he said.

The persistence of theory-focused education and little practical application in Vietnam requires enterprises to offer workplace-based retraining programs for their employees, he said at a conference held in HCM City on July 7.

The labor turnover rate in the tourism and hospitality industry, which is struggling with a lack of qualified human resources, is relatively higher than other industries, he said.

Education and training of high-quality human resources in tourism and hospitality need to offer 50-70 percent of practice time and the remaining 30-50 percent for theory, he added.

Dao Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Education Association, said Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing travel destinations in the world.

However, the training of high-quality human resources in tourism and hospitality has failed to keep up with the increasing demand for employment.

The tourism sector needs about 40,000 more laborers a year, particularly skilled workers and qualified professionals, while the number of graduates is around 15,000 a year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

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In HCM City, around 50 colleges and universities offer training courses on tourism and hospitality. But only 60 percent of employment demand is met.

The robust development of upscale hotels and resorts has widened the gap between education and employment, Hung said.

There is an abundant supply of students with academic and theoretical education but a shortage of skilled personnel, he said.

The Vietnam Association of Tourism has partnered with the Imperial International Hotel College to develop a 16-week quality training model of international standards as part of an effort to bridge the gap between the abundant supply of university graduates and the shortage of skilled workers at four to five-star hotels.

The hotel school model where students are taught and practice at the five-star Imperial Vung Tau Hotel, with 70 percent of practice time, has been chosen as a pilot model for the training of qualified professionals in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Luu Thi Huong Hoai, deputy head of the Administration of Tourism’s Hotel Department, said the hotel school model aims to develop a better-trained workforce in the hospitality and tourism industry.

At the conference, the Vietnam Association of Tourism and associations of tourism in the Mekong Delta, HCM City, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Thuan, Binh Dinh, and Tay Ninh provinces signed agreements on training and development of human resources in hotel management with international standards with the Imperial International Hotel College and the University of Finance – Marketing.

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