A Shortage of Qualified Tourism Workers Discussed at ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Travel Professionals Conference

Hanoi, Vietnam, December 05, 2014 --(PR.com)-- A conference on the implementation of the revised Vietnam Tourism Occupational Standards (VTOs), with the aim of upgrading the standard and quality of human resources in Vietnam’s tourism industry, will take place at the Pullman Hotel in Hanoi on December 3rd and at Sofitel Plaza in Saigon on 5th December.

The event will feature high profile and leading experts in their respective fields and the audience will include large international and domestic tourism and hospitality enterprises which have sufficient economy of scale to effectively develop, integrate and apply the revised VTOs.

The travel guru, Pham Ha, Founder and CEO of Luxury Travel (www.facebook.com/luxurytravelcompany), has been invited by European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, to be a keynote speaker on the theme ‘Training and Education in Tourism and Experiences of the Travel Industry’, with the purpose of gaining first-hand insight into his development of human resources, the training and education system and the associated weaknesses and specific challenges for the travel industry.

"A shortage of qualified tourism workers are slowly pulling Vietnam’s tourism sector down and there are several constraints on tourism training which hinder progression. These include a lack of up-to-date facilities, limited practical skills of teachers and poor collaboration between training institutions and the industry," said Pham Ha.

Pham Ha’s company (www.LuxuryTravels.asia) currently has to spend at least 6 months conducting on-the-job training in its own Luxury Travel University for his recent intake of tourism graduates, so that they can become confident luxury travel advisors selling high-end tourism products to sophisticated travelers.

The company said that students from tourism schools are not qualified to work after graduating, with many having only a basic knowledge of tourism and lack English skills.

“Vietnam’s tourism sector will be at risk of lagging far behind other countries in the region and find it difficult to maintain a high growth rate if innovative measures are not taken to generate enough qualified personnel,” Pham Ha said.

He calls for an initiative with regular, permanent and effective dialogue and partnership between the public and private tourism sectors in Vietnam, with the main objective of improving the education and training system in tourism and hospitality to provide competent human resources with the required knowledge, skills, attitude and excellent standards of English.

Vietnam does not have a tourism university and he advocates that such educational establishments are built in major tourist areas to satisfy the needs of the travel industry.

Competence-based training (CBT) focuses on what a worker can do or is required to do at work. He believes the private sector should invest in its own people to make a difference and provide quality services. He reiterates that the success of his own company is the formula of Good Services = Attitude + Art of Service + Efficient Processes.

Pham Ha Bio
With 20 years in the travel industry, featured in Forbes Vietnam Magazine, Mr Pham Ha is an award-winning CEO and founder of Luxury Travel Ltd, the first luxury travel and tour operator in Vietnam. He owns 3 other companies in fields such as cruises, transportation, and education and training services. He is also a travel guru, speaker, writer, sales and marketing trainer, business advisor and a designer of luxury tourism industry training programs.