Tourism industry in need of more high-quality staff

Vietnam needs more better-qualified staff for better tourism development according to a seminar held yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong

The problem was discussed at a seminar about developing high-quality tourism human resources in the context of international integration held by the Van Hien University and the Department of Training, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on August 2 in HCM City.

There are over 190 tourism-related training facilities in Vietnam including 65 universities.

Tran Van Thien, director of Van Hien University, said, "Tourism is an important industry and plays an important role in the world's economic development. It creates the most jobs in the world. Tourism has made great contributions to Vietnam's GDP, helped preserve the heritage, nature and introduced Vietnam to the world."

However, he went on to say that the tourism industry is facing many challenges, especially about training high-quality human resources. New policies are needed to boost the tourism industry with modern infrastructure, high-quality services, and a distinctive, competitive local brand.

Affiliation among universities and teaching methods at university with high technology were also considered during the seminar.

According to the Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Ta Quang Dong, the number of international tourists to Vietnam had seen some impressive growth. During the 2011-2017 period, the number of international tourists grew from 6 million to 12.9 million. Last year, Vietnam received over 15.5 million tourists, an increase of 20% compared to 2017.