HANOI, 10 October 2022: With tourism activities returning, Vietnam addresses the skilled labour shortage facing the tourism workforce as travel demand outstrips labour supply.
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism chairman Nguyen Trung Khanh told TTRW Vietnam is a rising tourism star in the Asia-Pacific region due to its early start on the path to recovery.
He called the favourable growth rates for both international and domestic tourists impressive. However, the pace of recovery is outpacing the supply of skilled and professional tourism workforce. There is a real challenge to speed up tourism training and focus on soft skills – English and other foreign languages, communications, and service skills – because of the limited capacity to deliver in these areas.
“Hard hit by COVID-19, we have witnessed this challenge which cannot be exaggerated. The tourism workforce has been severely impacted, many tourism enterprises have closed permanently, and tourism workers lost their jobs.
“At the early stage, when tourism activities are picking up, we face difficulties meeting demand and reinstating a healthy tourism workforce… many workers left the sector amid-pandemic. To mitigate the negative impacts, the Vietnam government has introduced numerous measures for the tourism sector, including financial and social support to boost tourism employment. At the same time, we cooperate with partners to conduct training programmes for tourism workers during this challenging time.”
According to Nguyen Trung Khanh, the government has drastically implemented many measures to realise the dual goal of protecting people’s health and maintaining socio-economic development.
With solidarity and synergy among the Tourism Managing Authorities, tourism businesses and residential communities in the prevention of the Covid-19 pandemic and tourism recovery, the close coordination between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and relevant ministries and agencies in renewing tourist destinations and products, creates favourable conditions for tourists to visit Vietnam.
He added: “We completely reopened tourism from 15 March 2022. Vietnam was the first country in Southeast Asia to open international tourism without any entry restrictions. We are promoting communications to attract international tourists to Vietnam with the campaign “Live fully in Vietnam. We focus on smart and sustainable tourism development followed by green and responsible travel.
According to Nguyen Trung Khanh, the Vietnam tourism marketing plan for 2022 to 2023 presents its high safety score and friendly hospitality. During the first nine months of 2022, Vietnam welcomed 1.65 million international tourists. Besides the global market, the tourism industry aims to serve 60 million domestic tourists by 2022. However, domestic visitors exceeded the set target, reaching 86.8 million.
“Domestic tourism is now almost recovering, and our goal in 2023 is to keep it at that level while we focus on attracting international visitors.”
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will host the Mekong Tourism Forum 2022 in Quang Nam Province from 12 to 13 October. This year’s forum will focus on the theme of “Rebuild Tourism, Rebound with Resilience.”
“The MTF host province, Quang Nam, is a green tourism destination with well-known UNESCO world heritages of Hoi An Ancient Town and My Son Sanctuary. At the Mekong Tourism Forum 2022, we are pleased to introduce the optional tours that explore the rich cultural values, charming heritages and treasured islands in Quang Nam. It will contribute to the whole experience for delegates during their stay in Quang Nam,” Nguyen Trung Khanh noted.
