Tourism human resources in serious shortage

Even with the advantage in human resource training, Ho Chi Minh City can only supply about 12,000 new employees for the industry in the Southern region each year. Sadly, during the fourth Covid-19 outbreak last year, over 80 percent of tourism laborers in HCMC switched their job, leading to a more serious shortage.

Rector of Saigontourist Hospitality College Vo Thi My Van shared that she has received several tourism human resources orders from international partners, with corresponding financial support for training and output guarantee.

For instance, the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce is providing consultation for its alumni who have at least 1 year of experience in the fields of cooking, restaurant, and hotel. Candidates must have an intermediate diploma and be under 45 years old. The initial salary is around VND43 million (US$1,855) a month.

Vietravel Tourism Co. is planning to recruit 700 laborers, including tour guides, salespeople, operational employees, and IT engineers. Some positions require experienced people, while others can provide training for 3 to 4 months.

Director Nguyen Quy Phuong of the Travel Department under the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) reported that during the first four months of 2022, there were over 192,000 international tourists visiting Vietnam, an increase of 184.7 percent compared to this time last year. It is expected that until the end of this year, tourism companies will serve large groups of international tourists from different countries, hence the pressing need to retain current laborers and recruit new ones.

Director of the Retail Center of Ben Thanh Tourist Co. Thi Quoc Duy admitted that due to the influence of Covid-19, many workers in the industry have had to change their job.

Tourism human resources in general, and tour guides in particular, are the main factor to decide the success of a tourism company. Professional tour guides can both provide useful information and help holidaymakers enjoy their tour. Therefore, it is not easy at all to train capable tour guides, and a short 5-to-12-month crash course can never do the job, said Director Duy.

To develop sufficient human resources in the tourism industry in the near future, Deputy Director of HCMC Tourism Department Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu suggested that training institutes should establish their own tourism faculty to meet the market demands in the period of international economic integration. Meanwhile, tourism enterprises should cooperate with localities for tourism development.

Director of Hong Ngoc Ha Tourism Co. stressed that even though the number of job openings in this industry with attractive salary is on the rise in the upcoming time, the industry itself is highly selective. That means laborers in the industry must be professional and passionate as well.