Vietnam’s tourism industry needs an additional 40,000 employees each year.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism estimates that domestic training institutions supply about 15,000 graduates, falling short of the required 40,000 employees annually.

Vietnam has 346 tourist training centers from primary to tertiary level, but their curriculums have failed to meet international standards. Graduates need additional training for their actual work due to lax cooperation between schools and businesses.

Nguyen Quoc Ky, Chairman of Vietravel, recommends “Vietnam’s Tourist Development Strategy until 2030 and vision to 2050 should consider human resource development a decisive driving force. If we cannot train internationally qualified staff, we have to recruit foreigners. Almost all 5-star hotels in Vietnam are run by foreign managers. We need to import international training curricula because domestic programs cannot meet actual demand.”

The Ministry of Education and Training has developed a training program combining practical skills and academic knowledge. Training centers will be rearranged to standardize quality.

Minister Phung Xuan Nha said “We’ll work with other ministries, sectors, associations, and businesses to design training programs, which mobilize various investment sources. We’ll also assess training quality according to international standards.” VOV5