Vietnam should accelerate the implementation of the national tourism
occupational skills standards (VTOS) in order to increase the tourism
sector’s competitiveness on the eve of the formation of the ASEAN
Economic Community, delegates said at a conference in Hanoi on December
3.
Ambassador Franz Jessen, head of the European
Union delegation in Vietnam, said that the VTOS, built with the
assistance from the EU, Vietnamese tourism training establishments would
be equipped better to train a young work force, meeting the increasing
demand in Vietnam’s growing tourism sector.
At the
conference, experts in the industry highlighted the importance as well
as benefits of the VTOS. Built in 2007 and revised in July this year,
the set of standards will help Vietnam get ready for implementing the
ASEAN’s Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals
(MRA-TP).
The MRA-TP will facilitate the
mobility of tourism professionals in ASEAN, thus contributing to the
development of the tourism industry of the ASEAN Community in general
and Vietnam’s tourism in particular, head of Vietnam National
Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Nguyen Van Tuan, said.
The conference is the first of its kind discussing the implementation
of the VTOS in line with the MRA-TP. It was co-organised by the
EU-sponsored ‘Programme for Developing Tourism Capacity Associated with
Environmental and Social Responsibilities’ Project and Euro Cham
Vietnam.
A similar event will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 5.-VNA