The National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) in cooperation with the
Pacific-Asia Travel Association(PATA) has held a training programme to
improve the competitive ability of small and medium tourism enterprises.
The two-day event aims to prepare enterprise and workers in
the tourism sector for the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community
slated for the end of this year.
The training focused on
destination management, handicraft production and hotel management,
using a set of standards recognised by all ASEAN member countries.
According
to the PATA chapter’s General Secretary and Head of VNAT’s
International Cooperation Department Dinh Ngoc Duc, the training
programme is significant, particularly as the ASEAN Mutual Recognition
Agreement on Tourism Professionals (MRA-TP) officially takes effect in
2015 allowing free movement of tourism workers between countries in the
regional bloc.
Currently, a total of 1,456 enterprises have been
licensed to operate in international travel nationwide while tens of
thousands provide domestic tours. The country has 16,000 tourism
accommodation units with over 332,000 rooms.-VNA