Novotel Saigon. Illustrative image (Source: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – Humanresources development will help improve the competiveness of lodging providersin Vietnam amid the rapid expansion of the country’s tourism industry, accordingto hospitality experts.
Last year, the average occupancy rateof hotels and resorts was at nearly 60 percent and total tourism revenue hit150 trillion VND (6.6 billion USD), said Do Hong Xoan, chairwoman of theVietnam Hotel Association at a conference on hospitality investment held in HCMCity on May 9.
Also in 2017, 25,600 lodgingfacilities ran 508,000 rooms nationwide. The figures represented annualincreases of 22 and 21 percent, respectively.
Investments and better management oftourism accommodation by big corporations, like Vingroup, Sungroup and FLCresulted in good quality services, Xoan noted.
However, experts said overall, domestichotels have low competitiveness and are often overloaded during peak seasons.Many of them pay too much attention to price competiveness but lack skilledhuman resources.
Do Thi Thanh Hoa, deputy director ofthe Institute for Tourism Development Research, said despite its substantialgrowth, the number of people working in the lodging sector, which accounts forhalf of the tourism workforce, falls short of demand and just a small portion haveofficial training in tourism.
The accommodation workforce alsolacks middle and senior managers, Hoa added.
A representative from the Quang NinhTourism Department informed the conference that the province has about 18,000tourism labourers, of whom 49 percent lack official training.
Some 75 percent of local hoteldirectors and managers have never been educated in tourism at university, hesaid.
Experts at the conference saidtraining of qualified workforce in response to specific needs of differenttypes of accommodation facilities is necessary for tourism development.Completing occupational standards in line with regional and international onesis also important, they stressed.
Mauro Gasparotti, director of SavillsHotels Asia Pacific, recommended Vietnamese lodging establishments payattention to improving their infrastructure and service quality and theapplication of new technologies in management and customer services.
His suggestion also covered pricepolicies and environmental protection for a sustainable tourism industry.-VNA
VNA
