Lack of human resources and weak
According to the report of Quang Binh Department of Tourism , after 2 years of almost being frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the tourism human resources have changed jobs, many have found other suitable jobs and have no intention of returning to their old jobs. Therefore, after the tourism industry reopened, the biggest difficulty is the problem of shortage, scarcity and labor shift, especially high-quality human resources such as management, operations, and tour guides. The shortage of human resources in the tourism industry is even more serious during the peak season.
According to statistics by the end of 2022, the entire tourism industry in Quang Binh has about 4,000 direct workers and 7,000 indirect workers. The number of tourism workers in Quang Binh has increased, they are properly trained, however, their professional skills are still low, their work efficiency, communication skills, situation handling skills, customer care skills, and foreign language proficiency are not high, and they cannot meet actual needs.
Specifically, in the field of tour guides, the province currently has 343 active tour guides (165 domestic tour guides and 178 international tour guides). Of which, intermediate level accounts for nearly 50%, college level accounts for 18%. The number of tour guides who are professionally trained in the tour guide field accounts for only about 15%, the rest only receive short-term professional training. Many tour guides only sign individual tour contracts when they are free and consider this as a part-time job, so the quality of work is not high.
In the accommodation sector, Quang Binh currently has 531 accommodation establishments, of which only 38 are classified as having human resources meeting the requirements stipulated in the Tourism Law TCVN 4391:2015, the rest are mostly motels, homestays, hotels using human resources mainly from family members with little or no training. Workers who can use foreign languages account for about 30% -35% of the total workforce.
The province has 39 travel agencies, including 21 international travel agencies and 18 domestic travel agencies. Most travel agencies rarely sign long-term contracts with tour guides, but often only sign short-term contracts for each tour, so the quality of service is not yet specialized and systematic. Workers who can use foreign languages at accommodation establishments, travel agencies, and establishments that meet tourist service standards account for about 30% - 35% of the total workforce. The professionalism of tourism personnel after graduation is still very low.
Building a high quality workforce
At the scientific conference "Training human resources to meet social needs" recently organized by Quang Binh University in collaboration with Quang Binh Department of Tourism, delegates said that as a locality blessed with natural resources such as sea, forest, especially the most majestic and magnificent cave system, Quang Binh has made the right decisions, promoted and promoted tourism, strived to make tourism truly become a spearhead economic sector in the province's socio-economic development strategy and gradually affirmed its brand on the tourism map of Vietnam. However, to achieve the set goals, it is necessary to have a high-quality workforce, sufficient in number, with a reasonable structure including a large number of managers, skilled tourism staff, good at expertise, professionalism, resourcefulness and a sense of responsibility.
One of the important requirements for human resources in the tourism industry is foreign language proficiency. Dr. Vo Thi Dung, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Quang Binh University, said that the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Quang Binh University was established in 2007 on the basis of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Quang Binh Pedagogical College. Up to now, the teaching staff at the Faculty of Foreign Languages has continuously grown in both quantity and quality with 22 lecturers, including 8 PhDs, 1 PhD student (Australia), 13 Masters; including 5 lecturers from the Department of Chinese and 17 lecturers from the Department of English.
Currently, the Faculty of Foreign Languages is training many students majoring in English and Chinese. Students are provided with basic knowledge of language and culture, in-depth knowledge of foreign languages, and have the ability to use language at a high level. At the end of the program, students are able to use language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) proficiently. Therefore, they have an understanding of translation work; develop the ability to research linguistic, cultural and social issues; have basic knowledge of society, politics, economics and information technology; have in-depth knowledge of cultural exchange; have basic knowledge of translation theory and have the ability to translate and interpret, especially in the field of tourism.
According to Dr. Vo Thi Dung, after graduation, students are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to work in many different professions, typically as translators and interpreters, foreign language lecturers, secretaries, assistants, foreign affairs officers in industries, agencies, organizations, domestic and international companies that use foreign languages, staff of embassies, diplomatic agencies, non-governmental organizations, tour guides... Over the past 15 years, the Faculty of Foreign Languages has trained more than 4,000 students in both full-time and part-time training programs. This is an important human resource for the tourism industry of Quang Binh province.
Representing tourism businesses in the province, Ms. Le Thi Hai Yen, Oxalis Holiday Company Limited, said that in order to meet the development needs in the coming time, the tourism industry of Quang Binh province needs to have a strong increase in the number of tourism staff, including rapidly increasing the number of human resources in the field of travel services, with the proportion of domestic visitors forecast to increase at a higher rate than the increase in international visitors due to changes in tourism trends after the Covid-19 pandemic; rapidly increasing the number of service personnel at accommodation establishments, especially for high-quality hotels; rapidly increasing the number of service personnel at food and beverage establishments concentrated in hotels and restaurants that meet customer service standards.
In particular, organize periodic training with costs suitable to workers' income, mobilize additional resources from Human Resource Development Funds and support from accommodation, catering and travel businesses to organize short-term applied vocational training courses, bringing high efficiency: room service, reception, table service; food processing techniques, restaurant service; professional courses on tourism accommodation management; management and business of community tourism accommodation for people in Phong Nha - Ke Bang area.
In addition, it is necessary to focus on organizing training for those who have been participating in annual tourism activities to update knowledge and overall tourism development strategies, create conditions for exchange and sharing of experiences; implement capacity support programs for tourism business units; develop tourism labor market information channels; have appropriate strategies and policies to nurture, develop and at the same time attract high-quality tourism human resources for tourism service management and operation positions to gradually improve the overall quality of tourism services in Quang Binh.
After 2 years of being severely affected, Vietnamese tourism in general and Quang Binh tourism in particular have gradually overcome difficulties, recovered and grown strongly. The total number of tourists to Quang Binh in 2022 is estimated to reach about 2,010,720 arrivals, 3.53 times higher than the same period in 2021 and reaching 100.5% of the 2022 plan. Of which, domestic visitors are estimated at 1,979,933 arrivals, international visitors are estimated at 30,787 arrivals. Total revenue from tourists is estimated at about 2,312.3 billion VND, 3.53 times higher than the same period in 2021 and reaching 102.8% of the 2022 plan.
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