According to a spokesperson for the Da Nang Department of Tourism, there are now a total of 23,000 employees working for the city’s tourism sector.  However, the city is facing a severe shortage of qualified staff who are able to take up key positions as managers and heads of departments in its hotels and resorts. 

A Bed-making Competition in the city

The Principal of the Viet Nam-Australia Vocational College, Mr Dang Phuc Sinh, explained that the reason for the serious lack of human resources in the tourism sector is that the city has seen rapid growth in the number of hotels and resorts over recent years.

Some recruiters say that the graduates from the tourism faculties of local universities and junior colleges have a good background knowledge, but they lack management experience, foreign language proficiency, and other soft skills.

Ms Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hien, Director of the Human Resource Department of the InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, remarked that high-quality human resources in the tourism sector are people who have a comprehensive knowledge and many years of experience working in international-level restaurants and hotels.  She said that her resort has to invite managers from either luxury hotels in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, or from foreign countries, because the local tourism staff do not meet her resort’s requirements. 

Due to the serious lack of professional employees, many tourism businesses have to attract qualified people from other companies by offering more attractive salaries.  This results in an unstable tourism labour market as tourism employees jump from job to job over a short period of time.

In an effort to solve the problem, some local universities, junior colleges, and vocational schools are planning to cooperate with hotels and resorts to train their students and supply staff for the tourism sector.

Ms Hien stressed the need for the schools to teach their subjects in English, and to enhance practice sessions instead of theory lessons.  Special attention should be paid to inviting lecturers from English-speaking and tourism-developed countries to teach their students.  This will provide the opportunity for them to access the professional working environment.  Another focus should be on creating closer links with foreign educational institutes to exchange students.  All the above suggestions will help the city to enhance its competitiveness and promote the sustainable development of the tourism sector in the future.