Tourism is considered as one of Da Nang’s spearhead economic sectors. However, the city has been facing a severe shortage of qualified human resources in the tourism industry.

Chefs from the Furama Resort Danang are attending a training course to improve their professional skills

Hence, many educational institutes across the city have joined forces with tourism businesses to train staff to meet the growing demand of the labour-intensive sector.

According to the latest statistics released by the municipal Department of Tourism, Da Nang is now home to 943 accommodation establishments, providing more than 40,000 rooms in total.

Besides, 376 travel agencies with 4,646 tour guides are operating in the city. The city has a combined total of 3,760 tourist coaches, 83 tourist cyclos, and 25 inland waterway cruise ships.

In addition, there are currently about 50, 963 employees working in Da Nang’s tourism industry, about 75.4% of them have been trained at tourism training institutes.

Currently, many junior colleges, universities and vocational training schools in the city are providing practical training at their miniature hotels in their tourism education programmes in which their students figure out their roles as potential employees in the real workplace as well as gain skills and abilities in the tourism industry.

In order to ensure the quality of human resources for large tourism enterprises, especially 4 to 5-star hotels, many educational institutes have facilitated their students to attend practical training at the city-based tourism businesses. Included are the Duy Tan University, the Dong A University, the Tourism Faculty of the University of Economics, the city-based Tourism junior College, and the Viet Nam-Australia Vocational College.

Mr Le Duc Trung, Rector of the city-based Tourism Junior College, remarked his school has focus on providing practical training for its students to meet the requirements of their future recruiters.

He added his school has also entered into agreements with nearly 50 partners who are resorts, 3 to 5-star hotels and travel agencies in the city, Quang Nam Province, and other central localities, in order to send its students for internships.

“Our college has raised practical training in tourism education at the school and tourism firms by between 60% and 75% depending on majors that students choose. The intention is to help our students gain professional and practical skills required by the tourism industry in order to find suitable jobs just after graduation” Rector Trung emphasised.

Mr Le Tan Thanh Tung, Deputy General Director of the Vitours, stressed the need for large tourism firms to open specialised centre to train high-quality human resources meeting the Viet Nam Tourism Occupational Skills Standards (VTOS) for them, and for the city as a whole.

By NHAT HA - Translated by MAI DUNG