Insufficient and substandard

According to Plan 111/KH-UBND of the municipal People's Committee on the implementation of the municipal Party's Resolution No. 03-NQ/TU and the Adjustment of the Tourism Development Plan of Can Tho city to 2020, a vision toward 2030, there will be about 39,300 employees working in the tourism industry by 2020. Particularly, there are 13,100 are direct employees and 26,200 indirect employees. The professionally trained workforce must reach over 80%. However, the rate of trained workers in the industry only reaches 68.3% in 2020.

According to the Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Can Tho city, from 2013 to 2018, the direct workforce in the tourism sector increased sharply, from 3,350 to 5,600, with an average annual growth of about 10.8%. From 2019 to 2020, it slowed down due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many hotels, tourist gardens, and travel firms had to close, or cut staff. Therefore, the workforce in the smokeless industry is not growing as planned. The number of direct employees in 2020 is 7,087, mainly working in tourist gardens, resorts, homestays, accommodation establishments (1-5 stars hotels), travel agencies, tourism training institutions, state management agencies on tourism, etc. Particularly, the accommodation area accounts for 72.6% of the workforce in the industry.

The quality of the trained workforce is also uneven. The number of trained workers in state management agencies on tourism, travel agencies, and tourism training institutions reaches 100%, but it only reaches 26.1% in tourist destinations, the lowest in the industry. In tourist gardens, homestays, and resorts, most of which are self-managed by families, the staff here are mainly unskilled workers or they have not received professional training in tourism. Even in several famous tourist areas, most of the employees only participate in short-term training, or through learning from seniors. The number of trained workers at these destinations accounts for less than 30% of the total number of employees.

The mismatch in qualifications and skills of the workforce in the tourism sector is also quite large. Specifically, there is nearly 90% untrained staff in some small-scale private companies or households.

In terms of tour guides, there are also some challenges. Currently, there are only a few major travel agencies that have their own trained guides such as Vietravel, Saigon Tourist, Fiditour Travel, etc. Other agencies often use freelance guides and do not have common standards for evaluation. In fact, many boat drivers or freelancers at the floating market become tour guides through gradually accumulating experience without having to undergo professional training; therefore it is difficult for workforce management.

Can Tho has many universities opening tourism-related majors namely Can Tho University, Tay Do University, Nam Can Tho University, and so on. Particularly, Can Tho Tourism College is a specialized tourism training school. On average, Can Tho Tourism College provides hundreds of full-time trained personnel each year. According to statistics, over 90% of students graduating from this school find jobs with the right majors. However, the number of trained workers in the tourism sector has not yet met the local industry's development needs since a part of the students graduating from this school move to Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc, or other localities to work, while some move to other jobs. Therefore, the human resources in the tourism sector in Can Tho are not stable in quantity.

Regarding the quality of human resources in the hospitality industry, according to several travel agencies and hotels, they have to retrain new employees, especially in soft skills and professional practice. Only about 40% of managers and supervisors working at hotels have expertise in tourism and hotel services. Notably, the labor force's foreign language limitation is the most obvious problem.

Finding solutions

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Huynh Truong Huy, Team leader of Can Tho City's human resources survey and statistics in 2020, proposed several solutions to develop human resources, including focusing on strengthening training for each specific group. There should be a connection between businesses and students through activities, meetings, and conferences. Moreover, it is necessary to create internship programs for final-year students to connect with companies, thus creating opportunities for students to practice their profession, while helping businesses to manage human resources more effectively, without wasting time for retraining.

An English class for the people in Son Islet.

The model of school - student - business is being implemented by many units in Can Tho as it actively trains the human resources to be in accordance with reality. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Suong, Deputy Director of Hai Au Tourist Can Tho, says: “The cooperation between schools, students, and businesses will bring many benefits. Students will be equipped with knowledge, soft skills and have a clear career orientation. The school's training will become more diversified and more practical. Enterprises also have suitable personnel after the screening process”.

Hai Au Tourist Can Tho has cooperated with a number of schools in Can Tho to create conditions for students to have direct contact with the tourist environment through internships, tour programs, team building, events, etc. Thereby, 2/3 of the company's staff comes from this training. Le Thanh Hieu, a student of Vietnam studies from Can Tho University, is currently a freelancer at Hai Au Tourist, says: “Learning and exchanging experience offer students real-life lessons and more skills. For example, we can learn time management, crowd management, or knowledge regarding new tourism models and trends. These are the foundations that spark creativity and passion for the profession. The field trip also helps me to make a clear career decision. Moreover, we also become more aware and proactive in approaching businesses to find suitable and stable career opportunities”.

Mr. Tran Manh Khang, Chief Executive Officer of Can Tho Vietravel Tourist Guides, Chairman of the Tour Guide Club of Can Tho Tourism Association, says: “Most travel firms have their own training standards for the staff, including the tour guide. In Vietravel, we evaluate tour guides through exams to control and stabilize the quality of this workforce. The tour guide team is pretty unique because, in addition to working in the travel firms, they are also freelancers. Therefore, I propose to hold a tour guide rating contest in Can Tho”. This will bring many benefits because we can manage the human resources and ensure fairness. Travel agencies when using freelance guides will also feel more secure.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Can Tho City, says: “Building and developing quality human resources is one of the important tasks to promote tourism development of the city in a sustainable direction. Therefore, the Department has many programs, schemes, and plans to gradually improve human resources in terms of quantity and quality. In the 2018-2020 period, the units organized 48 training classes (the set target is 21 classes), reaching the rate of 228%.

The fostering and training are also aimed at regular workers in the tourism sector such as vehicle owners, farmers, and small traders. Can Tho also has a detailed plan for human resource development and awareness-raising for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2040. Particularly, the city focuses on attracting and training high-quality human resources. The training, retraining, and development of human resources is a long-term process that requires cooperation and connection from state management agencies, training institutions, businesses, and subjects participating in tourism activities. Furthermore, it is necessary to adapt and adjust to the pace of tourism development to be effective.