For the first time, UNWTO organized a Tourism conference in Vietnam and at a university.

This is an important event for senior leaders of Governments and public managers in the field of Tourism, and marks the first time UNWTO has organized this important event at a university, Duy Tan University, Vietnam.

Recovering from the pandemic, the tourism industry is lacking in management level human resources

The Covid-19 pandemic broke out globally, the first and biggest affected sector was Tourism. However, when the epidemic was controlled, Tourism was also the sector that recovered and developed the most strongly. Because for people, the need to visit, enjoy, learn about the colorful world and seek investment and development opportunities is always present.

Mr. Harry Hwang - UNWTO Regional Director for Asia - Pacific (left photo) and Mr. Doan Van Viet - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism spoke at the Workshop.

Mr. Harry Hwang - Director of UNWTO Asia - Pacific said: "World tourism has recovered 84% compared to pre-pandemic levels by the first 7 months of 2023. The Middle East has seen the best recovery with arrivals exceeding 20% ​​of pre-pandemic levels. In Asia - Pacific, the region that has led global tourism development and growth, arrivals have increased to 61% compared to pre-pandemic levels thanks to the reopening of many destinations and source markets since the beginning of this year.

These figures suggest that global tourism is on track to recover almost completely by the end of the year. However, we are still in a difficult situation, facing many major realities. Not least of which is the worsening labour shortage as workers laid off during the pandemic move to other business sectors. The mass exodus of workers from the tourism industry has exacerbated the skills shortage in the sector.

Many experiences and enthusiastic opinions were shared by delegates from many countries at the conference.

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Doan Van Viet emphasized:   " Implementing many tourism recovery plans in a safe and flexible way after the pandemic with a focus on prioritizing sustainable tourism development, Vietnam has achieved remarkable results by welcoming nearly 10 million international visitors in the first 10 months of 2023.

Tourism recovered 69% compared to the same period in 2019 and exceeded the initial target of 8 million arrivals for the whole year. To recover and develop the tourism industry in this new period, we need to look at and rethink tourism in a sustainable and self-reliant direction, pay more attention to green growth and apply technology, digital transformation in destination management.

In addition, it is impossible not to mention the essential role of human resources, especially high-quality human resources, at the management level. The 17th Tourism Policy and Strategy Management Training Workshop of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Asia - Pacific was held for 3 days in Da Nang with many presentations by experts, leading speakers and sharing from member countries in the region. I hope that together we can recover and develop the Asia - Pacific Tourism industry to be stronger and more resilient .

For the purpose of developing regional tourism, delegates from 19 countries gathered at Duy Tan University.

Right at the opening session of the Workshop, Harry Hwang - UNWTO Regional Director for Asia - Pacific affirmed: " Returning to Da Nang after 7 years, I am extremely impressed by the beautiful country of Vietnam. I am even more impressed by the extremely thoughtful preparation and arrangement for this workshop. Organizing the Training Workshop for Tourism Policy & Strategy Management is extremely necessary and I believe that the discussions and experience sharing of leaders and experts will contribute to solving the challenges of labor shortage that the tourism industry is facing in the post-pandemic period ".

Many delegates attended the conference

With many contributions in training high-quality tourism human resources and being the only university in Vietnam to achieve UNWTO TedQual accreditation for 2 programs:

• International Hotel Management
• International Restaurant Management

Duy Tan University was chosen as the co-organizer for this Policy and Strategy Management Training Workshop.

• Outstanding issues in tourism development at the Workshop such as:
• Education for the Future of Tourism,
• Changes in customer expectations and their implications for tourism human resource development,
• Upskilling and digital adaptability in the Tourism industry,
• Building better resilience to crises,
• …

received many comments and contributions from 49 delegates, including leaders, managers, researchers and experts from 19 countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region such as: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Japan, Iran, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam, ...

Many delegates attended the UNWTO Workshop at Duy Tan University

Dr. Le Nguyen Bao - President of Duy Tan University shared: "This is the first international conference organized by UNWTO in Vietnam and also the first time it has been organized at a university in the world. Therefore, for Duy Tan University, this is a great honor. As an educational institution, we are always aware of our role and responsibility with the mission of training high-quality tourism human resources to meet the increasing needs of the labor market.

Through this workshop, I hope we will find satisfactory answers to the question of 'How to build a training program that meets international standards in the tourism industry'. Besides, cooperation is the key to success. Therefore, I hope the workshop will lay the foundation for sustainable cooperation between stakeholders from government to business to schools, so that we will achieve the important goal of recovering and developing the tourism industry more successfully ".

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