Hanoi hosted a conference on August 13 discussing an ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) for Tourism Professionals. The agreement, due to take effect in 2015, allows accredited tourism industry professionals in one country to seek employment in other ASEAN member nations.
It will help Vietnam's tourism industry hire appropriately qualified foreign nationals to fill its own staffing vacancies, said Dinh Ngoc Duc, an official from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
The VNAT developed a guide book to implement the agreement with support from an EU-funded project. The manual was adopted at the 2013 ASEAN Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Laos in January and has been distributed to all ASEAN member countries.
It has also prepared electronic documents and internet resources to help answer any questions arising from the MRA.
Uniform professionalism standards applied across the ASEAN region will assist each member nation improve the quality of its tourism services and the skills of its workers.
Staff who have attained Vietnam Tourism Occupational Skills Standards (VTOS) certificates will also be qualified under the equivalent ASEAN Common Competency Standards for Tourism Professionals (ACCSTP).
Lecturers and industry training centres should review their curricula to reflect the VTOS and ACCSTP interchangeability.