The current status of tourism and hospitality education and training in

Vietnam
Globalization and international integration are inevitable and objective trends of
development. The Industrial Revolution 4.0 (Industry 4.0) brings many opportunities, but
also poses challenges to Vietnam's human resource training system. Currently, the quality
of training human resources in tourism is still limited and inadequate in response to the
requirements of innovation and integration. This has reduced the competitiveness of
tourism human resources compared to other countries in the region and the world.
Reality
1. Policy mechanism of the State
Grasping the strong development trend of Industry 4.0, the Prime Minister issued
Directive No. 16/CT-TTg dated May 4, 2017 on “Strengthening the capacity to approach
the Second Industrial Revolution. 4th” which clearly states to promote the development
of smart tourism (Prime Minister, 2017). This is a premise for businesses to boldly invest
in the field of tourism applying modern technology.
2. System of training and fostering human resources
Tourism training and vocational training institutions of all levels have been formed
and expanded, diversifying in types of ownership, training and vocational training levels.
According to the Institute of Tourism Development Research, there are currently 284
institutions participating in tourism training, of which there are 62 universities, 80
colleges, 117 intermediate schools, 2 training companies and 23 centers vocational
training center. This shows that the workforce in the tourism sector is gradually being
standardized, equipped with knowledge and skills for the process of integration and
development (Lan Huong, 2016). Distribution of tourism training institutions is
concentrated mainly in big cities, such as: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha
Trang, etc. Besides, the quality of training among vocational training institutions is also
different in terms of qualifications of lecturers, system of technical facilities, and
conditions for vocational practice. This is one of the reasons why the quality of tourism
human resources is uneven among localities.
3. Information technology application and Industry 4.0
Vietnam is the country with the 12th highest number of Internet users in the world
and 6th out of 35 countries/regions in Asia. Industry 4.0 with the appearance of virtual
reality technology and virtual reality interaction requires the training system to change
training programs and methods. The current tourism training program is still biased
towards theoretical teaching, slow to innovate, the content of the current training program
still does not meet the requirements and labor trends of Industry 4.0 (Lan Huong, 2016).
4. Link training with tourism businesses and actively integrate
These include large enterprises, such as: Viettel signed a contract with FLC Group
to optimize services for customers such as airline services, hotel services, entertainment
services - golf, distribution of air tickets. flying through direct sales channels, etc. to
resorts. The fact that businesses actively cooperate with projects on security technology
infrastructure, network safety, commercial payment system, and electronic booking has
created great competitiveness for Vietnam's tourism.
5. Teaching staff and training quality
- Teaching staff: In terms of integration, in addition to the factor of integrating
domestic and international standards for professional expertise, the ability to fluently use
foreign languages and information technology to raise the bar in teaching is a mandatory
requirement for teachers. However, the majority of lecturers at schools with tourism
training are trained from other disciplines, the teaching of tourism is mainly based on
self-study knowledge, synthesized from many sources, from experience and knowledge.
experience. Vocational trainers are not equal in terms of qualifications and capacity,...
This is a weakness for the teaching staff.
- Soft skills: Tourism is a service industry, in addition to professional knowledge,
soft skills are one of the mandatory requirements for human resources. Lack of practical
experience and lack of soft skills such as job handling skills, information technology
application skills, communication skills, etc. are what most employers see in tourism
human resources. Vietnam today. According to the World Bank (WB), the quality of
human resources in Vietnam is currently only 3.39/10 points,... Many agencies and
businesses accept students, it takes from 1 to 2 years. for retraining, has not yet met the
job requirements, etc. (Dinh Viet Phuong, 2017).
- Labor quality, working productivity, quality of human resources are still limited,
there is a shortage of skilled workers, especially leading experts. develop. Human
resources trained in tourism in remote and isolated areas continue to be lacking and weak,
which will be a big challenge when developing new tourist areas, training for ethnic
minorities faces many barriers in language and culture. ... Vietnam has cheap labor, but
labor productivity is lower than other countries in the region. The main reason is that the
labor has not been properly trained, the quality and efficiency of labor has not met the
demand, etc.
Tourism training is vocational training, besides, in the era of Industry 4.0,
technology for tourism develops rapidly and changes from day to day, so there is a great
need for practical and practical facilities. However, the technical equipment for training is
often very expensive and rapidly changing, making it difficult for training institutions to
keep up with industry developments, leading to the popularity of tourism training. "hands
not catch the enemy". This greatly affects the quality of the labor force because it cannot
keep up with the needs of the job.