According to a forecast by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, by 2020 the tourism industry in Vietnam will require more than 2 million workers to work directly with tourism service centres; not including additional workers required in the cruise industry. Increased focus on training staff to a high level is one of four groups of solutions that the Government has approved as part of their plan to improve the tourism industry to 2020, and with a vision for 2030.

Supply does not meet demand
According to the Vietnam Administration of Tourism there are currently just over 1.3 million workers in the tourism industry, accounting for 2.5% of the total national labor force. Of these only 42% have been trained in tourism, 38% were trained in other fields and transferred to tourism, and 20% had no formal training other than ‘on the job’ training. Therefore it can be seen that highly skilled, specifically trained workers are lacking. Annually, schools specializing in tourism can only provide around 60% of the labor force required, leading to grave shortages of human resources. In the near future the growth of the tourism industry in Vietnam is expected to be 25- 35% per year, and the plan up to 2020 will require 2 million well trained workers.  

Quality of training not up to standard
Assessing the current human resources, a manager of a 5-star hotel in Ho Chi Minh City remarked that a lot of staff members have received long-term training at colleges, universities etc, but still require further time and money investment to learn more skills, particularly foreign languages when they are recruited. He also pointed out that in other countries, the ratio of theoretical studies and practical training in tourism education is 50-50, equivalent to 24 months of internship. While in Vietnam, there are only 2 internship periods equal to 4 months, thus trainees lack on-the-job skills and practical experience. Furthermore, many of the institutions are nameless and have no association with large, well respected hotels, and can only afford to send their students to internship in sub-standard businesses. Therefore, the quality of training is inconsistent and does not meet the required standard. 

Foreign language is a must
The biggest difficult for the tourism industry is the shortage of workers that meet requirements in foreign languages: up to 30-45% of tour guides and 70-80% of restaurant reception staff do not meet foreign language criteria.
Occupational schools have difficulty with all the students who are adept in foreign languages choosing to enter universities. However, many of them come back to occupational schools after graduation because it is easier to find jobs – 90% of the students from the Saigontourist Intermediate School of Tourism and Hotel are employed. The school provided training programmes for 4-5-star hotel receptionists and restaurant staff which are 100% conducted in English. Students are also put in internship in the Saigontourist system to improve their language skills. 

Source (in Vietnamese): http://dulich.nld.com.vn/du-lich/thieu-tram-trong-nguon-nhan-luc-du-lich...  

Commentary by Phuong Pham, British Council Vietnam (phuong.pham@britishcouncil.org.vn):

Vietnamese students are increasingly interested in studying abroad in subjects related to tourism and hospitality. In British Council Vietnam Exhibition Visitors Survey in 2016, this subject area ranked only second to Business in students’ choice when considering about overseas study. HESA statistics 2015/16 also showed 69% growth of the number of Vietnamese students who enrolled in tourism and hospitality courses in the UK as compared to 2013/14.
However, UK courses in tourism and hospitality have not been promoted well enough to Vietnamese students in comparison with other study destinations such as Switzerland or Australia. UK institutions should promote these courses more strongly in Vietnam market, focusing on key employability benefits that come from industrial links, internship and work placement opportunities. 
In the field of TNE, there are some education organisations that have started offering foreign qualifications in this subject areas, mainly teaching Edexcel  programmes or Australia curriculum. However, the number is still very small as compared to the market demand. This is the partnership area that UK institutions should keep an eye on and tap into. Partners in this area can be varied, from universities, colleges to foreign education organisations and partnership models can be franchising, dual degrees, or professional short training courses.