Tourists listening to Khmer local guide at Preah Khan in Siem Reap
Tourism industry stakeholders have welcomed a move by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) to bridge the tourism skills gap in Cambodia.
The MoT has estimated that an additional 200,000 trained tourism professionals are needed to cater to the anticipated seven million foreign visitors in 2020.
To achieve this goal, a policy to promote vocational training for hotel and travel services has been developed. Twelve vocational training centres will be involved, offering a wide range of courses.
According to MoT deputy director general Try Chhiv, there are currently 620,000 Cambodians working in the tourism sector. But urgent training is needed to increase this figure to between 800,000 and one million.
Luu Meng, CEO of hospitality company Almond Group, agrees that there is insufficient skilled labour.
“We lack a lot of the skills and resources needed to meet tourist demand. We need to encourage all schools to invest in proper training, especially when it comes to language skills,” said Meng, who is also vice president of the Cambodia Tourism Federation.
The government is urging companies to invest in skills training at centres that meet ASEAN Economic Community standards so that professionals will gain regional recognition as well.
Jo Crisp, general manager of Peak Cambodia, agrees with the move, provided there is a “coordinated approach” and that quality training is provided.
As well, Amy McLoughlin, co-founder of tour operator Ayana Journeys, said: “We support any efforts to up-skill the Cambodian workforce, and are hopeful to see more confident and entrepreneurial bright sparks coming out of these centres.”
