ASEAN tourism agreement to benefit Vietnam

The ASEAN Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on Tourism Professionals is designed to enable the mobility of employment for skilled tourism labour among ASEAN countries. For example, a Vietnamese hotel manager can work in Singapore or Thailand or vice versa if his skills meet the standards for tourism professionals.F

Foreign tourists in Vietnam (Image: Internet)

"The agreement will create better conditions for the legal movement of labour forces in the tourism sector among ASEAN member countries. Tourism labourers can have access to employment opportunities and high paid jobs." - Tran Phu Cuong, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In order to work in a host country, a Foreign Tourism Professional need to possess a valid tourism competency certificate in a specific tourism job title as specified in the Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum (CATC).

This certificate should only be issued by the Tourism Professional Certification Board (TPCB) in an ASEAN Member State.

"In order to compete with other ASEAN countries, each company need to upgrade tourism services to meet the standards that have been recognized by the ASEAN community." - Nguyen The Cuong, Training Director, Muong Thanh Hotel Group.

The agreement is considered an important factor to improve the tourism sector’s standards as well as enhance the professional ability of tourism labour forces in ASEAN member countries.