Hotel industry needs more local professionals

Thailand has played a significant role in the regional tourism industry past but it might end up facing some fierce competition once the AEC opens up fully. So the question is, how will Thailand maintain its momentum? Once the AEC kicks in, new players from nine nations that have similar tourism products will emerge as serious competitors to the Kingdom as a cheap travel destination.
Pramuke Achariyachai, president of Kata Group Resorts Thailand, said the opening up of the Asean market would heat up competition in this country’s tourism and hospitality markets. However, the most worrying thing, he said, was the entry of property funds, particularly from Singapore.
Pramuke’s fears are well founded, especially once 2015 rolls around. To keep the industry competitive, executives agree that professionals are needed. Yet there is no evidence of a clear recruitment plan on the national level to meet such demands.
Under the AEC, opportunities will open up as per the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA). In the hotel and tourism industry, 32 positions are already on offer as part of a deal signed by Asean members. Under the MRA, professionals are allowed to work in any member country if they are accredited according to the terms of the agreement.
“Only three years are left and it isn’t easy to prepare people to serve the industry. Readiness does not come from pointing the finger, but from serious consideration and implementation,’’ said Nalikatibhag Sangsnit, director-general of Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA).
Thailand has been working hard to follow this guideline, with the Tourism and Sports Ministry playing a key role in defining a master plan to meet standards. The Education Ministry is also expected to join in and design a new curriculum to produce professionals.
However, Vachara Kannikar, Tourism and Sports Ministry spokesman, believes that a professional workforce can be created in time for the AEC, provided Thailand takes a more aggressive stance in modernising legislation to cope with the rapidly changing business environment.
“Imagine housekeepers coming over from the Philippines. They are more fluent in English than Thais,’’ an industry source said, adding that local operators could not stop foreign workers getting jobs in Thailand if they had MRA accreditation.
According to Thai Hotel Associa-tion statistics, up to 500,000 foreigners are working in the hotel sector alone and half of them are here illegally.
Thanavath Phonvichai, director of the Centre for Economic and Business Forecasting of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said it was not too late if the country started preparing now. In fact, he said, Thailand’s tourism industry was strong enough, and one of its advantages was that Thais are service-minded and friendly.
However, Vachara said one of the biggest worries was the lack of fluency in the English language. He warned that people in neighbouring countries spoke at least two languages and many were absolutely fluent in English.
Pornchanit Kaewnate, dean of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, agreed that being fluent in English would be very important once the AEC kicks in, though people should also pay attention to regional tongues and culture.
This university has already started changing its curriculum to meet the changing business environment by offering an extra language such as Burmese or Lao in addition to English. They are also offering lessons on innovative tourism, especially in creating new travel options.
This year, the university also launched a new course in partnership with the School of Tourism and Hospitality of Auckland University of Technology. This three-and-half-year programme allows students to study in Thailand for two and half years and spend a year in Auckland, New Zealand.
“We are looking for partnerships to make our students stronger in this industry,” she said, adding that the university was not just working with schools but also with hotels, especially 5-star properties.
This means that the hotel industry could get fresh graduates in the next four years, yet there is only three years before AEC kicks in. Perhaps the Thai tourism and hospitality industry needs to find a new solution to this challenge.