Recently, the
Danang tourism and hospitality sector has tried to cope with the serious
shortage of qualified employees. This was exacerbated by the inadequate professional
training of university graduates from local universities and colleges. The annual
number of local tourism and hospitality graduates satisfies only one fifth of
the total demand in the area.
According to
statistics of the Tourism Association, housekeepers and bar staff in local
restaurants, hotels and resorts comprise 70% of the total employees required.
However, the number of students who enroll in vocational tourism courses has yet
to meet the demand.
In an attempt to solve this problem, some
tourism training centers in Danang have built mini-hotel models to provide their
students with real-time practical experience.
Students practise professional skills in the DTU mini-hotel model
The DTU mini-hotel model is a typical
example. Located at 59 Ha Bong Street in the Son Tra district, the 7-room hotel
features modern equipment meeting the standards of a 5-star hotel. DTU students
are able to practice their reception and housekeeping skills in the model.
Mr. Nguyen Cong Minh, Dean of DTU Tourism
and Hospitality, said: ”Many students
cannot satisfy the basic requirements of employers and remain unemployable because
of their lack of professional skills. So, by using our mini-hotel model for
professional training, we can link theory to practice. Only by training in a real
environment can students train for future careers. Employers don’t need to
waste time and money to retrain new staff anymore.”
The Vietnam
Australia Vocational College is also another good
example. The college plans to build a mini-hotel between
2013 and 2018. The hotel will feature the same modern equipment that students
will encounter in their future workplaces. Apart from becoming a training
ground for the students, the facility will also operate as a real hotel to
bring in supplementary income for the college.
Meanwhile, only a few of the fifty-three
vocational centers in the city have used mini-hotel models for training.
(Board of Website Editors)