Khmer Times/Sok Chan

Despite the fast growth in tourism, an improving image globally and swift economic growth at home, Cambodia’s tourism industry still lacks sufficient professional skilled labor, a senior official from the Ministry of Tourism told a forum over the weekend.

Only about 20 percent of the workers in the tourism industry are “professional,” the ministry’s deputy director general, Try Chhiv, told the Global Alumni Convention. That number will need to rise dramatically by 2020 to accommodate the growth forecast for the industry, Mr. Chhiv said.

“Today, we are lacking a skilled labor-force in the tourism sector…To maintain sustainable growth in the sector, the services and hospitality sectors must achieve high standards,” the official said, adding that standards in Cambodia must be raised to those elsewhere in ASEAN. He said that the industry already employs about 620,000 people.

read more: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/20848/only-20-percent-of-tourism-staff-are----professional---/

That's 20% more than Thailand

.....I admire their modesty.....

....honesty.....friendliness.....that would cover a lot ...

....I am sure they can do it.....

Since when was Tourism a profession?

Err....... would that have something to do that there is no hospitality college in Burma and there is only a handful of decent hotels for them to work!

The kids that do have professional skills have parents with the money to send them overseas to be educated and trained; the rest all seemed to turn up to interviews with a Degree in Zoology - it must have been a safe career bet during the latter years of regime.

Attitude is generally pretty good but ability to be trained/ retention of skills/(is an hour-by-hour proposition) same, same Somchai!

The hospitality stars of this region for the past decade , in my opinion, are the kids being educated and working Cambodia, Siam Reap

Since when was Tourism a profession?

Hmm..

Reminds me of what my bigoted old fart of a brick laying uncle said to me 40+ years ago when I announced my career aspirations "so what are you - a poof or a alcoholic"

I thought the world might have moved on just a little bit

I think that there is a school of tourism at Prince of Songkhla University in Phuket. There are certainly schools of hospitality and hotel management in Europe.

You would think that after 20 odd years of pulling Cambodia out of the grips of war, the government, with all the international help they have received, and the hundreds of useless NGO s that seem to drive around all day in their 50 000$ cars and spend their evenings in all the best restaurants, that someone along the line would have helped the youths to train for jobs !!!!