 |
| Photo by WTTC via Flickr |
As a key speaker at the Asia Travel Leaders’ Summit and the ITB Asia conference in Singapore, David Scowsill, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) discussed the concerning statistics highlighting Asia’s emerging “talent crisis.”
Although the Asian travel and tourism sector is showing signs of prosperity (with an estimated economic expansion of 5.3 percent per annum over the next decade), according to finance-focused research conducted by the WTTC, there appears to be an alarming shortage in the number of individuals involved in the growing field.
While it is reported that governmental funds are financing the construction of airports, hotels, roadways, and other travel-related infrastructure, investment in professional education and training in the industry is lacking significantly.
“Government ministries and the private sector need to work with educational institutions to put the right policies, programmes and partnerships in place, to ensure that the workforce of the future knows about the career opportunities in the sector. They need to ensure that people are provided with the training and skills to excel in their jobs” emphasizes Scowsill. He furthermore singled out the Summit's host country, Singapore, for serving as an ideal role model in its concerted effort to remedy the career crisis. It is predicted that if other Asian nations decide to take action, they will likely prosper from the benefits reaped from developing travel and tourism industries.
Visit wttc.org