TCC: Sustainable tourism at risk from staff shortage

Sustainable tourism will remain only a dream if Thailand cannot resolve its labour shortage and improve the skills of its existing workers in the sector.

The tourism and services committee of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) pointed out the labour shortage had been a problem for many years.

The sector needs 200,000 new workers a year, but only 30,000 tourism students graduate each year, it said.

Tourism and services account for an estimated 11-13% of GDP, with workers in the sector numbering 6 million today.

Thai tourism has fully recovered and is expected to welcome 30 million foreign tourists this year, almost double the figure of 15.9 million just six years ago.

And the TCC projects foreign tourist arrivals will double again to 60 million in another six years.

Therefore, it is crucial that the sector prepares itself to deal with this growth, said Chanin Donavanik, the committee’s chairman and chief executive of Dusit International.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry projects tourism will generate 2.5 trillion baht in revenue in 2016 — 1.65 trillion from international tourists and 850 billion from domestic tourism.

The number of international tourist arrivals is projected at 35 million next year, so the government should focus seriously on tourism development, not only in tourism and logistics infrastructure but also the quality and capabilities of staff working in tourism and services, Mr Chanin said.

He said formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) at year-end would relieve the labour shortage, as more English-speaking workers from nearby countries, particularly the Philippines, would come here.

The Philippines produces up to 500,000 tourism and service workers annually.

However, there is concern that foreign workers could dilute services that promote Thainess and Thai culture.

Surapong Techaruvichit, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said only four countries — Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore — had quality standards for tourism.

These four countries had similar tourism structure and growth, and most new graduates in the field were trained to meet local demand, he said.

Therefore, full implementation of the AEC would not significantly affect Thai tourism in terms of workers from neighbouring countries, Mr Surapong said.