Cambodia’s tourism short of staff

PHNOM PENH, 19 May 2014: Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism says the country’s tourism sector is growing at an unsustainable rate that will cause a massive shortfall in skilled tourism-related labour.
The ministry’s statistics department director, Kong Sopheareak, told local media that as tourist arrivals increase substantially every year, the challenge is to find labour to work in tourism.
“The tourism industry is facing a lack of skilled workers, especially cooks, housekeepers and tour guides,” he said.
Cambodia Hotel Association president, Luu Meng, was quoted as saying that Siem Reap, the main tourist destination is critically short of staff.
“Our members in Siem Reap are serving more guests and there are more hotels now…but we lack managers, cooks and front office staff.”
Cambodia Restaurant Association president, Hak Lina, agreed that the country lacks skilled workers and there are not enough training institutions to resolve the shortage.
Cooks and housekeepers are included in 32 positions in six labour divisions that will have the freedom to work in any of the ASEAN Economic Community countries next year.
The six labour divisions breakdown as follows: four in hotel services including front office, housekeeping, food production and food and beverage services; two in travel services comprising of travel agencies and tour operators.
Unfortunately the freedom to work in any of the ASEAN nations could cause further problems for Cambodia, as it might lose skilled tourism and hotel staff, seeking higher paid jobs in other ASEAN nations.
Hotels in Cambodia will be able to recruit outside the country for any of the jobs stated in the AEC agreement, but it will put additional strain on hotel payrolls as foreigners will expect a higher pay scale than offered to local staff.
Last year, Cambodia attracted 4,210,165 visits increasing 17.5% from 3,584,307 visits in 2012. Just over 2 million overland trips came from neighbouring Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Sourced: ttrweekly