WTTC warns of acute shortage in travel talent

Sentosa Palawan Beach, Singapore

Added Scowsill, “We are a people industry, we depend on quality pople to deliver a quality product. If the situation is not addressed immediately, it could have serious consequences on the forcast social and economic growth in many countries across Asia in the next decade.”

The world faces a sharp shortage of talent in the travel industry and this will grow to be more acute in the years to come. This talent crisis will affect the quality of product  with 8 million jobs to fill in the travel industry in the next 15-20 years. 

David Scowsill, the President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is appealing to the public and private sectors to work together to solve this issue and prevent the economic contribution of the industry from being severely constrained.

While governments have been investing heavily in  time and money infrastructure – airports, ports, hotels and ground infrastructure – but fail to invest in the skills to fill the jobs to face subsequent demand.

Added Scowsill, “We are a people industry, we depend on quality pople to deliver a quality product. If the situation is not addressed immediately, it could have serious consequences on the forcast social and economic growth in many countries across Asia in the next decade.”

Travel and tourism are important pillars in the Asian economy as the sector generated US$2 trillion last year – an 8.75 share of Asia’s economy and directly employs 65 million people across the region.

Chun-Yi Lai, Market Development Manager of North Asia, hotelbeds shared that the turnover rate of the travel industry is very high, thus “many leave in a short time despite the training that the company gives its employees”. Hence, he suggests that the company could “invest in long-term training to ensure that employees feel secure and therefore would be more inclined to stay in the same industry for a longer period of time, benefiting both the company and the employee”.