Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1696588357188.pdf (Vanuatu)
VANUATU TOURISM HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 2021 – 2030 Investing in people to develop sustainable and responsible tourism Tourism Students at St Michel VTC CONTENTS | 1 | Executive Summary | 2 | Introduction and Scope 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Scope 2.3 Acronyms Used Table 1: Consultancy Team Composition 2.4 Glossary | 3 | Methodology Figure 1: Project Methodology | 4 | Policy and Funding Context 4.1 4.2 Tourism Policy Requirements Tourism Standards 4.3 National Human Resources Development Plan 4.4 Post School Education and Training Policy 4.5 Funding Figure 2: PSET Sector | 5 | Capability Framework 5.1 Capability Structure Table 2: Capability Structure 5.2 Capability Framework | 6 | Tourism Industry Analysis 6.1 Tourism Industry Size and Segmentation Table 3: Characteristics of Business, by Size Figure 3: Percentage of Tourism Businesses/ Tourism Workforce, by Business Size 6.2 International Opportunities Figure 4: Accommodation and activity & tour businesses, by province and combined 6.3 6.4 Tourism Industry Training Issues Training Issues by Business Size Table 4: Training Issues by Business Size 1 3 3 3 4 | 7 | Proﬁ le of Training Supply 7.1 Formal Education and Training 7.2 Non-Formal Training and Other Learning Opportunities 7.3 Graduate Outcomes 7.4 Training Provider Effectiveness Figure 4: Work Readiness of Tourism Graduates Figure 5: Training Provider Effectiveness 7.5 Teacher Capacity 7.6 Course Curriculum Figure 6: Preferred Method of Course Delivery 7.7 Course Marketing 7.8 7.9 Entry Requirements Industry Support for Training 7.10 Shift of Vanuatu Government Budget Allocation 7.11 Future Planned Provision | 8 | Situation Analysis 8.1 SWOT Analysis 8.2 Capability Gap Analysis Table 5: Competence against Capability Framework Themes 8.3 Meeting Training Needs Table 6: Customer Service Comparison – Fiji/ Vanuatu | 9 | Vanuatu Tourism Human Resources Development Strategy (VTHRDS) 2021-2030 9.1 VTHRDS Goal 9.2 VTHRDS Principles 9.3 VTHRDS Overview 9.4 VTHRDS Objectives 9.5 VTHRDS Governance & Implementation 9.6 Risk Management 9.7 Implementation Responsibility 21 21 22 23 23 23 24 25 25 25 26 26 26 26 27 29 29 31 32 33 34 35 35 35 35 35 48 49 51 | 1 | Executive Summary • • • • • • • • • This report was commissioned by the Vanuatu Department of Tourism with the main task being to develop a Vanuatu Tourism Human Resources Development Strategy (VTHRDS) 2021-2030 to meet the needs of the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy (2019- 2030) [refer Chapter 2] The project methodology included on-line surveys, extensive consultation and a stakeholder workshop.
This resulted in strong participation from both the tourism industry, across all provinces, and the skills system [refer Chapter 3 and Annex 2 for details and identiﬁ cation of persons consulted] The key policy alignments required are with the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy and the National Human Resources Development Plan.
Overall, policy requires that there must be a high standard across all tourism products and services [Chapter 4] This report presents a Capability Framework based on eight themes to identify the standards required to meet the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy goals and objectives [Chapter 5, Annex 5] The tourism industry in Vanuatu is diverse, with three distinct market segments with their own particular training needs.
These market segments are: small businesses (1-5 employees), typically transport operators and community-based operators, who comprise 19% of the tourism workforce; medium businesses (6-25 employees), who comprise the bulk of Vanuatu’s experience providers and 49% of the tourism workforce; and large businesses, usually resorts and hotels, who comprise 32% of the workforce [Chapter 6] Key ﬁ ndings include: 72% of tourism businesses ﬁ nd it hard/very hard to recruit Ni- Vanuatu workers with the required skills; tourism industry stakeholders do not have a high level of conﬁ dence in the work readiness of tourism graduates; there is a high level of internal business training; and industry have a preference for on-the-job training approaches and short courses [Chapter 6, Annex 6] A detailed proﬁ le of tourism training shows that there is currently an under-supply of accredited tourism training within Vanuatu, especially in regards tour guiding, and that there are signiﬁ cant quality issues with the training available (curricula, lack of industry engagement, trainer performance).
However, there is signiﬁ cant momentum for change through NHRDP implementation [Chapter 7] A Capability Gap Analysis shows that the majority of tourism workers have signiﬁ cant capability gaps, and that the current workforce is not considered ‘competent’ in any of the eight themes identiﬁ ed in the Tourism Industry Capability Framework [Chapter 8] The proposed Goal of the VTHRDS is that: “The tourism industry has a skilled workforce delivering sustainable and responsible tourism”.
Thirteen Objectives have been identiﬁ ed for implementation and these are summarized in the following table.

Each Objective includes proposed implementation approaches and Key Performance Indicators [Chapter 9].
1 ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( Objective 1 Demand-led Skills System Aims to quickly build tourism industry participation in the Vanuatu skills system so that the system better meets the needs of the industry Objective 2 Broader Range of VQA Accredited Qualiﬁ cations Aims to increase the range of VQA accredited tourism qualiﬁ cations, especially at higher levels, to create a skills pathway and to cater to different levels of learning Objective 3 Increased Number of Graduates, Accredited Qualiﬁ cations Aims to increase the number of Ni-Vanuatu graduates with VQA and internationally accredited full or part tourism qualiﬁ cations, to improve the supply of qualiﬁ ed workers and to improve the performance of industry workers Objective 4 Improved Quality of Tourism Training, Accredited Qualiﬁ cations Aims to improve the quality of VQA qualiﬁ cations, principally through capability development of tourism trainers and curricula review Objective 5 Tourism Apprenticeships Proposes establishment of tourism apprenticeships on a cost-share basis between Government and industry, to incentivise training and make training more experiential Objective 6 Improved Quality of Tourism Training, Non-Formal Learning Aims to improve the quality of non-formal learning including through improvements in workplace training Objective 7 Sustainable Tourism Learning Resources Aims to integrate sustainable tourism into all tourism qualiﬁ cations, including through production of targeted learning resources Objective 8 Balanced International Opportunities Aims to address the issue of international competition for tourism workers and to incentivise industry training Objective 9 Tour Guiding Aims to support delivery of high quality visitor experiences through a national, ongoing program of tour guide training and accreditation Objective 10 National Tourism Re-Start Program Aims to provide the tourism workforce an upskill boost in 2021-23 while the formal skills system works on improving the quality and quantity of accredited tourism training Objective 11 Digital Tourism Training and Careers Portal Proposes establishment of an online portal to share tourism training information and resources, and to promote job opportunities Objective 12 Events Management Aims to deliver high quality visitor quality experiences through festivals, based on a dedicated program of event management training Objective 13 Increased Tourism Business Commitment to Training Aims to encourage the engagement of tourism business with training and learning opportunities, including through preparation of workforce development plans as a tourism permit condition • Governance of the VTHRDS is proposed to rest with the Department of Tourism.
The key risks identiﬁ ed against achievement of the VTHRDS goal are: tourism industry stakeholders do not buy-in to the VTHRDS; poor governance of VTHRDS implementation; and quality of accredited training providers does not improve sufﬁ ciently • It is recommended that the Department of Tourism share this report with tourism and skills sector stakeholders and conﬁ rm implementation responsibilities [Table 10].
2 | 2 | Introduction and Scope 2.1 Introduction Tourism is a very competitive global industry and Vanuatu’s destination competitiveness depends on the quality of tourism products and services offered.

Training and capability development of the tourism workforce should be an ongoing process to adapt the workforce to new and emergent needs.
A key future need for the Vanuatu tourism industry is to develop the capacity to meet the Goals and Objectives of the Vanuatu National Sustainable Tourism Policy (VSTP) (2019- 2030).

The VSTP supports tourism’s contribution to the Vanuatu National Sustainable Development Plan (2016-2030), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) criteria for Sustainable Tourism Destinations.
The collective vision of the VSTP is: to protect and celebrate Vanuatu’s unique environment, culture, kastom and people through sustainable and responsible tourism.
The Vanuatu Department of Tourism (DoT) thus commissioned a team in June 2020 to: • • proﬁ le tourism training programs in Vanuatu and identify skills and knowledge gaps within the Vanuatu tourism sector, and develop a VTHRDS 2021-2030 based on ﬁ ndings from the proﬁ le and skills gap analysis, to meet the needs of the VSTP, and the DoT 2020 Business Plan.

Full Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment are included in Annex 1.
2.2 Scope Given the diverse nature of the tourism sector in Vanuatu, it was necessary to adopt some working deﬁ nitions and to deﬁ ne the scope of the assignment.
• • HRD in this assignment was deﬁ ned by the TOR, as workforce capability development through education, training and other structured learning opportunities Based on prevailing international deﬁ nitions, capability is deﬁ ned as the knowledge, skills, abilities and experiences required for individuals to perform current and future roles efﬁ ciently and effectively.
Capability differs from competence (competence means being able to apply knowledge and skill to achieve intended results) in that capability reﬂ ects a desire to develop people beyond knowledge and skills input for a job, to focus on conﬁ dence and adaptability as well as the development and effective use of knowledge and skills in complex and changing circumstances.
Or, put another way, the difference between competency and capability is that competency is about delivering the present based on the past, while capability is about imagining and being able to realise the future • The scope of the assignment is focused on the tourism industry, rather than the broader 3 tourism sector.

For the purpose of this report the ‘tourism industry’ is deﬁ ned as those businesses that require a Tourism Permit issued by the Department of Tourism in order to obtain a Business License.
The ‘tourism sector’ is broader, comprising those communities, organisations, businesses and individuals that serve or otherwise engage with domestic or international tourists in direct or indirect ways • Although many handicraft producers and vendors have a Tourism Permit, they have not been included within analysis for this report as they sit under the jurisdiction of the Department of Industry, with their own distinct industry plans.
The consultancy team wishes to thank the many businesses, organisations and individuals who have contributed to the outcomes of this assignment.

A list of persons consulted is included as Annex 2.
Table 1: Consultancy Team Composition Rob Macalister Team Leader, Savvy Vanuatu Hazel Kirkham Breadfruit Consulting Roy Amos Pakoasongi ProLink Consultancy Group Joe Tamata Betsesai Vanmusco Consulting Phill Bevan HSEQ Vanuatu 2.3 Acronyms Used DOT GSTC HRD Department of Tourism Global Sustainable Tourism Council Human Resources Development NHRDP National Human Resources Development Plan NSDP NSO PGTB PSET SBO VNPF VQA VSTP National Sustainable Development Plan National Scholarships Ofﬁ ce Provincial Government Training Board Post School Education and Training Safe Business Operations (COVID-Safe Training) Vanuatu National Provident Fund Vanuatu Qualiﬁ cations Authority Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy VTHRDS Vanuatu Tourism Human Resources Development Strategy ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 2.4 Glossary Formal Learning: learning that is provided by an education or training institution and typically leads to certiﬁ cation Non-formal Learning learning that is not provided by an education or training institution and typically does not lead to certiﬁ cation Skills System: all the components of the formal learning sector Recognition of Prior Learning: an assessment process that involves assessment of an individual's relevant prior learning, including learning through work experience.
5 | 3 | Methodology Development of an effective tourism industry strategy required a methodology that: • Clearly identiﬁ ed the performance standards expected of the tourism industry in Vanuatu • Clearly identiﬁ ed the current scope and future plans for tourism training in Vanuatu • Gathered the views of the tourism industry stakeholders, to enable a strategy that is relevant and realistic.

The methodology applied is presented in Figure 1.


As identiﬁ ed in the methodology, three survey instruments were designed and delivered: • • • Industry Survey: A survey of tourism businesses to learn more about their training experiences Worker & Student Survey: A survey of current and past tourism students, to learn more about their training experiences Training Provider Survey: A survey of education institutions to inform strategy formulation.
Surveys were available in both English and Bislama and were delivered through an on- line platform and also face-to-face.

The surveys included structured questioning of both a quantitative and qualitative nature.
In total: • There were 82 responses to the Industry Survey with respondents representing approximately 1,100 employees across all six provinces with 62% Ni-Vanuatu respondents • 57 responses in total to the Worker & Student Survey, with all six provinces represented • 3 responses in total to the Trainer Provider Survey.
In addition, there was a range of stakeholder consultation undertaken, such as: • • • interviews with tourism industry representatives, Government Semi-structured stakeholders and training providers.
This included two days in Santo and meetings with many outer island tourism operators who were in Port Vila to attend the Niufala Rod Blo Tourism conference A national workshop was held in Port Vila (18 November 2020) to review the team’s ﬁ ndings and to review and prioritise proposed strategic objectives A Discussion Paper was also made available to stakeholders who were unable to attend the workshop, inviting comments and submissions (refer Annex 9). )
0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( Conﬁ dentiality has been maintained for all survey responses and consultations.

Surveys were able to be submitted anonymously, with any participant identiﬁ cation data removed as part of analysis and use of survey data.

Survey data was securely collected and stored via Google cloud servers.
The number, and identiﬁ cation, of persons consulted through stakeholder meetings and the national workshop is included as Annex 2.

Detailed analysis of survey results is included as Annex 3.
Figure 1: Project Methodology Deﬁ ne the policy context Proﬁ le the ‘tourism industry’ Deﬁ ne the industry’s critical result areas Find out what has already been said (literature review) Find out what business owners, workers & students think & want (surveys & consultations) Find out what tourism- related learning opportunities are available now, and planned (surveys & meetings) Find out what other countries do Deﬁ ne the strategic goals and objectives for the strategy Develop the strategy 7 National Workshop, November 2020 | 4 | Policy and Funding Context As required under the Terms of Reference, a key objective of this project was to identify the training needs required to implement the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy (VSTP) (2019-2030).
In addition, there are several other relevant policies that have shaped the ﬁ nal VTHRDS.

Tourism Policy Context • Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy 2019-2030 (VSTP) Education Policy Context • National Human Resource Development Plan (NHRDP) • Post-School Education and Training Policy (PSETP).

4.1 Tourism Policy Requirements Analysis of the tourism policies and standards is included in Annex 4.
Overall, fulﬁ lment of the VSTP requires that there must be a high standard across all tourism products and services.
This includes the capabilities to: • Develop and manage a sustainable and responsible tourism industry (VSTP Goal 1) • Provide high quality visitor experiences that proﬁ le Vanuatu's environment, culture and its people (VSTP Goal 2) Develop and market products and services that appeal to high-value, responsible tourists (VSTP Goal 3) Contribute to enhancing, conserving and protecting environmental and cultural resources (VSTP Goal 4) • • • Deliver beneﬁ ts to Vanuatu and its people (VSTP Goal 5).
4.2 Tourism Standards Setting of explicit standards (compulsory and voluntary) is the way all industries establish a shared picture of what ‘quality’ looks like by setting quality criteria for the performance of businesses and their employees, and for products and services.

Standards help to set industry development objectives that can only be met if the ‘human resources’ working in the industry, including business owners, managers, and staff, are continuously learning.
Four sets of standards establish the quality criteria for Vanuatu’s tourism industry.

1.

Vanuatu Tourism Operators Minimum Standards, including the Vanuatu Tourism Operators Code of Practice.

The Minimum Standards are set by legislation and regulations.

All tourism businesses must comply with the standards for their business categories to obtain a tourism permit.

The standards are currently basic, but DOT intends to slowly raise them to better reﬂ ect the objectives of the VSTP.
In the meantime, the core principles of sustainable tourism are covered in the Code of Practice ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 2.

Guidelines for Safe Business Operations (SBO) in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
These Guidelines “provide the minimum standards and actions for safe business operations in Vanuatu throughout the different [COVID] transmission scenarios.” A nationwide training program is currently being rolled out to ensure all tourism businesses have the capability to comply with these Guidelines.

Compliance with these standards is compulsory for all tourism permit holders 3.

Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Industry Criteria.
Adoption of the GSTC destination and industry criteria as the benchmarks for measuring the country’s progress towards achieving sustainable tourism, is implicit in the VSTP.

The criteria are the guiding principles and minimum requirements that any tourism business or destination should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources, while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for conservation and poverty alleviation.

4.
4.

Tourism Industry Workplace Standards.

The skills system (establishing national qualiﬁ cations) uses ‘industry workplace standards’ to establish performance criteria for different roles within an industry.

Workplace standards are the learning outcomes around which courses are designed.

Industry workplace standards should be established by the industry, not by the qualiﬁ cations body, but in Vanuatu this is not happening.
As a result, VQA has been piecing together the standards without sufﬁ cient industry guidance.

A detailed Capability Framework is presented in Chapter 5 as a contribution to setting of appropriate workplace standards.

4.3 National Human Resources Development Plan The National Human Resources Development Plan (NHRDP) (2020-2030) is also very relevant, and the VTHRDS seeks to maintain consistency with the NHRDP.
The NHRDP complements the National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) (2016- 2030) to ensure that the available resources for Post-School Education and Training are more efﬁ ciently and effectively used based on the needs of the Ni-Vanuatu labour market.

This plan identiﬁ es the main priority skills on the demand side of the labour market, including private and public sector, and analyses the current labour supply in terms of the capacity of the education and training systems to cover labour demand.
The NHRDP recognises the necessity for a more skilled Ni-Vanuatu labour force, particularly with technician and associate professional qualiﬁ cations.

The plan emphasises the need for a higher number of scholarships delivered in Vanuatu and the creation of an Institute of Higher Education with a polytechnic nature.
The realignment of current government skills investment will strengthen national capacity and improve opportunities for more Ni- Vanuatu to gain qualiﬁcations and employment in areas that are better linked to national development objectives.

4.4 Post School Education and Training Policy Post School Education and Training (PSET) builds the platform for continuing economic and social development across Vanuatu.
The Government of Vanuatu’s commitment to PSET is embodied in the Post School Education and Training Policy (PSETP), conﬁ rming Government priorities and driving the vision for a sustainable, well-coordinated and inclusive PSET system that: 9 • maximises access to relevant and quality assured qualiﬁ cations • leads to improved economic, social and cultural development opportunities for all.
PSETP guides all aspects of public and private investment in an expanded and improved PSET system including strategy development, system governance and management, and service delivery.

Coming to the end of the ﬁ ve-year planning cycle, a new Vanuatu Education Strategy, aligned to NSDP and NHRDP, is being developed to support the next wave of government reform and investment in the PSET sector.

The structure of the PSET sector, as identiﬁ ed in the NHRDP, is presented in Figure 2.
Figure 2: PSET Sector 4.5 Funding A variety of funding initiatives are available to fund tourism training, and some new initiatives are planned.

The VUV 800 million Vanuatu Scholarships program is transitioning to being demand driven – providing signiﬁ cantly higher funding investment into occupational levels directly relevant to the tourism industry.
The NSO indicates scholarships are available for ‘workers’, in addition to ‘students’ and that industry-based programs could be supported on a case- by-case basis including short courses.

The implementation of the Vanuatu National Provident Fund’s (VNPF) Member Education Support Scheme (MESS) also provides further funding, up to VUV 500 million per annum, for skills training each year, commencing in 2020. )
0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 10 The National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) is being formed, comprised of all discretionary training allocations in each government Department, targeting government priority areas.

Stakeholder consultations indicate donors are now being informed that education and skills funding should go to NSDF, under Vanuatu Government management.
The National Scholarships Ofﬁ ce (NSO) indicates that an apprenticeship scheme is already in place in the public sector and that it expects to ‘take ownership’ of apprenticeships in coming months for implementation in the private sector, for NHRDP priority occupations.

This may include wage subsidies to employers who are training apprentices in TVET qualiﬁ cation levels, similar to schemes in many other countries.
Other funds, including a mooted fund managed by the Department of Industry, provide further opportunities for training activities to receive support.

11 | 5 | Capability Framework A Tourism Industry Capability Framework is included in Annex 5.

The Framework has been prepared to provide a common tool to assist the tourism industry to attract, recruit, develop and retain a responsive, capable workforce.

The Framework is aligned with VSTP objectives.


As noted in Chapter 2, capability refers to the knowledge, skills, personal attributes and experiences required for individuals to perform current and future roles efﬁ ciently and effectively.

5.1 Capability Structure Table 3: Capability Structure identiﬁ es: • Capability Levels: Four levels of capability are identiﬁ ed, named 1, 2, 3 and 4 for simplicity.

These levels reﬂ ect: 1.

2.

3.

4.


Entry roles Trade / Paraprofessional roles Professional roles, and Manager / Owner roles.

• Alignment.
• Alignment.

Each level is aligned to: • • • Typical tourism industry roles International Standard for the Classiﬁ cation of Occupations (ISCO), International Labour Organisation, for purposes of comparison and use across Vanuatu Government Departments, including the Department of Labour (DoL) and the Vanuatu Qualiﬁ cations Authority (VQA) Vanuatu Qualiﬁ cations Framework (VQF) qualiﬁ cation certiﬁ cation levels, for purposes of alignment to the formal education and training sector. )
0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 12 r e g a n a M y t r e p o r P , r e n w O & s e a S l , r e n a r T i , r o y e v r u S , , g n i t e k r a M , r e n n a P l , t c e t i h c r A r e g a n a M s e a S l / g n i t e k r a M i g n m r o f r e P , i l s a n o s s e f o r P r o t i d u A , y t e f a S , t s i t r A d n a i i s n a c n h c e T .
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1 i l s a n o s s e f o r P .

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9 : t n e m n g i l A O C S I 4 3 2 1 : : l 2 e b a T 13 ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 5.2 Capability Framework VSTP Capability Themes: The following capability framework identiﬁ es the skills, knowledge, personal attributes and experiences for eight speciﬁ c capability themes: • Expressing Culture • Supporting the Community • Supporting the Environment • Ensuring Health, Safety and Security • Looking after Visitors • Assuring Quality • Strong Governance, and • Operational focus.
These themes have been determined via analysis of the literature review (Annex 3 and 4) and stakeholder consultations.

All skills, knowledge, personal attributes and experiences listed for each of these themes is drawn entirely from the literature review analysis conducted by the project team, commencing with NSDP, NHRDP and VSTP.

Thematic concepts and content generally have transferable, multi-sector application.
For example, all industries may expect to ‘Assure Quality,’ ‘Ensure Health Safety and Security,’ or ‘Support the Environment.’ These are sustainable development themes common to all industry sectors.

Primarily speciﬁ c to the tourism industry are themes including ‘Looking after Visitors,’ ‘Operational Focus’ (with tourism speciﬁ c occupational roles) and ‘Expressing Culture’ (given the visitor focus).

VSTP Context: Each of the eight themes has a speciﬁ c key statement directly linked to the VSTP goals.
For example, the key statement for the theme Expressing Culture is: Protecting, preserving and enhancing kastom, cultural heritage.

Visitors connecting with Vanuatu’s culture and its people.

These key statements both communicate the nature of the theme and also directly link the theme to the context of VSTP.

Guidance on application of the Capability Framework is included in Annex 5, including application by business type.
When looking to implement a speciﬁ c initiative, the Tourism Industry Capability Framework provides a starting point for all stakeholders to guide requirements, such as: • the further investigation and development of formal education and training curriculum • industry segment needs • speciﬁ c tourism business role speciﬁ cations for the skills, knowledge, personal attributes and experiences required to be successful in, and achieve the expectations of VSTP.
While providing an overarching framework, the documentation of capabilities to a speciﬁ c level, speciﬁ c sub-segment or speciﬁ c role is beyond the current scope of work.

14 | 6 | Tourism Industry Analysis 6.1 Tourism Industry Size and Segmentation The tourism industry in Vanuatu is very diverse.

Prior to the outbreak of COVID, the best estimate is that the industry comprised: • 1,656 tourism businesses (excluding handicraft businesses) • 11,500 tourism workers.
There are over 70 registered tourism associations, many representing community tourism hubs at a sub-provincial level.

There is no peak association representing the Vanuatu tourism industry.

While there are some ‘national’ associations, such as the Vanuatu Hotel and Resorts Association and the Vanuatu Tourism Operators Association, in reality, these largely represent investor businesses on Efate.
Analysis of the industry has been undertaken based on business size, as it is considered that training needs and training issues vary according to business size.

As shown in Figure 3 and Table 2: • • • Although there are a large number of small tourism businesses (1-5 employees), this segment is estimated to have the lowest number of tourism workers, with just 19% of the tourism workforce.
These businesses are typically transport operators, as well as community-based bungalows and tour operators in the outer islands The segment estimated to have the largest number of tourism workers are medium size businesses (6-25 employees), which comprise 49% of the tourism workforce.

These businesses comprise the bulk of Vanuatu’s experience providers Although there are only a relatively small number of large businesses, they are estimated to comprise 32% of the tourism workforce.
These businesses are almost all resorts and hotels.
Figure 3: Percentage of Tourism Businesses/ Tourism Workforce, by Business Size 15 l s e e y o p m e 5 - 1 l l a m S l s e e y o p m e 5 2 – 6 m u d e M i l s e e y o p m e + 5 2 e g r a L % 5 5 s e s s e n i s u b 0 2 9 % 9 3 s e s s e n i s u b 5 4 6 % 6 s e s s e n i s u b 1 9 i e z S y b , s s e n i s u B f o s c i t s i r e t c a r a h C : l 3 e b a T % 9 1 s e e y o p m e 7 3 2 2 l , % 9 4 s e e y o p m e 6 1 6 5 l , % 2 3 s e e y o p m e 0 4 6 3 l , ) r e h t o d n a ( s r u o T & - ) r e h t o d n a ( s r u o T & , s e f a C , ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( l y g e t a r t S t n e m p o e v
0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 16 Figure 4 shows the distribution of accommodation and tour businesses geographically.
Businesses based in SHEFA Province comprise 47% of the national total, followed by SANMA (19.4%) and TAFEA (12.8%).

Figure 4: Accommodation and activity & tour businesses, by province and combined 6.2 International Opportunities Industry consultations indicate that there is signiﬁ cant leakage of trained tourism workers to international seasonal work programs (horticulture) such as RSE (NZ) and SWP (Australia).
An estimated 20,000 Ni-Vanuatu have participated in these programs since 2007, and Vanuatu continues to grow its share of places in these programs (around 50% for both programs).

Although the original intent was to employ non-skilled and unemployed workers, especially in outer islands, 73% of SWP workers are currently recruited from Efate/ Port Vila and 55% of RSE workers are recruited from Efate/ Port Vila/ Santo[1].
The recently-released Vanuatu National Labour Mobility Policy (2019) recognises the need to recruit more widely.

Often there is very little notice given to employers when workers enter these programs, and businesses ﬁ nd themselves scrambling to ﬁ nd capable replacement staff.

This leakage creates ‘fear and frustration’ for tourism business, and some businesses see little incentive to invest in training of their staff.
Both programs are seeking to expand work opportunities beyond the horticultural sector, and the SWP and PLS program (an Australian program focussed on skilled labour) now also offers limited seasonal work in the Australian tourism industry for skilled ni-Van tourism workers (such as cooks, baristas and chefs).

Currently the numbers are very low (8 tourism workers in SWP, 15 under PLS).

There was also a number of trained tourism workers employed on cruise ships, pre-COVID.
A shipping industry representative has estimated a total of 300 Ni-Vanuatu employed since recruitment from Vanuatu began.

Growth of international employment opportunities for skilled workers is encouraged under the National Labour Mobility Policy, and international employment of skilled Ni-Vanuatu tourism workers is thus likely to continue.

While most tourism businesses recognise the value of international tourism work experience, it does place additional pressure on the tourism labour market.
17 ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( The National Labour Mobility Policy mandated establishment of a National Committee for Labour Mobility in Vanuatu as the peak national body for policy direction.

All members of the Committee are proposed to be drawn from Government, plus a Trade Union representative and a ‘recruiter representative’ from the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce.
There is no representative from productive sectors, such as tourism.
6.3 Tourism Industry Training Issues Key ﬁ ndings from the surveys and consultations found that: • 72% of tourism businesses ﬁ nd it hard/ very hard to recruit Ni-Vanuatu workers with the required skills • 73% of tourism businesses think that newly qualiﬁ ed graduates are not ‘work-ready’ • The most common current training method is internal business training (36%) and non-formal learning (29%) • RSE is a signiﬁ cant drain on the skilled tourism workforce • It is not easy for businesses to ﬁ nd out what training is available • Most training is only available in Efate, less in rural areas • 66% of tourism businesses prefer on-the-job training approaches and 91% prefer short courses • Some businesses cannot afford to pay for training especially during the COVID crisis • 39% of businesses consider the industry is providing low support for training • 48% of businesses indicate they have never hired a graduate • 69% of workers indicate their employer has never paid for an external course.
6.4 Training Issues by Business Size The issues facing the tourism industry varies considerably by business size, as shown in Table 4.
In summary: • Strongest demand for classroom-based training comes from large tourism businesses • Medium size businesses have a clear preference for on-the-job training • Small businesses in particular need ﬂ exible training and again prefer on-the-job training approaches Tourism Students at VIT Tourism and Hospitality School 18 Table 4: Training Issues by Business Size Large businesses (25+ employees) Only 6% of tourism businesses but 32% of the tourism workforce Medium businesses (6 to 25 employees) 39% of tourism businesses and 49% of the tourism workforce Small businesses (1 to 5 employees) 55% of tourism businesses but only 19% of the tourism workforce • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Generally owned by foreign investors, with high capital investment/ high ﬁ nancial risk Accommodation sector focus Generally seeking specialized workers 89% ﬁ nd it hard/ very hard to recruit Ni-Vanuatu workers with the required skills Employ foreign workers on work permits to bridge these gaps Currently a high level of internal business training, high level of conﬁ dence to do this (100%) Currently main user of overseas accredited courses (23%) and Vanuatu accredited courses (23%) Strong demand for classroom training with qualiﬁ ed instructors (62%) Many owned by foreign investors or long-term expatriates, increasing number of Ni-Vanuatu owned businesses Visitor experience focus (tours, activities) High involvement of owners in business operation 85% ﬁ nd it hard/ very hard to recruit Ni-Vanuatu workers with the required skills Often employ through family and community networks Staff usually more multi-skilled Less conﬁ dent to run their own intewrning are the main way of training staff Currently the lowest user of Vanuatu accredited courses Strong demand for on-the-job training, including with qualiﬁ ed instructors Owned by a Ni-Vanuatu individual or family Transport and outer island experience focus Almost always recruit family, don’t recruit on qualiﬁ cations Relatively low capital investment.
Livelihood businesses – goal is income Owners and employees may have no formal qualiﬁ cations Lowest level of conﬁ dence to run their own internal training Currently highest user of non-accredited courses and non- formal learning Strong demand for on-the-job training Strong demand for training in Bislama (57%) 19 EAST COAST SANTO: CASE STUDY Hog Harbor (Champagne Beach) and Port Olry in Santo comprise a signiﬁ cant cluster of community owned tourism businesses.
The VTHRDS team consulted with sixteen representatives from twelve of these businesses on 23 October 2020.

The businesses are predominantly micro-businesses (family owned, 0-4 employees) and employees are, by owner preference, almost universally drawn from family networks.

Revenue generally isn’t sufﬁ cient to employ qualiﬁ ed staff from outside of the community on a full-time basis.
Even though there is a registered Vocational Training Centre in Hog Harbor offering a Certiﬁ cate 1 in Tourism (Accommodation Services), very few employees or business owners have done the course, mainly due to cost.

The only tourism training attended by these businesses was a series of short courses delivered in the community by TVET/ VSP.

This was followed by individual coaching for some businesses.

Participants were asked to identify their key training needs.
The main need identiﬁ ed for business owners was marketing, reﬂ ecting the micro scale of the businesses and the owners’ desire to grow the business.

The key training need identiﬁ ed for staff was housekeeping and basic administration, which can be addressed through Certiﬁ cate 1 and 2 qualiﬁ cations.

Many other community tourism hubs throughout Vanuatu are characterised by their low level of training and preference to employ from community networks.
To achieve the objectives of the VSTP, it is essential that community tourism hubs like this are provided the support and training to consistently deliver high quality and environmentally sustainable visitor experiences. )

0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 20 | 7 | Proﬁ le of Training Supply The Vanuatu Qualiﬁ cations Authority (VQA) holds authority for all post-school education and training.
The VQA suggests that the comparative qualiﬁ cation level of the overall Vanuatu workforce is half that of Fiji and less than 25% that of Australia for respective occupational roles.

As per Figure 2, Provincial Government Training Boards (PGTBs) collaboratively determine provincial skill demand priorities.

Provincial Skill Centres (PSCs) then coordinate and facilitate the delivery of training programs in the provinces.

The Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP) supports the decentralised operation of PSCs.
In preparing the Tourism Industry Training Proﬁ le (Annex 6), information has been drawn from extensive document review and analysis, and the stakeholder consultations and surveys outlined in Chapter 3.

7.1 Formal Education and Training There are currently 30 VQA registered training providers, who collectively deliver 56 VQA accredited courses.

Within this group, there are six major public education institution providers (refer Annex 6) including the Vanuatu Institute of Technology (VIT).
In 2019, these registered providers reported 850 graduates and 252 cancellations (Statements of Attainment issued) – a 77% graduation rate.

80% of graduates were from VIT, making it by far Vanuatu’s largest formal training institution.

70% of 2019 qualiﬁ cation provision in Vanuatu was at Certiﬁ cate I and Certiﬁ cate II level.
In 2019, for tourism courses: • • 15 tourism industry relevant courses were available for delivery by 3 registered providers Tourism related courses accounted for 27% of total 2019 recognized graduations (second only to business studies at 29%) with 228 graduating students • 100% of tourism graduates are at elementary course levels (Certiﬁ cate I and II) • • 3 VQA tourism related courses currently have no registered provider approved to deliver them A further 5 qualiﬁ cations had no graduates in 2019.
This included all 3 tour guiding courses.

In addition to Vanuatu’s own institutions, there are a range of overseas accredited course providers operating in Vanuatu, including several large providers supporting the tourism industry: • The University of the South Paciﬁ c (USP) School of Tourism and Hospitality Management (STHM) offers overseas accredited courses from Certiﬁ cate I to PhD level qualiﬁ cations in tourism, hospitality and business.
USP currently has over 80 students studying tourism from Vanuatu and more Ni-Vanuatu studying on campus in Fiji 21 • The Australia Paciﬁ c Training Coalition (APTC) offers Australian accredited qualiﬁ cations from Certiﬁ cate II to Diploma level in various vocational areas (accreditation is issued by APTC partner, TAFE Queensland).
Of the 2,034 Ni-Vanuatu students who have completed accredited APTC courses since inception, 37% have been in the area of hospitality, tourism and commercial cookery (753 graduates – averaging 54 graduates per annum).

As at December 2019, a total of 31 Ni-Vanuatu students were studying Certiﬁ cate III courses with APTC, of which 32% were tourism and cookery (10 students).
Given Vanuatu is in ‘mid-stream’ of identifying and appropriately registering training providers, it is also important to consider training delivery of ‘formal’ courses of ‘non- registered’ providers.

VQA is currently managing 30 identiﬁ ed non-registered providers, with 18 of these already submitting ‘Intent to Register’ notices and submitting older qualiﬁ cation courses for VQA registration.

This includes a number of Vanuatu’s Rural Training Centres (RTCs).
Given centralised data collection is not available for non-registered providers, it is difﬁ cult to quantify the volume of their training delivery.

It is understood however that there is signiﬁ cant tourism training delivery occurring by these providers, that will progressively join the VQA managed system.
7.2 Non-Formal Training and Other Learning Opportunities Non-formal training and learning experiences form most everyday learning opportunities for the global labour force and the Vanuatu tourism industry is no different.

73 other providers of education and training were identiﬁ ed – undertaking both face-to-face and online delivery in Vanuatu.
55 of these providers offer tourism related or speciﬁ c courses or services with 400+ various tourism related course opportunities of diverse delivery modes and characteristics identiﬁ ed across these providers - workshops, business coaching, webinars, online courses, entrepreneur support, networking, information sessions.

The most signiﬁ cant of these providers are: • • • Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP).
Working in collaboration with DoT, VSP supports tourism in four provinces through a range of skills development activities focusing on quality product development, sustainable business practices, and market access.

The small business segment are VSP’s biggest focus in product development.

Often coaching occurs after training using industry trainers.
A review of the latest publicly available quarterly reports from PSCs (2018) on the Skills for Tourism program indicate approximately 200 participant places across various tourism related topics The Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI) have historically delivered training to many students each year in a range of key business and management training competencies.

However, in 2020, they withdrew from this activity, which is now planned to be delivered by the Department of Cooperatives.
None of this training is tourism-speciﬁ c A range of donor-funded training programs targeting tourism businesses.
Examples include the YuMi Tourism Partners Project (Port Vila and Santo), City Ambassadors Program (Port Vila and Santo), Transport Ambassadors Training Program and Tourism ‘Ambassador Program’ - Port Vila ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 22 7.3 Graduate Outcomes As identiﬁ ed above, Vanuatu accredited course graduates achieved a 77% graduation rate in 2019.
The ﬁ ndings from the VTHRDS surveys showed that many training providers indicate course fees / ﬁ nancial issues as the main reasons for student cancellation, followed by personal emergencies.

However, students and workers said that personal emergency (26%) or family commitments (16%) were the primary reason for course cancellation.
While the ﬁ nancial burden of training fees may be a signiﬁ cant challenge, for those students that have overcome this to enrol in a course, it is personal or family related issues that are primarily affecting course completion, noting that 83% of respondents are currently living in a place different from their place of origin (82% of respondents indicate they are now living in SHEFA or Santo).

Findings from the VTHRDS surveys show 92% of graduates felt they were work ready on graduation.
However, 73% of tourism businesses respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed graduates are work ready.

Given the heavy reliance on campus workshop- based training historically, tourism business respondents and consultations have focused heavily on the lack of industry experience of graduates.

Figure 4: Work Readiness of Tourism Graduates Despite concerns around graduate quality, all stakeholders agreed that completion of tourism qualiﬁ cations has a ‘good’ employment outcome.
85% of graduates stated they were able to get a tourism job after completing their course, with 94% of respondents indicating that their course assisted in achieving employment.

7.4 Training Provider Effectiveness All training providers via the VTHRDS survey and subsequent consultations considered that they met ‘some’ of tourism industry needs.
There is a recognition that challenges exist, including through the NHRDP, which indicates that Vanuatu requires providers with the capacity and interest to be more responsive to industry needs and to be more ﬂ exible in their approach to modes of delivery.
Findings from the VTHRDS survey found: • 37% of businesses indicated that training providers were not meeting their needs 23 • A further 33% rated training providers as ‘somewhat effective’ • • • Conversely, tourism workers and students reported high levels of satisfaction with training providers, with 92% of respondents indicating providers were ‘very effective’ (54%) or ‘somewhat effective’ (38%) This signiﬁ cant contrast may indicate that the student cohort don’t fully understand the needs of tourism business’, although 58% of respondents were industry workers – many in professional roles.
It is therefore considered that this discrepancy may also reﬂ ect training providers focused primarily on student needs and less so on industry or business requirements Given businesses’ assessment of the effectiveness of training providers, it is perhaps not surprising that 36% of businesses currently train their staff through internal business training.

The second most common method of staff training currently is non- formal learning opportunities (29%).
Figure 5: Training Provider Effectiveness With regards to delivery mode: • • • • • ‘On-the-Job Training’ was requested by 66% of all tourism business responses, with an even split of 33% with qualiﬁ ed instructors and 33% with the business’ workplace supervisors However, 47% of worker and student respondents prefer workshop-based delivery with qualiﬁ ed instructors 72% of worker respondents indicated that their business has good internal training in place.
This is similar to the 77% of businesses that indicate they feel ready to implement robust internal business training (however, only 30% of businesses have a qualiﬁ ed trainer on staff) Both tourism workers and students (87%) and businesses (91%) responded that they strongly agree or agree that short courses are a better approach than undertaking full qualiﬁ cations 45% of tourism businesses indicated that they would prefer training courses to be in Bislama.
29% of tourism workers and students also indicated they would prefer training to be in Bislama.

There is little demand from any stakeholders for training courses in French. )

0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 24 Figure 6: Preferred Method of Course Delivery VIT, NUV and USP all indicated that any of their accredited qualiﬁ cation programs can be offered and enrolled in on a ‘unit-by-unit’ basis.
APTC already offers signiﬁ cant short course options for skills development.

VIT has a Continuing Education Centre but acknowledges that it is not a well-known service.

7.5 Teacher Capacity The NHRDP notes that Vanuatu training providers lack qualiﬁ ed staff with current skills and industry experience.

Training providers indicate more than half of their stafﬁ ng (53%) do not have all the skills needed to implement their roles effectively.
All training provider survey responses to the VTHRDS survey indicate the use of Work Permits to access qualiﬁ ed training personnel in the last 3 years.

In September 2020, VITE launched the ﬁ rst ever Vanuatu Certiﬁ cate IV in Education (VET teaching) accredited course.

This is a signiﬁ cant milestone for Vanuatu, training its own trainers for the ﬁ rst time.

The new 6-month course has commenced with an intake of 50 participants – all existing trainers, including 28 students in Port Vila and 26 in Santo.
VITE advises that 12 trainer participants are from the tourism industry.

7.6 Course Curriculum The NHRDP notes that training and learning resources are limited and often out of date.

Vanuatu’s accredited course curriculum is in a period of transformation.

The 56 current accredited courses are up to 10 years old and are progressively being reviewed and updated.
Concurrently, with the shift of institution delivery to focus on Certiﬁ cate III, IV and Diploma qualiﬁ cations, Vanuatu’s registered providers are involved in a large-scale increase in course development.

Given the volume of curriculum work underway, it is an ideal time to consider what improvements are needed to support VSTP objectives with aligned and effective course curriculum.
25 7.7 Course Marketing The NHRDP notes that courses offered by training providers continue to be supply driven and a high proportion of courses have not been quality assured and accredited.

Many stakeholders have also noted that training providers are not effectively designing or marketing their training products.

Findings from the VTHRDS survey showed that respondents regularly indicated a lack of training availability.
7.8 Entry Requirements On review of tourism industry relevant accredited courses offered in Vanuatu, most are considered to have vague or poor entry requirement speciﬁ cations in comparison with VQA guidance and considering Vanuatu workforce requirements.

The setting of inappropriate entry requirements for many tourism related accredited courses is considered to be creating unnecessary barriers for individual enrolment.
7.9 Industry Support for Training Findings from the VTHRDS survey highlighted signiﬁ cant support issues within tourism businesses for the provision of training: • • • • In consultations, both the VQA and the NSO stressed the current lack of, and importance of industry partnerships 39% of tourism business respondents rated their peers as providing low support for worker training – double what workers themselves have indicated (19%) 69% of tourism worker and student respondents indicated that their employer has never paid for an external training course 33% of tourism business respondents indicated that they support internal business training only, with 33% of respondents also indicating they spent nothing last year on external training courses for their workforce • 58% of tourism workers and students indicated that the most common support for training fees is coming from their family (34%) or themselves (24%).
7.10 Shift of Vanuatu Government Budget Allocation The Vanuatu Government budget allocated to the skills system for 2020 is VUV 809 million, guided by the VQA and managed by NSO.

It is planned that Vanuatu international scholarships will drop from 41% (2018) to 30% (2030) of the total budget allocation.

National scholarships (to local registered providers) would effectively double, increasing from 13% (2018) to 25% (2030) of the total budget allocation.
The award of international and national scholarships are planned to transition to being demand driven.

These will be directly linked to the NHRDP and any emerging areas of skill shortages and gaps - around 73 priority occupation areas identiﬁ ed by the Labour Market Information System maintained by the Department of Labour.
To an increasing extent, scholarships are awarded for training in Vanuatu rather than overseas, provided that a national provider has the demonstrated capacity to deliver to the required qualiﬁcation standard.

National scholarships for ‘Associate Professional’ roles (Certiﬁ cate III / IV) are planned to increase by 500% - climbing from 2% of National Scholarships (2018) to 10% (2030) of total scholarships allocation.
Further, with the implementation of the Vanuatu National Provident Fund’s (VNPF) Member Education Support Scheme (MESS) a further ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 26 VUV 300 million has been provided for skills training in 2020.

The NSO and VNPF are working closely on coordination of the scheme.
7.11 Future Planned Provision It is important to note that, in line with NHRDP, there is planned to be a signiﬁ cant shift in focus for the Vanuatu’s skills system.

In coming years, the system should: • Be more strategic • Be more demand-led • • Involve greater ﬂ exible delivery Involve re-structured government investment in skills.
The NHRDP seeks to strengthen national providers in order to allow for delivery of higher- level qualiﬁ cations in Vanuatu and more ﬂ exible delivery in workplaces to improve the productive capacity of existing employees.

A wide range of short and long cycle courses available in both institutional, non-institutional and on-line settings are supported, with curriculum, teaching and learning materials, and assessment tools developed to meet agreed standards and professionally produced.
Increased numbers of accredited long and short courses based on demand is encouraged, available in workplace settings, on-line and out-of-hours institutional delivery.

Flexible delivery will facilitate decentralised access to education and training linked speciﬁ cally to national and provincial economic and social objectives.

Widespread application of competency-based training and assessment including workplace assessment is expected.
Registered providers will undertake RPL assessments and provide credit on enrolment accordingly.

Various local and overseas providers outlined expansion plans, both in availability of courses, delivery modes and reach across all provinces of the country.
From 2021, Vanuatu Government scholarships include Certiﬁ cate IV level upwards, allowing scholarships to be awarded for various TVET courses and qualiﬁ cations including Certiﬁ cate IV in Hospitality / Tourism and Certiﬁ cate IV in Education (VET Teaching).

‘TVET in Schools Pilots’ are already underway.

An apprenticeships scheme for the private sector, already provided for under the Employment Act, is in early stages of discussion.
27 ST MICHEL TECHNICAL COLLEGE: CASE STUDY St Michel is a VQA-accredited school and Vocational Training College, located a few kilometres outside of Luganville in Santo The College currently delivers three Certiﬁ cate 1 courses in Tourism (Accommodation Services, Food and Beverage, Cooking and Catering), one of which (Food and Beverage) they are accredited by VQA to deliver.

Each course is six months duration.

Course materials are available in English or French, and classroom explanations are in Bislama.
Since 2016, the College has graduated approximately 300 tourism students.

Although the College acknowledges that the Certiﬁ cate 1 courses do not meet tourism industry expectations, they report that 55% of graduates progress to employment, and others go onto higher tourism studies, including 6% who go to New Caledonia.

The course is delivered to school students in their senior years and also to second chance learners/industry workers as a separate intake.
The College operates a small (low volume) guesthouse, and a restaurant (mainly for staff) in which students work to gain real experience.
Clockwise from left: St Michel Guesthouse, Training Restaurant, Restaurant Kitchen including training stations ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 28 | 8 | Situation Analysis 8.1 SWOT Analysis The following SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis provides an overall snapshot of the status of tourism training in Vanuatu, and an outline of future challenges.
The SWOT Analysis was reviewed and informed by participants at the national workshop.
S STRENGTHS W WEAKNESSES POLICY & BUDGET POLICY & BUDGET • • • National HRD Plan in place and a range of reforms currently being implemented to improve the performance of the PSET sector Adequate Vanuatu Government funding to support tourism training initiatives, including through VNPF Tourism standards identiﬁ ed through the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy TRAINING SUPPLY • • Current investment in training of tourism trainers via VITE An increasing number of registered training providers in Vanuatu INDUSTRY • Opportunities for Ni-Vanuatu tourism workers to gain international experience 29 • • Weak processes to ensure compliance with DoT permit conditions Low awareness of Government policy/ tourism standards TRAINING SUPPLY • • Quality of tourism trainers (training skills, industry currency) Quality of curriculum (outdated, focused on low level qualiﬁ cations) Quality of governance of some training providers Tourism course entry requirements often too high • • • Training pathways are unclear • Limited opportunities for ﬂ exible delivery of training by Vanuatu training providers Main training providers Vila-centric Low industry awareness of available training opportunities Low level of tour guide training opportunities • • • • Bilingual training delivery INDUSTRY • • Loss of trained and qualiﬁ ed tourism workers to RSE/ SWP/ urban migration International tourism experience not effectively recognised or valued • Tourism industry voice is fractured and weak • Lack of tourism industry engagement in skills development initiatives Tourism industry preference to employ based on family/ community links rather than capability Tourism businesses often have low knowledge of required tourism standards Low level of industry capability for visitor health and safety, tourism governance, looking after the environment • • • O OPPORTUNITIES T THREATS POLICY & BUDGET POLICY & BUDGET • Industry to take advantage of current funding opportunities and policy reforms • Sustainable Tourism Development Fund • • • Tourism a lower
 Government investment priority due to COVID and other industry disruptions Government policy implementation not sustained due to lack of capacity DoT capacity to implement the VTHRDS TRAINING SUPPLY TRAINING SUPPLY • • The industry does not engage to improve the tourism skills system Increased leakage of the tourism workforce overseas (SWP, cruise ships etc) • • • • Harness the deep environmental and cultural knowledge base within Vanuatu society to deliver higher quality tourism experiences Returning RSE/ SWP workers have capital and cross-cultural skills of value to tourism Investment in experienced tourism workers to develop their coaching/ training skills Industry to speak with a stronger and more united voice ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 30 8.2 Capability Gap Analysis Stakeholders may look to the higher education sector for sustainability skills and knowledge, with a view that sustainability is a niche area that will be addressed by a handful of university-educated experts (scientists, engineers, designers).
However, sustainability and responsibility are fundamental principles that must underpin all workforce activity if VSTP goals and objectives are to be achieved.

This view is supported by recent global workforce experience where, as sustainability begins to impact a wide range of occupations and work activities, rather than creating discrete new occupations, sustainable approaches are driving requirements for additional skills and knowledge in existing roles.
Comprehensive research undertaken to provide the evidence base for the NHRDP shows there is a clear mismatch between the skills and qualiﬁ cations of the current Vanuatu labour force overall to the skills and qualiﬁ cations that will be needed to deliver NSDP objectives and to meet skill demand in both the private and public sectors.
The outcome of research conducted for this project is no different, with evident mismatch between the skills and qualiﬁ cations of the current Vanuatu tourism industry labour force compared to the capabilities that will be needed for the industry to achieve VSTP goals and objectives.
Tourism businesses indicate key difﬁ culties are: recruiting roles at International Standard Classiﬁ cation of Occupations (ISCO) levels 1, 2 and 3 - the management; and professional and technician/associate professional levels.

Findings from the VTHRDS survey show: • • • 28% of businesses indicate difﬁ culty in ﬁ nding staff for technical/associate/service roles (e.g.
Supervisor, Sales Agent, Chef, Tour Guide, Bus Driver, Waiter, Bartender, Housekeeping, Front Ofﬁ ce, Service) 20% of businesses indicate difﬁ culty in ﬁ nding staff for professional roles (e.g.

Trainer, Sales & Marketing, Environmental Professionals, Performing Artist, Safety) 25% of businesses indicate difﬁ culty in ﬁ nding staff for manager roles (e.g.

Property Manager, Department Manager, Marketing / Sales Manager).
Findings from the VTHRDS survey showed substantial capability gaps across all eight themes in the Tourism Industry Capability Framework themes (Chapter 5 and Annex 5).

The current workforce was not considered ‘competent’ in any of the eight themes.

The highest competence levels were indicated for the themes Looking after Visitors (48%) and Expressing Culture (45%).
31 Table 5: Competence against Capability Framework Themes Capability Framework Theme Strong Governance Tourism regulation, assessment, management practice --- Legislation & regulation --- Planning, zoning and development control --- Impact Assessments --- Licences and permits --- Guidelines for Safe Business Operations in Vanuatu --- Compliance areas --- Responsible Occupational Focus Accommodation roles --- Food and beverage roles --- Transport roles --- Retail and street vendors --- Attraction, tours and recreational activities --- Other entertainment activities --- Reliable --- Teamwork Assuring Quality Tourism standards and accreditation programs --- Sustainable, ethical, local products, experiences and agricultural produce ---Product development, planning, development, diversiﬁ cation --- Quality systems, Continuous Improvement, Sustainability Management Systems --- Training and coaching personnel --- Data collection and evaluation --- Adaptive Looking after the Environment Sites of key biological, ecological signiﬁ cance --- Efﬁ ciency and conservation --- Pollution, water quality, sanitation --- Animal welfare, threatened/protected species --- Energy management --- Climate adaptation, green infrastructure --- Accountable Respondents indicating competence 20% of respondents 27% of respondents 29% of respondents 30% of respondents Ensuring Health, Safety and Security General hygiene, health and safety --- Emergency, crisis and disaster response --- Security and crime prevention --- Visitor safety --- Food safety --- Tourism business speciﬁ c risks --- Clean and caring 33% of respondents Supporting the Community Community engagement and local links --- Safeguarding the traditional economy, shared economic beneﬁ ts --- Made in Vanuatu, sourcing local products --- Fair opportunities and employment --- Appropriate, respectful behaviour in cultural experiences --- Ethical Expressing Culture Kastom traditional knowledge and cultural expression --- Weaving culture in everyday experiences --- Storytelling,
 interpretive guiding --- Production of local products --- Performance --- Respectful Looking after Visitors Visitor expectations, experience, satisfaction / dissatisfaction --- Accurate and transparent marketing --- Visitor engagement and feedback --- Service skills --- Conﬁ dent 37% of respondents 45% of respondents 48% of respondents ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 32 The lack of competency could be attributed to: • • • • Vanuatu’s tourism workforce has low levels of educational attainment (both school and post-school education) The tourism industry is being supported by training providers which generally have signiﬁ cant capacity and capability issues Tourism businesses are having difﬁ culty in recruiting skilled personnel for key technical and management roles and have historically lacked engagement in formal skills development initiatives The industry is currently mainly using internal and non-formal training opportunities, which are oriented to immediate business needs, not to a Government policy that champions sustainable and responsible tourism.
Put simply, the majority of workers in the majority of tourism businesses, in all tourism business categories, have signiﬁ cant capability gaps respective to their occupational role.

The current gaps against sustainable and responsible tourism capabilities are even larger.

8.3 Meeting Training Needs Respondents from the VTHRDS survey indicated a range of speciﬁ c training needs to be considered when planning initiatives to address capability gaps.
Future initiatives should reﬂ ect these needs and preferences to maximise participation and outcomes.

• • • • • • Workers and students (62%) and businesses (52%) indicated preference for programs to be in English.
However, a substantial segment (29% of workers / students and 45% of businesses) indicated preference for delivery in Bislama Short courses are considered a better approach than full qualiﬁ cations (preferred by 91% of business and 87% of workers /students) 77% of businesses indicate they are ready to implement robust internal training, with 36% indicating they have current internal business training programs 81% of businesses indicate they prefer on-the-job delivery, either as the only approach or in a blended approach.
Most workers and students however do not prefer this approach, so consideration should also be given to speciﬁ c worker needs and preferences 62% of businesses indicate preference for use of qualiﬁ ed instructors (along with 76% of workers / students).
Given that only 30% of businesses indicate they currently have a qualiﬁ ed trainer on staff, there is a strong need for greater engagement between businesses and training providers to support on-the-job delivery in future initiatives with qualiﬁ ed instructors Given the signiﬁ cant urbanisation that has occurred with individuals re-locating for work and/or study, and the main reason indicated for non-completion of study (personal emergency / family commitments), a greater availability of ﬂ exibly delivered training options would assist with completion rates and, potentially, retention of trained workers in rural areas.
33 However it is important to further analyse these needs by market segment.

As indicated in Chapter 6: • Strongest demand for classroom based training comes from large tourism businesses, where a larger workforce allows back-ﬁ lling for staff studying out of the workplace • Medium size businesses have a clear preference for on-the-job training • Small businesses in particular need ﬂ exible training and again prefer on-the-job training approaches.
Both small and medium businesses, with smaller workforces, are constrained in releasing staff to study out of the workplace, as it impacts on daily operations.
Table 6: Customer Service Comparison – Fiji/ Vanuatu VANUATU Source: International Visitor Survey Jan-Dec 2019 FIJI Source: International Visitor Survey Jan-Dec 2019 Total Visitors 2019 120,628 Total Visitors 2019 894,389 Total Visitor Satisfaction Most Appealing Aspect (Oct-Dec 2019) Least Appealing Aspect (Oct-Dec 2019) Suggestions for Improvement 85% Overall Satisfaction 89% Satisfaction with Fiji Experience Customer Service ranked #1 at 86% Level of Service ranked 9th at 3% Local People/ Standard of Service ranked 6th at 11% Local People/ Standard of Service ranked 3rd at 13% ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 34 | 9 | Vanuatu Tourism Human Resources Development Strategy (VTHRDS) 2021-2030 9.1 VTHRDS Goal The tourism industry has a skilled workforce delivering sustainable and responsible tourism.
9.2 VTHRDS Principles • Align with, and support implementation of, the VSTP • Ensure relevance to the tourism standards required by policy • Align with, and support implementation of, the NHRDP • Maximise investment in skills training • Address the weaknesses identiﬁ ed in the SWOT • Strengthen the working partnership between industry and the skills system • • Recognise diversity and diverse needs of the tourism industry, including by business size and location Learn from international best practice.
Annex 7 summarises what other small countries/ jurisdictions are doing to develop tourism industry capability.

Two elements in particular stand out: o o Formal training courses have signiﬁ cant practical components – internships, work placements, training hotels In many countries, tour guides are registered and/or trained.

9.3 VTHRDS Overview The following thirteen Objectives are recommended for implementation.
Each Objective identiﬁ es: • Aim: the end results that we are seeking • Outcome: the changes that will give us the results • Rationale: the context which justiﬁ es the VTHRDS • Approach: guidance on how to achieve the VTHRDS objectives • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): proposed measures by which to measure progress with successful implementation of the VTHRDS.
35 9.4 VTHRDS Objectives Objective 1 Demand-led Skills System Aim • The skills system offers products and services to tourism businesses and individuals that meet the needs of the tourism industry Outcome • There is greater tourism industry participation in the Vanuatu skills system Rationale Approach KPIs • • • • • • International best practice is that training is led by industry, whereby industry identiﬁ es needs and works within the skills system to ensure training meets those needs When considering industry participation and representation, it is important that all three market segments of the industry are included (for example, not just a representative from small businesses on Expert Industry Panels) VQA and Provincial Governments identify current gaps in industry representation Industry associations work with VQA and Provincial Governments to ﬁ ll these gaps Industry associations look at how they can better work as a united body to allow easier communication and coordination with VQA and Provincial Governments (one point of contact) DOT to offer 3MVT from TMDF/ Sustainable Tourism Fund as annual funding to support operation of a national tourism association, once established, which effectively represents all tourism industry stakeholders in Vanuatu • Vanuatu Government establish Skills Centres/ PGTBs in remaining two provinces (SHEFA, PENAMA) • DOT to facilitate these actions • • Industry representatives, from all three market segments, effectively participate in all relevant VQA Expert Industry Panels Industry representatives effectively participate on all Provincial Government Training Boards and represent all three market segments • Skills Centres/ PGTBs operational in all six provinces by 2022 • Industry representatives seek engagement and representation with NUV School of Tourism ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 36 Objective 2 Broader Range of VQA Accredited Qualiﬁ cations Aim Outcome Rationale Approach KPIs • • • • • • The skills system offers products and services to tourism businesses and individuals that provides a skills pathway and which caters to different levels of learning There is an increased range of VQA accredited tourism qualiﬁ cations available for delivery Currently there are 15 tourism industry relevant courses available for delivery by 3 registered providers.
12 of these are Certiﬁ cate I or II, with 2 Certiﬁ cate III and 1 Certiﬁ cate IV courses However, as per the Capability Structure presented in Table 3, most tourism roles are at Capability Level 2 and 3, requiring Certiﬁ cate III and IV courses, and Diploma Industry to work with VQA to identify higher qualiﬁ cations required, develop industry standards and course curricula 3 or more new Certiﬁ cate III or IV tourism courses accredited by 2023 • 2 or more Diploma course accredited by 2023 Objective 3 Increased Number of Graduates, Accredited Qualiﬁ cations Aim Outcome Rationale • • • • • • • Industry ﬁ nds it easier to recruit qualiﬁ ed workers Industry workers perform to a higher standard through regular and ongoing access to accredited training There is an increased number of Ni-Vanuatu graduates with VQA and internationally accredited full or part tourism qualiﬁ cations The Vanuatu tourism industry employed 11,500 people in 2019, yet in the same year VQA accredited providers produced only 228 graduates This is considered to be one of the contributing factors to the research ﬁ nding that 72% of tourism businesses ﬁ nd it hard/ very hard to recruit Ni-Vanuatu workers with the required skills Research also shows that 48% of businesses have never hired a graduate.
Small and medium tourism businesses, in particular, employ few tourism graduates.
The most common current training method is internal business training (36%) and non-formal learning (29%) High entry requirements to tourism courses restricts demand for tourism qualiﬁ cations Research further shows that the main factor affecting student completion of courses is family commitments and personal emergency, noting that many students leave their home island to study 37 • 66% of tourism businesses prefer on-the-job training approaches and 91% prefer short courses for their staff ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( • • • • • • • • • • • • • NSO, VNPF, NSDF and other Government managed funds to allocate scholarships and funding for tourism study at national training institutions including Certiﬁ cate I-IV qualiﬁ cations and short courses VNPF make a Member Education Support Scheme funding allocation available on an annual basis for provision of tourism qualiﬁ cations at Certiﬁ cate III and above Training providers to review course entry requirements to ensure that they are appropriate Training providers to work with industry to identify the demand for delivery of units or clusters of units for current tourism workers, and deliver based on demand Training providers to develop ﬂ exible delivery options to allow students to undertake or complete their courses on their home island, and to facilitate demand for study by industry workers Training providers provide Bislama delivery options for lower level qualiﬁ cations, where appropriate to do so Skills Centres to increase supply of accredited units for outer islands VQA implement graduate tracer studies to achieve visibility of volume of graduate employment outcomes and types of local / international employment outcomes Increased number, from 2019 level, of tourism graduates with accredited full qualiﬁ cations, at a level commensurate with NHRDP demand Increased number of national scholarships awarded for tourism study at national training institutions including Certiﬁ cate I-III
 All existing and new accredited courses have industry appropriate and agreed entry requirements Increased number of completed units by industry workers, in all provinces Increased number of completed units by industry workers in the small and medium market segments • Evidence of ﬂ exible delivery by Vanuatu training providers • Annual graduate tracer statistics informing VTHRDS outcomes and future needs Approach KPIs Objective 4 Improved Quality of Tourism Training, Accredited Qualiﬁ cations Aim Outcome • • Industry workers perform to a higher standard through the quality of accredited training VQA accredited tourism qualiﬁ cations are recognised as high- quality training 38 Rationale Approach KPIs • • • • • • • • • 73% of tourism businesses think that newly qualiﬁ ed graduates are not ‘work-ready’ 37% of businesses indicated that training providers were not meeting their needs, and a further 33% rated training providers as ‘somewhat effective’ The NHRDP also noted that Vanuatu training providers lack qualiﬁ ed staff with current skills and industry experience.
Training providers indicate more than half of their stafﬁ ng (53%) do not have all the skills needed to implement their roles effectively Quality is also affected by outdated course curricula and lack of industry engagement to ensure that curricula are relevant and that study includes practical components Improving the quality of delivery will take time, and in the short- term, training providers to engage industry experts on short term contracts to assist with delivery and upskilling of tourism trainers VITE and/ or VIT to continue to deliver the new Certiﬁ cate IV in Education (VET Teaching) to tourism trainers All tourism courses to include a signiﬁ cant work experience component Industry to work with VQA and training providers to review curricula for currency and to offer practical industry experience to both students and trainers Industry associations encourage member businesses to provide industry placement for qualiﬁ ed trainers from training providers to support ongoing trainer currency • DOT and VTO to review the biannual Tourism Awards to identify how training excellence can be recognised • • • • New categories of Tourism Awards established from 2022 to recognise training excellence of tourism training providers Industry offers ongoing industry placements to enable 100% of tourism trainers from VQA accredited providers achieve to maintain industry currency All students studying full VQA accredited qualiﬁ cations receive an offer of industry work experience 100% of tourism trainers from VQA accredited providers complete the Certiﬁ cate IV in Education (VET Training) or equivalent by 2025 • Increased number of short-term contracts issued to industry experts for training delivery with training providers 39 Objective 5 Tourism Apprenticeships Aim Outcome • Industry ﬁ nds it easier to recruit qualiﬁ ed workers • Industry has access to full qualiﬁ cation, on-the-job training • • • • Graduates are ‘work-ready’ with signiﬁ cant workplace-based experience There is an increased number of Ni-Vanuatu graduates with VQA full or part tourism qualiﬁ cations 72% of tourism businesses ﬁ nd it hard/ very hard to recruit Ni- Vanuatu workers with the required skills Research also shows that 48% of businesses have never hired a graduate.
Small and medium tourism businesses, in particular, employ few tourism graduates • 66% of tourism businesses prefer on-the-job training approaches Rationale • Work-based education approaches are proven to be the most effective evidence-based approach to produce work-ready graduates • 30% of businesses have a qualiﬁ ed trainer on staff • • • • • • • Currently there is signiﬁ cant leakage of trained tourism workers to international seasonal work programs (horticulture) such as RSE (NZ) and SWP (Australia).
Across international apprenticeships schemes, programs are proven to support worker retention NSO and other Government funding programs to allocate scholarships for Certiﬁ cate III and Certiﬁ cate IV ‘nested’ apprenticeships programs.
An apprentice to complete Certiﬁ cate I Year 1, Certiﬁ cate II Year 2, Certiﬁ cate III Year and Certiﬁ cate IV Year 4 Training providers to develop ﬂ exible delivery options to allow students to undertake or complete their courses via a wholly on- the-job pathway and/or via a ‘block release’ training approach, and have an individual training planning process for each apprentice Tourism workers in employment to enter apprenticeships with existing competencies recognised through RPL Robust apprenticeship scheme rules to be implemented, including that tourism businesses be required to have an ‘appropriate’ workplace supervisor in place.
This may require an industry qualiﬁ ed and/or proven individual who has completed a coaching course.
Tourism businesses to receive a wage subsidy, up to 50% of the individual’s salary, to support each apprentice DoT encourage cruise ships to implement an apprenticeships style scheme for Ni-Vanuatu workers, ensuring international training and experience undertaken on the ship is recognised Approach ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 40 • Apprenticeship scheme in place, taking: - 100 tourism apprentices in 2022 - 200 tourism apprentices in 2023 - 300 tourism apprentices in 2024 KPIs • Annual graduate tracer statistics informing VTHRDS outcomes and future needs Objective 6 Improved Quality of Tourism Training, Non-Formal Learning Aim Outcome Rationale Approach KPIs • • • • • • • Industry workers perform to a higher standard through the quality of available non-formal training Non-formal learning, in particular in-house training, is recognised as high-quality training As noted elsewhere, the tourism industry currently relies largely on internal training, and 66% of tourism businesses prefer on- the-job training approaches in the future Even once the skills system improves its performance, there is likely to continue to be a signiﬁ cant level of internal training in tourism workplaces.
72% of worker respondents indicated that their business has good internal training in place.

This is similar to the 77% of businesses that indicate they feel ready to implement robust internal business training However, only 30% of businesses have a qualiﬁ ed trainer on staff.
It is assumed most of these ‘qualiﬁ ed trainers’ are engaged on work permits Department of Labour to introduce a requirement that all work permit staff must complete a 1-week minimum course on training and coaching skills, in the Vanuatu context Similar training to be available to senior Ni-Vanuatu tourism workers, including those with international experience, to improve their skills in training and coaching of junior staff.
This may be an accredited unit or a non-accredited professional development course • DOT and VTO to review the biannual Tourism Awards to identify how training excellence can be recognised • • • New categories of Tourism Awards established from 2022 to recognise training excellence in the workplace 100% of work permit staff in the tourism industry complete train- the-trainer/ coaching training by 2023 Future industry surveys show more than 50% of businesses have qualiﬁ ed trainers in the workplace 41 Objective 7 Sustainable Tourism Learning Resources Aim Outcome Rationale • • • • Sustainable tourism is well understood and implemented by the tourism industry and stakeholders Sustainable tourism concepts are included within all tourism training Currently there is not strong industry awareness of what constitutes sustainable tourism Many existing tourism curricula require refreshing, including to reﬂ ect Vanuatu’s key policy objective of building a sustainable and responsible tourism industry • Review of all existing tourism curricula for alignment with sustainable tourism and VSTP • Setting of industry workplace standards for sustainable tourism Approach • Refreshing existing curricula to include sustainable tourism • Development of new curricula based on industry standards for sustainable tourism • Production of learning materials speciﬁ c to sustainable tourism KPIs • • All existing curricula and future new curricula for accredited courses are aligned to sustainable tourism practice DOT, as the champion of sustainable tourism, produces (or commissions production of) sustainable tourism learning materials for use within accredited qualiﬁ cations Objective 8 Balanced International Opportunities Aim Outcome • • There are sufﬁ cient skilled and qualiﬁ ed tourism workers in the local labour market The leakage of qualiﬁ ed tourism workers to international work opportunities is managed ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 42 Rationale • • • • Currently there is signiﬁ cant leakage of trained tourism workers to international seasonal work programs (horticulture) such as RSE (NZ) and SWP (Australia).
Some tourism businesses see little incentive to invest in training of their staff given this signiﬁ cant leakage Both programs are seeking to expand work opportunities beyond the horticultural sector, and the SWP program now also offers seasonal work in the Australian tourism industry There is also a number of trained tourism workers employed on cruise ships While most tourism businesses recognise the value of international tourism work experience, anecdotal evidence suggests that experience is not always recognised through higher remuneration.
There is also an industry concern that there must be a limit to the number of workers undertaking international tourism work • DOL to commission further research how to manage this issue.

It is a complex, legal issue that affects many sectors, including tourism.
Research should include investigation of the legality of bonds and the introduction of caps on participation Approach • Introduction of Apprenticeships (Objective 5) will assist to manage leakage of trained workers overseas as training will become a shared cost between the employer and Government • VQA work with industry to look at how international tourism work experience can be recognised through RPL KPIs • DOL identify solutions to the issue that meet legal requirements Objective 9 Tour Guiding Aim Outcome Rationale • • • • • Vanuatu delivers high quality visitor experiences through tours and activities Deliver a national program of tour guide training linked to tour guide accreditation The VSTP requirement to deliver high quality experiences requires that workers at the frontline of experience-delivery, perform to a high standard Currently few VQA registered providers deliver accredited tour guiding qualiﬁ cations (currently only at Certiﬁ cate I - III level) Most outer island tour guides rely on occasional non-formal delivery by VSP • Most tour operators rely on in-house training 43 Approach • DOT to develop an accreditation program for Vanuatu tour guides • Review of current accredited tour guiding curricula • • • • Include language skills units (including English for tourism) in curricula Development of higher level guiding qualiﬁ cations, with inclusion of entrepreneurship Facilitate demand from industry for increased delivery of tour guiding qualiﬁ cations (likely to be in the form of units or clusters of units) VSP, through the MOU with DOT deliver annual tour guiding programs for each province (teaching units or clusters) targeting outer island guides and building provincial networks built on professionalism • Tour guide training programs held in every province once a year from 2022 KPIs • Accreditation scheme established for tour guides by 2024 • Increased number of graduates with accredited tour guiding qualiﬁ cations/ units Objective 10 National Tourism Re-Start Program Aim Outcome Rationale • • • • • • The tourism industry transitions to a basis of sustainable and responsible tourism practice by 2023 The tourism workforce is given an upskill boost while the formal skills system improves the quality and quantity of accredited tourism training Currently, the majority of tourism workers have signiﬁ cant capability gaps respective to their occupational role.
The current gaps against sustainable tourism capabilities are even larger There is also low industry awareness of required industry standards Improved performance of the formal skills system (quality and quantity of curricula, better trainers, better learning resources) will not happen overnight, thus there will be a period when up-skilling will rely signiﬁ cantly on interventions outside of the formal skills system This issue is even more pronounced due to the impacts of COVID-19, as many tourism workers will go through up to 24 months with minimum work (2020-2021).
The need for a program of refresher training due to COVID-19 has been recognised in the Tourism Crisis Response and Recovery Plan • COVID-19 has also necessitated a new training requirement, the Safe Business Operations Guidelines ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 44 • • • • • • • DOT conﬁ rm the immediate training needs of the tourism industry prior to resumption of international tourism Fully deliver SBO training across all provinces, and incorporate this into accredited curricula over time DOT commission an evaluation of the SBO training model, to assess its effectiveness as a model for national tourism training programs DOT facilitate delivery of a program of core skills refresher training in 2021/ 2023 to address the immediate needs for resumption of tourism Deliver a program of industry awareness of required sustainable tourism standards 100% of permitted tourism businesses complete SBO training by the end of 2021 SBO training incorporated into existing accredited tourism curricula by end 2021 • Program of awareness of industry standards delivered • National program of core skills refresher training delivered by end 2023, based on lessons learnt from SBO delivery Approach KPIs Objective 11 Digital Tourism Training and Careers Portal • • • Aim Outcome Rationale A single accessible digital location informs and promotes to all stakeholders the beneﬁ ts of Tourism careers, training pathways and available training opportunities.
An online portal is established to share tourism training information and resources Research shows that the tourism industry is generally not aware of available training opportunities, both accredited and non- formal.
This is partly due to the low-level marketing undertaken by training providers, but also reﬂ ects that the industry is not actively promoting training opportunities through its associations 45 Approach • • • • DoT commissions the design and development of an online, open access, ‘Tourism for Vanuatu’ tourism training and development portal DOT transfers ownership and maintenance of the portal to industry as soon as an industry association is in a position to manage this Portal proﬁ les a range of individual worker and business case studies on their tourism journey The portal should be designed to offer Information about VTOMS, Sustainable Tourism and GSTC criteria; training courses, qualiﬁ cations and learning pathways; online informal courses; downloadable ‘help yourself’ learning resources; an opportunity for people looking for tourism work to promote themselves; an opportunity for businesses looking for tourism workers to advertise - Example: https://www.tourismtraining.com.au/lms • DoT implemented communications strategy ensuring wide industry awareness and acceptance of the portal, with ability to easily access and input industry information into portal information • Portal live by end 2021 • Number of portal visits increases year on year KPIs • • Number of downloads of self-help training resources increases year on year Number of workers and businesses promoting themselves/ available positions, increases year on year.
Objective 12 Events Management Aim Outcome Rationale • • • • • Vanuatu delivers high quality visitor experiences through Cultural, Musical, Agritourism and Sports festivals and events Deliver a national program of events management training with strong community governance, entrepreneurial, and coordination focus The VSTP requirement to deliver high quality experiences and attract high value tourists, would beneﬁ t from an expansion of high quality festival and event experiences across all provinces No events management qualiﬁ cations or local courses have been identiﬁ ed Most community events, especially cultural festivals, rely on low skilled community members with little training or events experience ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 46 Approach KPIs • • • • • • • • Review of current accredited curricula, and assessment of events management as an elective option Development of festivals and events relevant units of competency for use in short courses and qualiﬁ cations Identify a provider to deliver annual festivals and events training programs in each province (teaching units or clusters) building capacity for identiﬁ cation and effective running of quality event experiences VKS should be involved to ensure cultural authenticity and industry should be involved to ensure the needs of the market are recognised Festivals & Events Management training program held in every province once a year from 2022, with minimum 15 participants per annum Accreditation scheme established for tourism related festivals and events by 2022 Increased number of graduates with accredited courses that include events management related competencies Number of new or refreshed annual community led Cultural, Musical, Agritourism and Sports festivals and events launched in each province by 2025 Objective 13 Increased Tourism Business Commitment to Training Aim Outcome Rationale • • • • • Industry workers perform to a higher standard through training opportunities supported by tourism businesses Tourism industry values all forms of effective education, training and learning experiences.
As noted elsewhere, the tourism industry currently relies largely on internal training, and 66% of tourism businesses prefer on- the-job training approaches in the future Some businesses cannot afford to pay for training especially during the COVID crisis 39% of businesses and 19% of workers consider the industry is providing low support for training • 48% of businesses indicate they have never hired a graduate • • 69% of workers indicate their employer has never paid for an external course.
Only 30% of businesses have a qualiﬁ ed trainer on staff.
It is assumed most of these ‘qualiﬁ ed trainers’ are engaged on work permits 47 Approach • • • DoT require all medium and large tourism businesses as part of minimum operating standards to have documented workforce development plans in place DoT supply templates for tourism businesses on how to complete a simple workforce development plan All Government funded training programs for the tourism industry require an employer co-contribution (at least 10% of course fees) in order for the business to access the training (only applies to medium and large businesses) • DoT undertake an awareness campaign of the beneﬁ ts of hiring a graduate and how businesses can go about this KPIs • • 100% of medium and large tourism businesses have documented workforce development plans in place Future industry surveys show improvement in support statistics listed above 9.5 VTHRDS Governance & Implementation In order for the VTHRDS to be successfully implemented, it is recommended that: • • • • DOT appoint a speciﬁ c Manager to lead responsibility for implementation and monitoring of the VTHRDS, including communicating with stakeholders Speciﬁ c implementation tasks be incorporated into DOT, and other agency, annual Business Plans and Strategic Plans DOT produce biannual reports on progress with VTHRDS implementation (ﬁ rst report due end of 2022) which is included in DOT Annual Reports.
These reports to be shared with stakeholders A review of the VTHRDS be undertaken in 2025, after production of the 2024 biannual report and after completion of the 2025 research survey (see below), and amendments made to the VTHRDS based on context.
To assist to monitor VTHRDS implementation: • Tourism permit processes be used to collect data on training needs and training activity • • DOT repeat the research surveys in 2025 and 2030, using the VTHRDS survey as baseline DoT engage with DoL triennial labor market research, VNPF employment data and VNSO census/ survey data to inform future industry needs and VTHRDS actions. )
0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 48 9.6 Risk Management Risk Likelihood Impact Tourism industry does not buy-in to the VTHRDS Medium High Poor governance to manage implementation of the VTHRDS Medium High Quality of accredited training providers and their products does not improve signiﬁ cantly to buildindustry conﬁ dence and to trigger award of local scholarships by NSO Medium High Vanuatu Government does not support ongoing investment in tourism development Low Medium Accelerated loss of trained and experienced workers to international opportunities Medium Medium Sustainable and responsible tourism not sufﬁ ciently incorporated into training Medium Medium DoT staff do not have the relevant industry experience and technical knowledge relating to the development of sustainable and responsible tourism in practice, to implement the VTHRDS and provide credible advice to tourism businesses Medium Medium 49 Risk Management • VTHRDS to be shared with tourism industry • • • DOT/ VQA participate in meetings of key tourism associations to promote their participation in the skills system DOT look at how TMDF/ STDF funds can be better used to support tourism associations, including permanent stafﬁ ng VQA and PGTBs review how they structure and communicate participation opportunities for the tourism industry • Implement ‘VTHRDS Governance’ actions identiﬁ ed above • Provide speciﬁ c project management training for the designated DOT Manager • Implement Objective 4 identiﬁ ed above • If Vanuatu Government funding is unavailable, donor funding be sourced to train tourism trainers and other quality improvement actions • Objective to be reviewed in 2025 to adapt to context • Maximise funding opportunities via VNPF and donors • Industry investment opportunities explored • Implement Objective 7 identiﬁ ed above • Increase the supply of trained workers if loss of trained and experienced workers accelerates • Implement Objective 6 identiﬁ ed above • DoT to ensure department staff are appropriately trained and new recruits have relevant qualiﬁ cations and/or practical experience in the tourism industry • Implement the VTHRDS ) 0 3 0 2 - 1 2 0 2 ( 50 9.7 Implementation Responsibility Other Government Skills Centres/ VSP PGTBs Private sector providers Other Providers APTC VITE VIT VQA MOET Industry Associations DoT i i g n n a r T d e l - d n a m e D .
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