ASEAN uniforms tourism competence standard certification

 Monday, 5 July 2010

ANTARA News

ASEAN member countries agreed to uniforming the ASEAN Common Competency Standard for Tourism Professionals (ACCSTP).

"The ACCSTP itself is actually an Indonesian National Working Competence Standard (SKKNI) in the sector of tourist travel, hotels, and restaurants, making Indonesia to already has an ASEAN Competence Standard,," Head of the Cultural and Tourism Natural Resources Development Agency I Gusti Putu Laksaguna said in Jakarta Sunday.

The agreement was the result of the 32rd ASEAN tourist meeting held in the Senggigi tourist resort in West Lombok from June 29 to July 3, 2010.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, in addition to Japan, China and South Korea, and the UNEP as support participants.

Putu said it was no secret if there was a wish to improve the quality and personnel of tourism circles in ASEAN, for which a competence qualification is a requirement.

The discussion of the competence certification of ASEAN tourism personnel, known as ASEAN Tourism Professional Monitoring Committee (ATPMC), is a follow up of the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) of tourism of ASEAN level.

MRA was singed by the ASEAN tourism ministers on January 29, 2010, and the signing of the MRA agreement marked a step forward of the ASEAN member countries in liberization of ASEAN tourism in 2010.