Basic Japanese course has been held for tourism employees at Labor Culture Center since 16 Nov 2014. The course is introduced in every Sunday over 6 weeks to teach basic communication skills as well as Japanese culture in order to fortify the competence in attending tourists.
First organized by Danang Center for Tourism Promotion (DCTP) in cooperation with Sakura Japanese Center with 27 learners, the course aims to strengthen the ability of employees who frequently works with tourists from Cyclo team, visitor center and attractions such as Cham Sculptural Museum, Danang Museum… The course also contributes to supplement the shortage of employees who can Japanese.
Most of learners are members of Tourism Cyclo Team who directly serve for sight-seeing cyclo tour and hold concurrently the role of tour guide, showing tourists the beauty of Danang. “As of Oct 2014, cyclo team has served about 30,000 tourists including 8,900 international tourists. Many of them visit Danang on cruisers which usually drop in Danang in only 1 day. Therefore, I should say that Cyclo team will give the first impression about Danang as well as its people and culture. Japanese course is one of plans to improve their communication skills so that they can offer better service to tourists” – Mr Nguyen Xuan Binh, Director of DCTP said.
Japan has been in top 5 largest tourist markets of Danang since 2006. The direct flights between Tokyo and Danang launched by Vietnam Airlines in July 2014 are operating with the frequency of 4 flights per week. As of Sep 2014, the number of Japanese visiting Danang is 57,211 people. However, according to the report on tourism human resource of Danang Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, there are just 41 Japanese tour guide. There is also a shortage of employees who can speak Japanese to work for restaurants, hotels and attractions.
Chi Giao