Hanoi, May 17 -- Vietnam's tourism sector continues to face a significant shortage of skilled labour, both in terms of quantity and quality, posing a serious challenge to its sustainable development, according to industry insiders.

Estimates suggest the industry needs around 40,000 new workers each year, but only about 20,000 are supplied. Even more concerning, only 43% of the existing tourism workforce has received formal professional training, and many of those still require retraining once employed.

"Vietnam's tourism workforce faces not only a shortage in numbers but also a lack of quality," said Professor Dao Manh Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Education Association (VITEA).

Although the number of tourism students is increa...