Gap Analysis on the Competency of Indonesian Tourism Workers in the ASEAN Economic Community

Abstract

Tourism is one of eight professions that are prioritized to be integrated in the framework of ASEAN Economic Community. Among the prioritized professions, tourism has led in producing detail arrangements of mutual recognition agreement in the sector, including by setting ASEAN Common Competence Standards for Tourism Professionals (ACCSTP) and Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum (CATC). It means the mobility of tourism workers or professionals in the regional labour market may be realized faster than other professions. However, there is a considerable concern over the quality of Indonesian human resources in tourism that may hinder benefits offered by the opening of the regional labour market. This paper investigates potential gaps between standard competencies of AEC and competencies of Indonesian tourism workers. Through a survey conducted in Greater Jakarta, this study found no significant gap between the two. This paper argues the low gap may be due to majority respondents are trained in schools of tourism located in urban, big cities which enjoy quality curriculum and trainers. Nevertheless, the paper encourages a full adoption of regional qualification standards to guarantee the skills recognition of the Indonesian tourism workers in the region.