Tourism Workers in Asean Economic Community: Opportunities or Challenges?

Abstract

At the moment tourism has a very important role for the life of the economic world. Along with its development, the need for professionals in tourism field is increasing. Ahead of the implementation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, the challenge in the field of tourism that must be faced is to prepare Indonesian professional workforce that skilled, intelligent, and competitive. AEC is a form of economic integration in ASEAN to face free trade among countries in ASEAN. Preparation of labor refers ASEAN Common Competency Standards for Tourism Professionals and the ASEAN MRA- TP (Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals) which is designed to enable the mobility of employment for skilled tourism labor within each member state and has the skills and qualifications of working tourism professionals from different ASEAN countries. In facing these challenges, the government agencies such as the Tourism and Culture Board has an important role in making policy on tourism development. The locus of this research is the Culture and Tourism Board Bandung City with descriptive qualitative research approach. This research refers to the local regulation No. 13 Year 2007 on Tasks and Functions of the Department of Culture and Tourism Bandung which carry out most of affairs of the region in the field of culture and tourism. The results of study showed that in order to answer the challenges of professional work in tourism ahead of the Asean Economic Community synergy of several parties that is not only the governments, but also from the tourism industry, tourism agencies, academician and community is required.