Anthony Wong, the AIME 2007 Industry Person of the Year, in the Asia Pacific region, has called for governments in Asia to put more resources into training of travel industry personnel.
Wong, a leading multi-event manager and inbound operator, said, “There are a number of governments putting money into convention and event centres, particularly in Asia, however the human resource element needs to catch up.
“In Australia, industry training is quite well developed, but in Asia, education in the meetings, incentive and events industry is still more leisure based.”
As a board member of PATA and 3rd Vice President of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Wong is a pioneer of the meetings industry in Asia, and is a passionate supporter of eco tourism.
He also runs an Executive Master Class to train young people in the meetings and events industry.
“I’ve been coming to AIME since 1998 and I love to be able to share my knowledge with the industry and it’s nice to be appreciated for all my many years work,” he said.
Lim Neo Chian, chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, has echoed Wong’s call for a new focus on training for the travel industry.
He told Travelmole TV that with Singapore enjoying almost full employment some local workers would need to be retrained, and more foreign workers would need to be allowed into the country to service the integrated resorts being developed at Marina Bay and Sentosa Island.
“We need to look at retraining some mature workers, and also freeing up the entry for foreign workers to Singapore to maintain service quality and meet manpower requirements,” said Lim.
The AIME 2007 International Personality is ICCA head, Martin Sirk.
Ian Jarrett
