The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism on March 12 signed a memorandum of understanding with the School of Hospitality and Tourism under Hue University and Hue Tourism College to implement the Swiss Advanced Hotel Management programme, aimed at enhancing the quality of tourism and hospitality human resources in the central region.

The programme is part of the Swiss Tourism for Sustainable Development in Vietnam (ST4SD) project.

Under the MoU, the two training institutions become partners in delivering the programme, contributing to improving the quality of human resources in the tourism and hospitality sector in Vietnam’s central region. The programme is expected to help standardise tourism workforce training in line with international standards, enhance the competitiveness of the local tourism industry, and support the development of green and sustainable tourism.

The Swiss Advanced Hotel Management programme is transferred from EHL Hospitality Business School, one of the world’s leading institutions in hospitality management education. The programme adopts a flexible learning model, with 80% of the coursework delivered online through the school’s learning management system and 20% conducted in person.

Training focuses on hotel management, service operations, and leadership skills, while also integrating principles of sustainable tourism development.

Andri Meier, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO) under the Embassy of Switzerland in Vietnam, said that through this project, the Swiss Government wishes to support Vietnam in developing high-quality tourism human resources, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of the country’s tourism industry in the international market.

During this week, the project also organised a training course for lecturers in Hue, bringing together 33 lecturers and hospitality industry experts from training institutions and tourism businesses.

This is the second such training course held in Vietnam, following the first session conducted in Ho Chi Minh City in April 2025.

The project forms part of the Swiss Government’s economic development cooperation programme for Vietnam and is managed by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT). It aims to improve the quality of tourism training and promote the development of sustainable tourism human resources nationwide.

“This initiative is part of efforts to implement the Vietnam Tourism Development Strategy to 2030, which is built on two key pillars including sustainable development based on green growth and tourism development in both breadth and depth, with a strong focus on improving the quality of human resources in Vietnam’s tourism sector,” said Nguyen Thanh Binh, Deputy Head of the Tourism Accommodation Management Department at the VNAT.

Swiss-funded project helps develop sustainable tourism in Vietnam

The “Swiss tourism for sustainable development in Vietnam” project was launched at a ceremony in Hanoi on February 28.