Background
On 20 February 2023 in Phnom Penh, the Ministry of Tourism opened a training course for HoKa focal-point assessors in hospitality skills. The event was presided over by Pak Sokhom, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Tourism and Chair of the HoKa Project Management Committee, representing the Minister of Tourism Thong Khon. Christian Volker Ide, Head of Skills Development at Swisscontact, also co-presided over the opening. The training took place at Sunway Hotel in Phnom Penh.
The course focuses on assessor training for front office, housekeeping, and food and beverage services under the HoKa hospitality skills development initiative. Participants included representatives of the Phnom Penh tourism department, tourism vocational training institutions, tourism industry associations, the tourism vocational trainers club, private sector representatives, and a total of 50 trainees.
Scope of Application
The training course targets HoKa focal-point trainers and assessors from the project’s priority northeastern provinces: Kratie, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear, Ratanakiri, and Mondulkiri. It is intended for provincial-level trainers and officials working in tourism and hospitality skills development, including those involved in training delivery and competency assessment for youth and workers in the tourism sector.
Key Provisions or Decisions
According to Secretary of State Pak Sokhom, the training course aims to:
- Strengthen professional tourism and hospitality skills in Cambodia through capacity building of provincial focal-point trainers.
- Support the restoration of tourism professionalism and create employment opportunities for youth in the sector.
- Encourage the return of tourism professionals who left the industry during the COVID-19 crisis by improving training quality and career prospects.
- Equip provincial focal-point trainers with additional technical skills to conduct tests and assess trainees’ competencies after training courses.
- Enhance both technical training and competency assessment capacities among provincial staff to ensure the quality and effectiveness of HoKa hospitality training.
The course is positioned as a capacity-building measure to support the sustainability of tourism and hospitality training programs in the project’s target provinces.
Implications for Investors, Businesses, or Compliance
The HoKa assessor training is expected to contribute to higher and more consistent service quality in Cambodia’s tourism and hospitality sector, particularly in the northeastern provinces. For tourism businesses such as hotels, guesthouses, and food and beverage outlets, the program signals an effort by the Ministry of Tourism and its partners to improve the skills of front-line staff and trainers.
Stronger competency-based assessment capacity at provincial level may gradually lead to more standardized expectations for hospitality skills among workers trained under the HoKa framework. While the announcement does not establish new regulatory obligations, it indicates ongoing government and development partner support for professionalization of the tourism workforce, which may benefit investors and operators through a more skilled labor pool.
Official Source
The information is based on an official announcement by the Ministry of Tourism published on its verified Facebook page on 20 February 2023.
