PHNOM PENH: At the Cambodiana Hotel on December 20th, Cambodia's Minister of Tourism, Sok Soken, addressed the “Annual Stocktaking of Hoka Steering Committee for 2023” committed to the “One Person, One Skill” campaign, he highlighted “BUILD Plus 3Ds” strategic areas focused on human resource development.

To further advance the Hoka hospitality training program, he proposed nine key recommendations:

1. Expand and Elevate: Continue partnerships with Swisscontact, key players in the tourism industry, and stakeholders to bring HoKa training to all 25 Cambodian provinces and priority areas. Promote tourism professionalism through “Hoka Skills Day” events, exhibitions, and competitions.

2. Build a National Framework: Collaborate on a national qualification framework for tourism professionals. This framework, aligned with the ASEAN Qualifications Framework and MRA-TP, will ensure consistency, lifelong learning opportunities, and national/professional qualification balance.

3. Empower Local Tourism: Provincial Departments of Tourism should actively promote HoKa training, through both short courses and full-time programs. This will enhance provincial tourism service quality, create decent employment for youth, and boost their income.

4. Focus on Target Businesses: Implement in-house HoKa training through trained and competent HoKa instructors in targeted tourism businesses within the project provinces.

5. Sustainable Growth: The Tourism Departments of all target provinces must strive for efficient, effective, and transparent project implementation. Strengthening the capacity of Department trainers and private sector instructors will ensure post-project training sustainability.

6. Inclusive and Entrepreneurial: Develop improved HoKa training programs and materials that encourage women's participation and promote tourism entrepreneurship.

7. Measure and Learn: The HoKa Steering Committee should monitor and study post-training effectiveness to inform national and sub-national human resource development strategies.

8. Empower Vulnerable Youth: Encourage Vocational Training Schools and partner organizations to leverage HoKa to train at-risk youth and migrant families for tourism jobs, securing their income and future.

9. Invest in Skills: Collaborate with Skills Development Funds to support both pre-employment training and upskilling initiatives for tourism professionals and institutions.

The HoKa program has already trained over 4,106 individuals in skills like housekeeping, front office operations, food & beverage service, coffee making, chef training, community tour guiding, and HoKa training & evaluation, across ten provinces. With these nine impactful recommendations, HoKa is poised to further empower Cambodians and solidify Cambodia's tourism industry.