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The NTUC Hospitality and Consumer Business Cluster (HCBC) and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have rallied the tourism sector to transform and build new capabilities, to ensure it is poised for the next bound of growth.
In a first-of-its-kind effort across the tourism sector, NTUC HCBC and five Trade Associations and Chambers (TACs) – supported by STB and NTUC’s Training and Transformation (NTUC T&T) – will co-develop key capabilities to spur business transformation, uplift workers’ skillsets and set new standards in anticipation of safe travel requirements in the future. This initiative was catalysed by the Tourism Alliance for Action (AfA) on Enabling Safe and Innovative Visitor Experiences convened by the Emerging Stronger Taskforce (EST).
The multi-stakeholders jointly launched the Tourism Sector Capability Development Roadmap today to deepen cross-sector partnerships and harness synergies amongst stakeholders from the five key tourism domains in Singapore. Business leaders from over 20 organisations, union leaders and key TAC and STB representatives convened over a series of Operation and Technology Roadmap (OTR) workshops to identify challenges, the necessary skills, and enablers to prepare tourism businesses and workers for the post-COVID world and in particular, to deliver travel experiences to visitors in a safe and innovative manner.
The Tourism Sector Capability Development Roadmap is the result of multiple stakeholders leveraging the OTR methodology, which is facilitated by NTUC T&T, to identify key areas in the tourism industry where businesses and workers can pivot and transform for recovery and future growth. NTUC T&T has also similarly supported the waste management and plumbing sectors in sector OTRs previously and aims to engage more companies and sectors in their transformation journey.
During the OTR workshops, participants discussed how to better prepare for the shifting demands of visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They shared that travellers will have higher expectations in terms of personal safety and privacy at all touchpoints in the future. In addition, they recognise that there is a need for stringent application of Safe Management Measures whilst ensuring a positive visitor experience. Visitors may also experience differing service standards across various touchpoints which will be further affected by the availability of resources and competencies of businesses.
Preparing the tourism industry for the post-COVID-19 world
The Tourism Sector Capability Development Roadmap ideated by the multi-stakeholders outlines key areas that the TACs and unions will work on for the transformation of the tourism sector and workforce. NTUC HCBC will facilitate and support the TACs and unions to equip workers with the relevant skills for a new normal through training and capability development. These include upskilling workers for hybrid events and new experiential offerings through digital content curation and presentations for visitors. The tourism workforce will also be equipped with the relevant Health, Safety, Security & Service (HSSS) skills to provide travellers with a consistent end-to-end safe itinerary experience across different tourism touchpoints. The HSSS Skills Training may include topics such as COVID-19 Screening Basics, Safe Management Measures, SG Safe Events Ambassadors and Data Security Management.
The TACs and unions will also explore leveraging technology and automation to provide a seamless end-to-end visitor experience. This will include industry collaborations for a common information-sharing platform, programmes to help businesses use contactless systems and adopt commercial insurance for last-minute cancellations. In addition, they will also look at forming working-level communities to share best practices for safe, standardised and positive travel experiences for visitors, and to build on existing frameworks for safe travels.
Transformation into a resilient and adaptable workforce
The tourism sector OTR is one of the multiple initiatives by NTUC to upskill and reskill workers so that they will remain employable and be future-ready for Industry 4.0. The training will also equip workers with new capabilities and prepare them for future growth opportunities and jobs as the industry recovers.
Dr Koh Poh Koon, NTUC Deputy Secretary-General and Group Director of NTUC T&T shared, “NTUC T&T has assisted many companies with their transformation efforts using the Operation & Technology Roadmap methodology. It also serves as a unique platform that can bring together multiple stakeholders to find common alignment and tackle challenges collectively. As the tourism industry navigates a challenging road ahead, it is commendable that the various players in the sector have rallied together to ready their capabilities and skillsets for the new normal. NTUC will endeavour to support even more sectors in their transformation and training so that our workers and businesses can both develop capabilities in tandem with each other.”
Ms Toh Hwee Tin, Supervising Lead at NTUC Hospitality and Consumer Business Cluster shared, "This crisis puts jobs at risk, but at the same time, offers opportunities for change. HCBC and our partners are taking a co-ordinated approach to build resilience in the workforce through upskilling and transformation of tourism services. We are committed to help workers adapt to the changing tourism landscape."
Mr Lee Seow Hiang, Co-Chair, EST AfA on Enabling Safe and Innovative Visitor Experiences, and Chief Executive Officer, Changi Airport Group said, “The Tourism Sector Capability Development Roadmap is in line with one of the EST AfA’s objective of also building the necessary competencies and skillsets required to deliver safe and innovative visitor experiences in a COVID-19 world. Whilst the AfA endeavours to tackle the industry’s near-term challenges, we are also planning for the future by encouraging industry stakeholders to collaborate and deliver unique experiences in a safe and innovative manner.”
Ms Kwee Wei-Lin, Co-Chair, EST AfA on Enabling Safe and Innovative Visitor Experiences, and President of the Singapore Hotel Association, shared, “Notwithstanding the current uncertainties impacting travel and tourism, it is heartening to note that the industry associations are pro-actively readying themselves to identify synergies and opportunities to partner with industry and the public sector to deliver travel safely for visitors in the new normal. The associations’ joint ownership of this roadmap reflects the cross-sector collaborations needed to address the challenges that have arisen from the pandemic.”
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