Executive summary
In 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community will come into being, with one of its key elements being the mutual recognition of professional qualifications within the Community. The ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals (MRA-TP) is one forward-looking initiative designed to enable the mobility of employment for skilled tourism labour within each Member State. The key to this arrangement is recognition of skills and qualifications of working tourism professionals from different ASEAN countries.
In order to function effectively, the MRA - TP requires an infrastructure operating at both the ASEAN and Member State level. The ASEAN Framework Agreement on MRAs (1998) and the ASEAN MRA on Tourism Professionals (2009) provides guidance for these mechanisms, and draws on the experience and expertise available through the development of other MRAs internationally.
This Handbook has been produced as an essential reference to the key policies, processes and implementation guidelines for the MRA – TP, and is provided for National Tourism Organizations in ASEAN. It can be disseminated to staff within NTOs who are responsible for manpower planning, HRD, training and qualifications.
Recognition & Eligibility of Foreign Tourism Professionals
The ASEAN MRA on Tourism Professionals will provide a mechanism for agreement on the equivalence of tourism certification procedures and qualifications across ASEAN. When ASEAN nations mutually recognise each other’s qualifications this will encourage a free and open market for tourism labour across the region and boost the competitiveness of the tourism sector in each ASEAN nation, while at the same time attracting needed talent to meet local skills shortages. The eligibility to work in a host country will of course be subjected to prevailing domestic laws and regulations of the host country.
In order for a Foreign Tourism Professional to be recognised by other ASEAN Member States and to be eligible to work in a host country, they will need to possess a valid tourism competency certificate in a specific tourism job title as specified in the Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum (CATC), issued by the Tourism Professional Certification Board (TPCB) in an ASEAN Member State.
It is important to recognise that while the MRA on Tourism Professionals will be active, the application and implementation by the various tourism educational and training providers in each country will be voluntary. This is especially true in terms of quality of instruction, evaluation and standards of curriculum development.