Singapore's tourism industry has become one of the country's biggest sources of jobs, employing 15.2 million individuals and attracting over 300 million international tourists per year. As the industry grows and competency demands increase, tourism and hospitality education in Singapore has expanded to include both formal Bachelor's degrees in tourism management and advanced diploma programs. These degree and certification programs aim to further professionalize the tourism industry by providing students with expertise in tourism operations, management skills, and an understanding of key hospitality issues.

1. Professionalizing the
Singapore Tourism Industry

2. For many developing economies and countries today, tourism has
become one of the more viable options in fast-tracking local
development. In Singapore, tourism is responsible for attracting
300,378,921 international tourists per year, a figure over 5 times larger
than the country’s total population. Singapore’s tourism sector is also
one the country’ biggest source of jobs employing 15.2 million
individuals.

3. And the industry continue to show robust signs as it ventures into
medical, business, and retail tourism, as well as many other new
developments that have further created and increased more new job
opportunities for people with specialized knowledge.

4. Other projections further indicate economic growth, easing of travel
restrictions, and aggressive promotion strategies and local resource
development will pave the way for even animate tourism industry all in
most Asia Pacific countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia,
Cambodia and the Philippines.

5. However, as the industry grows and professionalizes, the competency
and skill demands for human resource are also becoming more
sophisticated and the competition, more steep.

6. The level of employment competition in the industry may be reflected
in the continually sky-rocketing demand for formal and informal
tourism and hospitality courses in Singapore. The trend and growing
sophistication of many tourism and hospitality courses in the country
also show attempts to further professionalize the industry.

7. Typically, a Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management is a formal
tourism degree program in Singapore offered by a university or tertiary
level formal educational institution. A full tourism course in Singapore
requires completion of a set of core and major courses in tourism,
elective degrees in accounting, management or related fields and
foundation general education courses in math, science, language, social
science and humanities. It is recommended for students who want to
have a career in the field of tourism and events management.

8. As a formal degree course, its syllabus offers basic expertise in
management of tour-operating agencies, as well as other jobs in
the tourism and hospitality sector, including awareness of
key hospitality issues, like service tourism excellence standards,
locations risk assessments, environmental issues, cultural preservation.

9. Tourism diplomas on the other hand are advanced degrees that can be
taken only after earning an academic or vocational qualification such as
a full bachelor's degree in tourism or related fields. In most cases any
WSQ courses in Singapore or baccalaureate degree will do but students
without tourism and hospitality foundations are required to take
additional courses.

10. Subjects under tourism diploma in Singapore include management
trainings, staff appraisal and evaluation, staff management including
handling of dismissals and resignations, developing and implementing
effective business strategies, conducting situational analysis,

11. compliance with legal requirements, developing and implementing
budget plans, service operations management, travel operations
management, front office or guest services operations management,
housekeeping operations management, loss prevention strategies,
service excellence training, customer satisfaction and handling
meeting, convention and other events.

12. Diploma courses in Singapore usually take 2 years to finish under a
university or a graduate school. Courses syllabus and structure of
diploma courses in Singapore are also designed in accordance with the
Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and diploma earned
from undergoing the program are therefore nationally and
internationally recognized and therefore provide local as well as
international employability.