{Entry for the Humanities Impression Contest - Faculty of Tourism Studies} Overview of the Faculty of Tourism Studies

Inheriting the academic tradition of the University, with the pioneering and active contributions of renowned scholars such as the late Professor Tran Quoc Vuong, the late Professor Hoang Thieu Son, Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet, the late Associate Professor Dinh Trung Kien, Associate Professor Tran Duc Thanh, and many others..., after overcoming initial difficulties, the Faculty of Tourism Studies has quickly become a reliable training and research center for tourism in Hanoi and nationwide.

Currently, the Faculty of Tourism Studies comprises three departments: Tourism Culture and Geography, Tourism Management, and Event Management. The faculty has 18 staff members, including 2 specialists, 15 teaching staff, and 1 visiting lecturer. The percentage of full-time lecturers is 37.5%, the percentage of staff with doctoral degrees is 50%, and the percentage of staff with associate professor titles is 27.5%.
 

To fulfill its mission of becoming a high-quality and advanced training and research institution in tourism, from its inception, the Faculty has focused on research-oriented training. Regular undergraduate, part-time, dual degree, and master's degree programs have been successfully piloted. Currently, the Faculty's training programs are comprehensive, from undergraduate to doctoral levels. These include two undergraduate programs: Tourism and Travel Service Management (with two specializations: Travel Management and Event Management) and Hotel Management; one master's program; and one doctoral program, all research-oriented in tourism. In addition, the Faculty offers dual degree programs and short-term training courses. The Faculty of Tourism Studies was the first institution in the country to offer master's degrees in tourism (in 2003) and doctoral degrees in tourism (in 2018). Over 25 years of dedicated effort, the faculty has trained more than 4,000 full-time students, over 500 postgraduate students, and thousands of students in part-time, dual-degree, and short-term programs, meeting the human resource requirements of Vietnam's tourism industry. This has gradually bridged the gap between scientific knowledge and practical experience, enhancing the competitiveness of the workforce in the sector. Many graduates from the faculty have gone on to hold important positions in state management agencies, research institutes, universities, and businesses nationwide.

The scientific research activities of the Faculty of Tourism Studies have also continuously developed in both quantity and quality. To date, the faculty's staff have published approximately 1,000 scientific works in domestic and international scientific journals and conference proceedings. From primarily publishing works domestically, many staff members now have scientific articles published internationally. The faculty has published more than 50 textbooks, lecture notes, and monographs; and led more than 30 scientific research projects at various levels (including 12 projects at the National University level, 17 projects at the university level, and 2 projects at the city level...). Every year, the Faculty organizes scientific conferences and seminars for staff and students, as well as domestic and international scientific workshops in the field of tourism. In December 2019, within the framework of the TOURIST Project, the Faculty successfully organized the international workshop "Sustainable Tourism Development: Lessons for Southeast Asian Countries". These are concrete examples of the efforts and scientific research capabilities of the Faculty's staff, thereby affirming the Faculty's strengths and position in tourism scientific research in Vietnam.

To continuously improve the quality of training and scientific research according to international standards, the Faculty of Tourism Studies has established cooperative relationships with dozens of universities and international organizations such as the University of Toulouse Le Mirail (France); Rikkyo University, Kumamoto University, Nagoya City University (Japan); University of Missouri (USA); the School of Tourism at the University of Applied Sciences Munich, Greifswald University (Germany); Chiang Mai University (Thailand); Taylor University (Malaysia); Kent University, Leeds University (UK); University of Queensland, TAFE (Australia); Guangxi University, Honghe University (China)... thereby exchanging faculty and students for study and receiving many international scholars and students. With these efforts, the Faculty of Tourism Studies not only demonstrates its core position in tourism training and scientific research domestically, but also contributes to gradually raising the academic prestige of Vietnam's tourism training and scientific research to the regional and global level.
 

With the achievements in training and scientific research, the faculty and individual lecturers of the Faculty of Tourism Studies have received numerous commendations and certificates of merit from the Prime Minister, Hanoi National University, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the People's Committee of Hanoi City, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, etc.

The Faculty of Tourism Studies consistently sets development directions to overcome existing limitations and shortcomings, such as: raising awareness among faculty members, researchers, postgraduate students, and undergraduates about its leading role in creating and disseminating knowledge; enhancing scientific research capacity, aiming for international publications with high impact factors; improving facilities and documentation systems; strengthening cooperation with training and research institutions, organizations, businesses, and individuals both domestically and internationally; refining and supplementing practical knowledge into the lecture system and textbooks; and implementing quality assurance activities for the Faculty's training and scientific research programs.
 

Over the past 25 years, with a sound development strategy, the Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi (along with many other training institutions nationwide) has gradually implemented the training of human resources at various levels for the Vietnamese tourism industry. To date, despite achieving many accomplishments in training and establishing its position, the Faculty of Tourism Studies continues to strive to provide highly qualified human resources for the country's tourism industry, aiming to gradually appear on the map of tourism and hotel management training and research in the region and the world.

Entering a new phase of development with many opportunities and challenges ahead, the leadership team, staff, lecturers, postgraduate students, and undergraduate students of the Faculty of Tourism Studies will be determined and strive their best to develop the Faculty of Tourism Studies rapidly, sustainably, and comprehensively in a creative and integrated direction, making a positive contribution to the development of the country, and aiming to be on par with advanced universities in the region and around the world.