Faculty of Tourism Studies – 20 years of glorious journey

Dr. Pham Hong Long, Head of the Faculty of Tourism Studies, delivered the opening speech at the ceremony.

Joining the Faculty in celebrating were representatives from numerous agencies, organizations, and domestic and international partners, along with many generations of teachers, scientists, students, and trainees from various courses.

Twenty years is not a long time, but it has been enough for the Faculty of Tourism Studies to gradually affirm its prominent position and role in training highly qualified human resources for the Vietnamese tourism industry.

In 1995, shortly after the establishment of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, the Director of Vietnam National University, Hanoi signed a decision to establish the Faculty of Tourism Studies (October 21, 1995), with the mission of leading in the creation, dissemination of knowledge, and training of high-quality human resources in tourism studies, serving the cause of national construction and development.

Inheriting a tradition of academic excellence, 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 institution in tourism in Hanoi and throughout the country today.

At the ceremony, Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh, Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (center), presented the Dean's decision to Dr. Pham Hong Long (right) and the Vice Dean's decision to Dr. Nguyen Quang Vinh for the 2015-2020 term.

Currently, the Faculty comprises three departments: Geography and Cultural Tourism, Economics and Tourism Operations, and Event Management. The Faculty has 18 staff members, including 16 teaching staff. 50% of the staff hold doctoral degrees, and 35% are capable of teaching and writing in English.

To fulfill its mission of becoming a high-quality and advanced training and research institution in tourism, from the very beginning, the Faculty has focused on research-oriented training. Regular undergraduate programs, part-time programs, dual degree programs, and master's programs have been successfully piloted. Currently, the Faculty offers two undergraduate programs: Tourism and Travel Service Management and Hotel Management. In addition, the Faculty also offers dual degree programs and short-term training courses in tour guiding. The Faculty of Tourism Studies remains the only institution nationwide offering a master's degree in tourism.

Over 20 years of effort, the program has trained 2,500 full-time students, nearly 400 postgraduate students, and thousands of students in part-time, dual-degree, and short-term programs. While not a large number, it has partially met the human resource needs of Vietnam's tourism industry, bridging the gap between scientific knowledge, experience, and practical skills, and enhancing the competitiveness of the workforce in the tourism sector. Many graduates have gone on to hold important positions in state management agencies, research institutes, universities, and tourism and hotel businesses nationwide.

Professor, Doctor, People's Teacher Nguyen Van Khanh, Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, presented the Certificate of Merit from the Ministry of Education and Training and the Certificate of Merit from the Director of Vietnam National University, Hanoi to the Faculty of Tourism, recognizing the achievements the Faculty has made in the past period.

Scientific research activities have also continuously developed in both quantity and quality. To date, faculty members have published nearly 500 scientific works in scientific journals and conference proceedings both domestically and internationally. The Faculty as a whole has published 50 textbooks, lectures, and monographs; and led dozens of research projects at various levels (2 projects at the Hanoi city level, 12 projects at the Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and 17 projects at the university level...).

The Faculty has also established collaborative relationships with a dozen international universities and organizations such as the University of Toulouse Le Mirai (France), Rikkyo University (Japan), the University of Missouri (USA), the School of Tourism at Munich University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Kumamoto University (Japan), Taylor University (Malaysia)...

Through 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 levels.

Professor, Doctor, and People's Teacher Nguyen Van Khanh delivered a speech at the commemoration ceremony.

Congratulating the achievements, Professor Nguyen Van Khanh (Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi) also outlined specific tasks for the Faculty: opening additional applied master's programs and urgently completing the doctoral program in Tourism Management; developing solutions to train and develop a successor team of teaching and scientific staff, attracting young scientists and visiting lecturers who are outstanding experts; enhancing the scientific research capacity and operational efficiency of the Faculty's staff through the formation of strong scientific research groups capable of implementing and solving key scientific problems of the industry; and improving cooperation by strengthening collaboration with training and research institutions, organizations, businesses, and individuals both domestically and internationally.

Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet shared his memories of the Faculty.

Professor Nguyen Minh Thuyet shared memories of the challenging early days of establishing the Faculty of Tourism Studies, while also expressing his joy at witnessing the Faculty's growth over the past 20 years. He also expressed his belief in the Faculty's future development, noting that with its youthful energy, high academic standards, and strong domestic and international cooperation, the Faculty will continue to grow stronger, meeting the training and research needs of tourism-related fields and serving the development and integration of the country.