Tourism graduates in high demand overseas

Tourism graduates in high demand overseas

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Work experience and a high salary were the two main factors that
motivated Agung, a final year student of the Sahid Tourism
Academy, to apply for a job as a crew member of an Italian cruise
ship.

"By working as a crew member on the cruise ship I'll get a lot
of money and working experience. That's why I'm happy," said the
23-year-old with a big smile.

Agung, who will graduate in December, is one of around 300
graduates of the academy being recruited by Italian-based cruise
ship company Costa Crociere. The company itself is a member of
the Carnival Corporation Group, the largest cruise ship company
in the world.

Before starting work on the cruise ship, all the recruited
graduates will be trained by the Philippines-based PT Meranti
Magsaysay.

"As a new employee (of the cruise ship) I will get around
US$300 as basic salary and at least another $600 in tips. If I
worked in a four-star hotel in Jakarta as a trainee, I'd only get
Rp 27,000 (US$3) per day," said Agung, who takes the food and
beverage program at the academy.

Once he finishes his contract on the cruise ship, Agung said
he would be able to use his experience to apply for positions at
any hotel.

Costa Crociere plans to recruit around 2,000 Indonesian
skilled workers like Agung over the next four years.

"We have employed around 1,000 Indonesians for our ship. We
are very pleased (with their performance) because they have good
work attitude and easily socialize with others. Now, we will
recruit another 300 people, and over the next four years we will
recruit around 2,000 more," CEO of Costa Crociere, Pier Luigi
Foschi, said during a tripartite signing ceremony on Thursday.

PT Meranti Magsaysay president director, Henry Djuhari, said
that Indonesia has the potential to obtain greater foreign
exchange income than that derived from its traditional exports or
foreign direct investment (FDI), as many foreign companies
worldwide have a very high requirement for Indonesian skilled
laborers.

"The cruise industry (worldwide) requires over 150,000 crews,
and the shipping and cargo industry needs around 600,000
personnel. Around one third of this requirement is filled by
Filipinos, with Indonesia having only around 30,000 sailors in
these industries. So, we still have a lot of vacant positions,"
he said.

Henry said the Philippines earned around $20 billion in
foreign exchange annually from sailors alone, far from
Indonesia's $5 billion over three years.

He added that Indonesia should be able to supply the same
number of workers as the Philippines in the cruise and cargo
industries, with the country's remittance income from sailors
being in excess of the total value of Indonesian FDI.

The demand for Indonesian skilled workers -- including in
other sectors such as gas and minerals, medical, and information
sectors -- was confirmed by the Ministry of Manpower and
Transmigration's Director General for Overseas Labor Placement, I
Gusti Made Arka.

"Only 25 percent of the 2.2 million Indonesian workers
overseas are skilled. This figure reflects the current condition
of our labor force, in which the remaining 75 percent are
elementary school graduates," he said.

He said the government would support training centers such as
the Sahid Tourism Academy to improve workers' skills so they can
be competitive in filling overseas positions.