ASEAN MUTUAL RECOGNITION ARRANGEMENT ON TOURISM ...

a) The National Tourism Professional Board (NTPB),b) The Tourism Professionals Certification Board (TPCB),c) The Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum (CATC),d) The ASEAN Tourism Professionals Registration System (ATPRS),e) The ASEAN Tourism Qualifications Equivalency Matrix (ATQEM), andf) The ASEAN Tourism Professional Monitoring Committee (ATPMC).Each component forms part of a connecting infrastructure in support of effectiveimplementation of the MRA - TP system to become operational by 2015. Each partrequires a development effort at either ASEAN (regional) level or Member State (national)level.At national or Member State level two agencies are required – the National TourismProfessional Board and the Tourism Professionals Certification Board. The NTPB has thefunction of quality control of the education and training system – the Common ASEANTourism Curriculum that delivers the qualifications recognized in the MRA.The Tourism Professionals Certification Board will apply national competencystandards, assess and certify tourism professionals and also support the ASEAN TourismProfessionals Registration System. The ATPRS is a web-based facility designed todisseminate details about qualified tourist professionals in ASEAN Member States andprovide a comparative understanding of the scope, content and equivalent value (orstatus) of a tourism qualification awarded in any one of the ASEAN Member States.The MRA – TP is challenging because there are no agreed international tourism standardswhich can act as a basis for conformity assessment for the MRA - TP. As a result, it isessential to construct an equivalence matrix of tourism qualifications for the AMS – theASEAN Tourism Qualifications Equivalency Matrix to be used as the basis for conformityassessment. This is an essential supporting mechanism for a robust, reliable andtransparent Mutual Recognition Arrangement for Tourism Professionals.The overall MRA – TP system will be under the oversight of the ASEAN TourismProfessional Monitoring Committee. Each of the six components will be explained inmore detail in this Handbook.ConclusionsThe MRA on Tourism Professionals is an important driver in raising standards of tourismand improving qualifications of the tourism workforce in the ASEAN region. MemberStates need to carefully review their MRA status, implementation plans and readiness forthe AEC in 2015.It is hoped that this Handbook will contribute to an understanding of MRA – TP and aidNational Training Organizations and others in planning and implementing thearrangement. The Handbook can be adapted by each AMS as required, and the soft copyP a g e | 2