There is a need for 85% of staff working in hotels speak at least two languages, while some positions requires the mastery of three languages.
This was explained by Jesus Sierra, president of the Panamanian Association of Hotels (APATEL), who estimates that over the next three years they will require approximately 10,000 bilingual people in the country for the hospitality industry.
The demand for qualified bilingual staff required by the Panama hotel sector increases by 20% per year.
This is according to Jesus Sierra, president of the Panamanian Association of Hotels. Something similar is happening in restaurants, where during the last two years the country has opened one new branch a week, something that necessitates having qualified personnel in order to meet the growing demand.
Lack of trained, bilingual staff is the top concern for tourism businessmen.
The situation gets worse outside the capital of the country, where 25% of the tourism workforce is employed.
Annette Cárdenas, president of the Chamber of Tourism of Panama told Pa-digital.com.pa: "... we want to create synergies between private companies and the Government, so students graduate from college not just with a title, but also speaking another language.