Written reply to PQ on Impact of Tourism Development Fund on Worker Training and Job Placement

Question

Ms See Jinli Jean: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry for each year from 2022 to 2023 (a) what is the number and occupation breakdown of workers trained via the Tourism Development Fund (TDF); (b) what is (i) the number and (ii) proportion of vacancies filled by workers trained under TDF with a breakdown by tourism domains; and (c) what is the projected (i) number and nature of jobs created and (ii) increase in training availability with the recently announced top-up to the Fund.

Written Answer by Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong

1. Since 2020, the Training Industry Professionals in Tourism (TIP-iT) fund under the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) has supported the training of over 900 workers in total. These workers were from the Hotels, MICE, Attractions, Travel Agencies and Cruise sectors, and received training in areas such as sustainability, events management and service delivery. All locals employed by tourism companies are eligible for training support under TIP-iT.

2. STB will continue to encourage companies to prioritise employee training even as they ramp up operations to keep pace with tourism recovery. The recent TDF top-up will provide more opportunities for tourism firms to support employees for training in areas such as leadership development, technology, sustainability and partnership building.

3. Other initiatives that support training for the tourism sectors include the Career Conversion Programmes funded by Workforce Singapore (WSG) that train new hires and reskill existing workers, as well as funding support provided by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) for approved courses.