Employee Skills Demand In The Hospitality Industry: Seasonal Vs. Non-Seasonal Tourist Destinations

Parteca, M., Harba, J.-N., Țigu, G., & Anton, E. (2020). Employee Skills Demand In The Hospitality Industry: Seasonal Vs. Non-Seasonal Tourist Destinations. CACTUS Tourism Journal, 22 (1).

Based on the official APA guide. Review the full set of examples.

Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Abstract

Tourism in one of the fastest growing economic sectors, with high job creation potential and one of the main drivers for national economies’ recovery after the 2008 global economic crisis. According to Word Travel and Tourism Council (2019), at a global level, the tourism sector accounted for 10.4% of global GDP and 10% of total employment. Social circumstances, the geopolitical strategies and the new technologies are considerably hanging supply and demand of the sector, which means that the needs of the hospitality industry, which has to please more experienced and demanding travelers, must be investigated and fulfilled by the competencies and skills of the tourism workforce. These changes determine a need for skills forecasting. Moreover, it is essential to also identify the current gaps in the training and aptitudes of the workforce in the hospitality industry. The purpose of this scientific approach is to determine the requirements of four and five stars’ hotel managers in terms of competencies of their employees. This paper was based on the hypothesis that both employers' satisfaction and the skills of the employees differ weather the tourism facility they work in or are in charge with is based in a destination affected by seasonality or not. A comparative approach on two Romanian tourist destinations with different seasonal patterns, Bucharest, capital city and Mamaia, a seaside resort from Constanta city, was adopted by this paper, in order to identify and discuss the specific requirements of tourism businesses from each location. While the main results of this scientific approach show a drastic negative impact on the employee’s qualification, the main conclusion of the paper reveals the necessity of the tourism industry of a targeted curriculum on its needs, jointly developed by educational facilities and tourism businesses.

Keywords

Tourism workforce; skills forecasting; seasonality; employment; tourist destination; skill gaps; hospitality industry

JEL Classification

Z30, Z31, Z32, L83, M53

References

Cedefop. (2018). Skills forecast launch event: Future jobs – Current challenges. https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/files/cedefopskillsforecastpresentation_0.pdf

Christou, E. (2013). Revisiting competencies for hospitality management: Contemporary views of the stakeholders. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 14(1), 25–32.

Chung, Y. J. (2009). Seasonality in tourism: A review. e-Review of Tourism Research, 7(5), 82–96.

Competitiveness Council Conclusions. (2019). https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/39512/st09707-en19.pdf

Esser, F., & Vliegenthart, R. (n.d.). Comparative research methods. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781118901731.iecrm0035

European Tourism Manifesto. (2017). https://cor.europa.eu/Documents/Migrated/Events/The%20European%20Tourism%20Manifesto%20for%20Growth%20and%20Jobs.pdf

European Union. (2017). Blueprint for sectorial cooperation on skills – Tourism: Responding to skills mismatches at sectoral level. Publications Office of the European Union.

Gilbert, N., & Stoneman, P. (2016). Researching social life (4th ed.). In L. Hantrais, International comparisons (p. 182).

Johanson, M., Ghiselli, R., Shea, L. J., & Roberts, C. (2013). Changing competencies of hospitality leaders: A 25-year review. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 23(3), 43–47.

Myers, M. D. (2013). Qualitative research in business & management (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Next Tourism Generation Alliance. (2019). Desk research on the future of digital, green, social skills in tourism.

OECD. (2018). OECD tourism trends and policies 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/tour-2018-en

Pearce, D. G. (1989). Tourist development. Longman Scientific and Technical.

Richardson, S. (2008). Undergraduate tourism and hospitality students attitudes toward a career in the industry: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 8(1), 23–46.

Romanian National Institute for Statistics. (2017, February 2). Press release no. 25/02.02.2017: Tourism in the month of December 2016.

Romanian National Institute for Statistics. (2018, February 2). Press release no. 25/02.02.2018: Tourism in the month of December 2017.

Romanian National Institute for Statistics. (2019, February 1). Press release no. 25/01.02.2019: Tourism in the month of December 2018.

Romanian National Institute for Statistics. (2020, February 3). Press release no. 26/03.02.2020: Tourism in the month of December 2019.

Shields, J., & Schelleman, J. (2013). Small business seasonality: Characteristics and management. Small Business Institute Journal, 9(1), 37–50.

Sisson, L. G., M. M., R. D., & Adams, A. R. (2013). Esential hospitality management competencies: The importance of soft skills. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 25, 131–145.

Szivas, E., Riley, M., & Airey, D. (2003). Labor mobility into tourism: Attraction and satisfaction. Annals of Tourism Research, 30(1), 64–76.

UNWTO. (2019). Official message by the Secretary-General, UNWTO. http://wtd.unwto.org/content/wtd-2019-about-world-tourism-day

World Economic Forum. (2016). https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2016

World Tourism Organization. (2011). Tourism towards 2030: Global overview.

World Travel & Tourism Council. (2018). Travel & tourism: Global economic impact & issues 2018.

World Travel & Tourism Council. (2019). Travel & tourism economic impact 2019.

Zelenka, J. (2009). Information and communication technologies in tourism – Influence, dynamics, trends. E+M Ekonomie a Management, 123–132.