In our regular weekly works, we run with dozens of senior tourism professionals between Europe, Asia, and America. There is a very similar atmosphere in DMOs, hotel chains, and outbound tour operators. “We feel something new is coming, but it is not yet clear what!”
International tours, some cruise tours are on sale in June. Several Southern countries and charter operators, who take serious measures regarding the vaccine, are also fully prepared. You can buy a one-week vacation for €200 to €2000, and we know that vacation is necessary for everyone and never an extra necessity. So, will everything be the same when tourism starts to revive?
The topic we want to talk about here is a large sector such as tourism can benefit from the developments of the current era? Even most importantly, which point do senior officials focus on? When you look at the banking, pharmaceutical, finance, and agricultural sectors, we see that technological developments are advanced by creating supply from the industry itself. Currently, we have crypto money in our lives, and we meet new technology and a new application every day.
In tourism, which focuses on human and human happiness, how much investment is made in the technology, and more importantly, in people, apart from “Online Booking” and hotel-agency automation? If you have more than ten employees, do you know how well they know the simplest use of Excel, Word, the most basic communication techniques, the most important time, and business management rules? In other words, do you have reliable data on how far your hotel, agency, and organization can advance after the pandemic? After this year, each year will be filled with information that increases exponentially, such as Fibonacci numbers.
Hotels that do not need a receptionist for check-in, airports that do not need a counter for tickets and luggage. Big data is growing gradually, robotic systems are getting bigger. So, during and after this process, what job will the tourism workers in the middle section, where there is the most workforce, do? Who will train them for new missions? How will the profitability reports of companies be affected by this?
Tourism schools, universities, and educational associations still do not get enough attention in the tourism industry. Your degree in tourism is not a requirement to get started, and still, the most critical field of practical learning is “on-the-job training” with tourism companies, hotels, and suppliers that earn staff in their own way.
Unlike other sectors, tourism needs practical training in the field. Experience is more valuable than the knowledge that is learned by exam papers. This means that for tourism to develop systematically and dynamically, the information provided by universities must be supported by tourism companies by providing a “field of study.
While tourism companies are experiencing losses, as shown in the table below, which enterprise can support the training of employees to improve existing staff and prepare for the next generation?
We are at a time when we come to a red line.
Whether we are talking about the climate crisis, new financial systems, or what life will be like on Mars… Whatever we do, we may not have work to do in a few years if we close our eyes to technology and what it brings to our daily lives. Moreover, we have experienced that our lives may become upside down, and it should be accepted that the next generation’s learning is inevitable. Even for the tourism industry.
The year 2021; clearly shows us that tourism companies need to train their existing staff and work closely with universities in the long run. We may have a genial robot receptionist in the years to come, but we need old receptionists to do new tourism projects with new equipment.
“The skills for 2030 as defined by the international group of stakeholders involved in the OECD Future of Education and Skills 2030 project, skills are the ability and capacity to carry out processes and to be able to use one’s knowledge in a responsible way to achieve a goal.
The skills are part of a holistic concept of competency, involving the mobilization of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to meet complex demands. The OECD Learning Compass 2030 distinguishes between three different types of skills:
- Cognitive and metacognitive skills, which include critical thinking, creative thinking, learning-to-learn, and self-regulation
- Social and emotional skills, which include empathy, self-efficacy, responsibility, and collaboration
- Practical and physical skills, which include using new information and communication technology devices”
Source:
OECD, 2018 [1]): https://www.oecd.org/education/2030-project/teaching-and-learning/learning/skills/Skills_for_2030_concept_note.pdf
Whichever tourism field you are working in, whatever position you are in, it’s time to take the initiative and catch up with the future with education. Collaborating with educational institutions is a long-term task, but new educational initiatives that you can start today are available and easily accessible.
Developing does not always require a lot of money. You can find cheap but effective, supportive education together. It doesn’t matter how prepared you are for change because it’s not an emotional issue anymore. It’s a current necessity. Remember, we need visionary, forward-thinking, and innovative leaders today more than ever.
Do you have thoughts on the above to contribute? We’d be pleased to speak further at LVG Learning.