Competency requirements for travel industry professionals: A comparative cross-national perspective

Abstract

Tourism and travel, taken together, are a major economic activity in the modern world that mainly thrives on the services of competitive human resources. Since the competencies of employees have become one of the key elements for organizational success, it seems necessary that travel industry stakeholders keep an active role in examining the competencies of human resources for sustainable management and growth in the industry. This study was therefore intended to identify the generic competency requirements for the UK and US travel industries. Derived from numerous job postings using a comparative analysis, it was shown that employers looked for competencies of both soft and hard nature. However, much emphasis was laid on competencies related to the interpersonal, human, and behavioral qualities of the candidates. The study has also revealed a strong coherence between the two countries on numerous competency items. The findings of this study may overall contribute to the development of staff recruitment processes and training programs, employee performance appraisals, daily organizational operations, and hospitality and travel education.

Keywords

• competencies
• human resources
• UK travel industry
• US travel industry
• organizational development
• tourism and travel education

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