INAL EPORT OF ORKING ROUP UNE
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Disclaimer: This report has been prepared in the framework of a
working group composed of external experts. The views expressed
may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official
position of the European Commission.
INAL EPORT OF ORKING ROUP
UNEFinal Report WG B
INDEX
0. Executive summary
1. Introduction.
2. Identification of the main learning needs
2.1. The context of tourism in the EU: factors affecting learning.
2.2. Learning needs of the tourist industry in the EU.
2.3. The challenges.
3. Strategies and measures at national, regional and local level: Good practices
4. Relevant Community policies and programmes affecting learning in tourism.
5. Conclusions and recommendations
5.1. “Permanent Observatory on learning, employment and labour environment in
Tourism”.
5.2. “Handbook for Learning Areas in the Tourism Industry”.
ANNEXES:
Annex A: Mandate of Working Group B.
Annex B: List of experts of Working Group B.
Annex 1: Factors which could affect learning in the tourist industry and learning needs.
Annex 2: Good practices
Annex 3: Assessment of existing contribution and potential of relevant Community
policies and programmes affecting learning in tourismFinal Report WG B
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main learning and training needs regarding the principle categories of workforce of
the different stakeholders in tourism, especially workers and managers of SMEs, show
that tourism is on the one hand still characterised by a workforce with a relatively low
level of skill for the majority of jobs in the basic sub-sectors (e.g. Horeca), in particular
regarding SMEs. On the other hand there exists a new demand for additional skills, for
example ICT, and the big players and larger enterprises have normally found ways and
means to develop a skilled labour force. The principle obstacles encountered in
upgrading skills are: lack of labour force and high level of staff turnover; the low image
and particular working conditions of the tourism industry as a place to work, including
seasonality; lack of basic qualification that could be upgraded; reduced competitiveness
in micro-enterprises due to lacking development of labour.
Strategies and measures designed to upgrade skills in the tourism industry show a trend
towards more holistic solutions based on partnerships and dialogue between training
institutions, the tourism industry and other major stakeholders, like public authorities.
They go beyond training and regard in a wider sense “learning”, clearly combining
teaching and practical experience elements. The direct correlation between learning,
employment and labour environment makes it necessary to take into account the
economic and social dimensions when wanting to upgrade skills. This can be developed
towards a common philosophy on learning, the approach of so-called Learning Areas,
which involve all tourism and training stakeholders in the learning and innovation
process through active practical co-operation and networking, resulting in improved
competitiveness.
The existing contribution and potential of Community policies and programmes mainly
relate to training and education (LEONARDO DA VINCI, SOCRATES, TEMPUS),
employment (EQUAL), and educational organisation networking (ALFA). Applied to
upgrading skills in the tourist industry, they allow the development of innovative ideas.
Furthermore, Structural Funds could be better used to implement innovative solutions.
The conclusions of the of the working group were formulated with regard to three
priority areas: Attracting skilled labour to the sector; Retaining and developing skilled
labour in the sector; Supporting micro-enterprises at regional and local level for
improving competitiveness through the development of labour. The basis for two
complementary actions were developed more in detail, with a view to implementation:
ü A Permanent Observatory on Learning, employment and labour environment
in the tourism sector: gathering, monitoring, generating, providing updated
information and fostering debates on key issues on those matters in order to
improve the knowledge (qualitative and quantitative), with the main objective to
provide strategic information for ensuring sustainable competitiveness for tourism.
ü A “Handbook for learning areas in the tourism industry”: practical guide for
action to transform learning into innovation, taking into account the “fragile” reality
regarding human resources (economic and social dimension); considering a way
(mix between: strategic information, learning and advice/guidance) to provide
learning which is more complex than classic training, and using bottom-up / top-
down approaches, partnership and co-operation between all stakeholders concerned.
1Final Report WG B
1. INTRODUCTION:
The tourism sector is a very complex industry, encompassing a wide range of economic
activities in every region of Europe and involving a substantial investment in human
capital. This is the reason why the Commission Communication on “Enhancing
Tourism’s Potential for Employment” (COM (99) 205 final. 28.04.99.), recognises the
issue of “up-grading human resources in tourism” as a key factor to improving both the
competitiveness and employment opportunities within tourism.
The Council of (Internal Market) Ministers of 21 June, 1999 (C/99/201 Luxembourg
21.06.99), in its conclusions, recalled the importance of better integrating the needs of
the tourism sector into other Community policies and invited the Commission and the
Member States to work together on four priority issues1, between them the issue of
“Improving training in order to upgrade skills in the tourism industry”.
In order to follow up the Council Conclusions of 21/06/99, four Working Groups in the
four priority issues mentioned above have been launched. (Since January 2001 5 issues)
Concerning the Working Group “Improving training in order to upgrade skills in the
tourism industry” (see mandate in annex 1) it is intended to have a clear diagnosis of
training on tourism at European Level, as a good basis for developing future strategies
and recommendations.
The present document is the final report of the Working Group B.
Working methodology and theoretical approach.
Working Group B has based its work on national reports delivered by the experts of the
group and on extensive consultation carried out nationally by the experts and in the 6
meetings held of WGB during the whole process. One of the meetings was held in
Valencia (Spain) in order to evaluate and get inspiration from one of the good practices
identified sharing the philosophy of learning areas in tourism2. Furthermore
presentations from the Commission and external experts like Cedefop (Learning
regions) and The Portuguese Tourism Observatory have enriched the work and
knowledge base of WGB.
It has been a qualitative analysis as there have been no comparable statistics available at
EU-level on tourism labour and learning.
From the very beginning WGB choose a holistic approach on the development of
Human Resources for its work: The concept of learning.
Rethinking training: The concept of Learning - a holistic approach to the
development of Human Resources.
Training and training systems do play an in important role when talking of the need of
upgrading the skills but new forms of work organisation and a more complex business
environment requires new approaches to training. In addition there is a need to look on
1
The four priorities: Facilitating the exchange and dissemination of information, notably through new technologies;
Improving training in order to upgrade skills in the tourism industry; Improving the quality of tourist products;
Promoting environmental protection and sustainable development in tourism.
2
Learning Areas in tourism builds on the theoretical concept: Learning Regions.
2Final Report WG B
all the processes where people are learning in order to understand and improve the
totality of the possibilities for developing the human resources as a basis for innovation,
productivity, quality and competition in the tourism industry.
As a consequence a holistic approach which is
broader than training is needed to meet the new The concept of learning
and increased demands on the skills of the
workforce. Therefore the concept of Learning3,
which is a holistic approach that embraces both
Formal Learning
education, training in training institutions, in-
company training and other processes on the job
and in free time where people are learning has
been chosen.
No arnin
arn l
Le orma
n-F
Le
ing
The dialogue and collaboration between public
orm
Inf
(and private) institutional education and training
al
g
institutions and the industry as well as the
enterprises capabilities of developing the existing
workforce will accordingly be some of the focus
areas of the report.
The concept of learning is very closely linked to the concept of competence:
Competence
The concept of competence may in a better way describe the complexity than the concept of skills also in
order to describe the relation the individual – the enterprise. A possible definition of competence could
be as follows:
The individuals capability to make the full use of technical, personal and soft skills and qualifications in
the business context
The companies capability to engage, combine and use the individually based competencies in an organic
manner
The concept of competence used in this report embraces technical skills, general skills,
personal skills as well as the skills (soft skills) needed to make use of the other skills in
an organisational/ business context. Where the formal skills can be acquired in an
institutionalised context provided by educational/training institutions the individual
needs informal skills and self-learning skills to make use of the formal skills in the job.
Due to the differences in tradition and the variety of the models presented during the
work, it has been decided not to enter into a detailed analysis of the training systems in
this report.
3
It is necessary to distinguish between three basic categories of learning:
- formal learning takes place in education and training institutions, leading to recognised diplomas and
qualifications,
- Non-formal learning takes place alongside the mainstream systems of education and training and does not
typically lead to formalised certificates. Non-formal learning may be provided in the workplace and through the
activities of civil society organisations and groups (such as in youth organisations, trade unions and political
parties). It can also be provided through organisations or services that have been set up to complement formal
systems (such as arts, music and sports classes or private tutoring to prepare examinations),
- Informal learning is a natural accompaniment to everyday life. Unlike formal and non-formal learning,
informal learning is not necessarily intentional learning, and so may well not be recognised even by the
individuals themselves as contributing to their knowledge and competence.
Source: Working document of the European Commission “A memorandum on lifelong learning, ESC(2000) 1832”.
3Final Report WG B
2. IDENTIFICATION OF THE MAIN LEARNING NEEDS
2.1 THE CONTEXT OF TOURISM IN THE EU: FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING4
On the basis of an analysis of the country reports one can see that the globalisation of
products, services and markets already affects the tourism sector in Europe to an extent
where there are more similarities than differences between the factors that affects
tourism in all the member countries and thereby the learning needs.
The following grouping of factors is the most frequent mentioned as having a major
affect on learning in tourism:
Employment vacancies, High level of Staff turnover5,
Difficulties in staff recruitment and retention
The tourism industry does not only face fierce competition on the tourism markets there
are more and more evidence in some countries and in some tourism sub sectors of what
could be characterised as ”internal competition on the labour market” between different
sectors of the economy. A concrete effect is that some countries (Ireland, France, Italy,
Spain, Denmark e.g.) and sectors (Hotels, restaurants, food and drink suppliers) are
experiencing employment vacancies.
When looking into the demands and expectations of future generations to their working
life in general this tendency could increase if the tourism industry does not realise that
the agenda is no more about how the tourism sectors demands for qualifications and
labour is met but how tourism responds to the demands of the future labour force. This
essential change in focus will only come about through a greater emphasis on Learning
and Best Practice in Human Resource Management
But also the image of tourism as just being a stepping-stone to another career/sector
adds to the problem as well as the attitude among managers of the many small
enterprises who – because of the high turnover – do not invest in training.
The high Staff-turnover represents a major obstacle to development of the sector as
enterprises are forced to use many resources on recruitment and introduction of new
staff and they do not get to build knowledgeable and innovative organisations.
The image of the industry – a barrier to attract skilled labour
With the exception of countries like Germany, Austria and Finland the general
experience is that the tourism industry has a poor image as an employer when looking
in particular at sub sectors like accommodation and the food and drink suppliers
whereas travel agencies, tour operators, transport companies, regional tourism
companies and large hotels seem to have a better image.
Poor working conditions, no (visible) career perspectives, hierarchic or no
organisational structure, low pays, part-time and seasonal employment are some of the
factors adding to the poor image.
4
See Annex 6.3 “Factors which could affect learning in the tourist industry and learning needs”
5
The hotel and restaurant sector that are not seasonally affected, the transport sector and travel agencies
provide greater stability of employment than other sectors.
4Final Report WG B
Skills gaps – lack of qualified labour
While experiencing increased competition on quality most countries at the same time
experience severe skill gaps resulting in a vicious circle. Lack of skilled labour and a
tendency of not regarding qualifications as important as well as generally little
investment in formal training and in-company training are some of the circumstances
that motivate this factor. The developments of the (general) national educational
systems - of which several have experienced recent reforms - have resulted in a better-
educated workforce in general. As an example the young generations are more skilled
in foreign languages and IT than previous generations. Still there is an important lack of
qualified labour and the existing and potential labour lack the skills needed to be the
key factor in the improvement of the quality and competitiveness of the tourism
product.
High level of Staff turnover and employment vacancies must be seen in the light of:
- seasonality,
- poor working-conditions compared to other sectors of the economy
- lack of HR-skills among managers, (lack of HR policies and concepts)
- lack of visible career perspectives,
- lack of validation and recognition of the skills acquired,
- companies with traditional hierarchic organisations
- a perception of staff as “costs” instead of resources
- a perception of learning as a cost instead of investment
- a poor perception and image of tourism.
Practical experience is no longer enough to stay competitive
Within the international marketplace, changing structures are intensifying competition.
Even the little enterprise – though very locally oriented – lives under the strain of
globalisation. In view of this trend, the era of “on-the-job” experience only as enough
for success is coming to an end. It needs to be replaced with an increased commitment
and capability in industry to provide systematic on-the-job learning.
The tourism industry – the SMEs and micros in particular - needs improving general
management and it needs improved knowledge including general statistics on
developments to enhance the quality of planning.
Furthermore ethics and sustainable development still play a more and more important
role in society in general but also in tourism6 and they have to be an integrated part in
tourism development as well as in the learning needs not only in the tourism industry
but also within the public administration responsible to tourism planning.
Technology, ICT, standards and productivity
Despite the general development of e-business in particular in some tourism sectors like
air transport and travel agencies it still seems that SMEs and micros in tourism are not
taking full advantage of integrated systems and e-business-solutions. In general the
6
WTO has launched: “Global Code of Ethics for Tourism” in 1999.
5Final Report WG B
small enterprises remain sceptic to ICT and Internet solutions mainly due to lack of
both operational and strategic skills and resources7.
But the human resources will also be affected by the implications technology, ICT, e-
business and the following restructuring of the organisations will have on the skill
needs and the development of the human resources, their employability and the creation
of new job opportunities.
Technology also means the possibility of automation of processes and as a consequence
of e-business all business processes will have to be reviewed. A logic reaction too high-
costs on labour in a combination with problems of attracting labour is automatisation,
and there is no doubt that the era of automatisation in tourism has just begun. Despite
the natural focus on the personal service encounter in tourism we will see a
development driven by the possibilities of automation and standardisation, which in
many cases will be the basis for achieving the resources needed for improving
productivity and the development and delivery of individualised services of quality.
Another effect of ICT is that it creates possibilities for e-learning – a field not yet
widespread in tourism even though the potential as a flexible on-demand tool for
learning is obvious.
Seasonality of demand and the structure of the industry.
Leisure tourism is heavily affected by the seasonality of demand. In some destinations
the season is limited to 3 months. And together with the seasonal structure very often a
dependency of few markets, few segments and lack of the diversification of the offer is
experienced.
Seasonality is to a great extent identified as to be the common core of the problems
behind the fragmentation of the industry structure with small micro enterprises.
Due to seasonality it is difficult to get a more stable, maturer development of tourism
and thereby more stable jobs and seasonality thereby also limits innovation and the
development of the workforce. On the other hand the seasonal structure could be used
as a way to up-grade skills.8
The picture of seasonality is somewhat different for business tourism, large cities and
countries or destinations with both more than one season. The picture also varies by sub
sector whereas travel agencies, the transport sector – and international hotel chains are
not affected as much by the seasonality of demand. In fact one could say that when
talking about tourism in general terms we are dealing with two very different worlds
even though both are affected by globalisation.
Two worlds of enterprises
One world is the world of globally oriented large players – airlines, tour operators,
hotel-chains, amusement/experience parks etc. with global reservation systems,
advanced use of technology, service standards, service concepts and own training-
concepts and plans.
7
See the Report of Working Group E: Managing the impact and use of “Information and communication
Technologies based services” on the tourism sector” for more information.
8
See Annex 6.4: Good practices, The Portuguese case: +Algarve.
6Final Report WG B
Another world is the big world of local micro enterprises often family-owned
enterprises (SMEs and micros account for more than 90% of the industry). They are
more sensitive to the seasonality of demand and traditionally very locally oriented in
their business approach but still affected by the globalisation of markets.
The peculiarities of the factors affecting tourism need to be taken into account in order to ensure
sustainable solutions to the up-grading of skills.
2.2 LEARNING NEEDS OF THE TOURIST INDUSTRY IN THE EU9.
The tourism labour market and learning needs
The tourism labour market in general is characterised by a low level of education.
There are variations by country but even when comparing two different countries like
Portugal and Denmark the general picture is the same. There are also variations
between sub-sectors. In particular a sub-sector like Food and drink suppliers have a low
level of education compared to the other sub-sectors. The picture is slightly different for
managers for all sub-sectors where an increase of the level of formal education has been
seen in the recent years. Specialists like sommeliers, cooks are the best trained and staff
in administrative positions tend to be better educated than staff in service-operations.
Within sub-sectors like travel agencies, tour operators, transport companies, regional
tourism companies, large hotels the general level of education is higher compared to
other sub-sectors that are more affected by the seasonality of demand and dominated by
very small enterprises. However there still seems to be an important need for improving
the general level of formal education in tourism to reduce the skills gaps identified.10
The learning needs are primarily treated for tourism in general and for the following
labour categories: Managerial, Supervisory, Skilled/craft workforce, Semi-skilled
workforce. There is though a common core of learning needs for all categories – which
nevertheless off course depends on the size of the enterprise.
Learning needs: a common core for all labour categories:
Apart from the fact that the learning needs in the table above are oriented towards the
ability to manage and operate the service-encounter – which is the very basis of the
industry - the learning needs could have relevance to other sectors of the economy. But
what is important to this work – and what makes the difference to other sectors of the
economy - is the context that these skills are applied and understood within: Tourism
Tourism - New technologies – Quality - Customer Care - Reception skills – Communication skills –
Languages - CrossCultural communication - Team work – Projectwork - Sustainable development –
Entrepreneurship - Safety and security within tourism enterprises - First Aid
This goes for all labour categories as well and in particular for management. The
management skills listed should be interpreted in the light that 1) management today
demands leadership and 2) that the manager of the tourism enterprise needs the skills
9
See annex 6.3.
10
Annex 6.3, factor 11.
7Final Report WG B
not only to manage a service-enterprise, but also to a) Manage a service-enterprise
selling experiences being an integrated part of the tourism-value-chain b) Manage an
enterprise that - due to the nature of tourism – needs to be able to work in
networks/strategic alliances – to work in a complexity of partnerships as is the
destination. Also the need for better skills in Destination Management is growing.
What could be said though to be new dimensions in the learning needs for managers
are: The impact and potential use of ICT, the increased focus on quality and Human
Resource Management, the concept of sustainable tourism development which add to
the need of the development of holistic oriented management models and the need to
focus on the vision and values of the enterprise as management tools in order to work
with new ways of organisation 11
For supervisors, skilled craft and to some extent for semi-skilled craft the learning
needs identified has to be considered in the light of emerging new job profiles:
Emerging new job profiles, new forms of work organisation, which affect training
needs and the provision of training.
Together with a breakdown of highly specialised organisations and of the hierarchic
structures in traditional organisations new job profiles will emerge or are already
emerging. Hierarchies become flatter and responsibility is decentralised and internal
network groups and changing project teams will supplement or even replace rigid
organisations.
The professional profile will have greater multifunctional scope, greater flexibility and
autonomy. As an example staff should be able to deliver a diversified product of quality
if they have the competence to work and take decisions independently. If the
organisational change this job profile requires is met and the staffs have the skills to
work independently this could ensure flexibility, quality and higher productivity.
However still operational and technical tasks and skills will dominate the tourism
industry no matter whether the strategy is empowerment or de-skilling.
The emerging new job-profiles can among other be seen as a result of a general change
in the way work is organised – as mentioned earlier - but it can also be seen as the
result of a more complex market, more complex products and changes in the service
concept. As a consequence the traditional simple and repetitive tasks are evolved to
complex multidimensional tasks in order to deliver the complex products. Another
trend though is the “Taylorisation” of services breaking down the complexity of the
service into simple repetitive functions that demand few or very low skills. This
tendency to de-skilling can to some extent be seen as a strategy to cope with the lack of
skilled labour.
11
The issue of sustainable tourism development is particularly relevant for the local and regional authorities which
have an important role in leading the industry, legislating and managing all types of cultural and natural resources).
8Final Report WG B
2.3 The challenges:
Looking at the factors affecting learning and the learning needs identified tourism in
EU is experiencing a skills gap. Despite an improvement in the level of formal
education, tourism is still characterised by a workforce with relatively low level of
skills compared to other sectors of the economy and yet there are ever more important
demands for quality skills and there are new demands for skills like ICT plus the skills
derived from the emerging new jobprofile. Furthermore there is evidence that
experience is no longer enough to be competitive which in particular will affect the
competitiveness of micro enterprises. But the most critical cause behind the skills gap is
that the tourism industry in general has problems of retaining labour (high labour turn-
over) and that the industry in some countries and in some sub-sectors is experiencing
problems of recruiting labour due to fierce competition with other sectors of the
economy, lack of Human Resource Management and a labour environment which is not
attractive to the young generations.
As a result the following 3 strategic fields are identified as priorities in order to cope
with the skills gaps and to improve the competitiveness of the tourism enterprises from
a human resource perspective:
1. Attracting skilled labour to the sector
2. Retaining and developing skilled labour in the sector
3. Supporting micro-enterprises at regional and local level for improving
competitiveness through the development of labour
- Looking on the factors as well as the learning needs, the direct correlation between learning, employment and
labour environment makes it necessary to take into account the economic and social dimensions when wanting
to upgrade skills
- Learning has to be seen as the widest range of systems for developing Human Resources’ competencies in order
to enhance the competitiveness of tourist enterprises, focusing in particular on SMEs (micro-enterprises).
Accordingly there is a need for holistic support for both enterprises and labour to ensure sustainable solutions
aiming at improving the knowledge, skills and competence of the human resources.
3. STRATEGIES AND MEASURES AT NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND LOCAL LEVEL:
GOOD PRACTICES.
An extensive number of good practices were identified on the basis of the country
reports12. The good practices identified though should not only be understood in their
own respect but be seen in the light of the development of general education and
training in Europe.
Tourism Education and Training in Europe
In fact Education systems across Europe and in particular Tourism Education and
Training systems seem to be constantly in a state of flux. In France, Italy, Denmark,
Portugal and Finland – just to mention a few examples - the national tourism education
and training systems are going through, have recently undergone or are planning to
undergo reforms in order to improve quality to introduce new ways of teaching and
establish better links with industry. So at national level training systems are being
improved but the results of these reforms remain to be shown on a larger scale.
12
For a brief description of good practices from the member states meeting one or more of the strategic challenges
identified look in Annex 6.4.
9Final Report WG B
Tourism University Education and research
Regarding higher and university education the country reports stress the fact that there
is more and more a need for research based education in tourism and for the transferral
of research results to the industry. But in some countries there are signs of
overproduction of candidates with profiles of no or little relevance to the industry. The
consequences are double: The frustration of the candidates that cannot get employment
adds to the poor image of the industry and another consequence caused by this fact is
the general mistrust of the industry towards universities as institutions with no real
understanding and knowledge of the industry.
At the same time the tourism industry needs co-operation with universities in order to
get the theoretical knowledge needed to be competitive and the Universities need to
know the real situation and needs of the tourist industry in order to improve the quality
and relevance of university education and research.
The good practices – a common picture:
Most of the examples in the country reports deal with the question of building long-
term solutions in order to support the effort on building long term sustainable advantage
through human resources.
They are characterised by a holistic approach that tries to build links with industry in
the concepts in order to bridge the gap between training systems and learning processes
in the industry in order to improve knowledge transfer between the educational system
and the industry. The “building” of such learning systems is based on the linking of the
capacities of schools, training centres, universities and enterprises with the support of
the social partners and the tourism organisations. Because of the holistic character of
the solutions they more or less embrace all the factors and training needs identified.
One basic idea behind these systems/concepts is that due to the fact of constant change
it is of importance to build the systems that either locally or nationally can:
- Anticipate training needs and
- secure their provision in a flexible and fast way with the active
involvement/participation of all parties involved
- Transfer knowledge.
Strategies and measures designed to upgrade skills in the tourism industry show a trend towards more
holistic solutions based on partnerships and dialogue between training institutions, the tourism industry
and other major stakeholders, like public authorities. They go beyond training and regard in a wider sense
“learning”, clearly combining teaching and practical experience elements.
Many of the good practices try to cope with the large problem of seasonality. The
Portuguese example: +Algarve13 is just one example that explicitly tries to give room
for creative thinking of how it can be used constructively for training in off-season.
A part from the concrete examples of good practices, there are examples of suggestions
on strategies of more general character like instruments as collective labour which can
13
See Annex 6.4
10Final Report WG B
be seen as a vital instrument in supporting better working conditions, the development
of skills, new jobprofiles and more flexible jobs – and the validation and recognition of
skills – like the “Euro-Pass for learning in tourism” - which could be an instrument in
favour of the professionalisation of the industry and mobility of the workforce.
When analysing in depth the good practices described they express a common
philosophy on learning, which can be illustrated as follows by 3 complementary critical
elements: Involvement of all stakeholders; Holistic way to provide learning; To
improve factors for competitiveness.
1. “Involvement of all stakeholders concerned in the Tourist Area”
The holistic way to provide learning is
based on the involvement of all relevant Involvement of all stakeholders.
stakeholders concerned in the solving of the
Top-down
challenges identified for the area. Co-
operation is essential and the
partnership/networking between the actors
could be more or less formal according to
Learning R&D Consultancy
the tradition and culture of the area. Providers Organizations Organizations
Enterprises, tourism professionals and
employees are naturally the most important Local Public Partnership
Networking Area’s Core
Community Authorities Co-operation
target group and to ensure ownership,
Others:
responsibility – also in the implementation Social
Partners
SMEs &
Professionals
Chambers of Comm.
Develop. Agencies
Employment Agencies
and follow-up phase it is essential that The - ...
learning process is a bottom-up process. On Bottom- up
the other hand the bottom-up process needs
political and public authority support as a
basis for long lasting support and a holistic
Source: J.F. Jensen/V. J. Molés on the basis of the WG B discussions
view on the number of initiatives that might
occur.
2. “The holistic way to provide learning”
The learning concept bridges the gap between
training systems and the learning processes in the Holistic way to provide
industry in order to improve knowledge transfer learning
between research and education institutions and the
industry. But these links and processes very often
need support and guidance to be successful when
at ic
Le
n
rm g
io
f o te
looking on the great share of micros involved - it
ar
in St ra
ni
could be political support, provision of facilities,
ng
financial support e.g. The processes need relevant
content in order really to motivate enterprises for
nc c y
development and therefore strategic information for
da an
Su
e
ui lt
enterprises is essential if they are to participate and
G nsu
pp
invest in learning – not only strategic information on
or
Co
t
learning, employment and labour environment but
also relevant strategic business information on
trends, markets and competitors e.g. is needed. Source: J.F. Jensen/V. J. Molés on the basis
of the WGB discussions
11Final Report WG B
3. “To improve factors for competitiveness”
When looking at the competitiveness of
enterprises from a human resource perspective, 3 To improve factors for
factors are intimately integrated with innovation competitiveness
and continuous improvement of the company
processes: Labour competences, the Labour
Labour
organisational structure and the labour environment
environ ment
ement
improvement
environment. The value of the labour
tences
Competences
tion/
Innovation/
competences and the ongoing learning process is
Labour
Labour
Cont. improv
closely linked to the organisational structure of
Innova
Compe
the enterprise. The organisational structure
should help the enterprise to engage, combine
Cont.
and use the individual labour competences in an
organic manner. And provided there is a sound Organis ationall
Organisationa
labour environment, the relationship between the structure
structu re
individual and the organisation can result in
Source: J.F. Jensen/V. J. Molés on the basis
continuous improvement as well as innovation. of the WGB discussions
These three critical elements -distilled from the good practices in the country reports -
facilitate the achievement of the necessary holistic approach (through learning,
innovation and the influence on competitiveness) for enhancing the economic and
social dimension in the tourist areas. They have served as guidance in the development
of the concrete actions according to the conclusions and recommendations.
4. RELEVANT COMMUNITY POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES AFFECTING LEARNING IN
14
TOURISM.
The diagnosis of the learning reality, of the stakeholders and the factors having an
impact on the tourism sector and the learning needs underlines the direct co-relation
between learning, employment and labour environment what makes it necessary to take
into account the economic and social dimensions of learning in parallel. Learning as
explained above has been interpreted as the widest range of systems for developing
Human Resources’ competences and in that respect learning must be supported by
strategic information, consultancy and using bottom up/top down approaches,
partnership and co-operation between all stakeholders.
These considerations give some orientations concerning the big lines to be considered
in community policies and the services concerned:
- Learning DG Education and Culture; CEDEFOP.
- Employment and labour environment: DG Employment and social affairs;
European Agency of living and working conditions; European Employment
Observatory; DG Internal Market.
- Support to the SMEs in the tourist areas: DG Enterprise, DG Regional Policy.
- Strategic information: Eurostat, CEDEFOP, European Employment Observatory;
European Agency of living and working conditions
14
See Annex 6.5 for a systematic presentation.
12Final Report WG B
The programmes/initiatives identified could enhance the knowledge concerning the
main challenges detected in this working group through pilot projects, studies or
surveys and for the valorisation of existing results and programmes. It is necessary to
transmit to the responsible of those programmes about the challenges of the tourism
sector and the pertinence to use tourism as a good test-bed due to its intrinsic
characteristics.
Improving the co-ordination between the different services and EU bodies identified is
recommended for using the existing structures and know-how. Acting as a catalyst for
setting up/developing tourist sub-observatories inside the existing bodies or
observatories at EU level could be a strategy.
It is not only important to detect and find solutions to the challenges detected but also
the implementation of the recommendations. In that concern, it is important the role-
plied by the Structural Funds. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and
The European Social Fund (ESF) could be the main funding lines.
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
The diagnosis of the reality shows that the globalisation of products, services and
markets already affects the tourism sector in Europe to an extent where there are more
similarities than differences between the factors that affects tourism and thereby the
learning needs in all the Member States. In many countries the seasonal character of
tourism represents an obstacle to the development of tourism but in general the
problems tourism in Europe are experiencing can be linked to human resource
problems, skills gaps, low productivity, quality gaps and the unexploited potential of
technology. There is a difference between sub-sectors in the way the factors identified
has an impact on the single sector. Parts of the hotel and restaurant sector, together with
travel agencies and the transport sector experience the problems caused by the factors
to a less degree. There is also a difference between the large amount of small
enterprises with seasonal structure and the very large (global) enterprises with whole
year structure.
In general Tourism is experiencing a skills gap and the lack of qualified labour
represents together with increased competition on quality a vicious circle. Despite an
improvement in the level of formal education, tourism is still – with exceptions for sub
sectors as travel agencies, transport companies and tourism organisations -
characterised by a relatively low level of education compared to other sectors of the
economy. Furthermore there is evidence that experience is no longer enough to be
competitive and the industry in many countries in particular in the accommodations and
restaurant sector struggles with a poor image as an employer. In fact the picture shows a
co-relation between learning, labour environment and employment.
Tourism therefore is in need of strategic information, new learning concepts taking into
account the needs of micro-enterprises, improved labour environment and new
management concepts – in particular Human Resource Management concepts - in order
to meet the future challenges which also will come from competition on labour with
other sectors of the economy. But the overall picture is that the tourism industry in
general has problems of retaining labour and the industry in some countries are
experiencing severe problems of recruiting labour.
13Final Report WG B
The major challenges identified - in order to improve the competitiveness of the
tourism enterprises from a human resource perspective - are: 1) Attracting skilled
labour to the sector, 2) Retaining and developing labour in the sector 3) Supporting
micro-enterprises at regional and local level for improving competitiveness through the
development of labour.
The work of WGB also has shown deficiencies in the knowledge of the reality of labour
and learning in tourism in EU and the need to develop and promote holistically oriented
learning concepts which - due to the structure of the tourism sector – should incorporate
the problems of season and the great share of micro enterprises in order to meet the
challenges represented. Accordingly WGB recommends the following two actions:
- The creation of an European Observatory on Tourism learning and labour
- The development of a Handbook on Learning Areas
These two actions have the advantage of being complementary, as The Observatory
will provide theoretical knowledge – both quantitative and qualitative - as well as
strategic information to the Learning Area. The Learning Area will transmit and
implement the theoretical knowledge in the form of concrete outputs as well as it will
produce practical knowledge and experiences to be transmitted to the Observatory as
input and ideas for analysis and research. Ideally the Observatory and the Learning
Area will together with the relevant national agencies create a circle of innovation and
learning.
The actions recommended are not only complementary but they are also adaptable to
the diversity of the EU. As an example the learning concepts - though drawing on a
common philosophy and framework - will provide for diversity in the concrete
implementation taking into account the differences in tradition, culture and local
tourism structures. The actions are designed as to start and build on concrete actions in
a short term but with long term objectives, flexible to embrace the challenges detected
to date and dynamic for coping with future challenges:
ACTION 1: DEVELOPING THE IDEA OF A “PERMANENT OBSERVATORY ON LEARNING,
15
EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR ENVIRONMENT FOR TOURISM”.
To be an instrument for gathering, monitoring, generating, providing updated
information and fostering debates on key issues on tourism learning, employment
Mission
and labour in order to improve the knowledge on those issues at EU level. The
main objective is to provide a strategic documented basis for common future
dialogue and action of the stakeholders concerned to ensure sustainable
competitiveness for tourism in EU.
It should be permanent, open, flexible, it should co-operate and establish links
Philosophy
with already existing initiatives and structures rather than creating new structures,
it should encourage a “bottom-up” process and informal networks and work on
the basis of national documentation and statistics. It should involve all
stakeholders concerned in those issues.
15
When developing this recommendation naturally the focus of WGB has been on labour and learning issues. But
factors affecting learning and skill needs are a result of trends in demand etc. therefore an Observatory dealing with
all other aspects like it has been the mandate of WGA would be of importance also to a better understanding of
labour and learning issues.
14Final Report WG B
Guided by a Steering Committee formed by the most important stakeholders and
co-ordinated by a small technical group (guide by an experts board). The
technical work could be carried out by an ad hoc group or by EU bodies (Eurostat
Structure
or European agencies)16 depending on the subject to be developed. The
observatory could act as a catalyst and co-ordinator for reinforcing /developing
tourist “sub-observatories” inside the existing bodies or observatories at EU
level. Later on the observatory could become a consolidate structure on the basis
of the previous experience.
- Forum (debate, dialogue and reflection approach);
- To stimulate debate on tourism labour market issues, learning issues,
labour environment
- To involve relevant stakeholders and encourage “bottom-up” initiatives
- To organise an annual seminar and a major conference every second year
- To organise forums, networks
- To administer and co-ordinate a virtual meeting-place
- To secure co-ordination and dialogue with other EU-institutions
- Gathering, monitoring and generating strategic information;
- To collect information and knowledge on the European tourism labour
market, employment, learning, labour environment and on Education and
Training systems,
- To analyse the information and knowledge
- To undertake, initiate and encourage studies, surveys and research where
knowledge is needed
Areas of Action
- To monitor developments in labour market and educational policies which
have an impact on tourism labour, employment, learning and labour
environment
- To monitor trends in tourism labour market development, labour
environment, job-profiles, work-organisation, skill-needs, education,
training and learning
- To analyse policy developments and their impact
- To monitor demographic, socio-economic and political changes which
have an impact on tourism labour and employment
- To develop a bench-marking system on tourism labour and learning
- To monitor developments of the impact of education and training on
employment and productivity, added-value
- To develop forecasts on the need for tourism labour (both quantitative and
qualitative)
- To give advice on the basis of the analysis – policy recommendations –
- Dissemination of information.
- To disseminate the information and knowledge – to give free access to
information
- To promote and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences – to
develop an analytical framework for sharing experiences
16
Potential co-operators: Eurostat, CEDEFOP, European Agency of living and working conditions, The Leader
observatory, The European Employment Observatory, etc.
15Final Report WG B
“Permanent Observatory on learning, employment and
- The industry labour for Tourism”. Proposal of structure
Main Target Groups - The social partners Steering
SteeringCommittee
Committee
- Education (Educational
institutions: Universities,
Experts
Experts Board
Board Observatory CEDEFOP
CEDEFOP
VETs...) Areas of action Eurostat,
Eurostat, ...
...
- The public authorities (The Commission
Commission
commission, member states, Reflection/ Gathering, monitoring, Disseminating
Forum generating strategic info Info
regional/local public authorities)
- The politicians
Universities&
Universities& National
National WTO,
WTO, ILO,
ILO,
research
researchcenters
centers
Priority areas: Observatories
Observatories International
International observatories...
observatories...
- Learning.
Key issues to be attacked from the
- Labour market. Learning
Learningareas
areas
- Education and training systems.
- The relation between learning and employment.
beginning
Issues that should have priority:
- Increasing the Attractiveness of the Industry.
- Transparency and Validation of Qualifications/Mobility/Career-paths.
- “Europass-formation dans le tourisme”17
- Human Resource Management.
- In-company Training.
- Staff Recruitment and Retention.
- Skill-needs derived from E-business and Sustainable Development.
- E-learning
- First studies/research. Co-ordinated by the Commission and the institutions
identified4. Improving the co-operation.
Next steps
- Setting up the steering committee and the Board of experts.
- Building the observatory. Reinforcing the relevance of tourism in the EU
bodies.
- Defining the core technical group (few people) for co-ordination
- Better link with the tourist areas. Reinforcing the Learning Area philosophy.
ACTION 2: DEVELOPING THE IDEA FOR “HANDBOOK FOR LEARNING AREAS IN THE
18
TOURIST INDUSTRY”.
Approach which looks for a holistic solution at local/regional level to the main
challenges of the tourist sector (especially micro-enterprises) for improving its
“Learning
competitiveness through learning and innovation. That improvement should
Area”
contribute to the growth of the local economy and the sustainable development
of tourism, generate sustainable employment and improve the labour
environment and careers perspectives of the local population involved or
entering the sector.
17
Idea already presented in 98 wanting to develop a community document assessing formal education as well as
skills acquired through professional experience in order to enhance mobility.
18
The illustration on the learning area is a merging of the 3 complementary approaches described on page 12-13.
16Final Report WG B
1. Providing learning.
2. Improving skills
3. Improving the quality of learning
4. Enhancing/supporting innovation and continuous improvement in the sector.
5. Promoting shared knowledge
Key areas of action
6. Detecting learning needs and acting as a catalyst in the areas.
7. Providing strategic information, raising awareness on key issues and
guidance.
8. Facilitating a bottom-up process: building partnerships, enhancing co-
operation between the stakeholders concerned and enhancing the aggregation
of the tourist product (on the basis of learning actions).
9. Supporting the insertion of skilled people in the sector (attracting, training
and inserting).
10. Develop a dynamic approach to local demand for tourism training in order to
attract labour
11. Support and develop specific programmes for managers in SMEs and micro-
enterprises focusing on Human Resource Management.
The target groups will vary according to the specific problems/challenges of the
Target groups
area but in general we are talking about.
- SMEs (Managers, owners and workers)
- Educational institutes
- Regional/local development organisations (e.g. Tourist Boards)
- Local authorities
The stakeholders involved in the
Learning Area may vary from Learning Area process: improving economic
area to area due to differences in & social dimensions in the tourist sector
culture and tradition: Labour
Labour
- SMEs (micros) (managers Environment
Environment
and workers)
- Educational/research
m g ic
Top-down
n
ioo
Lee
foor ttee
Main Stakeholders
at i
ar
iinnf St ra
institutes
nii
S
nng
Improvementt
- Regional
Continuous Improvemen
development
Learning R&D Consultancy
organisations Organizations Organizations
competences
Providers
Innovation/
competences
Innovation/
- Public authorities
Labour
Local Public Partnership
Networking Community
Area’s Core Authorities
Co-operation
- Social partners and Local Social SMEs &
Others:
Chambers of Comm.
Develop. Agencies
community Partners Professionals Employment Agencies
- ...
cee y
Bottom- up
an cc
The following stakeholders
iidd ltaann
SSuu
GGuu ssuul
ppp
could have the role as leader:
nn
oor
Co
tt
- Regional development
organisation Organisatiional
Organisat onal
structure
- Local/regional authority
- Learning Centre Source: J.F. Jensen/V. J. Molés on the basis of the WG B discussions
- Local social partner
17Final Report WG B
Wants to be a guide for action in the tourist areas in order to transform learning
in innovation taking into account the “fragile” reality of the human resources in
the sector (economic and social dimension). It is considering a more complex
way to provide learning than the classic one (mix between: strategic information,
The handbook
learning and consultancy/guidance) and using bottom up/top down approaches,
partnership, co-operation between all stakeholders concerned, co-ordinated by
the “Area’s core”.
WG B suggests that the handbook should be developed in the near future for
giving guidance for implementation to the tourist areas and recommendation to
the regional, national and EU policy makers (It could be developed in co-
operation with CEDEFOP).
1. The scope of “Learning Areas”: definition and areas of activity.
2. Stakeholders involved and the target groups.
3. Holistic support to the sector:
Handbook: Proposal of content
3.1. Provision of support.
3.2. The role of the key providers.
4. The social dimension of Learning Areas: learning, employment and labour
environment.
5. The organisation and structures in the Learning Areas:
5.1. Partnership.
5.2. Leadership: key actors.
5.3. Transparency, division of task, roles and responsibilities.
5.4. The core of the Learning Area.
6. The role of Learning Area for innovating and improving the tourist value
chain: co-operation between Learning Areas.
7. Source and ways of funding.
8. Good practices: different models for different realities.
9. Guideline for action: a practical checking-list.
10. Conclusion.
- To carry out the “Handbook for Learning Areas in the tourist industry”. In
co-operation with CEDEFOP.
- Follow up to be done by the Observatory:
Next steps
- Presentation of the Handbook: Conference/debate (Inside the forum and
dissemination activity areas of activity).
- Plan of action for guidance and support for implementation in the tourist
areas.
- Co-operation with the Tourist areas: Improving the handbook on the basis
of real experiences.
“The permanent Observatory on learning, employment and labour environment for
Tourism” and the “Handbook for learning areas in the tourist industry” are as stated
earlier complementary actions. They illustrate a circle of learning and innovation, a
dynamic knowledge spiral in tourism across the value-chain and they respond to the
need of combining theoretical and strategic information with a practical concept for the
18Final Report WG B
implementation of learning initiatives in order to ensure sustainable competitiveness for
tourism.
Future changes will primarily be global changes and should as a consequence be
observed and responded to not only at national and regional level but also too at EU
level to identify transnational patterns of demand and supply - not forgetting to provide
systems to ensure concrete outputs as a result of the information to avoid the danger of
collecting information just for the sake of it. This is why the 2 actions described has to
be seen as “one” coherent solution to upgrade the knowledge, skills and competence of
the human resources in tourism in order to improve the competitiveness of the tourism
industry.
Throughout the work, WGB has off course focused on its mandate and therefore the
title of the Observatory is on learning, employment and labour issues. But the essential
basis for developing successful learning solutions depends on understanding the wider
trends in tourism and the human resource needs associated with these developments.
The Observatory should in that respect not only cover labour and learning issues but
should have a holistic view on the need for knowledge covering as an example
changing demands and expectations of visitors to Europe so that the learning solutions
provided are relevant to the needs of the economy and sustainable development in
general and of individual business. The recommendations of WGB are therefore to be
seen together with the work of the other working groups in order really to provide
added-value to the tourism industry.
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