INTRODUCTION
The travel and tourism industry in India is becoming more and more competitive (Chand & Chauhan, 2003). The industry is challenged by a growing demand for customer orientation, increasing international competition, volatile markets in an insecure environment, changing customer demands towards individualization and significant potential in various market segments (Jonckers, 2004). The amateur stage of the travel business is long over. Over the last two decades, the travel companies have transformed their pattern and structure to meet tough challenges in the international tourism market. So, in this volatile business environment, only that travel and tourism organization will succeed that will change to meet the competitive threats and opportunities to match the needs of a new travel market, and will bring flexibility, creativity, innovation, determination and professionalism into its operations (Chand, 2000). However, there are several human resource problems that plague the tourism sector including low wages, high demand for staff flexibility, high staff turnover, and skill shortages. There is even a mismatch of tourism education with industry requirements, as a result of which qualifications from the tourism sector are much appreciated by other fields and qualifications from other sectors are useful for tourism. Many qualified employees leave the sector and many trained tourism school graduates do not enter the sector, leading to a sheer waste of resources and skills. Forecasting of skills that will be needed in future, under conditions of sector volatility and vulnerability is a challenge. Multi-skilling, newly emerging areas in tourism like special interest tourism (for example eco-tourism, rural tourism, indigenous tourism, cultural heritage tourism, religious tourism, medical tourism and adventure tourism), recreational tourism (at lakes, mountains and spas) and business tourism are growing the demand for flexibility in existing skill-sets of manpower (Ashraf & Mathur, 2003).
Additionally, in the tourism sector there is a universal, and sometimes overlapping, demand for knowledge and competencies (Freikamp, 2003). These include tourism-related knowledge and competencies (for example knowledge of tourism products, tourism services, destinations and tourist attractions, comprehension of geography and climate, reservation and ticketing expertise, reservation systems, fare calculations, itinerary planning, time differentials, conferences and conventions planning, visa and travel insurance, foreign exchange services, MIS reporting for corporate account management etc.) as well as business-knowledge competencies (for example customer orientation, selling techniques, marketing and negotiation skills, decision-making and problem-solving etc). Advanced knowledge and competencies may include foreign languages, product design and development. Sustainability-oriented tourism development requires a number of HRD strategies aimed at the tourism industry personnel, host community and the tourists, and underpinned by concepts and practices of sustainability. Sustainability based work culture, professional ethics and operational practices are basic to sustainability in tourism. Indian tourism, despite its immense potential, has seen tardy development, and shortcomings in the HRD domain have been one of the reasons for this below par performance (Page et al, 2001).
Within the published studies of HRM in tourism, two consistent problems that feature in the reports include skill shortage at the senior and technical levels and poor manpower planning (Baum, 1993). In a study of human resource management problems in the Thai tourism industry, it was found that there was a shortage of trained personnel, especially at the managerial level and there was no single agency responsible for human resource development in the tourism industry (Esichaikul and Baum, 1998). Among human resource management problems in the Latin American tourism industry were a lack of effective managerial training, lack of co-ordination between the education sector and the tourism industry, inadequate investment in training by the private sector, insufficient and inadequately designed in-house training programmes, a lack of travel agency training programmes and poor regulation of training institutions (Pizam, 1999).
All these challenges can be overcome by efficient and skilled manpower. For medium-sized and large tourism enterprise, human resource issues and the factors affecting their performance are usually highly linked to the staff and workforce and therefore recognizing the role of on-going development of the staff resource to achieve strategic goals become essential. A re-investment in the human resource through on-going training and development of the employee skills and ability to create and add value to the organization are inherent qualities for which successful tourism enterprises are recognized throughout the world (Page et al, 2001). Training of the tourism professionals is extremely important (Ashraf & Mathur, 2003). By improving the skills and knowledge of the workforce can assist destination competitiveness and help to establish and maintain a viable industry. Besides bridging the gulf between the process of employment and day-to-day working, training keeps the employees abreast of the developments in the organization and fosters camaraderie. Due to this reason, the learning function is taking center stage in organizations. Increasingly, business leaders understand how important learning is to the success of their organizations. Finding, retaining, and managing the development of talent is one of the most widely discussed topics in the corporate world today (Sloman, 2001). A critical issue for sustainable socio-economic development in India is the ability to ensure that those who are already in employment continue to have the skills and qualifications that are required for the continuous changes in the workplace. Employees have the need not only for updating their technical skills but also for developing further a range of more generic skills, including planning, problem solving, communication, IT and management skills. Learning how to organize knowledge effectively and apply it appropriately is vital for technical workers’ development. This requires adequate and effective policies to be designed, developed and implemented for continuing vocational education and training (Sloman, 2001).
Numerous institutions have sprung up purporting to offer courses at various levels in travel, tourism, catering, hotel and institutional management across the country. However, most of them lack basic training facilities and not meet acceptable standards (Ashraf & Mathur, 2003). They spew out graduates whose knowledge is questionable as there is no centralized examination or certification. Training curricula are often ill adapted to market demand, and even less to modern, diversified skills and training methodologies; instructors may be few, ill-adapted and ill-motivated, lack technical knowledge and expertise in trainee counseling, and in orienting training to self-employment or market demand. In the face of such expansion, questions have often been raised about the level, scope and quality of tourism training and education in the country. Thus there is a need to come up with a uniform curriculum that is not only acceptable to all the industry participants, but which is also competitive both locally and internationally. The situation today is that just like the industry itself still does not have a clear and adequate operational framework, the training is largely carried out in a haphazard and uncoordinated manner. There are even concerns about the sub-optimal state of tourism education and training and the associated skills shortages (Goel, 2003). Many of the students who graduate from tourism colleges are ill-equipped to comprehend the dynamics of globalization and its subsequent effects on the industry. Both quality and quantity tourism requires trained personnel to man the various positions in the industry.
ENHANCING SKILLS TO INCREASE EMPLOYABILITY
The need for skills, knowledge and vision is being felt more and more today. With new offers and services emerging in tourism, the need for adequately qualified staff becomes even more critical. Thus, training and development plays an important role in developing professionalism in the business of tourism and travel agency operations. In fact, it is only exceptional learning and performance that will create a world that works better. Those employees who keep themselves informed of pertinent knowledge and competence in the workplace learning and performance field will excel. And, those employers who focus their efforts on developing human potential will survive in the long run. In other words, the need of the hour is employability skill-set (Pattanayak, 1998).
An educated and trained workforce is essential if India wants to develop and maintain a viable economy. From an individual perspective, preparation is the key to employability. Sound decisions regarding initial education and training are important, but people actually need to continue learning throughout their lifetimes. Education and training are very important for individual progress and for the future of society (Sharma, 2006). One of the unwavering messages of the Bible is that Christians are to be diligent, skilled, and faithful in developing their talents. Education and training are two of the primary ways we become good stewards of our talents and, therefore, become excellent in our work and set good examples for others. For many adults, further education and training may not seem like an available option. Even if formal education courses are not obtainable, expanding their knowledge daily should be the goal for those who want to develop and use their talents in the workplace. Many career strategy experts agree that unless
INTRODUCTION
The travel and tourism industry in India is becoming more and more competitive (Chand & Chauhan, 2003). The industry is challenged by a growing demand for customer orientation, increasing international competition, volatile markets in an insecure environment, changing customer demands towards individualization and significant potential in various market segments (Jonckers, 2004). The amateur stage of the travel business is long over. Over the last two decades, the travel companies have transformed their pattern and structure to meet tough challenges in the international tourism market. So, in this volatile business environment, only that travel and tourism organization will succeed that will change to meet the competitive threats and opportunities to match the needs of a new travel market, and will bring flexibility, creativity, innovation, determination and professionalism into its operations (Chand, 2000). However, there are several human resource problems that plague the tourism sector including low wages, high demand for staff flexibility, high staff turnover, and skill shortages. There is even a mismatch of tourism education with industry requirements, as a result of which qualifications from the tourism sector are much appreciated by other fields and qualifications from other sectors are useful for tourism. Many qualified employees leave the sector and many trained tourism school graduates do not enter the sector, leading to a sheer waste of resources and skills. Forecasting of skills that will be needed in future, under conditions of sector volatility and vulnerability is a challenge. Multi-skilling, newly emerging areas in tourism like special interest tourism (for example eco-tourism, rural tourism, indigenous tourism, cultural heritage tourism, religious tourism, medical tourism and adventure tourism), recreational tourism (at lakes, mountains and spas) and business tourism are growing the demand for flexibility in existing skill-sets of manpower (Ashraf & Mathur, 2003).
Additionally, in the tourism sector there is a universal, and sometimes overlapping, demand for knowledge and competencies (Freikamp, 2003). These include tourism-related knowledge and competencies (for example knowledge of tourism products, tourism services, destinations and tourist attractions, comprehension of geography and climate, reservation and ticketing expertise, reservation systems, fare calculations, itinerary planning, time differentials, conferences and conventions planning, visa and travel insurance, foreign exchange services, MIS reporting for corporate account management etc.) as well as business-knowledge competencies (for example customer orientation, selling techniques, marketing and negotiation skills, decision-making and problem-solving etc). Advanced knowledge and competencies may include foreign languages, product design and development. Sustainability-oriented tourism development requires a number of HRD strategies aimed at the tourism industry personnel, host community and the tourists, and underpinned by concepts and practices of sustainability. Sustainability based work culture, professional ethics and operational practices are basic to sustainability in tourism. Indian tourism, despite its immense potential, has seen tardy development, and shortcomings in the HRD domain have been one of the reasons for this below par performance (Page et al, 2001).
Within the published studies of HRM in tourism, two consistent problems that feature in the reports include skill shortage at the senior and technical levels and poor manpower planning (Baum, 1993). In a study of human resource management problems in the Thai tourism industry, it was found that there was a shortage of trained personnel, especially at the managerial level and there was no single agency responsible for human resource development in the tourism industry (Esichaikul and Baum, 1998). Among human resource management problems in the Latin American tourism industry were a lack of effective managerial training, lack of co-ordination between the education sector and the tourism industry, inadequate investment in training by the private sector, insufficient and inadequately designed in-house training programmes, a lack of travel agency training programmes and poor regulation of training institutions (Pizam, 1999).
All these challenges can be overcome by efficient and skilled manpower. For medium-sized and large tourism enterprise, human resource issues and the factors affecting their performance are usually highly linked to the staff and workforce and therefore recognizing the role of on-going development of the staff resource to achieve strategic goals become essential. A re-investment in the human resource through on-going training and development of the employee skills and ability to create and add value to the organization are inherent qualities for which successful tourism enterprises are recognized throughout the world (Page et al, 2001). Training of the tourism professionals is extremely important (Ashraf & Mathur, 2003). By improving the skills and knowledge of the workforce can assist destination competitiveness and help to establish and maintain a viable industry. Besides bridging the gulf between the process of employment and day-to-day working, training keeps the employees abreast of the developments in the organization and fosters camaraderie. Due to this reason, the learning function is taking center stage in organizations. Increasingly, business leaders understand how important learning is to the success of their organizations. Finding, retaining, and managing the development of talent is one of the most widely discussed topics in the corporate world today (Sloman, 2001). A critical issue for sustainable socio-economic development in India is the ability to ensure that those who are already in employment continue to have the skills and qualifications that are required for the continuous changes in the workplace. Employees have the need not only for updating their technical skills but also for developing further a range of more generic skills, including planning, problem solving, communication, IT and management skills. Learning how to organize knowledge effectively and apply it appropriately is vital for technical workers’ development. This requires adequate and effective policies to be designed, developed and implemented for continuing vocational education and training (Sloman, 2001).
Numerous institutions have sprung up purporting to offer courses at various levels in travel, tourism, catering, hotel and institutional management across the country. However, most of them lack basic training facilities and not meet acceptable standards (Ashraf & Mathur, 2003). They spew out graduates whose knowledge is questionable as there is no centralized examination or certification. Training curricula are often ill adapted to market demand, and even less to modern, diversified skills and training methodologies; instructors may be few, ill-adapted and ill-motivated, lack technical knowledge and expertise in trainee counseling, and in orienting training to self-employment or market demand. In the face of such expansion, questions have often been raised about the level, scope and quality of tourism training and education in the country. Thus there is a need to come up with a uniform curriculum that is not only acceptable to all the industry participants, but which is also competitive both locally and internationally. The situation today is that just like the industry itself still does not have a clear and adequate operational framework, the training is largely carried out in a haphazard and uncoordinated manner. There are even concerns about the sub-optimal state of tourism education and training and the associated skills shortages (Goel, 2003). Many of the students who graduate from tourism colleges are ill-equipped to comprehend the dynamics of globalization and its subsequent effects on the industry. Both quality and quantity tourism requires trained personnel to man the various positions in the industry.
ENHANCING SKILLS TO INCREASE EMPLOYABILITY
The need for skills, knowledge and vision is being felt more and more today. With new offers and services emerging in tourism, the need for adequately qualified staff becomes even more critical. Thus, training and development plays an important role in developing professionalism in the business of tourism and travel agency operations. In fact, it is only exceptional learning and performance that will create a world that works better. Those employees who keep themselves informed of pertinent knowledge and competence in the workplace learning and performance field will excel. And, those employers who focus their efforts on developing human potential will survive in the long run. In other words, the need of the hour is employability skill-set (Pattanayak, 1998).
An educated and trained workforce is essential if India wants to develop and maintain a viable economy. From an individual perspective, preparation is the key to employability. Sound decisions regarding initial education and training are important, but people actually need to continue learning throughout their lifetimes. Education and training are very important for individual progress and for the future of society (Sharma, 2006). One of the unwavering messages of the Bible is that Christians are to be diligent, skilled, and faithful in developing their talents. Education and training are two of the primary ways we become good stewards of our talents and, therefore, become excellent in our work and set good examples for others. For many adults, further education and training may not seem like an available option. Even if formal education courses are not obtainable, expanding their knowledge daily should be the goal for those who want to develop and use their talents in the workplace. Many career strategy experts agree that unless
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..