The digital skills divide: evidence from the European tourism industry

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to present the findings from a European study on the digital skills gaps in tourism and hospitality companies. Design/methodology/approach Mixed methods research was adopted. The sample includes 1,668 respondents (1,404 survey respondents and 264 interviewees) in 5 tourism sectors (accommodation establishments, tour operators and travel agents, food and beverage, visitor attractions and destination management organisations) in 8 European countries (UK, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands and Bulgaria). Findings The most important future digital skills include online marketing and communication skills, social media skills, MS Office skills, operating systems use skills and skills to monitor online reviews. The largest gaps between the current and the future skill levels were identified for artificial intelligence and robotics skills and augmented reality and virtual reality skills, but these skills, together with computer programming skills, were considered also as the least important digital skills. Three clusters were identified on the basis of their reported gaps between the current level and the future needs of digital skills. The country of registration, sector and size shape respondents’ answers regarding the current and future skills levels and the skills gap between them. Originality/value The paper discusses the digital skills gap of tourism and hospitality employees and identifies the most important digital skills they would need in the future.

Diferencias de género y cambios tecnológicos en el campo laboral de la administración pública de Ecuador

“…En cuanto a gestión de la información que utilizan estrategias de navegación, búsqueda y obtención de información (8,69) y tienen la capacidad de compartir información en contextos digitales dentro y fuera de su oficina (7,84); referente a comunicación y colaboración digital poseen la capacidad para colaborar en la web en plataformas como: MSOficce365, G-Suite (7,49) y de comunicarse con diversas herramientas en línea como: WhatsApp, Telegram, e-mail, entre otras, asociadas a relacionar y colaborar de forma eficiente con una adecuada gestión de identidad digital con un puntaje promedio de (6,37), el uso de dispositivos móviles para manejar las redes sociales (8,51). Así se afirma lo que (Carlisle et al, 2021) referente a las habilidades digitales futuras más importantes serán habilidades de comunicación, habilidades en redes sociales, habilidades de MS Office, habilidades de uso de sistemas operativos y habilidades para monitorear reseñas en línea.…”

“…Pues cerrar esta brecha de habilidades tecnológicas permite que el personal que ya está en la fuerza de trabajo se vuelva digitalmente empoderado, apoye la innovación digital interna y proporcione conjuntos de habilidades digitales sostenibles para todos los niveles de personal (Carlisle et al, 2021).…”

Importance of Soft Skills and Communication Skills in Tourism: Viewpoint From Tourists and Future Tourism Employees

“…As observed, information technology has greatly affected the tourism industry, and the two have become inseparable. This has resulted in the need for new digital competences and skills that have become crucial to working in the information-intensive tourism industry (Carlisle, Ivanov and Dijkmans 2021). However, these skills go far beyond the conventional writing skills or the ability to use software (Eshet-Alkalai,2004).…”

Competitive intelligence approach for developing an e-tourism strategy post COVID-19

“…Smart tourism must be built on strong knowledge by paying attention to the development of science from the results of previous research (Shafiee et al, 2019). To be able to run this smart technology, it is very important to have workers who have sufficient technological skills to run various e-tourism technologies used in the tourism industry (Carlisle et al, 2021 (Stankov & Gretzel, 2021) to accurately explain the role of humans and the role of technology in presenting an e-tourism model that builds a comprehensive and strong tourism experience. Communities in the development of etourism have an inseparable role.…”