Scarinci, Janice, Pryce, Josephine, and Thirumaran, K. (2022) A New World During COVID-19: employability skills in tourism, hospitality and events. In: Batabyal, Debasish, and Das, Dillip Kumar, (eds.) Domestic Tourism and Hospitality Management: issues, scope, and challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Apple Academic Press, Palm Bay, FL, USA, pp. 111-133.

PDF (Author Accepted Manuscript) - Accepted Version Restricted to Repository staff only

Abstract

COVID-19 has changed the landscape of the Tourism, Hospitality and Events industry worldwide. This study seeks to determine if the employability skills needed in the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Industry in Australia and Singapore have changed since the pre-COVID era. The implications of this research can impact tertiary education institutions which need to address necessary changes to employability skills in the curriculum.

The Australian Higher Education Standards Framework created by TEQSA require employability skills as part of the learning outcomes for all degree courses. The Department of Education, Science and Training developed the Employability Skills for the Future Report. This report identified eight employability skills, and 13 personal attributes, which were deemed necessary by employers. Studies prior to the COVID-19 pandemic identified communication, leadership and teamwork as the top three skills areas for the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Industry. This study utilized the Employability Skills Framework to conduct a critical assessment of employability skills needed during COVID-19.

Job advertisments were searched to identify a range of positions for investigation – from frontline to back-of-house and from junior supervisory to executive levels. Fifteen positions were chosen and for each position 20 job descriptions as detailed in job advertisements were collected from Australia and 20 respective job descriptions from Singapore. This resulted in 40 job descriptions for each position for a total of 600 job description for analysis. The researchers used a qualitative approach and NVivo software to analyse the employability skills for each of the job titles in Australia and Singapore respectively, to determine similarities and differences of skills needed between each country. Overall, the results indicate that communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills were the most desired skills by the industry. These findings provide information for development of curriculum to meet the respective needs of each country as the industry moves through this pandemic era.

Item ID:	69814
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Research - B1)
ISBN:	978-1-77491-056-6
Keywords:	Hospitality, Tourism, Education, Employability, Skills, Australia, Singapore
Copyright Information:	© 2023 by Apple Academic Press, Inc
Date Deposited:	03 Dec 2021 03:54
FoR Codes:	35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3508 Tourism > 350801 Impacts of tourism @ 20% 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3508 Tourism > 350802 Tourism forecasting @ 50% 35 COMMERCE, MANAGEMENT, TOURISM AND SERVICES > 3508 Tourism > 350899 Tourism not elsewhere classified @ 30%
SEO Codes:	16 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 1602 Schools and learning environments > 160206 Workforce transition and employment @ 30% 16 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 1603 Teaching and curriculum > 160399 Teaching and curriculum not elsewhere classified @ 30% 16 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 1699 Other education and training > 169999 Other education and training not elsewhere classified @ 40%
Downloads:	Total: 21
	More Statistics