Digital Skills Research for Tourism and Hospitality Staff

Abstract

There is a fundamental change in business processes in many areas of the economy including the tourism and hospitality industry in nowadays conditions of widespread digital transformation. The COVID 19 pandemic has accelerated this process and confirmed the vital importance of digital technologies for the development of the tourism business, which are the most important tool for obtaining a competitive advantage for tourism enterprises. These changes increase the need for the formation of various types of digital competencies for the tourism industry. The study is aimed at identifying the skills of using digital technologies of specialists in the field of tourism and hospitality. It is implemented through a questionnaire survey of tourism professionals, which made it possible to determine the gap between current and necessary skills for mastering digital competencies in the future. The largest gap was recorded for the most advanced, but also the least necessary, according to the respondents, skills in the field of artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, the creation of digital resources, the use and implementation of security procedures on the Internet. The research data shows necessary competencies and skills of employees working in tourism and hospitality industry are described, as well as promising requirements for employees of the tourism industry. The results of the study make it possible to adapt the curricula of educational programs in the areas of "Tourism", "Hospitality", "Service" in order to increase the level of mastery of these competencies, provide an opportunity for more efficient employment of future graduates, and also improve career prospects in the field of tourism.