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This paper aims to identify skills and competencies perceived relevant by tourism graduate employees and tourism employers for providing quality tourism services in Kenya.

One of the ways of improving organizational performance is to focus on individual performance and to analyze the knowledge and skills needs for effective job performance. Relevant literature suggests that needs should be studied as gaps in competencies. This study reports findings from data relating to the perceptions of middle‐level managers about the importance and current state of managerial competencies in the tourism sector. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey conducted in the hospitality facilities in Antalya, the so‐called capital city of tourism on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Respondents were asked about the importance and also present level of managerial competencies (technical and generic) required for effective job performance. Gaps were measured by subtracting the importance value ascribed to the competency from the value ascribed to the present competency level. The objective of this replication exercise was to adhere as closely as possible to the methodology and instruments used by Agut and Grau to facilitate direct comparison.

The recent adverse economic and military developments in the Balkan Peninsula have provided sound indications regarding the future development of the area. It now seems to be unavoidable that a revised economic environment should be created, based on stability and economic co‐operation. Such a co‐operation among the Balkan countries will assist a common effort in establishing the framework for the development of all the relevant area.

This paper aims to examine how organisational values affect diversity in terms of different competencies in rural family Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Recruiting a diverse workforce in rural family SMEs can be particularly difficult due to the prevalence of internal family values and the lack of available local specialised competencies. A deficiency of diversity in employment and competence acquisition and development can create problems, as it often prevents rural family SMEs from recruiting employees with a wide variety of qualifications and skills.

The study takes on a multi-case method of Swedish rural family SMEs, applying a qualitative content analysis approach. In total, 20 in-depth structured interviews are conducted with rural family SME owners and 2 industries were investigated and compared – the tourism and the manufacturing industries.

Rural family SMEs lack long-term employment strategies, and competence diversity does not appear to be a priority for rural family SMEs, as they often have prematurely decided who they will hire rather than what competencies are needed for their long-term business development. It is more important to keep the team of employees tight and the family spirit present than to include competence diversity and mixed qualifications in the employment acquisition and development.

Contrary to prior research, our findings indicate that rural family SMEs apply short-term competence diversity strategies rather than long-term prospects regarding competence acquisition and management, due to their family values and rural setting, which strictly narrows the selection of employees and competencies. Also, a general reluctance towards competence diversity is identified, which originates from the very same family values and rural context.

The aim of this article is to provide evidence about how the acquisition of competencies through internships influence student learning process results, and about whether learning process results are affected by the gender differences, by considering two sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the 2030 United Nations’ Agenda: Gender Equality (SDG 5) and Quality Education (SDG 4).

The study was carried out on a sample of 273 interns and their supervisors on the bachelor’s degree program in Tourism and Hospitality Management at the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Sant Ignasi who carried out curricular internships during the 2016–2020 academic years. The university internship and mobility service sends supervisors a questionnaire, the purpose of which is to rate how well students have acquired the competencies and achieved the learning process results during their internship. The supervisors complete and return the questionnaire once the student has completed the internship.

The findings confirm that learning results appear to be positively influenced by certain competencies, especially personal ones such as orientation toward achievement and initiative and entrepreneurial spirit. Other results show the effect of the gender differences, as female students obtain better learning results than male students. Supervisors’ gender also seems to affect results.

The research will help improve the design of internship-based programs of study.

The analysis provides an innovative research and contributes knowledge on the relation between competencies and learning results in the tourism and hospitality education sector in the field of internships and on the role of the gender dimension.

The purpose of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of the scope of talent development (TD) strategies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry contexts.

Because the literature on talent management and TD in tourism and hospitality is limited and fragmented, an integrative literature review method was used to identify and analyze relevant studies to create a more comprehensive representation of the industry’s talent strategies.

Findings from the literature review showed that by nature, the context of tourism and hospitality is complex and the meaning of talent in this industry is not necessarily comparable to other industry sectors (Baum, 2008). While most industries adopt a more exclusive approach to develop talent, an inclusive approach may be more ideal for tourism and hospitality especially in light of the importance of frontline employees for business success. More robust management structures and human resource systems are needed especially in small and medium tourism enterprises to aid the facilitation of TD. A partnership approach involving strong commitment between education, industry and government should be necessitated to implement and sustain TD considering the importance of the industry to nation’s economic and social advancement.

This study adds to the body of literature on TD in tourism and hospitality. Future research opportunities should explore both qualitative and quantitative methods to provide empirical evidence and to further build on the literature.

Generally, organizations place emphasis on the development of technical skills, however, managers and leaders of tourism organizations should focus on developing both technical and generic competencies especially for frontline employees to ensure that a positive image of the organization is consistently demonstrated. TD can influence employees’ emotional labor; therefore, increased and quality emotional labor training can impact the types of strategies that employees use during guest encounters to promote quality service.

The paper contributes a comprehensive review of the literature on TD in the tourism and hospitality context. The TD map provides more focused direction and will aid in the establishment of TD strategies and practices.

Urban heritage areas are under significant pressure as a result of increasing populations and significant visitor growth. The growth in visitor numbers is of particular concern as this is leading to the phenomenon of overtourism. In Asia, although the issue of overtourism requires immediate attention in order to avoid the loss of tangible and intangible heritage, many of those responsible for managing urban heritage areas lack the skills and competencies to prevent it or mitigate its effects. The purpose of this paper is to present an exploratory competency framework for managing urban heritage areas sustainably, for thereby preventing and/or mitigating overtourism.

In developing this framework, the authors examined how the context needs to change in order to implement sustainable urban heritage management, and they identified the particular competencies and associated skills and knowledge that are required of the stakeholders responsible for urban heritage areas to manage, prevent and/or mitigate overtourism. This analysis was based on a series of case studies examining the planning and management of urban heritage areas in Asia.

It was found that meeting three key objectives was essential in improving the competencies of stakeholder heritage area planners and developers as it relates to overtourism: integrated team approach, a mindset change on the part of key stakeholders and a common vision guiding the development process.

It was found that in order for urban heritage managers to sustainably manage the heritage under their responsibility and prevent and/or mitigate overtourism, a fundamental shift in mindset is required on the part of key stakeholders, moving away from a “silo” approach and towards an integrated approach to urban heritage management, in which the team leaders and management teams have an interdisciplinary set of competencies and are supported in the planning and management process by subject/discipline specialists. The authors found that the set of competencies that are required by heritage management teams lie at the intersection of the four key areas of policy and planning intervention in urban heritage areas, which are: community economic development, urban planning and design, urban heritage area planning, and tourism planning and management. The competencies can be categorized under three headings: interdisciplinary perspective, soft management competencies and technical competencies.

This paper was developed based on the authors’ experience in planning and tourism initiatives throughout Asia and on a long history of urban heritage tourism and planning work around the world. Most of the discussion focusses on how urban destinations can prevent and/or address the issues associated with overtourism by enhancing the competencies of the teams and practitioners who are responsible for managing urban heritage areas.

In view to the skills gap challenge in the chefs' occupation, the purpose of this study was to identify the required chefs' skills and competencies for successful careers in culinary arts management in the UK context.

A quantitative approach was employed with a survey questionnaire on competencies. Data were collected from different stakeholders with 407 valid responses presenting views on necessary competencies and skills to pursue a career in culinary arts.

This study suggests that professionals in commercial kitchens should demonstrate strong managerial and leadership skills, as well as operational and administrative. Professionalism and democratic management should be exhibited by chefs, who should further develop their emotional intelligence (EI) competency.

Organizations and academic institutions should provide such training to develop managerial and leadership skills that chefs need. Organizations should recruit based on these competencies model. Attention to diversity, equality and different cultures are important. Academic institutions should redesign their curriculum to address the industry's need on chefs' skills and competencies.

This is the first study to investigate chefs' competencies with empirical evidence from professionals, academics and students in the UK context. This study proposes a model with four sets of competencies, namely management, technical, strategic and operational.

It is crucial for hospitality organisations to develop sustainable leadership by regularly re-evaluating the competencies and skills required by their senior managers and leaders. In the context of this strategic talent management imperative, this paper aims to identify and map competencies required for the pivotal position of a hotel general manager to develop a holistic and relevant leadership competency framework.

Through secondary research, this study undertakes a detailed literature review of competency and leadership studies in the context of the hospitality industry to distil the essential competencies and skills required by a general manager.

This study proposes a leadership competency model for hospitality organisations in the form of a 43-item competency framework for hotel general managers categorised into four broad dimensions – cognitive competencies (knowledge), functional competencies (skills), social competencies (attitudes and behaviours) and meta competencies (motives and traits).

The proposed competency model, once empirically tested for robustness, could serve as a blueprint for hospitality organisations to develop their own organisation-specific competency framework for senior leadership that could prove to be a keystone for integrated talent management practices. Further, educationists and trainers could use the findings of this study as inputs in designing curricula and pedagogical interventions to meet the industry’s future needs and expectations with regards to competencies of senior managers.

By aggregating competencies from earlier studies and synthesising and categorising them in accordance with a contemporary, hospitality industry-relevant typology, a comprehensive competency model specific for hotel general managers has been proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to advance discussion of the efficacy of the current Australian competency training framework for credentialing and preparing front‐line employees for the hospitality and tourism industry.

Discussion focuses on the hospitality service encounter and the skills and competencies needed by front‐line employees to satisfy customers. Attributes different meanings to the term “skill” and explains how skill is conceptualized within the Australian competency framework. Illustrates this with examples.

Argues that the competency framework largely excludes key skills and attitudinal factors needed for competent performance, while emphasizing limited procedural skills at minimal levels of performance. Suggests that, due to its complexity and high staff turnover, the industry needs a more robust approach to credentialing and training its workforce.

Focus is on issues confronting the hospitality and tourism industry in Australia. May be useful for comparison purposes for those interested in training and service delivery systems. Implies that research is needed on the nexus between the service encounter and the competencies needed by employees.

Suggests approaches to developing industry and organizational capacity in three areas: analysis and review of skills; professional approach to job selection and placement; strategic approach to developing employees and supervisors in front‐line positions.

Clearly identifies shortcomings in the current framework. Links the service encounter with skills and competencies. Provides diagnostic questions for senior management to review their attitudes towards developing junior staff.