Open AccessJob requirements in the hospitality industry: Technical or general skills? The dilemma for academic education
Author(s) -
Lucia Varra,
Manuela Scioni,
Laura Grassini,
Antonio Giusti
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of tourism research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.467
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1314-0817
pISSN - 1994-7658
DOI - 10.54055/ejtr.v29i.2442
Subject(s) - multinomial logistic regression , accommodation , marketing , dilemma , context (archaeology) , hospitality , conjoint analysis , revenue , attractiveness , tourism , public relations , psychology , business , computer science , economics , political science , mathematics , preference , law , psychoanalysis , biology , microeconomics , paleontology , geometry , accounting , neuroscience , machine learning
This paper identifies the professional profiles of graduates for job positions in the accommodation sector, in particular, whether specific skills of the position or skills related to the tourism sector are preferred. A conjoint design is applied, which presents the more realistic context of asking respondents to evaluate potential “product” profiles. Managers of accommodation facilities expressed their preferences on four hypothetical profiles of candidates for five job positions: receptionist, administrative clerk, human resources professional, web marketing specialist, revenue manager. Six attributes (academic degree and level, among others) are used to describe the candidate profiles. The data were analysed through a multinomial logit model and an ordinary least squares regression model that highlighted the preferred characteristics of the candidates for the considered job positions. The main findings show that recruitment in accommodation facilities looks at specialized skills and academic programmes appropriate for the specific job positions. Knowledge of the desired characteristics of graduates, which could affect a possible recruitment, is important for designing effective academic curricula.