TOURISM PROFESSIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN THE EU

To maintain Europe’s leading position amongst the world's tourism destinations, the industry needs to continuously improve the quality and mobility of its staff to provide top quality, personalised services to all tourists.

Adapting tourism to globalisation and new market demands requires that efforts are made to improve the professional skills of workers in the sector.

The workforce must adapt to new technologies and changes in customer expectations. In particular, this involves the demand for customised travel experiences that can be planned, recorded and, reviewed in across multiple digital platforms. Cross-border mobility also needs to be encouraged.

Directorate General (DG) for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs works on initiatives to improve professional skills in the tourism, and continuously searches for opportunities to collaborate with other DGs.

Dedicated Hospitality Section in EURES - the EU Job Mobility Portal

Since 2014, EURES- the EU Job Mobility Portal offers a dedicated section for generating skills passports for the tourism and hospitality sector. It allows jobseekers to present their skill profiles, document their formal and informal qualifications, and have their experiences endorsed by previous employers.

At the same time, employers can search for job candidates to fill vacancies. This tool facilitates a better match of supply and demand in the labour market and improves the mobility of European workers.

Study to map the skills and training needs for the improved accessibility of tourism services

The study, ‘Improving information on accessible tourism for disabled people’, mapped the skills needed to improve the accessibility and safety of tourism services for disabled people and people with special needs. It analysed the availability and the performance of training (both vocational and educational). The mapping exercise was complemented by a performance check of training provisions and barriers to training and an analysis of 20 case studies on skills and training provision which highlighted their strengths and weaknesses. The study was presented at a conference held in Brussels in June 2014.

Study to map and check the performance of the supply side of education and training for the tourism sector

This study will provide an overview of the provision of education and training dedicated to tourism occupations, the skills covered by its learning outcomes, and the skills needs that remain unattended. Best practices for delivering the desired learning outcomes and addressing the sector's needs will be analysed and released at a final conference in October 2015. Recommendations and an action plan to further deploy and transfer the best practices will be put up for discussion at round tables.

Classification of Tourism Skills and Qualifications

In cooperation with the industry and academia, the Commission is developing the ESCO classification (European Skills/Competences, Occupations and Qualifications) specifically dedicated to skills profiles needed in the tourism sector.

Monitoring Opportunities

The Commission also monitors existing EU programmes for opportunities to improve professional skills in the tourism sector. Actions include:

1. Integrating tourism-specific initiatives into EU funding programmes for training such as ‘Erasmus+’ and 'Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs’ and participating in their promotion.
2. Monitoring sector-specific developments in common European frameworks, such as the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the European Credit System dor Vocational Education and Training (ECVT)
3. A dedicated project funded under the Sector Skills Alliances where hospitality is among the pilot industries.