Key Trends in Travel and Tourism Industry

This report analyzes the key trends in the travel and tourism industry, including globalization, technological advancement, and human resource management issues. It also explores the essential skills and knowledge required for a successful career in this field. The report provides insights into the opportunities and challenges in the travel and tourism industry.

Module Title: Career Viewpoint
Module code: MG410

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION.................................................................................................1
Key trends in the travel and tourism industry..............................................................................1
Key skills and knowledge required for the get job in the travel and tourism industry................3
EVALUATION...............................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4
APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................4
Appendix A..................................................................................................................................4
Appendix B..................................................................................................................................6
List of tables
Table 1: Source for primary research..............................................................................................9
Table 2: Question of primary research............................................................................................9
List of Figure
Figure 1: Growth of international tourist arrivals............................................................................3
Figure 2: Job advertisement...........................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
The career viewpoint encourages graduate students to achieve employment success by
making the appropriate decision (Wang, 2013). Further, it is also helpful for students to identify
the gap between current and required competencies to get the desired employment (McKeown
and Lindorff, 2011). By considering the importance of career viewpoint, the aim of the current
report to ensure active career growth. For this purpose, I have selected the sales and marketing
manager profession in the travel and tourism industry for my future job. In this context, the
current report analyses of key trends in that industry. Furthermore, the essential skills and
knowledge areas according to key trends in the travel and tourism industry are also discovered in
the report. Apart from this, to gather adequate information of the industry, I have collected the
data from my personal contact as well as secondary research was done. Moreover, as per the
analysis of received data, I have evaluated myself to get the job of sales and marketing with the
career scope in the industry.
ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION
Key trends in the travel and tourism industry
In the current era, the travel and tourism industry have continuous growth due to
increased consumer spending on travel and tourism activities (refer figure 1). Being a people-
oriented industry, it requires a large mass of skilled and talented workforces who can meet the
requirement of clients effectively. Further, the skilled human resources help the travel and
tourism businesses to increase the competitive edge of the company by rendering quality services
(Noe et al. 2017). For this purpose, travel and tourism businesses target to appoint a competent
individual in the firm and ensure effective growth (Dragićević et al. 2012; Financial Express,
2018). This key trend creates an opportunity for the individual who is interested in that industry.
It is also evident in the primary research where the respondent commented that "due to extensive
demand for quality services, the travel and tourism industry have huge job opportunity”.
However, despite having extensive growth, the adverse working condition including long
working hours and inadequate wages increase the employee turnover in the industry (WTTC,
2015). Similarly, the recruitment of a talented workforce is the most critical task for the travel
and tourism business. This is also one of the most influencing key trends which affect the travel
and tourism businesses to a great extent. To deal with these issues, the travel and tourism
industry consider recruiting a diverse workforce which improve the intellectual capital of the
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workforce (Leonard, 2019). Thus, the globalization and technological advancement and
increasing expectations of clients increases the requirement of competent and skilled personnel.
Figure 1: Growth of international tourist arrivals
(Source: Scutt, 2018)
The technological advancement is also one of the key trends in the travel and tourism
industry because it helps the business to deliver innovative services which increase the positive
customer experience (Tore, 2018). The innovative information technology improves the positive
experience of the customer by increasing the appeal of leisure in the travel and tourism activity
(Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier, 2015). It helps the travel and truism business to effectively
interact with the customers. This further demands for the market research which also supports
the management to create the appropriate strategy by analyzing key consumer trends and attract
the customers. Similarly, the respondent of primary research said that “use of technology helps
the business in the business segmentation, positioning and branding to ensure the rapid growth of
business”. Apart from this, the globalization also has a huge impact on travel and tourism since
the increased globalization encourages the businesses to expand in a different region (Čerović,
Knežević and Vukadinovic, 2015). By considering the importance of globalization, several
businesses are already expanding in different regions and establishing an effective brand image
(Asian entrepreneur, 2016). It increases the demand for adequate business strategy to ensure the
growth in the different regions.
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Key skills and knowledge required in travel and tourism industry
As per the above analysis, the key trends in the travel and tourism industry demand
different key skills and knowledge among potential employees to get the right job which are
mentioned below-
Personal skills
 Stress and time management- The peak season of tourist destination increase the work
pressure on the employees which increase their turnover (WTTC, 2015). In this regard,
time management skill is crucial for the personnel to reduce the work pressure by
effectively managing their allocated task (Häfner and Stock, 2010). It helps the
employees to attain the customer and treat them well
 Communication – The effective communication skills helps the employees to deliver
effective service by establishing effective interaction with customers and provide the
services accordingly. (Robles, 2012). Further, the communicating skills are imperative to
enhance the workplace collaboration which significantly improves the operational
efficiency with higher productivity.
 Problem-solving- The problem-solving skill of the employees is also imperative to
manage the routine operation in a precise manner by creating an effective strategy
(Robles, 2012). Thus, it is one of the critical employability competencies required to get
the desired job in the travel and tourism industry.
 Multitasking- Due to the high burden of work, the multitasking skills are imperative to
complete the several tasks simultaneously and complete it before the deadline (Robles,
2012). It helps the employees to deliver effective service to several customers at the same
time without any delay which improves their experience.
 Empathy and emotional intelligence for the customer- The travel and tourism is a
service based industry and the growth of a business depends on the quality of service
(Mihajlović, 2012). For this purpose, the employer targets to hire personnel who have
empathy for the customer and emotional intelligence for understanding their need and
accordingly deliver adequate services (Robles, 2012). Thus, it is also significant skills
required in the fresh graduate employees of travel and tourism business.
Knowledge area
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 Different cultural awareness- The current trend of globalization forces the workforce to
work in different countries which are done effectively with the knowledge of different
cultures. Further, the recruitment of a diverse workforce also demands the expert
knowledge of different cultures to manage the diverse workforce precisely (Huang,
2013). Thus, fresh employees should have an adequate understanding of different
cultures.
 Efficient knowledge of latest information technology- The technological development
increases the demand of the competent personnel who have adequate knowledge for
using new technology (Xiang, Magnini and Fesenmaier, 2015). It helps the workforce to
deliver excellent services to the consumer by analyzing key consumer trends.
EVALUATION
The travel and tourism industry has a broad scope which includes the several sectors such
as hospitality, tour business, transportation business and food and beverage with the common
goal to provide required and excellent services to the traveler. In the same manner, the primary
data I have collected from my personal contact also suggests me to get the job in the respective
industry because it has a huge potential job opportunity. In this context, from a long time, I am
involved with social media promotion activities and wants to get the job in a similar profession.
Due to this, I have found the job vacancy for sales and marketing executive in the Hilton hotel
which is the leading global brand and operate several countries. It is the most exciting for me to
get this job because I have huge interest in creating lucrative marketing strategies. This job is
most appropriate for me because I have multitasking and problem-solving skills which will help
me to create effective marketing plans.
The sale and marketing executive job would also help me to achieve the position of sales
and marketing manager which is my dream position. This is because by working as a sales and
marketing executive, I will learn about the development of business strategies by analyzing the
key marketing trends. By getting this job, I will enhance my communication competency which
is crucial for achieving the position of sale and marketing manager. This improvement in my
skills will help me to groom myself as well ensure the growth of business with the
implementation of effective business strategies. Thus, my current competencies and huge scope
in that profession encourage me to achieve the position of sales and marketing manager.
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CONCLUSION
On the basis of the above report, it can be concluded that career view point depends on
the effective analysis of the personal skills and required skills in the interested areas. This
enables candidate to focus on the required areas so as to develop the potential to explore the
career growth and determine the success of the business. For this purpose, the assessment of key
trends of the selected profession is also important which help individual to go in the right
direction. In the same manner, the travel and tourism industry also has some key trends such as
globalization, technological development and issues in human resource management. It creates
the demand for different employability skills such as problem-solving, multitasking,
communication and time management. This analysis helps the student to identify the gap
between current and essential competency which further contributes to select the right career
path.
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REFERENCES
Asian entrepreneur, 2016. Globalization’s Impact on Tourism. [Online]. Available at :<
https://www.asianentrepreneur.org/globalization-tourism/>. [Accessed on 13 March 2019].
Čerović, S., Knežević, M. and Vukadinovic, P., 2015. The influence of globalization on tourism
and impact of tourism on other activities with an emphasis on greenfield investments in Tourism.
In Conference Proceeding: Sitcon 2015.
Dragićević, V., JovičIć, D., BlešIć, I., Stankov, U. and BošKović, D., 2012. Business tourism
destination competitiveness: A case of Vojvodina Province (Serbia). Economic research-
Ekonomska istraživanja, 25(2), pp.311-332.
Financial Express, 2018. One-fifth of new jobs created globally in 2017 due to travel &
tourism: Research. [Online]. Available at :< https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/travel-
tourism/one-fifth-of-new-jobs-created-globally-in-2017-due-to-travel-tourism-research/
1107522/>. [Accessed on 13 March 2019].
Häfner, A. and Stock, A., 2010. Time management training and perceived control of time at
work. The journal of psychology, 144(5), pp.429-447.
Huang, R., 2013. International experience and graduate employability: Perceptions of Chinese
international students in the UK. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 13,
pp.87-96.
Leonard, K., 2019. 5 Strategies for Dealing With Diversity in the Workplace. [Online]. Available
at :<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/5-strategies-dealing-diversity-workplace-18106.html>.
[Accessed on 13 March 2019].
McKeown, T. and Lindorff, M., 2011. The graduate job search process–a lesson in persistence
rather than good career management?. Education+ Training, 53(4), pp.310-320.
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Mihajlović, I., 2012. The impact of information and communication technology (ICT) as a key
factor of tourism development on the role of Croatian travel agencies. International Journal of
Business and Social Science, 3(24), pp.151-159.
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2017. Human resource management:
Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Robles, M.M., 2012. Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s
workplace. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), pp.453-465.
Scutt, D. (2018). The rapid growth of international tourism, in one chart. [Online]. Available
at :< https://www.businessinsider.com.au/international-tourism-growth-untwo-2018-1>.
[Accessed on 12 March 2019].
Tore, O., 2018. Top 6 technology trends in the travel and tourism industry in 2018. [Online].
Available at :< https://ftnnews.com/technology/33890-top-6-technology-trends-in-the-travel-and-
tourism-industry-in-2018>. [Accessed on 13 March 2019].
Wang, Y.F., 2013. Constructing career competency model of hospitality industry employees for
career success. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(7), pp.994-
1016.
WTTC, 2015. Global Talent Trends and Issues for the Travel & Tourism Sector. [PDF].
Available at :< https://www.wttc.org/-/media/382bb1e90c374262bc951226a6618201.ashx>.
[Accessed on 13 March 2019].
Xiang, Z., Magnini, V.P. and Fesenmaier, D.R., 2015. Information technology and consumer
behavior in travel and tourism: Insights from travel planning using the internet. Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, pp.244-249.
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APPENDICES
Appendix A
Table 1: Source for primary research
Source of primary research Involving bodies
Personal contact Crina Tiriboi, product strategy manager at
TUI
Table 2: Question of primary research
S.
No.
Primary research questions
1. Why is it important to assess the information collected before moving on to analysis
and interpretation?
2. How is segmentation different from targeting?
3. How would you determine which aspects of a travel-related (airline, hotel, etc.)
frequency/rewards program customers most appreciate?
4. How might a club or restaurant apply the concepts of segmentation, targeting, and
positioning to improve its profitability?
5. What steps/processes would you employ to improve your response rates in a direct
mail program?
6. Why is clear positioning important for product/service success?
7. Which marketing research tools/processes would you utilize to assist in the decision
process related to new products?
8. Which research process and marketing research tools would beneficial to identify
customer satisfaction levels and methods to improve in this area?
Appendix B
The advertisement post which define the desire position for the candidate to secure the career
growth. In the following image, the post from a sales and marketing field will be selected.
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Figure 2: Job advertisement
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