Tourism Management Report: Identifying HR Competencies and Skills

This report delves into the essential human resources (HR) competencies required for a successful career in tourism management, specifically within the hospitality sector. The author, an aspiring HR manager, outlines the necessary skills, including business communication, problem-solving, decision-making, emotional intelligence, analytical skills, legal knowledge, diversity management, job advertising, and training. The report provides a self-assessment of the author's proficiency in these areas, supported by personal experiences and examples. The author also discusses the importance of these skills for different hotel chains, such as Hilton Worldwide and Radisson Blu. The report further reflects on learning through Borton’s Development Framework and Gibb’s Reflective Cycle. The author provides a detailed analysis of their skills, and competencies, and how these skills can be used in the hospitality industry. The report concludes with a reflection on the author's learning journey and how past experiences will inform future career goals in the tourism management field. This assignment is a great example of the type of content available on Desklib, a platform offering a range of AI-powered study tools for students.

Running head: TOURISM MANAGEMENT
Tourism Management
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Identifying Competencies
Having developed an interest and love for the sector of hospitality, I see myself as part of
this industry in the near future. The hospitality industry is one of the most coveted professional
sectors and consists of jobs that require skills that are different from all other industries. In
particular, the job role that I want to take up is that of a human resources manager. Having
pursued a degree in management based on human resources, I want to take this profession up and
apply the skills I have garnered in the hospitality industry. This industry being highly volatile in
nature needs a particular set of skills and competencies that are described herein.
As mentioned in Appendix 1, the roles of any human resource manager require a lot of
practical training so that the human resources executives and managers are able to introduce the
new employees to all the processes. This step is extremely important, as it requires direct
services being rendered to the customers and catering to their demands on and regular basis.
There are many factors that the human resource executive or manager need to consider while
hiring new employees including diversity issues and occupational health issues. The type of
responsibilities differ across different hotel chains in the hospitality and this is represented in the
table provided below:
Hotels Customised Competencies Required
Hilton Worldwide Proper delegation of work so that urgent needs
of customers can be met with, adhering to the
legal needs, hiring diversified work force for
specialised services in different fields
Radisson Blu (Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group) Advertising for vacancies, hiring for the

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required skills, providing the best perks to the
employees including medical and transport
facilities, and providing the best training
possible
Premier Inn Manchester Salford Quays Media
City
Building a strong culture and ambience by
inculcating values in the employees so that the
customer satisfaction increases.
Table 1: Hotels and Competencies Needed
Source: Self Made
Personal Audit and Evidence of Development
In an organization, the human resource manager plays a very important role in terms of
controlling the employees and thereby led them to appropriate direction. Boella (2017) puts
stress on the fact that diversity is one of the major aspect of hospitality industry due to the
inclusion of travellers from different backgrounds. As per the discussion of Riley (2014) it is
evident that comprehensive training is one of the greatest ways, through which linguistic barriers
among the staffs can also be mitigated. It is the prime responsibility of HR managers to face any
kind of challenging situation and take prompt action to resolve the same. As discussed by Baum
(2016) this is the way, through which the staffs have become able to communicate efficiently
across different gender and culture. According to Bratton and Gold (2017) it is to be said that
implementing strong policies and procedures for integrating diversity within internal
functionality is also a major skill of successful HR manager. Communication is one of the
greatest skills of team leader, which is the key of strengthening bond among the staffs. Nieves

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and Segarra-Ciprés (2015) observed that as a team leader, it is the prime responsibility of align
all the staffs within a single platform. Deery and Jago (2015) commented that strengthening
commitment level among the staffs is also a greatest skill of proficient team leader.
As mentioned earlier, I can assert that taking up a human resource management position
in the hospitality industry will be a justified decision as I have gathered and built on the skills
and competencies needed for such a job. In this part of the report, the required skills and why I
think I am capable of such a job are described with evidence in the form of my own experiences.
This is represented in the following table:
Skills Required Rating
1. Business Communication 9 out f 10
2. Problem Solving 8 out of 10
3. Decision Making 9 out of 10
4. Emotional Intelligence 8 out of 10
5. Analytical Skills 7 out of 10
6. Legal Skills 6 out of 10
7. Diversity Maintaining 5 out of 10
8. Advertising Jobs 9 out of 10
9. Training 10 out of 10
Table 2: Skills and Competencies
Source: Self Made
The first skill mentioned in the table is that of Business communication. I have rated
myself high (9 out of 10) in this aspect because I have built on this skill at every step of my

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career. Being a part of leadership programs and being a member of student council back during
college, I have learnt how to use my communication skills in the best proportion possible. I have
learnt to use these skills in such a way that I am able to both persuade and explain in the best
way possible. This will help to provide proper training to the new employees as well as increase
the level of customer satisfaction in the organisation.
As I have been involved in the process of charity and social work for a period of almost a
year, I have also learnt how to solve problems using the time and the resources available in a
strategic way. Being a volunteer at a non-governmental organisation has helped to solve
problems in a calm and complacent way. I have learnt how to handle stress in a steady way and
hence I think that I am good at problem solving. This skill will also help in providing a good
level of customer satisfaction and help solve their problems on time and in a way that will gain
their trust and loyalty.
In the context of emotional intelligence again, I think I will be able to handle the
problems and issues faced by the customers because I have been associated with social work for
a long time. I think that being associated with an NGO and also having good communication
skills will bolster the skill of emotional intelligence. I think being a part of an organisation that
completely identifies the problems of the customers and solves them not only through a
particular process but also with the use of empathy is required and needed.
The next skill I have mentioned is that of analytics. I think that with the advent of
technology and good analytical software, using these skills helps in speeding up the process of
distribution of work, allocation and major decision making as well as the measuring of
productivities. As I have taken a few courses on the major analytical tools used and implemented

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in the hospitality industry. However, the application and extent of the usage of tools vary among
different hotels. Hence, I have rated myself with an eight out of 10 as and not a complete 10 as
experience is important for the various processes in which the analytical tools are used.
The other two skills that I have mentioned as to being important for working in the
human resources sector of the hospitality industry include legal skills and maintaining diversity. I
think that though I have some idea of the practical implications of these competencies, I am not
too confident of these skills and hence have marked myself lower than the other competencies
listed because I only have theoretical knowledge and will not be able to handle work related to
these competencies in the best possible way.
The advertisement and posting of jobs using different websites as well as references is
both extremely important and necessary. It is one of the central pillars of the hospitality industry
as hiring the right fit is both difficult and needs strategic planning. I think over the years, I have
learnt to do the same and hence will be able to benefit the organisation boy hiring the right fit for
the organisation.
In the context of providing training, I am extremely confident as I am well aware of all
the different processes that are required for training the newly hired employees. Besides training
is one of the integral processes applied in all industries and across all sectors. In the context of
the hospitality industry, it is a process of modification where new skills are incorporated into
new employees in such a way that they are able to handle customer needs and customer problems
in the most efficient and effective ways such that the objectives lying ahead of the firm get
fulfilled in a lesser span of time. This is only possible with the hiring of the right fit of

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employees. Thus, the two competencies are complementary in nature and one helps in ensuring
the other.
Reflection on Learning
Borton’s Development Framework is one of the most important models of reflective
learning and is generally implemented in the form of a cycle. It consists of three important
questions which are to be answered in three different phases of one’s career decision making
(Maiden 2017). The first step involves the question of the individual role played by the
individual who is reflecting on the activities carried out by himself on the past and the challenges
that he/she faced while playing the same role so that these very challenges and barriers can be
overcome by the individual. The next question that is included is involved with the investigation
of the outcomes as to how did the role played by the individual in the past helped him and how
were the challenges dealt with such that it benefits him later on. It also involves the identification
of the importance of the role played earlier by the individual. The last step or set of questions
involves identifying what more changes can be brought about with respect to the skill the
individual has garnered earlier and how can he same be enhanced so that the outcomes are
bettered in that respect. It also involves how future practices can be enhanced and improvised
using the past learnings, experiences and challenges faced can be utilised later for the career
objectives facing the individual.
In this case, the same model is being utilised in the possible ways in the context that, I am
mentioning my past experiences and basing my future goals on the same experiences that i have
gained through various career and extra-curricular activities of mine. The skills/competencies
that I have mentioned in the earlier part of this assignment are being demonstrated in details in

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this part. I have provided evidences in this section and reasons as to why it was easy for me to
identify the skills that will be needed in the industry. I have also mentioned how these skills and
competencies will enhance my scope for performing better in this industry.
Gibb’s Reflective Cycle is another example of a reflective model that also consists of a
cycle in which an individual assesses himself and is able to better the set of skills and
competencies after identifying the same (Husebø, O'Regan and Nestel 2015). There are five steps
involved in this model and these include description, feelings, evaluation, conclusions and
actions. In the five steps the student is required to assess where and in which experiences did
he/she gain the skills and then understand if he was performing well according to himself. It then
involves the person to investigate the flaws and how can the same be overcome. Finally it
involves using the same set of competencies in an enhanced way for the future plans or career
objectives lying ahead of the individual.
Various Aspects of the Model:
Description:
During this stage, the students are in need to make sure that they be able to obtain the
capability to assess or describe the event. In this stage the general queries like what happened,
the time occurrence, the place of the occurrence, the number and the identity of the individuals
involved in it, the activity of the individuals present in that situation and the result of it are
significantly important for the students.
Feelings:

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The section is concerned with the feelings that the occurrence of the event generated in
the student and the other activities that took place in the occurrence of the event. In this stage the
queries which will be highly helpful are the expectations from the event, the feeling generated
during the event, the feeling that generated with the ending of the event. Along with that, the
queries like the how others felt about the incident or whether there was any gap between
expectation and the result.
Evaluation:
In this stage, the student must question themselves whether the experience of the event
was good or it was not up to the expectation and along with that, the evaluation of the approach
applied on it is also significant for the student. In this stage, the queries that will be significantly
helpful for the students are like the identification of the best experiences in that event, the reason
behind that, the identification of the worst experience and the reason behind that long with the
identification of the contribution of himself or herself and others.
Analysis:
The stage is concerned with the learning from the occurrence of the event and the activity
of the individuals in it. This is significant for the students as it make sure that the students know
what to do in similar situation. This provides an assessment of both the positive and the negative
impact and learning of the event for the students.
Conclusion:
This is the stage for the assessment where the student needs to find what went well for
him or her from a distance as it is much needed for the student to get the evaluation of the fact of

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what was to be done in order to improve the experience of the event. The assessment in the stage
is significantly helpful with the answers of the queries like the identification of the positive and
the negative experience that the situation created, the identification of a different approach for
the improvement of the experience and the development of the skills required to cope up with the
adverse experiences of such events.
The self audit and evidences provided in the second part of the assignment and then
discussed in details in this part of the assignment are of the same nature and implies usage of the
Gibb’s Reflective Cycle. Usage of this model has helped me to investigate the strengths and
weaknesses and determine the industry as well as the career path that would help me to be
successful and achieve the career objectives lying ahead of me.
Human resource management is one of the greatest aspects of hospitality industry, which
supports in aligning all the employees within a single platform (Úbeda-García et al. 2018). Since
I have gone through a lot of learning phases in my career and professional life, I think that I will
be able to implement all of these skills and competencies in the right proportion and in the right
method.
In the context of business communication, like I mentioned earlier, the various leadership
programmes that I have taken up are going to help me and I am very confident about this
particular competency because, I have also taken up public speaking courses. I think that the
combination of these skills will help me to effectively solve a lot of problems and help in solving
problems both among employees as well as for clients.
Domínguez-Falcón et al. (2016) stressed on the ground that as money is not the only
factor that can raise motivation, the HR managers should ensure flexible working condition for

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the staffs. At the same time, Nieves and Quintana (2018) also perceived that flexibility has also
supported in promoting career of the staffs by providing them with effective training. There lies
the significance of flexibility, through which I have introduced rotational shifts. Baum (2015)
shaded light on the fact that through this way, the staffs can choose shift timing by their own and
thereby maintain their personal and professional life. Through the internship I have taken up
earlier and the leadership skills that I possess because of the social work that I have conducted
earlier. I think I will be able to distribute work and manage processes in such a way that will
ensure the freedom and the flexibility of the workers in such a way that they will be able to have
a work-life balance.
Moreover, the use of the analytical tools that I have taken trainings in will not only help
me to better the quality of distribution of work but also help me to increase the productivity of
the employees. It will also help me to introduce the use and implementation of smart devices and
disruptive business models so that I can increase and improve both the productivity as well as the
quality of work for the employees. The use of analytics is something I want to take up as a
customised service as it really helps in reducing the time and effort involved with many
processes.
I also think that the process of team management is one of the most important and
integral skills that I have managed to garner over the years. Both during the pursuing of
management and graduation, I have worked on numerous projects which have instilled the sense
of team spirit in me. I think that the different competencies I mentioned are all applicable only if
this one skill is implemented and used properly. Instilling motivation helps in both increasing the
productivity of the employees as well as increasing the retaining power of the organisation as a
whole. I have invested a considerable amount of time in sensitivity training session in terms of

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aligning all the employees within a single platform and I am sure I will be able to implement the
same in the context of any organisation in the hospitality industry. Al-Refaie (2015) focused on
the fact that as shared decision making is a major way of promoting growth, effective team
working is a major way of executing such kind of decision. Sainaghi et al (2018) commented that
team working is the best way of maximizing shared knowledge, which is the fundamental factor
of strengthening skill and competency level of individual employees. Based on my experience in
team working, it can be said that enthusiasm among the employees is the greatest aspect of team
working. According to Amin et al. (2017) collaborative environment in the workplace is the
major factor of gaining desired outcome. There lies the implication of team working, which
serves the employees with the ability to foster their expertise level.
It was very easy for me to choose the hospitality sector and human resources
management sector of the industry as I am confident about the same. I also think that it was
extremely easy for me to list the skills as these are the basic skills that are required for being
successful in this industry and helping the organisation to develop and flourish. This is the career
that I want to take up in the long-run and I am passionate about. I am sure that I will be able to
use the skills and my previous experiences and imply them for my career oath ahead. The
context of diversity is widespread and is being implemented in many firms and organisations all
over the world. Even though I am not trained in a lot of aspects regarding this competency, my
skills of emotional intelligence and empathy will help me to take up practices that will ensure
equal employability opportunities and greater amounts of inclusion. In this context, I will also
take up initiatives related to cultural auditing, as it will help to maintain a workforce that is
diverse with respect to not only gender but also cultural backgrounds.

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Personal Development Plan
Personal Development Planning is the process of developing an action plan which
enables an individual to plan and execute various steps and activities that he needs to take up
using the available resources. It helps to take up trainings and processes, which will help in
advancing my skills and making them worth implementing in the given industry. I have provided
a tabular version of the various activities related to the various actions that I have identified.
Action Activities Resources Timeline
Conduction of
self-assessment
 To explore inner
strength and
weaknesses
 To take strong action
for mitigating
weaknesses
 To monitor own
competency level.
 In-depth planning
 Online
examination
materials
20th to 25th
November
Improve the
ability to
communicate
 To maintain healthy
interaction with the
 Model
conversation
 Answers of open
26th to 30th
November

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properly coworkers
 To establish strong
bonding within a team
ended questions
 Practice of active
listening
Aligning HR plan
with that of
organizational
plan
 Conduction of meeting
with management.
 Working with a range
of customers in order to
explore their needs and
requirements.
 Experience of
management
 Business
technology
1st
December
to 5th
December
To implement
HR management
model
 Seeking opportunities to
design HR planning
 Reviewing the existing
role planning
 Access to the role
profile
 Managerial
discussion
6th to 10th
December
Developing a
competent team
 To monitor the skill and
competency of the staffs
 To provide training to
them to improve their
level of expertise level.
 Comprehensive
time line for the
staffs to promote
career
 Online training
material
 Efficient trainer
11th to 20 th
December
Table 3: Personal Development plan
Source: Self-Made

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As is portrayed in the personal development plan above, the major actions that I am
considering to work upon include conducting self-assessment, improving communication
abilities, aligning HR plan with that of organizational plan, implementing a human resources
management model and developing a competent team. Thus, through this assignment I have tried
out figure the skills and competencies that I will be needing to implement in the tourism sector in
the role of human resource management executive. I hope that this will enable me to improve my
skill set and help take on the career path that I have always wanted to take up.

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References:
Al-Refaie, A., 2015. Effects of human resource management on hotel performance using
structural equation modeling. Computers in Human Behavior, 43 (3), pp.293-303.
Amin, M., Aldakhil, A.M., Wu, C., Rezaei, S. and Cobanoglu, C., 2017. The structural
relationship between TQM, employee satisfaction and hotel performance. International Journal
of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(4), pp.1256-1278.
Baum, T. ed., 2016. Human resource issues in international tourism. Elsevier.
Baum, T., 2015. Human resources in tourism: Still waiting for change?–A 2015 reprise. Tourism
Management, 50, pp.204-212.
Boella, M., 2017. Human resource management in the hotel and catering industry. Routledge.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Deery, M. and Jago, L., 2015. Revisiting talent management, work-life balance and retention
strategies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), pp.453-472.
Domínguez-Falcón, C., Martín-Santana, J.D. and De Saá-Pérez, P., 2016. Human resources
management and performance in the hotel industry: The role of the commitment and satisfaction
of managers versus supervisors. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 28(3), pp.490-515.
Husebø, S.E., O'Regan, S. and Nestel, D., 2015. Reflective practice and its role in
simulation. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11(8), pp.368-375.

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Maiden, G., 2017. Using reflection and visual representation to analyse and build leadership
capacity, through a personal account of exemplary leadership. International Practice
Development Journal, 7(2).
Nieves, J. and Quintana, A., 2018. Human resource practices and innovation in the hotel
industry: The mediating role of human capital. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 18(1), pp.72-
83.
Nieves, J. and Segarra-Ciprés, M., 2015. Management innovation in the hotel industry. Tourism
Management, 46, pp.51-58.
Riley, M., 2014. Human resource management in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Routledge.
Sainaghi, R., Baggio, R., Phillips, P. and Mauri, A.G., 2018. Hotel performance and research
streams: a network cluster analysis. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 7(2), pp.89-120.
Sainaghi, R., Phillips, P., Baggio, R. and Mauri, A., 2018. Cross-citation and authorship analysis
of hotel performance studies. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 73 (9), pp.75-84.
Úbeda-García, M., Claver-Cortés, E., Marco-Lajara, B. and Zaragoza-Sáez, P., 2017. Human
resource flexibility and performance in the hotel industry: The role of organizational
ambidexterity. Personnel Review, 46(4), pp.824-846.
Úbeda-García, M., Claver-Cortés, E., Marco-Lajara, B. and Zaragoza-Sáez, P., 2016. Toward
organizational ambidexterity in the hotel industry: the role of human resources. Cornell
Hospitality Quarterly, 57(4), pp.367-378.

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Úbeda-García, M., Claver-Cortés, E., Marco-Lajara, B., Zaragoza-Sáez, P. and García-Lillo, F.,
2018. High performance work system and performance: Opening the black box through the
organizational ambidexterity and human resource flexibility. Journal of Business Research, 88,
pp.397-406.

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Appendix:
Appendix 1: Hilton Worldwide

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Appendix 2: Radisson Blu (Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group)

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