LVG Learning partner Patrick Richards analyses the role of education in tourism

24 January, 2021 - In this two-part blog travel sector leader and LVG Learning partner Patrick Richards analyses the role of education in tourism. In part 1 he analyses the negative impact arising from tourism’s neglect of investing in its people. In part 2, some solutions will be presented….

“We don’t need no education”

– is this the travel business mantra?

“We don’t need no education…” so said rock band Pink Floyd back in 1979. Unfortunately for the travel industry this has too long been the case. Years ago I remember an old boss haranguing me for including a £15,000 training budget, to support £2million of headcount, as a waste of money. Of course, over the last decade, in many respects tourism has been the star pupil in the classroom of the global economy. As the WTTC reports, tourism accounted for one in ten jobs globally; one in six new jobs created; and according to the UNWTO from 2010-19, its growth in G20 economies of 32% outstripped overall growth by 300%

These rosy headline figures mask deeper problems
Tourism consistently lags behind the rest of the economy in productivity. In 2015 the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) released stark figures on travel’s poor performance. Stated in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) on similar levels of employment, tourism produced only 55% of the value of the construction industry and a (truly awful) 28% of the manufacturing sector’s value. As a consequence pay was on average one third lower.

Tourism and hospitality are great at providing first jobs for young people

The ONS reported that 34% of jobs in the sector were occupied by under 25 year old; compared to 12% in the UK economy as a whole. However we fail to build on this great start. Staff turnover in the sector is up to 30%. Young people fail to stay in an industry which too often doesn’t invest in them. Career paths are ill-defined, especially compared to more professionalized industries with benchmarked attainment standards. 

The UNWTO found that 41% of travel companies don’t have a training budget

So by failing to invest in education, does the sector treat its people like cannon fodder? Given these realities of underperformance, no wonder politicians have failed to take us seriously, leaving us feeling undervalued against other industries. 

And then came the pandemic…

The WTTC estimate that since March, 174 million jobs have been destroyed in a global sector, previously employing 330 million. So now the spell has been broken, tourism can no longer be seen as an unstoppable job creating machine. Great people have left the sector permanently, taking crucial skills and experience with them. Additionally, young people looking to build a career may well decide not to join a sector which neither provides job security nor (sufficient) long term progression. 

This is creating a significant problem for the future. Most pundits forecast the industry will return to 2019 levels by 2024/5. So jobs will come back, but in a different form. 

How on earth will we attract talent into the industry when the rebound arrives?

The problem may well be exacerbated, by the other major factor impacting travel’s productivity – technology. Until this year travel was also a laggard in IT. The pandemic has changed all this. Tech adoption has seen a dramatic acceleration, nowhere more than in the uptake of contactless.

But what of the other half of the equation i.e. the people to staff this technology revolution? 73% of World Economic Forum (WEF) delegates, sited machine learning as critical. Yet the OECD also report that 40% of AI jobs globally remain vacant, as they cannot find the right skills.

Once again, tourism has not woken up!

The UNWTO finding that 45% of travel companies have no plans to adapt “robotization,” meaning jobs that are both highly skilled and durable remain unfilled. This is not the only area of future growth. Millions of green jobs will be created in the transition to a carbon neutral economy and 85% of WEF delegates agreed that skillsets in Big Data were in the highest demand.   

It might be gathered from the above that all future employment is destined to be tech based. However this is not true either. Good old customer service skills remain in short supply. This deficit pre-dated the pandemic, with again tourism and hospitality being a poor-performer; the UK ONS finding that 61% of tourism employers struggled to find these skills, compared to 47% in the economy as a whole. The way the wind is blowing, this situation is likely to get much more acute. 

Tourism is set to become a lot more complex, with pre-existing trends only being accelerated by Covid. Consumers now want unforgettable experiences. Demand is also increasing for rural, less populated and thus less well known destinations. Travel professionals are well placed to deliver these experiences, but only if they are able to grasp the opportunity to expand their knowledge.   

In part 2, we’ll examine the opportunities for tourism to rise to these challenges.

In part 1 Patrick Richards examined tourism’s relationship with education and the negative consequences resulting from years of neglect. In today’s part 2, makes the argument for more sector investment in education and how this can help us meet our challenges…  

Can travel companies afford to put education high on their agenda?

Given that many are fighting for survival, can travel companies afford to put education high on their agenda? A recent survey by Skillsoft provides the answer. They found that poor basic product knowledge alone, cost companies 8% of their revenue. Moreover enhancing this knowledge would result in a 40% improvement in customer satisfaction. The stakes are rising all the time. 

Organisations need to adapt more quickly than ever

The home working revolution, will bring greater challenges than ensuring employees have decent home Wi-Fi.  Companies will have to adapt rapidly to a less hierarchical structure, where networking, partnerships and innovation can be fostered and the demand for higher ethical standards can be protected by its employees. The future winners will be agile in their approach to all of the above.

So where should travel enterprises target in future? A UNWTO survey identified four key areas:

• IT (68%)

• Customer service (53%)

• Data Analytics (38%)

• Leadership (23%)

Here, I would add one of my own, namely destination knowledge. Customers will continue to become ever more sophisticated in their choices and if travel professionals are to provide value then their overall knowledge must exceed their client’s. Regardless, it is clear that tourism needs to transition away from the legacy labour intensive approach, with investment in skills. The pay-back for this will be a more attractive industry for talent, greater loyalty, productivity and pay. It will also use talent across gender, race and from older workers capturing invaluable wisdom and experience.  

E-learning affords people the freedom to fit education into their busy lives

So, you may ask, isn’t all this easier said than done? Here I suggest looking to recent success stories like zoom or Amazon for the lead. E-learning affords people the freedom to fit education into their busy lives, at a time and place that suits them. It also addresses the huge geographical and demographic challenges posed by educating populations in key emerging markets like India and China.

Consequently, Global Market Insights forecast that the already booming global e-learning sector, will further double from $190 billion in 2020 to $375 billion in 2025. The industry has also successfully solved a number of its previous roadblocks to success, with new generation Learning Experience Platforms (LXP) optimizing learning styles through the smart use of gamification, interactivity and data feedback. 

Ultimately a responsibility also lies with each individual to manage their own career

A transition from the “world of education” to the “world of work” is a redundant concept. It is predicted that in future, the average person will make 5 to 6 career changes in their lifetime. Each of these will require re-skilling.

Learning will be a lifelong pursuit

So going forward, learning will be a lifelong pursuit. In growth markets where the tourism business kept growing relentlessly, the incentive to change may have been absent. This is no longer the case and all of us need to keep pace with a future of constant and rapid evolution.

The UNWTO survey also found a marked discrepancy between the value that employers put on “commitment to work” against workers and students, a square that surely needs to be circled? After all the ONS forecast that just a 1% rise in productivity would bring an extra £1.43 billion of revenue into the UK tourism industry.

Now wouldn’t that be a nice message to realise in 2021?