iii congresso internacional de turismo de leiria e oeste_artigo_final_3

8/3/2019 III Congresso Internacional de Turismo de Leiria e Oeste_Artigo_final_3

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III CONGRESSO INTERNACIONAL DE TURISMO DE LEIRIA E OESTE

The identification of training needs in the tourism sector:

matching the market needs with the educational offer

Susana RodriguesCDRSP Centre for Rapid Sustainable Product Development,

CIGS Centre for Sustainable ManagementInstituto Politcnico de Leiria

[email protected] Almeida

Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de PenicheInstituto Politcnico de Leiria

[email protected]

Florinda MatosManagement Research CenterISCTE - IUL, Lisbon, Portugal

[email protected] Abranja

ISCE - Instituto Superior de Cincias [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to understand and identify the organizations training needs,

in the Tourism sector, in the Leiria Region, part of the central region of Portugal. This studywas developed to help the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria to strategically define and suit theirtraining offer in their area of influence, to the market needs. The aim was to identify thetraining qualifications requiredby individuals from top to bottom in the organization, i.e. inall professional categories; the areas of training required and to whom. Fifty twoquestionnaires were collected within travel agencies, hotels, and restaurants. The resultsshowed that the overall on average individuals identify training needs in the tourism industry,as needed, with means >= 2,5 and >=3,5. When analysed the training needs by theorganizational categories, Managing Directors/Top mangers identify management and tourismmanagement as the areas most needed. Middle managers also identified management as atraining need. All the professional categories among post graduate course, bachelors,

technical courses and continuous training, stated continuous training as the qualification thatthey wish to attend.

Keywords: Training, Tourism, Qualifications
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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INTRODUCTION

There is vast literature on methods and techniques for the identification of training needs.However, little attention has been given to the identification of organizations training needsin the tourism sector, especially in the Leiria Region. The tourism, (whether leisure, businessor religious) is socially and economically important for the Leiria region. Understanding thefirms training needs allows the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria to match the training offer tothe market needs.

The purpose of this research was to:

Comprehend and identify the training needs of the tourism industry in the LeiriaRegion;

Identify the training qualifications needed by individuals; Identify the organizational areas in which training was needed; Identify for whom in the organisation hierarchy training was needed; Draw up a set of suggestions that help the decision makers, namely at the Polytechnic

Institute of Leiria, to strategically suit their educational offer to the market needs in thetourism industry.

This study was sponsored by and conducted for the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, the majoreducational center of the Leiria Region. This research is part of a broad study of trainingneeds conducted in autarchies, commerce, wood and furniture, molding, plastics, heath andtourism sectors, based on 123 interviews and over 2050 questionnaires.

This research was the first in-depth study of the training needs in the Leiria Region, to fulfil agap in research. It is believed that the education offered should match the industry demand.The Polytechnic Institute of Leiria has that responsibility towards the community. It shouldprovide and form individuals with the knowledge and the necessary competences for theenterprise requirements. The identification of the industry training needs would be most

valuable for academics, managers and policy makers dealing with regional and industrypolicy. The outcome would be an important tool in the process of the education decision-making offer. It allows to fulfil the demand as well as to (re)organize the offer. It wouldidentify the necessary knowledge-based competencies towards the Regions competitiveness.Intellectual capital is a key element of organizational competitiveness. A conglomerate ofcompetitive organizations centered in one region sustains regional competitiveness. The

Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, being a source of intellectual capital can be a driver oforganizational and regional competitiveness.

The Leiria Region was defined by this study as the Leiria district plus the Ourm council, in atotal of 17 councils, i.e. Alcobaa, Alvaizere, Ansio, Batalha, Bombarral, Caldas da Rainha,Castanheira de Pra, Figueir dos Vinhos, Leiria, Marinha Grande, Nazar, bidos, PedrgoGrande, Peniche, Pombal, Porto de Ms and Ourm. Those councils were chosen due to theirgeographic proximity and their historical representativeness as the area of influence of thePolytechnic Institute of Leiria (see Figure 1). According to the National Institute of Statistics,in 2003, Leiria Region represented 22 % of the active population of the Central Regional. The

region is known for its significant entrepreneurial capacity, dynamism and by settling peopledue to its employability capacity.


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The tourism industry was selected for this research as a result of its economic and socialimpact and the contribution to the region development.

Figure 1The Leiria Region, the geographic representativeness

Portugal

Source: http://www.mapadeportugal.net/

The 17 councils that form the Leiria Region

LITERATURE

The rapidity of the tourism growth has raised a number of concerns about the adequacy ofhuman resource provision both regionally and within specific countries (WTO, 1998) and theefficacy of the tertiary sector in providing quality graduates for the industry. We understandtourism as a cluster of different sectors interrelated and complementary. We highlight thehospitality, travel agency, tourism operation, transport, catering, tourist information, planning,

among many others. This broad and diverse range of professional functions, related totourism, promote gradually the need to train and qualify people able to respond adequately tothe increasing needs of tourism consumers and build skills for the current reality training.

Training is important as it provides individuals and organizations with the necessary skillsand knowledge towards competitiveness. Training would help individuals to respondadequately to the organizational dynamics and to their job task demands (Dubin, 1990, Groot,and van den Brink, 2000).

Define training is a complex task and possibly an impossible mission. As evidenced by IPL(2000), in relation to the same individual, "qualified" and "not qualified" take place in shorterperiods, implying a continued and an articulated education since the initial training. Based onthis analysis, the author characterizes the training as an adjustment imperative to the growingexpectations of learners and a level of versatility to prepare in many ways. It defines trainingas a concept of bandwidth, even if directed at an area of expertise, based on generalknowledge and transferable, to take the student to acquire cognitive knowledge of general andspecific nature, own technical and methodological skills that promote self learning andmultivariable social skills.

Based on BNET1, we can define Training Needs as:

a shortage of skills or abilities which could be reduced or eliminated by means of training and

development. Training needs hinder employees in the fulfillment of their job responsibilities and

1 BNEThttp://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/training+needs.html. Accessed on 15/09/2009.
http://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/training+needs.htmlhttp://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/training+needs.htmlhttp://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/training+needs.htmlhttp://dictionary.bnet.com/definition/training+needs.html


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prevent an organization from achieving its objectives. They may be caused by a lack of skills,

knowledge, or understanding, or arise from changes in the workplace.

According to Nobel Laureate Gary Becker, professor of economics and sociology at the

University of Chicago, Any company has to recognize that not only is the human capital oftheir employees a major asset, it is also a depreciating asset that needs continuing investment.

The acquisition of training needs can be an intimidating mission, particularly when we aretalking about individuals, organisational and regional competitiveness. Find the answers totraining needs, is an important step to win value for money in a market. As Thompson(2009) says, Training can no longer be an afterthought.

Training in tourism is, in relation to Portugal, closely related to the emergence of the firstvocational school of hospitality and tourism in the country - School of Hospitality andTourism of Lisbon (1957). However, this training was specifically directed to the hospitality,

overlooking the needs of tourism itself. The year 1963 was decisive for the national tourismtraining, because it marks the birth of two regular courses of tourism, private, one at the Instituto de Novas Profisses and the other at the Higher Institute of Languages andAdministration, both in Lisbon. TheNational Centre for Tourism and Hospitality, which waslater renamed theNational Institute of Tourism Studies, now under the umbrella ofTourism ofPortugal, I. P., was created by the Portuguese government in 1965, with the aim of protectingthe school in Lisbon and create another in Algarve. Other schools of hospitality and tourismtraining were established afterwards, but it was only in 1991 with the foundation of theSchool of Hospitality and Tourism of Estoril, that the higher education tourism hasbroadened.

There is a vast literature on training needs. Goldstein,(1991) and Sleezer,(1993) analyzedtraining at the organizational level. Taylor, and ODriscoll, M. P. (1998), developed aframework for the analysis of training needs. Organizational training requires programdevelopment, assessment of needs and evaluation (Goldstein, 1986, 1993). Al-Athari andZairi, (2002) and Caetano, (2007) discussed the training evaluation. Alvarez, Salas, andGarofano, (2004) developed an integrated model of training evaluation and effectiveness, andChiaburu, and Tekleab (2005), analyzed the impact of individual and contextual influences ontraining effectiveness. Individuals and organizations would undertake training if they had aneffective and positive impact in return. Campbell, et al., (1970), Brinkerhoff, (1988),Cascios, (2000) work showed how to achieve results from training, how to evaluate them in

order to create organizational impact. Some researchers have developed methods andtechniques for the identification of training needs (ITN) Truelove (2006), or also calledlearning needs (Cook, 2005). As suggested by Mabey and Salman (1995) training needs

analysis (TNA) is a data collection process that helps the organization to compare its currenttraining needs with its desired level of performance. Performance was understood by them asthe individuals necessary competences and attitude to do the job effectively. Armstrong(1996) corroborates this point of view as also defends that training needs measurement isabout the identification of the gap between what is happening and what should be happening.This gap needs to be filled by training.

Therefore, researchers have emphasized the importance of training for the acquisition ofcontinuous knowledge and competences. They recognise a liaison between knowledge,motivation, productivity, performance and competiveness. Researchers have also focusedtheir attention on the development of analytical models to evaluate training needs.Nonetheless, there is few to none literature in the industrial and regional context, on the


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identification of the areas of training required by individuals and the qualification searchaccording to their professional category. This research identifies for the tourism industry inthe Leiria Region, which training areas are needed, and the level of qualifications required byindividuals from top to bottom.

Planning the training should be an essential part of the performance management system andcareer planning for each professional. It must become an integral part of staffing and businessstrategy of any company. When it is not planned for, any effort to satisfy training needs willusually result in failure. Therefore, it is necessary to create a written and a well-thought outplan for training. There are many methods, as: mentoring and coaching, on-the-job training,workshops, seminars, conferences, education assistance, etc. The method selected should bestfit the needs of both employee and business. The training needs planning must be the result ofa focused and disciplined process to determine what training is actually needed. As we cansee in a comparative study of Hospitality and Tourism Graduates in Australia and HongKong, made by King2, McKercher and Waryszak3 (2003) the identification of training needs

is essential towards competitive edge. This paper evaluates the career experiences andperceptions of graduates from the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the HongKong Polytechnic University and the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing atVictoria University in Australia towards the programmes that they undertook. The authorsbelieve that the issues identified in this study are universal concerns faced by university-leveltourism and hospitality providers. Higher education providers must confront the need to offera university level and quality education, emphasising intellectual development, theory andproblem solving, with the desire evident amongst some students for practical, training-orientated programmes.

International trends that indicate a strong interest about the "industry" of tourism have beendemanding qualified professionals who are able to improve customer expectations and needs,of a growing and tighter demand. The diversity of tourism and the heterogeneity thatcharacterizes the consumer of this activity also involves the construction of diverseprofessional profiles that contribute effectively and efficiently to increase the quality intourism. When we think in qualified people, everyone knows the tourism company needs.There is a very stark shortage of professionals who add value to these organizations,demonstrating that is a real challenge especially for educational institutions responsible forhigher education of these persons (Abranja, 2008). The quality, competitiveness andemployability are watchwords to pursue a constant continuing education and integration of acitizenship space in an increasingly diversity (Mezomo, 1999). Just a two percent increase in

productivity has been shown to net a 100 percent return on investment in training

4

. To see anexample, Motorola calculated that every dollar spent on training yields an approximate30 percent gain in productivity within a three-year period. Motorola also used training toreduce costs by over $3 billion and increase profits by 47 percent5. Training is a vital tool in acompany life because the less time and money the top of the firm have to spend onmonitoring and guiding employees, more have available for other activities. And better-quality work means better-quality products and services, resulting in more contentedconsumers. Many companies think that once employees are trained, they are more likely toleave the corporation for another company. But actually, it is not like that. A trained staff ishappier and more likely to stay put, because their self-esteem improves, which get better theirmorale in the workplace and their loyalty to their employer. A Louis Harris and Associates

2School of Hospitality, Tourism and Marketing, Victoria University3School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University4Source: The 2001 Global Training and Certification Study" CompTIA and Prometric5 Tim Lane et al., "Learning to Succeed in Business with Information Technology" Motorola


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poll reports that among employees with poor training opportunities, 41 percent planned toleave within a year, whereas of those who considered their company's training opportunitiesto be excellent, only 12 percent planned to leave. A Hackett Benchmarking and Researchreport shows that companies that spend $218 per employee on training have more than a

16 percent voluntary turnover, while companies that spend over $273 per employee haveturnovers of 7 percent6.

Human resource training is a key strategic tool within the tourism and hospitality industriesthat allow quality and market positioning of tourism at local, regional and national levels.Stakeholders, would benefit from a close integration of human resource, labour market andeducation policies (Baum et al, 1997). In the perception of ASTD7, the global recessionweighs heavily on everyones mind. Few industries are immune to the down economy, butsome companies are weathering this storm because they understand the value of havingskilled talent to grow the organization. The learning function is critically important to helpingan organization to achieve a competitive advantage in a troubled economy. It is believe that

the current recession will shape our learning functions in the coming years.The importance ofthe identification of specific areas of knowledge in the tourism sector is very central. Thehuman resources and its intellectual capital have clearly become a significant attribute forthose firms where people are potential assets in the search for competitive advantage. Almostevery hotel claims to be people-oriented and the most important is the person. However, avery small number follow through on these claims and invest on the human resourcedevelopment. There is a lot of work to do until convince many employers in the hotelindustry, of the benefits to be derived from human resource development. Recent studiessuggests that small hotel organizations tend to favour informal training methods and usuallyvalue training which is specific to the job in question. The human resource developmentactivity is almost exclusively directed at the solution of immediate work problems rather thanthe long-term development of people. We feel that human resource field move forwards butthere is a very distant way to walk still.

The training needs theme is not only a private problem but a public too. We can claim,inclusive. About the government involvement in human resource development in tourismindustry, Esichaihul and Baum (1998) analyzed the relationship between the role of the publicand private sectors and the inherent human resource problems in the hotel sector in Thailand.The study suggests that government involvement in human resource development in Thailandis required because of the absence of a developed and education-conscious private sector.Thailand currently confronts major human resource problems. The government is widely

perceived to have a responsibility to undertake a supportive role to ensure that basic tourismeducation and training activities are initiated. The private sector could have a greaterinvolvement in contributing to the development strategy of tourism human resourcedevelopment. Without strong support by the government, and commitment and co-operationfrom the industry and education, the development of human resources in the hotel industry inThailand may be insufficient. Nankervis and Debrah (1995) explored contemporarymanagement practices in a selection of hotels in Australia and Singapore, in an effort toexamine common and different themes in market environments. It is a comparative studyundertaken by survey in both countries, between 1991 and 1993. Whilst many similarpractices are employed in both countries, some significant differences are observed whichreflect different guest markets and national priorities. Thus hotels in Singapore suffer from

labour scarcity and have been forced to employ a broad range of training strategies to ensure

6 Howard: Community College:http://coned.howardcc.edu/. Accessed on 17/09/2009.7American Society for Training and Development:http://www.astd.org/content/research/doYourOwn/, Accessed on 15/09/2009.
http://coned.howardcc.edu/http://coned.howardcc.edu/http://coned.howardcc.edu/http://www.astd.org/content/research/doYourOwn/http://www.astd.org/content/research/doYourOwn/http://www.astd.org/content/research/doYourOwn/http://www.astd.org/content/research/doYourOwn/http://coned.howardcc.edu/


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adequate staffing. In opposite, Australian hotels have an available labour market but requiresophisticated training and career development programmes, to assure service quality andproductivity. The results of this study on hotel management practices in the two countriesmay apply to hoteliers in any countries.

Haven-Tang and Jones (2008) have studied the labour market and skill needs of tourism inWales. Micro-businesses, many lifestyle businesses not appreciating the links between skills,training and competitiveness, and typically not undertaking training, dominate Welsh tourism.Employer interviews identify skills gaps and persistent recruitment difficulties with responsesincluding downsizing, deskilling and overseas recruitment.

Burke and Hutchins (2008) analyzed best practices for supporting training transfer. Data weregathered from a sample of training professionals of American Society of Training andDevelopment (ASTD). Findings suggest that interventions for bolstering training transfer arebest carried out in the work context, design and delivery phase, and take place after or during

training involving trainers and supervisors. Activities gathering trainers attention as bestpractices include: supervisory support activities; coaching; opportunities to perform;interactive training activities; transfer measurement; and job-relevant training. Several newtransfer variables also emerged from the data, indicating that the existing transfer models canbe further refined. This study proposes a refined model of transfer to extend human resourcedevelopment theory.

It is nuclear to develop an inventory of market-wide training, in relation to tourism in order tounderstand the matching of training supply to the needs of market labour, as well as the trendsof its evolution.

METHODOLOGY

To test the research aims, data was collected using a variety of methods. This research isquantitative in nature. This study with the goal of obtaining a comprehensive understandingand a holistic view of the training needs in the Leiria Region has used different informationand method sources. It used secondary and primary data (information source triangulation)and qualitative and quantitative data (methodological triangulation).

Qualitative data was collected in the form of interviews. The lack of previous studies inidentifying the training needs in the tourism sector in the Leiria Region compelled the use ofinterviews. Only the interviews allow capturing the complexity and richness of the

information given by individuals. There was a need to: Understand the phenomena, i.e. the training needs in the tourism sector; Comprehend the complexity of the training needs both by the different local Tourism

Region associations (there are 3 in the Leiria Region, each one representing one partof the councils of the Leiria Region) and firms perspective;

Understand the different motivations and expectations of the Tourism Regionassociations, the firms managing directors, and its collaborators;

Understand the opportunities and threats of the development of determined trainingoffer.

Identify the areas of training needed, and to whom in the organizational hierarchy;In-depth, face-to-face unstructured and semi-structured interviews with the different RegionTourism associations managing directors, top managers, and firms collaborators wereconducted. The goal was to capture different perspectives as it is believe that the position thatindividuals occupy in the organizations hierarchy reflect different training needs. Managing


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directors/top managers were selected for interviewing, as a result of their deep understandingof the industry as a whole and its evolution. Due to their position and experience, they holdimportant information and are able to give a global overview of the tourism industry. Thefirms collaborators were interviewed because they feel the problems at the operational level

and know which competences area needed for its resolution. They have different points ofview from the managing directors that see the organisations from the top and as a whole. Onlyindividuals from large firms dimension or with high quality status (e.g. 5 stars hotel, or finerestaurants) were inquired. This choice was based on the perception that at the tourismindustry only large firms or firms that area driven by quality would be aware of the addedvalue of qualified human recourses to their firms, and consequently willing to identifytraining needs and undertake the pathway of learning. The interviews took place betweenSeptember 2004 and March 2005. In total, 16 interviews were conducted: 3 with topmanagers/managing directors of the Tourism Region associations (1 from the Tourism Regionof the Center, representing the councils of Alvaizere, Ansio, Castanheira de Pra, Figueirdos Vinhos and Pedrgo Grande; 1 from the Leiria-Ftima Tourism Region, representing the

councils of Alcobaa, Batalha, Leiria, Marinha Grande, Nazar, Ourm, Pombal and Porto deMs; and 1 from the Tourism Region of Oeste, (representing the councils of Bombarral,Caldas da Rainha, bidos and Peniche); 3 with top managers from restaurants; 7 with topmanagers/managing directors from hotels or hotels groups, and 3 with managing directorsfrom travel agencies. With the exception of 5 interviews that were made by phone, all theother interviews were conducted face-to-face at the firms facilities, taking between 60 up to90 minutes long. Qualitative data was assessed through content analyses.

This research is quantitative in nature and the qualitative data was gathered with the aim toincrease reliability and the validity of the research findings only. The use of qualitative dataimbued the research data with confidence, and ensured that the most important issues havebeen addressed. The use of hybrid strategy allows the researcher to reach a deeperunderstanding of the overall setting (Morse, 1994).

Based on secondary and qualitative primary data collected, a research survey instrument wasdeveloped and applied. A highly detailed questionnaire was developed for the tourismindustry. Before the administration of the survey instrument, the current study pilot tested thequestionnaire. Questionnaires were sent to the mailing list given by the 3 different RegionTourism associations that cover the Leiria Region councils. For a universe of 235 firms 506questionnaires were sent. The goal was that for the selected firms, different individuals fromdifferent organizational hierarchical position would answer the questionnaire identifying their

specific training needs. There is a general understanding that different tasks in theorganizations have different training needs, and therefore it is necessary to understand thatdifferences in order to be able to correctly define the training offer. Fifty-two validquestionnaires were collected during 2005, 10 from the Travel Agencies, 23 from hotels andhostels, 14 from restaurants and 5 that did not identified its business. The response rateobtained was 10% of the total questionnaires sent and 17% of the firms inquired.Nevertheless, this response rate is considered satisfactory, as it is above the average responsein the tourism sector. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) was used for theanalysis of the results.

FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS


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The comments to the results were based on the statistic mean. Using a five-point Likert-stylerating scale (1= no need to 5 = strongly need), the following scale of mean was considered:-


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Identification of Training Needs by General Areas of Training by

Professional Category

To the previous question the professional category for analyses was added. The research

findings revealed (see Fig. 2) that: For Managing Directors/Top Managers the training on Management it is very

necessary (mean 3,5), and the two other areas, i.e. Touristic Management and NewAreas of Training in the Sector, are just necessary, scoring 2,9 and 3,1 respectively;

For Middle Managers training on Management it is also very necessary (mean 3,5); For Supervisors and Operationals all the areas of training are necessary, being at first

the Management with means of 3,1 and 3,0, respectively; For Apprentices, there is no need for training in any area of knowledge (average

means bellow 2,5).

It would be expected that training on management would be the most needed by ManagingDirectors/Top Managers and Middle Managers. As they run the companies, they needknowledge on management and business administration. The fact that the Apprentices do notpointed any need for training, does not necessary mean that they do not need it. Instead it mayunderline the fragile contractual relationship that Apprentices may have with companies, andthe potential risk that firms will take if they decide to invest on training for them.

Figure 2Identification of Training Needs by General Areas of Training by

Professional Category

2,60 2,70 2,80 2,90

Management

TouristicManagement

New areas of training in the sector


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Identification of Specific Areas of Training Needs by Professional Category

Individuals were asked to indentify the areas in which they most needed training. The resultsshowed that Managing Directors/Top Managers and Middle Managers have similar trainingneeds, while Supervisors and Apprentices have distinct choices (see Fig.3):

Managing Directors/Top Managers identified Human Resources Management andLabor Legislation; Customer Management, and Strategic Management with anmean of 4,1 followed by close by New Tourism Trends and Communication,Image and Marketing with mean of 4;

Middle Managers pointed out training on Communication, Image and Marketing(mean 4,1) and Customer Management,Human Resources Management and LaborLegislation, New Tourism Trends (mean 4) as the training areas most needed;

Supervisors have chosen Work Organization (4,0), Hygiene and Work Safety,(3,9) and Public Relations/Protocol (3,9);

Operationals acknowledged Welcoming and Service Techniques (4,0) and English

(3,9) as the most necessary training areas; For the Apprentices there is no area in which they consider much necessary (meanabove 3,5). The areas that they consider necessary are Welcoming and Service

Techniques and Hygiene and Work Safety (mean 3,4), English, French andBar Service (mean 3,3), and Waiter Service (mean 3,2).

As expected, individuals identify the training areas that area related to their daily tasks. It isalso interesting to note that on a national and international competition level the quality of theservices drives customers country choices. The above areas of training reflect theprofessional concerns of responding to the increasing demanding on the quality of theservices, which in this sector area based on the creation of liaisons; interrelationships. The

identified training areas also reflected the need for work organization, including better humanresource management as a way to increase work productivity and cut costs.

2,00 2,50 3,00 3,50Managing Directors/Top Managers: Management

Middle Managers: ManagementSupervisors: Management

Operationals : ManagementApprentices : Management

Managing Directors/Top Managers: Touristic ManagementMiddle Managers: Touristic ManagementSupervisors: Touristic Management

Operationals : Touristic ManagementApprentices : Touristic Management

Managing Directors/Top Managers: New Areas of Training in the sectorMiddle Managers: New Areas of Training in the sectorSupervisors: New Areas of Training in the sector

Operationals : New Areas of Training in the sector

Apprentices: New Areas of Training in the sector


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Figure 3Specific Areas of Training Needs by Professional Category

Directores gerais As sis tentes de direco Chefes ou Supervis ores Operacionais Aprendizes

Identified the areas of training needs most needed by individuals in the tourism sector, it isimportant to know next the best way to achieve it. The following section identifies the needsof training qualification by professional category.

1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5

Gesto estratgica

Gesto de clientes

Comunicao, imagem e marketingGesto dos recursos humanos e

legislao no trabalho

Relaes pblicas/Etiqueta e protocolo

Gesto de compras e aprovisionamentoGesto ambiental/Eficincia dos

recursos

Organizao do trabalho

Anlise financeira e controlo de gesto

Contabilidade/Fiscalidade

Informtica (bsica e avanada), internet

e intranet

Ingls

Francs

Alemo

Espanhol

Italiano

Gesto hoteleira

Tcnicas de atendimento e acolhimento

Animao turstica

Decorao

Organizao de eventos e espectculos

Higiene e segurana no trabalho

Gesto e controlo da qualidade

Direco ou gesto de alojamento

Servio de andares/Servio de quartos

Limpeza/Arrumao/Rouparia/Lavandaria

Recepo/Portaria

Nutrio e diettica

Direco ou gesto de restaurao e

bebidas

Gastronomia

Enologia e servio de vinhos

Cozinha/Pastelaria

Copa

Servio de mesa

Servio de bar

Prticas de agncia de viagens

Novas tendncias do turismo

Arte culinria

Engenharia alimentar

Microbiologia

Webmarketing


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The respondents were asked to indentify among Phd, Masters and Post-graduate courses,Bachelors, Bachelors of Honour (4 up to 5 years), Technical courses (these courses are inbetween the Bachelors and the vocational/professional courses), Vocational/ProfessionalCourses, Continuous training (short term training), and e-learning, which of those training

qualifications they would like to attend to fulfil their training needs.

The results showed (see Fig. 4) that with the exception of the Apprentices, all the otherprofessional categories stated first choose Continuous training as most preferred trainingqualification to obtain knowledge i.e. it was identified as much needed with mean above4,2. As a second choice Supervisors and Operationals indicate Vocational/ProfessionalCourses (mean of 3,8 and 4,2 respectively). As third choice appear the Technical courses(mean of 3,7 and 4,0 respectively.) For the Apprentices the first choice for trainingqualifications is the Vocational/Professional Courses (mean 4,3). This preference for learningqualification, is followed by Continuous Training (mean 4,1) and Technical Courses, (meanof 3,8).

Figure 4 - Identification of Training Qualification Needs by Professional Category

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

Vocational/Profession

al

Courses

TechnicalCourses

(1

Year)

ContinuosTraining

Bachelor(Hon-4up

to

5years)

Bachel

or

Masters/Post

GraduatedCours

es

PhD

e-Learni

ng

Managing Directors/Top Managers Middle Managers

Supervisors Operationals

Apprentices

Individuals may have chosen Continuous Training as their first option, due to its timeschedule flexibility, short term, and very specific training knowledge. Other reason, especiallyfor Apprentices is that does not require any standard qualifications level to undertake it. TheContinuous Training plays any important role on the (re)qualification of the professionals inthe tourism sector.

CONCLUSIONS

This paper seeks to explore and develop an in-depth understanding of the organizationstraining needs in the Leiria Region, namely within the tourism sector. By identifying the

qualification required by individuals within organizations and the areas of training that theyneed, this research provides important insights to educational decision makers as well as toacademics. The results would help to strategically adequate the educational offer to the


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market demand. It would help to target and communicate correctly for the potential marketand learners. The implementation of training courses according to the organizations needsand the collaborators expectations provide the industry with the necessary knowledge-basedcompetencies. Those competences would foster Regional competitiveness. The development

of Continuous Training courses on customers and human resources management targetingManaging Directors and Middle mangers would be most appropriated. Additionally, fieldslike Welcoming and Service Techniques and English would be suitable for bothOperationals and Apprentices. For further research it would be interesting to apply this studyto a different country and analyse whether qualifications and the areas of training byprofessional category would be the same.

REFERENCES

Abranja, N. A. (2008) O Empreendedorismo no Ensino Superior de Turismo. GOGITUR:

Journal of Tourism StudiesRevista Cientfica da Universidade Lusfona de Humanidades eTecnologias. Pp. 5-20.

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