Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) Handbook of Best Practices
The tourism and hospitality industry’s recovery from the recent pandemic has demonstrated its resilience. This experience has underscored the critical need for ongoing skilling and training to support workforce well-being and build resilience across the sector. The PANTOUR project places a strong emphasis on training, with a particular focus on equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Developing a resilient, skilled, and diverse workforce is essential to the long-term sustainability of tourism and hospitality. In this context, EDI-focused training is not just a value-driven initiative: it is a strategic imperative to attract and retain talent.
Promoting well-being and best practices at work is also fundamental to developing an inclusive environment and tackling inequalities in the workplace. Advancing the inclusion of minorities is essential given the diverse nature of the tourism and hospitality sectors. Additionally, there is a need to address the challenges which hinder the progress of the industry in achieving inclusion by, for example, supporting workers with disability needs, removing barriers to women’s advancement, promoting intercultural awareness, addressing unconscious bias, while addressing discrimination and lack of representation. A fair and inclusive work environment involves creating a workplace where everyone feels respected and valued. Raising awareness and educating people about the importance of EDI in the workplace is a collective responsibility but leadership in this area is crucial to success. By recognising diversity, celebrating inclusion and upholding values of dignity and fairness in society are essential for the economic and social growth of the sector.
With this Handbook, the Pact for Next Tourism Generation Skills (PANTOUR) consortium seeks to provide useful, practical tools for developing EDI skills and practices that can be adopted by businesses in the sector. The aim is to enhance understanding of how to achieve equality and promote inclusion within a diverse workforce. These tools are based on freely available sources, and include creating a change management plan, creating inclusive training, and developing an EDI strategy plan for organisations.
This handbook provides information and tools for implementing EDI strategies in the workplace, with a particular focus on small and medium organisations in tourism and hospitality. It also provides information on different policies, training in EDI in the 10 countries of the PANTOUR consortium, and a compendium of 31 best practice case-studies from tourism and hospitality organisations across Europe. These best practices demonstrate how to tackle inequalities and promote diversity and social inclusion in the workplace. They provide real-world insights and effective strategies that can be replicated across various tourism and hospitality sectors.
