Employment in tourism in the digital age – Impact Hub Madrid

“Employment in tourism in the digital age” was the central theme of the conference organised by SEGITTUR on World Tourism Day at the Impact Hub Madrid on 27 September. Our Next Tourism Generation Alliance key partner CEHAT presented the efforts of the Alliance.

The aim of this conference was to analyse how employment is evolving in the tourism sector, which has been undergoing a digital transformation in recent years, making it necessary for staff to develop new skills to respond to the needs of the sector.

 

Next Tourism Generation Alliance

 

After the welcoming of Víctor Badorrey, Director of Institutional Relations, SEGITTUR, the day’s program started with the contribution of Ana María Camps, Head of Training and Studies at CEHAT, explaining the EU strategy on training and talent management, the Next Tourism Generation Alliance (NTG) project in which CEHAT is the leader project for Spain.

During her presentation, Ana María explained the main objectives of the NTG project and how the results of the project will contribute to improving the competitiveness of the tourism sector.

 

Blueprint strategy

 

To this end, different transversal skills have been identified for the five tourism subsectors (accommodation, food and beverage, tour operators, visitors’ attractions, destinations): digital skills, social skills and environmental skills. In each of the sub-sectors, the different job profiles, the skills required to perform them, and the associated training will be analysed. In this way, for example, it will be possible to quickly check “for which technical skills there is no specific training”. The next step is to create sectoral groups with experts (industry, academic and public sector) in the three types of skills, to raise their proposals for good practices, disseminate the results and all this will result in the implementation of new training policies.

The final objective is to elaborate by the end of 2021 the Blueprint strategy, both with action plans at European level and in each NTG partner country, so that all the policies implemented after that date seek to promote talent. It will also serve to “create a framework for cooperation with the different governments, new business models will be generated and clear strategies for the development of skills”. This will benefit “the companies themselves, who will know what they can do to improve the professionalism of their workers; the employees and students, who will know what the industry wants, what skills it is demanding and what they can do to improve their skills; as well as the study centres, to know what they have to offer to the market to attract students”.

 

Topics of the event

 

The event continued with the participation of the following topics and speakers:

• Miguel Flecha, General Manager and Head of Travel, Accenture: How can robotization affect employment in tourism?

 

• Fátima Gallo, Director of Digital Talent, ISDI: Opportunities that the digital transformation has for employment in Tourism

 

• Round Table: What new skills and professional profiles does the tourism sector demand?
  • Moderator: Antonio López de Ávila, general coordinator of Fitur Talent and CEO of TDDS
  • Raúl Suárez, Head of Corporate Business, LinkedIn Iberia
  • Sonia Calzada Piqueras, Headhunting Manager, Turijobs
  • Sandra Carvao, Head of Tourism Market Intelligence and Competitiveness, UNWTO

 

• Round Table: “How do universities and schools train students to face the new employment challenges?
  • Moderator: Juan Daniel Núñez, CEO, Smarttravelnews
  • María del Pilar Leal, Director of Tourism and Leisure, OSTELEA
  • Diana Gómez Bruna, Director of the Tourism Programme, Universidad Nebrija
  • Carlos Díez de la Lastra, Director General, Les Roches Global Hospitality Education

 

• Conversation “Tailor-made training in a digital world”.
  • Luis Miguel Olivas, Director of Employability and Innovation, Fundación Telefónica
  • Ana Abade, Head of Grow in Government Relations team, Google Spain

 

 

Along the event, there was an artist who was summarizing each lecturer in an infographic:

 

By Ana María Camps from NTG key partner CEHAT

Follow the efforts of the Next Tourism Generation via our website, Facebook, Twitter | #NTGskillsalliance or via LinkedIn