Abstract:

The tourism industry has evolved in a highly complex branch of national economies engaging many adjoining industries in a network form of organization to coordinate complex products and services in the highly competitive environments.

The increasing competition within and around the tourism industry offers new challenges and sets new goals for both employers and employees. It is widely recognized that competitiveness in many industries including tourism industry increasingly depends on the employees’ skills and competencies. This is particularly true of tourism industry for several reasons. First, it is one of major experience industries, with experience starting with the first acquaintance with the tourism company, either personally through encounters with its managers or virtually – through its website. In both cases the result of the first encounter determines the relationship between the customer and the company – its formation and development or reluctance to have something in common.

Indeed, too many virtual companies nowadays provide services of itinerary development and ticket booking, which adds much to the increased competition in the tourism industry. On the other hand, the current highly competitive environment determines the core competencies of tourism managers, with transportation management being a most important “ingredient of international tourism system” (Culpan 1987).

The numerous researches aimed at identifying core competencies as fundamentals for career success, have underscored the role of the educational experience and the importance of curriculum development in shaping the industry’s future leaders (Tsai et al 2004; Dopson & Tas 2004), thus underestimating the role of the University–industry tandem in shaping the mutually beneficial future of tourism industries.

The offered research was aimed at developing an effective selection tool for tourism companies to enable them to save on recruitment costs, as well as identifying the core job competencies and the suitability of the learning outcomes for tourism industries’ needs, so that University graduates could use their education time most efficiently for the future careers in tourism enterprises.

Based on a profound literature review and in-depth interviews with Russian tourism industry employers, the author has identified core competencies for tourism industry employees and their significance for sustainable employment and professional career. The results show that the assessment of human resources primarily includes employees’ individual characteristics, with professional competencies and experience following them. The scope of professional competencies has been ranged as a hierarchy, with problem-solving ability and transportation management competency valued in particular.

The results of the study offer tourism employers an opportunity to understand tourism employees’ core competencies and provide potential and actual employees with relevant information necessary to improve their competitiveness and enhance career opportunities.

Keywords:

tourism industry, transportation management, professional competencies, increased competition, sustainable development.