Industry leaders have identified an absence of inbound tourism-specific tertiary qualifications, together with skills gaps at senior levels, as critical hurdles to overcome for South Africa to achieve its tourism goals.
Earlier this week, Tourism Update explored the need for expert, specialised consultants to sell Africa’s varied offerings. Meanwhile, at a more grassroots level, challenges exist in the development of qualified inbound tourism-focused graduates, according to Martin Wiest, CEO of Tourvest Destination Management.
“There is no tertiary institute that focuses purely on training for inbound leisure travel and our National Qualifications Framework is mainly geared towards the training of outbound travel agents and corporate travel representatives,” said Wiest.
“Despite government regularly touting the importance of inbound leisure tourism for our economy, we don’t have sufficient grassroots mechanisms in place to develop a knowledgeable and skilled workforce,” he pointed out.
South Africa is aiming to grow the workforce employed in the tourism sector from 1.46 million in 2023 to 2.23 million by 2030.
Wiest said bottlenecks at the Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Sector Education and Training Authority (CATHSSETA) present an additional barrier.
“It can take six months or more for tourist guides, for example, to receive their qualifications after passing training. This is problematic, especially when guiding is already something that many incorrectly view as a low-paying career you only enter into when you’ve dropped out of ‘formal’ studies,” said Wiest, who started his tourism career as a guide.
Despite “countless” success stories of entry-level tourism employees rising through the ranks to build fulfilling careers, significant gaps exist at senior and skilled levels, said Suzanne Bayly, Owner of Classic Portfolio.
“This is particularly true when it comes to experienced managers, chefs and professional guides. These roles demand not only technical expertise but also resilience, long working hours in remote locations and a deep commitment to service – factors that are increasingly at odds with a younger workforce seeking flexibility, balance and faster progression.”
Extending beyond hotel schools
Lee-Anne Singer, FEDHASA Cape Chair, emphasised the need for the hospitality industry to extend its talent pipeline beyond hotel schools.
“Hospitality is a serious commercial industry. We need analysts, asset managers, marketers, revenue strategists, commercial leads etc. If we want to grow and professionalise, we need to attract business graduates – people with degrees in finance, commerce, accountancy and investment – not just traditional hospitality.”
Focus needs to broaden from purely staff development to growing the number of business owners, she added.
“The more people we support to run successful, sustainable tourism businesses, the more people they’ll employ and the more resilient our sector becomes. It isn’t about changing who gets the jobs. It’s about changing who creates the jobs.”
