Journal of Hospitality Application and Research

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Tourism and Hospitality Industry Training Needs: the Needs of Developing Nations-the Case of the Solomon Islands


Affiliations
1 Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton., New Zealand
2 Department of Tourism, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Tauranga., New Zealand
     

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The bulk of the tourism literature exploring tourism and hospitality employment and training has been based on Western models and case studies. Many Western assumptions concerning tourism and hospitality training needs may not be applicable to the developing world, and thus, there is a need for case studies exploring the training needs of developing tourism nations. This paper seeks to address this research gap by exploring the tourism and hospitality industry training needs of the Solomon Islands, a small South Pacific nation. Through collecting questionnaires and conducting a range of interviews with owners and managers of a diverse range of industry businesses, this paper identifies four key issues concerning tourism and hospitality industry training needs within the Solomon Islands. First, the manpower needs in the tourism and hospitality sector, second, the existing shortfalls in particular occupations, third, the need for trained manpower in number, quality and experience and fourth, the need for a training infrastructure, improvements and measures for skill improvements within the Solomon Islands' tourism and hospitality industry. It is suggested that these are not unique to the Solomon Islands but are characteristics of many developing nations.

Keywords

Solomon Islands, Pacific, Tourism, Training, Employment, Developing Nations
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  • Tourism and Hospitality Industry Training Needs: the Needs of Developing Nations-the Case of the Solomon Islands

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Authors

Panakera Charlie
Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton., New Zealand
Willson Greg
Department of Tourism, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Tauranga., New Zealand

Abstract


The bulk of the tourism literature exploring tourism and hospitality employment and training has been based on Western models and case studies. Many Western assumptions concerning tourism and hospitality training needs may not be applicable to the developing world, and thus, there is a need for case studies exploring the training needs of developing tourism nations. This paper seeks to address this research gap by exploring the tourism and hospitality industry training needs of the Solomon Islands, a small South Pacific nation. Through collecting questionnaires and conducting a range of interviews with owners and managers of a diverse range of industry businesses, this paper identifies four key issues concerning tourism and hospitality industry training needs within the Solomon Islands. First, the manpower needs in the tourism and hospitality sector, second, the existing shortfalls in particular occupations, third, the need for trained manpower in number, quality and experience and fourth, the need for a training infrastructure, improvements and measures for skill improvements within the Solomon Islands' tourism and hospitality industry. It is suggested that these are not unique to the Solomon Islands but are characteristics of many developing nations.

Keywords


Solomon Islands, Pacific, Tourism, Training, Employment, Developing Nations

References