The Role of HR in the Tourism Industry: Benefits, Challenges, and Prospects

Human Resources (HR) is a necessity in the tourism industry, as travel and tourism HR service has a key role. This begins with recruiting and employing the right staff, supporting and motivating staff members, and improving staff welfare, which translates to satisfied clients.

Despite their immense value, HR professionals often find themselves carrying out many tasks, including corporate travel service and handling business travel, leading them to seek HR tourism advice. So, it is important to clarify what the role of HR in the tourism industry really is and the benefits they bring to the table. 

Responsibilities of HR in Tourism

Although HR professionals have been made into jacks of all trades in the tourism sector, the key responsibilities of hr tourism support include:

• Recruiting tourism professionals

It is the job of HR to ensure the recruitment and selection of employees who possess all necessary competencies, including knowledge and skills needed for corporate travel management. 

• Employee training and development

With the rise in customer expectations throughout the industry, HR tourism service entails training selected employees, sharpening their skills, and introducing them to travel policies, standards, and expectations through work seminars, training sessions, or producing training booklets. 

• Employee engagement and retention

As the job cycle continues, the HR professional is responsible for ensuring frequent engagement with employees to discover any issues or challenges. It is also their responsibility to ensure the retention of staff members who meet industry standards and expectations. 

• Employee benefits and compensation 

Whether result-based, periodic, or statutory benefits, it is the duty of human resources travel industry professionals to ensure that travel staff get all benefits due them, as well as compensations, when necessary.

• Health and Safety

HR keeps employees aware of health and safety practices in the industry, equips them with resources and information to improve their health and safety, and manages stress, which ensures better performance.

• Legal compliance

HR professionals must ensure that employees are well aware of all legal requirements, contracts, and expectations, and comply with them, to avoid a breach of protocol, which can lead to legal disputes. 

Challenges Facing HR in Tourism

Despite its all-important roles, HR in tourism isn’t without its challenges. The seasonal nature of the job poses a major challenge in recruitment and staffing, as HR has to hire more staff in peak periods, set up temporary contracts, and then revert to smaller staff numbers during off-peak season.

Also, the stress associated with working in the travel industry, poor pay, and lack of job satisfaction frequently lead to high turnover rates, leaving HR with the responsibility of constantly hiring and training new staff.

The tourism industry is filled with customer-facing roles, which means HR needs to find people with all the right skills to satisfy the diverse customers they meet. The global nature of the industry therefore calls for a global and diverse workforce, which is an added task for HR.

HR in Tourism Best Practices 

To ensure that HR processes thrive in the tourism industry, professionals need to:

• Leverage technology for recruitment, employee training, and performance tracking.
• Create a positive work culture, which leads to higher levels of job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.
• Develop talents at their disposal to ensure more experienced and diverse teams.
• Build a strong employer brand encompassing the organization’s values, reputation, and work culture, to attract the best crop of employees.

HR in Tourism: The Future 

A lot of emerging trends pose benefits and equally challenges for HR in the tourism industry. While Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation have made work easier for HR professionals, the need to have a workforce that meets all diversity and inclusion standards can be a challenge but holds immense benefits if met.

Finally, the gig economy poses a challenge for the tourism sector as the workforce as the availability of flexible and independent roles such as booking flights, with less pressure and work stress makes it hard to retain travel staff full time.

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