Pa Forum, Jelinic (ENIT): ‘Lack of personnel in tourism? We are getting the skills narrative wrong. It is discouraging. Yes to mapping and training. Working in tourism is not a second-class job’.
PRESS RELEASE
Pa Forum, Jelinic (ENIT): ‘Lack of personnel in tourism? We are getting the skills narrative wrong. It is discouraging. Yes to mapping and training. Working in tourism is not a second-class job’.
‘The tourism system has been operating with limitations. It is only for the past year that there has finally been an ad hoc Ministry of Tourism with its own portfolio to sustain the value and importance that the sector has for the entire economy. The misrepresentation of the industry and the misnomer of the nomenclature and the consideration of skills on a sociological level has been discouraging up until now. Being employed in the sector has for too long been seen as a second choice. There is no such thing as a first- or second-class job. Fundamentally, there is a cultural problem.
What is needed is a mapping of skills and the dismantling of the training autonomy left to training institutes, universities and chambers of commerce. This leads to fragmentation.
The issue of competition is an important one. We must be competitive and able to make ourselves known internationally, bearing in mind that in tourism the competition is not between companies within a nation but between destinations, therefore between Italy and other destinations in the world.
If tourism is worth 13 percent of the GDP – a number that is even somewhat smaller than it is if we take into account the related industries – it must be translated into targeted and central policy choices because it is a sector that generates value for the entire economy. In this context, the chamber of commerce system and the business world have filled a gap that existed and for which the political world previously failed to provide answers.
We are here today to look for tools to turn into decisions with personnel training and retraining policies as a strategic resource for the sector', stated Ivana Jelinic, President and CEO of ENIT, speaking at Forum Pa.
Positive feedback directly from the Ministry of Tourism with Barbara Casagrande, Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism, who enthusiastically notes the emergence of new synergies for this Ministry’s first time at the Pa Forum, which has chosen to be there together with the trade unions.
The two fundamental points of tourism are putting people at the centre to network and listening. To make the system work, we must not forget people. We are people who believe in our country and want our country to be known. We want people to discover it and we want to share it, not keep it to ourselves. We have initiated contacts with the Italian chancellors for a review of the fragmented career paths for tourism, and in the meantime we are launching a master's degree. But there is still work to be done on first-level training in addition to the launch of the Made In Italy high school. Everything will revolve around digital tourism, which in 2026 will be an extraordinary tool.
The issue of the sustainability of the tourism labour market of personnel recruitment at the centre of the debate organised by ENIT with the Ministry of Tourism, Federalberghi, and Federturismo.
A snapshot that reveals a structural shortcoming that must prompt us to become more attractive.
‘The professional career path needs to be standardised because otherwise the local authorities will be left without a clear direction and everything will be left to the discretion of the operators on duty. Although tourism has been a great social lever because directors have often become such by working their way up from the bottom, it is also only right that it should be structured considering the high volumes of business and the effort to stand out against other nations.
Currently there are two problems: lack of personnel and therefore government intervention on workers’ compensation and tax incentives would be necessary. And then in the long run the situation can be resolved at a governmental level by designing standardised training courses for all tourism categories,’ says Marina Lalli, President, Federturismo Confindustria.
The difficulty in finding qualified personnel is not just an Italian phenomenon.
This was pointed out by Alessandro Massimo Nucara, Director General, Federalberghi and President, Ente Bilaterale Nazionale del Turismo, ‘it is a problem that has grown even more acute with the pandemic. The key is to create strong relationships with employees. Working while others enjoy themselves is not easy and is not for everyone. And either we get into the spirit of considering work in tourism as a mission or we need to implement policies that provide incentives.’
ISNART president Loretta Credaro’s proposal addresses the issue by aiming at ‘a certification of skills with credentials identified after a public-private consultation. The creation of an ‘academy that aligns training to redefine the model. Without tourism there is no trade. Awareness must be raised in a system that is critical. We are trying to carry out alternating courses in tourism enterprises and courses for cross-functional skills.’
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