IF the government's extensive international tourism marketing campaign is to succeed - which many believe it will - there will be a greater need for enhanced skills to serve these new markets.
This, coupled with the government's hope that the hospitality and tourism sector will provide badly needed jobs, emphasises the importance of this year's FEDHASA Conference and the eight learnership programmes, developed by the Tourism, Hospitality and Sport Education and Training Authority (THETA), which would be piloted in the industry this year.
This according to Adrienne Bird, chief director: Employment, and Skills Development Services, Department of Labour, who was speaking at the FEDHASA Conference on behalf of THETA, established officially on April 1 this year.
Bird emphasised that growing the skills and entrepreneurship base within the hospitality and tourism industry would require that all stakeholders within the industry became active players.
"Government can never be the only actor; partnerships, joint ventures, franchising, out-sourcing and contracting can be further developed to increase not only the overall number of enterprises in the industry, but also the number of black-owned enterprises."
She was adamant that if more black owners were are not assisted into self-sufficiency, a "significant market" would remain untapped.
"An important South African strength, cultural diversity, will remain unexplored."
Concerns in the skills-related industries, related Bird, were that the restaurant section of the industry believed that the availability of qualified, experienced chefs had declined, even though the catering activity had increased.
"According to the THETA Skills Plan, there is also a severe shortage of skilled housekeepers and middle managers within the hospitality industry. I wonder if these shortages are not contributing to the slow growth of this sector?"
Over and above the existing shortages are the ones waiting to happen, said Bird. Skills in information technology (IT) will soon be central to everything, including online bookings, marketing, destination management and more.
In a panel discussion, held after Bird's speech, THETA's executive director, Kananelo Maketha, chairman of THETA, together with Karen Long from the Tourism Training Institute, dealt with a few key issues of concern to the industry.
From this, it emerged that small businesses with fewer resources should contact THETA for assistance in skills development. Furthermore, it was suggested that a group of firms could jointly undertake training, focusing on the components that are only of interest to them.
The matter of unspent levy was also put to discussion, after which it emerged that it may be "spread back" as an incentive to those companies which have proven their commitment to skills development.
(Adéle Mackenzie)
