The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Business Council’s recent skills audit report emphasizes the crucial need for tourism operators in the SADC region to promptly embrace digital transformation in order to stay competitive.
The global tourism industry has widely embraced digital technologies and online platforms as essential components of their operations. Despite this, numerous tourism enterprises in the SADC region still lack the necessary capabilities to fully leverage these advancements.
The SADC skills assessment uncovers significant deficiencies in digital literacy, customer service, communication, and management abilities. Specifically, smaller businesses are encountering difficulties, as a large number lack fundamental digital skills. This jeopardizes the potential for growth and long-term viability of enterprises operating in the tourism and hospitality industry.
The findings additionally indicate that the region’s tourism sector heavily relies on small to medium-sized enterprises, which are primarily lacking in management and digital expertise. Moreover, larger enterprises are also grappling with difficulties in recruiting qualified individuals for managerial positions, highlighting a widespread problem within the industry.
The SADC Business Council‘s interim chairperson, Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa, highlights the digital revolution taking place in the global tourism industry, and expresses concern that many enterprises within the SADC region are at risk of being left behind. Tshivhengwa emphasizes the need for collaborative efforts from both the public and private sectors to swiftly enhance the skills of employees, in order to ensure SADC’s competitiveness.
In addition to fundamental digital competencies, the report emphasizes the need to enhance practical learning experiences, establish specialized skills certifications, support small and medium-sized enterprises in accessing training, foster collaborations between industry and academia, and invest in improving the skills of trainers. These measures are intended to close the current skills gap and equip the workforce for the digital era.
The SADC Business Council is dedicated to facilitating these transformations by engaging in partnerships with governments, educational institutions, and industry pioneers. The aim of this endeavor extends beyond skill enhancement, as it strives to unleash the complete potential of tourism in the SADC region, thereby making substantial contributions to economic expansion and the generation of employment opportunities.
Tshivhengwa emphasized the significance of the current juncture, stating that with the proper acquisition of digital proficiencies, we can effectively convert obstacles into favorable circumstances, thereby securing a thriving future for the tourism sector in the SADC region.
SOURCE: SADC Tourism Must Go Digital to Survive BY: eTurboNews | eTN