Chapter 7. Comprehensive Human Resource Planning: An Essential Key to Sustainable Tourism in Small Island Settings

Perceived environmental uncertainty in tourism: A new approach using the Rasch model

“…They also agreed with the literature in identifying socio-cultural, economic, political, ecological and technological sectors in the general environment. Colin and Baum (1994) also present some characteristics of island destinations from the perspective of human resources. Examples are the focus on high-spend international tourism, an economic dependence on tourism, and limited skilled labour for tourism.…”

Exploring the Economic Sustainability of the Small Tourism Enterprise: A Case Study of Tobago

“…Conlin and Baum (1995) argue that when human resource consideration enter into policy after the planning stages, it is difficult to instigate and convince stakeholders about the need for training. Indeed, in a context where the government is tardy in giving consideration to critical needs such as human resource development, it is unlikely that small tourism business owners would take the initiative and go to Trinidad or further a field to undertake formal management training.…”

Human Resource Issues in a Small Island Setting The Case of the Maldivian Tourism Industry

“…Key reasons are provided for governments to support tourism development when the jobcreation capacity of the industry is considered, also one of the most significant features of sustainable tourism (Baum 2006;Conlin and Baum 2003;Liu and Wall2005;Sharpley 2002;UNWTO 2002UNWTO , 2005aWTTC 2002). With the concept of sustainability in mind, human resource issues within tourism often appear poorly conceptualized, yet the employment opportunities that tourism development offers can contribute significantly to the overall economic and social development of a destination (Liu and Wall2006); according to Archer et al (2005), tourism seems to be more effective than other industries in generating employment and income in the less developed, often peripheral, regions of a country.…”

“…This theory is also applicable to compact island settings. Ignoring comprehensive planning for human resources here will not only have profound consequences for the local tourism industry but for the island communities themselves (Conlin and Baum 2003).…”

“…Undoubtedly, the quality of life in a host community is clearly connected with patterns of employment (Conlin and Baum 2003;Jamieson 2006). As Zimmermann (2006) points out, sustainable tourism requires the involvement of local communities and in order for tourism development to be sustainable, human resources must be included in the overall development policies of an island destination.…”