Education and skills in tourism: Implications for youth employment in South Africa

Abstract

The tourism sector is routinely offered as an option to grow employment in South Africa. Yet, questions need to be asked about the nature of employment in tourism, the state of education and skills training in the sector and its prospects for youth. Drawing on a national study, this paper interrogates tourism education and skills training issues in relation to youth employment and development. The findings reveal that youth in the sector find themselves in precarious employment: they typically have low level skills, do not continue their education or training after being employed and have few career progression options. At the same time, a mismatch between the outcomes of education and skills training in tourism and the requirements of the industry come to the fore. Enhanced skills development and the creation of pathways for learning; labour market access and upward career progression are needed to advance youth in tourism.

Tourisms development impacts: an appraisal of workplace issues, labour and human development

“…Literature on the nature of work in tourism points to its precarious nature, highlighting issues such as: low entry barriers; low pay; long hours; poor benefits; gender inequality; and limited upward career mobility (Baum, 2015;Baum et al, 2016;Booyens, 2020;Ioannides & Zampoukos, 2018). Youth, women and migrants are the most vulnerable in the tourism workforce, typically employed in the lowest positions with limited opportunities to progress upwards (Baum et al, 2016;Booyens, 2020;Dagsland et al, 2020; see respectively, the chapters by Zampoukos and de Jong & Figueroa-Domecq in the volume). Seasonality is a structural constraint linked to the precarious nature of short-term employment and a lack of job security in the sector.…”

“…This is particularly evident with respect to elementary level jobs (Baum, 2015). The proportion of females in elementary positions is disproportionally higher than that of men, making it highly unequal from a gender-equality perspective (Baum, 2015;Booyens, 2020). A South African investigation confirms that while females make up about 40% of the overall tourism and hospitality workforce, they typically hold entry-level hospitality positions.…”

“…Race is a further consideration with respect to inequality in South Africa. In 2017, the vast majority of hospitality workers, specifically, was Black African (78%), female (61%) and young (78%) (see Booyens, 2020). A further tourism employment issue, which is manifest in certain destinations, is migrant labour associated with increased mobility and diversity within the tourism workforce resulting in tourism enterprises often employing few persons from local communities or host countries (Lundmark, 2020;Wendt et al, 2020).…”

Literature profiling on tourism, impairment and disability issues: A future directional guide

“…In the Global North, research and knowledge development in tourism began in the 1800s (Visser 2004 ). Nonetheless, tourism only began to be regarded in the academic research field in the 1970s in South Africa (La Fuente-Rodes et al 2016; Adukaita et al 2016; Booyens 2020 ). In the research space, the disability and tourism fields have been conducted separately in these past decades.…”

Development of touristic village and creative industry in improving social welfare at Wukirsari Village, Imogiri, Bantul District

“…Government's role in society empowerment regarding tourism is regulated in UU Number 10 Year 2009, a substitute of UU Number 9 Year 1990 about tourism. It is stated that the impacts from tourism development are the increasing of social welfare, decreasing poverty and unemployment rate, and preserving environment (Booyens, 2020;Gupta & Dutta, 2019;Liu, Pan & Zheng, 2019).…”