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Leadership in Tourism

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Leadership is an essential function in all hospitality and tourism organizations and businesses. Leaders can have a substantial impact on a wide range of critical processes and outcomes, especially those that have a direct impact on customer service. As such, a great deal of research has been conducted to learn about the nature and impact of leadership in highly interactive, service-focused settings.

The topic of leadership has been examined through a variety of disciplinary lenses, including psychology and organizational behavior, sociology, public policy, and economics. Within the hospitality and tourism domain (as in many other industrial and occupational contexts), one of the three distinct though complementary and increasingly integrative approaches has been used to explain the roles and influence of leaders. The first approach utilizes a trait explanation, which argues that effective leadership is based on an individual’s intrinsic personal qualities, such as...

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Bavik, Ali. 2020. A systematic review of the servant leadership literature in management and hospitality. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 32: 347–382.

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Michel, John W., Michael J. Tews, and J. Bruce Tracey. 2020. Validating effective managerial behaviors for the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 32: 2175–2193.

Shay, Jeffrey P., and J. Bruce Tracey. 2009. Expatriate adjustment and performance: The mediating role of managerial practices. Journal of International Management 15: 401–412.

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Department of Tourism, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

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Tracey, J.B., Sherman, A. (2022). Leadership in Tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_121-2

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Home > Books > Tourism

Effective Leadership in the 21st Century: Lessons for the Tourism Sector in the African Continent

Submitted: 19 June 2020 Reviewed: 01 September 2020 Published: 18 September 2020

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.93844

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Although Africa has been one of the world’s fastest growing tourism regions, when comparing it to the rest of the world, tourism still lags behind. Tourism is a dynamic and a competitive industry that continues to develop whilst the tourists’ preferences are changing. Consequently, leading and managing in the tourism sector is of great importance, particularly in the 21st century. The purpose of this paper is to explore leadership concepts to draw lessons for the tourism sector in the African continent. Leadership in the African continent remains questionable and controversial; the nature of effective leadership has been the subject of great debate. The findings reveal the prominent African leadership concepts from Ubuntu, Culturally embedded values, Communalism, Common good and Paternalism as some of the existing leadership concepts that could be applicable to an effective leader in the 21st century in the tourism sector in Africa.

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Portia pearl siyanda sifolo *.

• Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

The employees play an essential role in the delivery of quality tourism products or services, therefore, Africa needs capable institutions and transformative leadership at all levels to achieve the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 aspirations. Tourism is among the priority areas in the Agenda 2063 (a blueprint to drive Africa’s development and transformation for the next 50 years) that have immediate potential for growth and job creation in Africa [ 1 ]. The tourism sector is identified as one of the diversified economy for expanded strength to outside financial stuns whilst being the sector that would see intra-African trade escalating [ 1 ]. Moreover, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) estimate that by 2030, there will be 1.8 million international tourist arrivals - which means an average of 5 million people crossing international borders (consuming tourism products and services) every single day [ 2 , 3 ]. This indicates the resilience of the tourism sector, whilst challenging the leaders in the travel and tourism industry to be more effective and efficient. Being the industry with low barriers to entry, tourism sector provide job opportunities to the well qualified and low skilled people at a domestic and international level. A number of global trends and risks ranging from wider fiscal deficits, unorthodox monetary policies, and slow economic growth after COVID-19 lockdown, political risks, global supply chains, security risks, and inflation easily influence the tourism scene. Therefore, effective leadership is necessary globally for the tourism sector to thrive due to global competitive environment and other unpredictable complexities challenging various organisations. It is paramount to achieve the continental aspiration set in the Agenda 2063.

We live in the world where travellers demand greater value for products and services, hence, Destination Marketing Organisations (DMO) work tirelessly to promote and market high quality tourism products and services. Leadership is crucial in achieving positive outcomes; therefore, the cultivation of leaders with exceptional character and skills is important to Africa’s tourism landscape. This chapter presents the state of leadership in the African context, draws lessons for the tourism sector in Africa from early approaches of leadership and African concepts ranging from Ubuntu, Culturally embedded values, Communalism, Common good and Paternalism.

2. Why leadership in Africa?

There is enough coverage of development and application of leadership perspectives in western organisations; information is limited on tourism leadership in Africa. “Leadership in the African continent remains questionable and controversial; the nature of effective leadership has been the subject of great debate. Masango asserts, “African leaders who used traditional method of leadership were viewed by some westerners as barbaric” [ 4 ]. Dieke [ 5 , 6 , 7 ] states that the problems in Africa’s tourism are “closely related to structural imbalances in their overall development pattern, and there are no clear strategies for development in general due to tourism not being integrated with other economic sectors”. Okupe, Ward and Ogechi concur that lack of political is an impediment to tourism development in Africa. Furthermore, “lack of implementable tourism master plans contributes to the under-development of the African tourism industry” [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ].

A study conducted by Zhang, Khan, Kumar, Golpîra, and Sharif on tourism, logistical operations and environmental degradation warns that the carbon emissions and fossil fuel emissions associated with logistics development may pollute environmental sustainability in the end and create negative effects on inbound tourism [ 12 ]. Hence, there is a need for responsible and effective leaders. Therefore, contributing to the academic gaze, the prominent African leadership concepts for the tourism sector in Africa is critical. Several studies have contributed to leadership and management in Africa [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. Among them is a study by Nicolaides on management and leadership in the hotel industry in South Africa, where he indicate the adoption of paternalistic approach by managers due to their vital role as business leaders [ 16 ].

There is still limited information on travel and tourism management that consider African leadership concepts. Okupe identify leadership as one of the key gaps in the operation and management of tourism in Africa [ 10 ]. The online poll results on tourism leadership conducted by the Southern and East African Tourism Update revealed that 58% of the participants thought that South Africa’s collective tourism leadership was severely lacking in May 2020 when it comes to recovery post-COVID-19 [ 17 ]. Whilst 28% indicated that during the time, there were plenty of discussion but no action and only 14% believed that leaders were doing their best in trying times [ 17 ]. With myriad of factors covered in the literature, the development and application of leadership concepts embracing cultural values among African organisations that incorporate “African Leadership” in their practice, still needs attention. The difference in the underlying principles of management in Africa and the West remain evident. According to Nkomo, African states are described as ‘irremediably corrupt’; ‘hopeless’; ‘criminal’; ungovernable’ or generally in ‘chaos’ [ 8 ]. Although the challenges facing the travel and tourism industry in the continent are vast, this chapter embraces the Ubuntu, Culturally embedded values, Communalism, Common good and Paternalism to draw leadership lessons. Dieke [ 5 ] states that is it essential for the tourism sector to attract the quality staff to meet the increasingly globalised service standards. A background on the state of the tourism industry in the African continent is of importance.

3. The state of travel and tourism in the African continent

Africa remains a continent with authentic and diverse cultures. There are several top-quality natural and man-made attractions, high standards of accommodation and infrastructure and a good transportation network with the potential to attract millions tourists annually [ 5 ]. Although Africa has been one of the world’s fastest growing tourism regions, tourism still lags behind when comparing it to the rest of the world. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) Competitiveness 2019 report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) indicates that the Sub-Saharan Africa’s travel and tourism market is very small. In 2018, the travel and tourism industry’s gross domestic product (GDP) of African countries totalled approximately $42.1 billion, with 37.4 million tourist arrivals in 2017, about 1.6% and 3.0% of the global total, respectively [ 18 , 19 ].

Furthermore, the COVID-19 widespread disturbance brought universal travel to a sudden stop and altogether influenced the tourism industry. Worldwide and household tourism esteem chains were disturbed. COVID-19 widened the gap in the total number of tourist’s receipts when comparing with the rest of the world. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [ 3 ], worldwide compression in tourism entries may have obliterating financial results as a few creating nations are profoundly subordinate on tourism. One may ask a question of whether COVID-19 responses by leaders from different tourism organisation could be a good start to determine the African leadership styles and behaviours. It is during challenging times where effective leadership could be explored in this dynamic and a competitive industry.

Prior COVID-19, there were 1407 million international tourist arrivals in 2018, a 6% increase on the previous 4 years; tourism receipts amounted to $1480 billion, an increase by 4.4% higher than global GDP growth as in the previous 8 years [ 20 ]. Opportunities for tourism development remain vast, yet limited due to various challenges facing the leaders in the continent; therefore, understanding the travel and tourism sector trends and issues in Africa is paramount to achieve the aspirations on the sector as indicated in the Agenda 2063, as well as to provide practical leadership solutions. This chapter is by no means proposing solutions to the myriad challenges facing the tourism sector in Africa, but merely intends to draw leadership lessons from African concepts.

Table 1 presents the summary of the selected challenges in the travel and tourism industry in Africa.

Top challenges confronting leaders in the travel and tourism industry in Africa.

Globally, the tourism industry is dynamic, and it is viewed as a major force in the construction and development efforts of governments in developing countries. For example, the study conducted by [ 12 ] on tourism logistical operations and environmental degradation in Thailand pleads with “governmental authorities to enforce green practices in logistical and transport-related operations, and need to increase tourist safety and security, to attract foreign tourists respectively”. The industry needs leaders and managers with a sense of current and future developments and the ability to work with various stakeholders. “A changing world demands a new leadership style emphasising societal impact and commitment to the common good” [ 36 ]. Furthermore, African leadership has become valuable in the 21st century. In today’s world, effective leadership is significant for the travel and tourism sectors to thrive; the industry underpins much of the global economic activity. The United Travel predicts that 8 million new jobs will be created in Africa because there was jobs rise in the total number of travel and tourism from 22.8 million in 2017 to 30.8 million in 2028 [ 3 , 5 ]. The previous statistics provide hope for the sector. A glimpse of the general leadership approaches is significant to better explore leadership theories.

4. Lessons from the early approaches of leadership concepts

There are many schools of thought and approaches to leadership; therefore, reviewing theories of leadership is essential. Early approaches to the study of leadership adopted universal or a generic perspective. Mullins produced the framework for the study of managerial leadership as indicated in Figure 1 [ 37 ]. The primary composed approach to examining leadership dissects individual, mental, and physical characteristics of solid pioneers. For the last four thousand years, each generation has written about the art and science of leadership [ 38 ]. “Most leadership theories have been developed in capitalist western countries up to now and do not take into account the view and learnings from countries that have been in deep crises for many years” [ 13 , 32 ]. Early approaches to leadership in the African tourism industry are captured by Gyr who revealed the early forms of travel and types of journey occurring in Africa. In his article, the “History of Tourism: Structures on the Path to Modernity” reveals that a well-travelled writer with an interest in both history and ethnology visited Egypt, North Africa, the Black Sea, Mesopotamia and Italy. This is one of documented early forms of travel and types of journeys occurring in Africa. Leading often means having the ability to effectively direct and guide a team to achieve, and sometimes exceed, objectives set, which contributes to the company’s overall results.

Framework for study of managerial leadership. Source: Mullins (2018).

There are common themes about the nature of leadership and leaders captured in every continent in the context of politics, the military, philosophy and businesses. Research literature on tourism reveals that leadership has not received the necessary attention in both tourist destinations and networked environments in general [ 39 ]. The work by [ 28 ] covers tourism and environmental degradation in China, while Zhang, Khan, Kumar, Golpîra, and Sharif covered logistical operations and environmental degradation from Thailand perspective [ 12 ]. Although tourism businesses in Africa are not isolated from developed and developing communities, there is interdependence of the different sectors, individuals and groups involved in tourism [ 4 ]. Hence, there is a school of thought on various contingency or situational leadership, where the behaviour of the leader is explored by looking at the situation at hand or the context. For example, the environment in which the tourism sector operates is increasingly complex and competitive, leaving organisations to structure themselves in order to get quick, flexible and innovative responses. There has been a rise within the number of tourism organisations experiencing changes due to increasing tough financial climates, competitive advertising conditions and continuous technological changes over the final few decades. This ever-changing global landscape has led to a number of challenges as well as opportunities that organisations, its leaders and employees can embrace. Numerous tourism organisations that have had to re-assess their working models. The tourism sector continues to develop whilst the tourists’ preferences are changing as the tourism consumers are more mindful of the significance of their free time and are more specific in their choice. Pechlaner, Kozak, Volgger & Volgger [ 13 , 39 ] refer to the contingency theory by Fiedler, the leader-member exchange (LMX) theory by Graen and Uhl-Bien and transactional/transformational theory by Bass, Avolio [ 40 ] and Spencer et al. as successful theories in describing and explaining effective leadership in firms and other organisations. Consequently, leading and managing in the tourism sector is of great importance, particularly in the 21st century. Therefore, creative thinking enables leaders to contribute novel insights that can open up new opportunities or design mutually beneficial effective work groups.

In the 16th century, the focus of organisations was on management and improving productivity (refer to Figure 1 ). According to Iszatt-White , et al. , in the 1880s and 1890s the core ideas of ‘scientific management’ were developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor and first published in 1903; they were later expanded to the principles of scientific management [ 41 ]. Among Tylor’s co-workers was Henry Laurence Gantt who left legacies to production management by coming up with the ‘task and bonus’ system that is linked to the bonus paid to managers to how well they taught their employees to improve performance [ 41 ]. Among Gantt’s contribution is a Gantt chart commonly used in project management (which is also used in the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors) [ 42 ]; it is one of the most popular and useful ways of showing activities (tasks or events) displayed against time. Research into travel, tourism and hospitality has an established tradition of investigating leadership issues (although not always appearing under the label of “leadership”) [ 39 ]. In this chapter, Gantt’s contribution is highlighted because of its use on tracking project schedules (an essential component in effective leadership in the tourism sector). Gantt chart shows additional information about the various tasks or phases of the project; for example, how the tasks relate to each other, how far each task has progressed, what resources are being used for each task and so on.

We live in the world where dynamism of the markets and the current business scenarios require companies to have effective leaders that will be able to manage several projects simultaneously. Projects in the tourism industry are not new, the projects in a corporate context take about 50% of the organisational budget; hence, the nature of leadership and the characteristics of great leaders are debated intensely.

In the 20th century, the trait theories were developed where attributes or characteristics of ‘great men’ were examined. These theories presumed that leaders are born and that successful leaders have similar traits. The trait theory is concerned with the characteristics or traits that a person brings to the field in which leadership is worked out. Authors cite leadership traits to include, intelligence, assertiveness, good vocabulary, attractiveness, self-confidence and other attributes [ 22 , 43 ]. Behavioural theories sought to measure the observable characteristics that leaders demonstrate, while theorists researched leadership as a set of behaviours. Pioneering studies are those from the University of Ohio State in the 1950’s that identified two behavioural dimensions, consideration and initiating structure; and from the University of Michigan which found two categories of leadership behaviour (employee orientation and production orientation). Another Behavioural approach to leadership is the Managerial Grid from early leadership studies developed in the early 1960s by management theorists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton as the basis for developing a two-dimensional grid for appraising leadership styles. It used the two behavioural dimensions “concern for people” and “concern for production” and evaluated a leader’s use of these behaviours, ranking them on a scale from 1 (low) to 9 (high).

The 21st century present new approaches or leadership paradigms that “share a number of common themes relating to the emotional or symbolic aspects of leadership” [ 41 ]. The 21st century refers to an era where characteristics of the new competitive landscape are driven by the continuing technological revolution and the increasing globalisation of business and economic activity [ 26 ]. In this era, leadership is often of a transactional nature in complex, competitive, tough financial climates and continuous technological changes. Andersen states that the managers and leaders have the responsibility to carry out risk analysis to reveal threats to ensure successful strategic execution [ 44 ]. The tourism industry is interlinked and prone to rapid developmental trends. Therefore, looking at the leadership approaches in Figure 1 , one may argue that there are many skills required from the travel and tourism managers or leaders.

The characteristics of a leader range from personal management and the ability to motivate a team [ 45 ]. Leaders are famous for being proactive and positive, they communicate well and are good listeners, and they have integrity. They are approachable and are role models. They tend to focus on strengths and have respect and trust for the employees (which is part of servant leadership; it is an effective leadership approach that enhances work engagement). They observe the ‘golden rule’ and are sensitive to others. These characteristic are essential for a travel and tourism leader as they apply structured methods to allocate resources effectively. In other words, travel and tourism leaders are expected to be proactive (lead by an example in case there is a need for problem prevention), reactive (constant presents of there is a problem) and inactive at some point (trusting the group of stakeholders or a team will achieve common goal). Since there are numerous definitions of leadership, perhaps capturing few definitions is prudent.

5. Leadership definition

Leadership has been extensively studies for centuries. The concept is famous for being defined from individuals’ perspectives and the aspects that interests them most. Emanating from a historical and impactful leadership definition by Stodgill, “leadership is the initiation and maintenance of structure in expectation and interaction” [ 14 ]. The study by Masango on leadership in the African context reveals that, “leadership is a group phenomenon’, meaning that, there “are no leaders without followers” [ 14 ]. In other words, a definition of leadership in the African context must consider the collective aspect. He further stated that “leaders use influence to guide groups of people through a certain course of actions or towards the achievement of certain goals”, leadership is therefore, goal directed, and plays a significant part in the life of a group, tribe or community” [ 14 ].

With the changes in the societies, markets, customers, competition, and technology around the globe, organisations are forced to clarify their values, develop new strategies, and learn new ways of operating; hence, the definition of leadership has evolved to suite a certain context. Meyer and Boninelli concur that leadership has no sequential beginning or end, it is rather critical to understand perspectives on what leadership is about, and the implications for organisations in the modern economy [ 38 ]. One may then argue that leadership is a choice and being a good leader is a skill that anyone can learn. Some believe that leadership is inherent in certain individuals; hence, it is referred to as an essential in achieving the vision of the organisation. Others believe that leaders rise from the masses when the situation demands it. According to Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube, good leadership is developed through a never-ending self-study, education, training, and the accumulation of relevant experience [ 13 ].

Leadership should be visionary, motivating, and stimulating for the team members; hence, the transformational leadership style is advocated for tourism leaders [ 40 ]. Thomas distinguishes leadership from management by identifying five nuances not found in management such as giving direction, providing inspiration, building teams, setting an example and being accepted as a leader [ 46 ]. Leadership is viewed as a process (focusing on what leaders actually do) and as a property (the set characteristics attributed to individuals perceived to be leaders) [ 47 ]. Therefore, looking at the travel and tourism organisations, cooperation as the base in the organisations and their environment is critical. This permeates through the consistent travel and tourism management practices, processes, procedures, tools and techniques (value chain). Leadership is an effective tool to be used by the travel and tourism managers to influence outcome, otherwise, lack of leadership skills could be directly associated with failure which my negatively affect the contribution of tourism in the country and the rest of the continent. Perhaps, distinguishing the differences between leadership and management in projects is paramount.

6. Difference between tourism leadership and tourism management

Linking the association between leadership characteristics and successful managers offers invaluable information. Henceforth, differentiating between the roles of a manager or a leader in context of tourism leadership and management is difficult. Welch differentiated between the manager (someone who works to carry out the aims of the organisation) and the leader (serves to create new aims, tweak old ones, or initiate new courses of action) [ 48 ]. Drawn from [ 49 ] work, the difference between tourism leadership and tourism management in this chapter is summarised as follows;

Tourism management “refers to the oversight of all activities (related to the travel, tourism and hospitality industries) of planning and organizing through decision-making process which enhance effectiveness and efficiency of the tourism industry”.

Tourism Leadership is a “process of leading others for achievement of objectives; the concept encompasses motivating and guiding people to realize their potential and achieve tougher and challenging organizational goals in travel, tourism and hospitality industry”.

Leaders and managers are there to serve the organisational need [ 9 ]. Normally they require a multi-functional inclusion. Understanding the internal and external perspective of management as a manager and as a leader has a significant effect to the success in the organisation. An internal perspective of management is within the organisation is where by scarce resources are used more effectively while improving the existing procedures and methods to ensure efficient product or a service. An external perspective focuses on developing and improving quality of life. Therefore, tourism manager or a leader needs to have knowledge of both the internal and external perspective to deal with a number of global trends and risks (wider fiscal deficits, unorthodox monetary policies, slow economic growth after COVID-19 lockdown, political risks, global supply chains and security risks and inflation) among others. The performance of a tourism manager and the effectiveness of a leader are both measured in terms of the performance of the team. Therefore, managerial and emotional competencies (as factors of leadership) have important causative effects in determining the success of a tourism organisation; although it is important to note that success can be negatively affected if the wrong leadership style is chosen and/or if the tourism manager or a leader is inexperienced (Novo, Landis and Haley, 2017). Although management and organisational aspects have been explored, it is critical to highlight that the focus of this chapter remains with exploring effective leadership in the 21st century. The following section will focus on the dynamic tourists’ preferences in the 21st century, with an intention to highlight the need for effective leadership.

7. Why effective leadership in the 21st century?

Effective leadership is one of the main and primary drivers for growth, development and innovation. Effective leadership is meaningful, impactful and profound. Effective leadership is one of the main and primary drivers for growth, development and innovation in the 21st century. According to [ 26 ] effective strategic leaders have to operate under conditions of uncertainty; they must view a volatile environment as presenting opportunities and employ an entrepreneurial mindset that allows them to identify and exploit those opportunities in contexts with significant ambiguity.

Effective leaders are able to keep their teams engaged. Kumar concur that effective leaders influence the entire organisation and people outside the organisation [ 50 ]. Their influence extends beyond the boundaries of the organisation as they continually identifying and interrogating the ethical issues [ 38 ]. They adapt and modify their leadership styles in order to maintain employee engagement, even if there are four generations in the workplace. It is critical to engage stakeholders, whilst minimising risk to adopt and maximise benefits through a focus on the organisational, cultural and people aspects of business transformations. Effective leaders must also understand the modern tourist concept. Vail, Moreland and Wilson warns against the high-quality tourist services that require skilled and motivated employees and that quality service, in turn, is the key to both higher profitability and good jobs [ 33 ].

Why the focus on a ‘modern tourist’? Modern tourists exhibit a growing concern about the impact of their acts; the manner in which they choose to consume the tourism products and services has significantly changed. Tourists make choices based on different factors, from personal factors such as personality or aspirations, together with household factors like lifestyle or decision-making style; these affect their decisions [ 51 ]. A new type of consumer (in this case ‘modern tourist’) was born as a result of the technological evolutions of the late 20th century as well as a consequence of globalisation, hence today’s tourists are increasingly connected [ 51 ]. This is evident from the work of Vail, Moreland and Wilson who define the modern tourists as a growing market segments with many baby boomers with ample discretionary time and income; they are experiential tourists seeking low-stress outdoor activities, supplemented by quality dining, lodging, shopping, and cultural amenities. They further state that “many younger adventurers seek destinations offering outstanding expedition hiking, cross country skiing, and mountain biking, but they also want cell phone and internet coverage, a great meal, lively night life, and a comfortable bed after their exertions” [ 51 , 52 ]. This point is also emphasised by [ 52 ] that “millennials don’t simply represent another generation of travellers; their preferences and lack of predictability make them different”, as a result, tourists demand greater value, more experiences and higher levels of quality ([ 24 ]: 01), hence, the new ethos in the tourism industry allows the tourists to take responsibility when travelling.

Tourists prefer to engage in physically and intellectually active holidays, with a growing demand for not only recreational activities, sport and adventure, but for knowledge of the history, culture and environment of the places being visited [ 24 ]. These new types of tourism are more closely linked to culture, nature, health, religion, etc., are growing three times faster than forms that are more traditional. Therefore, it is essential for a 21st century leader to possess the characteristics that makes them see opportunities everywhere; they should strive for excellence and live with an entrepreneurial spirit. They must work with a generous purpose and embrace culture in order to cater for the 21st century tourists.

Leadership in the 21st Century should be based on three pillars: values based leadership, network leadership and systemic resilience. Good leadership in Africa always shares life to others [ 32 ]. More lessons can also be drawn from the concept of responsible leadership for a leader to be 1) able to make informed ethical judgements about existing norms and rules; 2) displaying moral courage and aspiring to positive change; 3) engage in long-term thinking and in perspective taking; 4) communicate effectively with stakeholders; and 5) participate in collective problem-solving. In the 21st century, the leader must have company’s intention to do the right things and act in ways that are good for society. Ethical leadership has a major impact on the behaviour and attitudes of employees as it encourages the employees to perform a higher quality of work performance [ 7 , 50 , 53 ].

Effective leadership is gained through a combination of business knowledge and personal skills including determination, being open-minded, self-reflection, and excellent communication and team-building skills. Therefore, enhancing innovation is paramount in managing or leading in the services sector. Critical thinking is a primary tool for dealing with dilemmas and paradoxes, the support and encouragement of critical thinking is a key characteristic of effective leadership processes [ 54 ]. Stošić and Milutinović state that service excellence and innovation is a necessity in the tourism sector [ 48 ].

8. African leadership concepts: lessons for the tourism sector

There are factors influencing development and application of African leadership perspective. These factors vary from one country to country and from continent to continent. Drawing from the work by Nzelibe, there are certain trends that have influenced modern thought-system of management in Africa; these are guided by certain basic, traditional values, assumptions, and principles [ 55 ]. Hence, he refers to them as traditionalism, which has to do with adherence to accepted customs, beliefs, and practices that determine accepted behaviour, morality, and the desired characteristics of the individual in African society [ 21 , 55 ]. Based on Nzelibes’ proposition, one may argue that effective leaders can apply the principles and practices in their management systems in the tourism sector for common good. For example, destinations are reinventing themselves using socio-cultural assets to attract tourists. This has been a common practice, particularly in leadership, where cultural expression involves issues and conflicts connected to the leaders and followers inside a variety of international, national, regional and organisational contexts [ 56 ]. Figure 2 presents the African leadership concepts.

Selected African leadership concepts.

Another African concept is “communalism”, which stems from the belief that the individual is not alone, but belongs to the community [ 55 , 57 ]. Communalism focuses on the community above the individual [ 50 ]. It implies a way of decision-making which is based on consensus [ 57 ]. African communalism is about communal feelings, world views, moral and cultural values based on closed-knit relationship among their kith and kin within a socio-cultural setting [ 57 ]. In other words, an effective tourism leader in the 21st century must see himself/ herself as part of the community, respect the values followed in that cultural specific setting and be in a position to live by the principles favouring the position held and the community. The tourism industry leadership cannot work effectively without community support and involvement [ 4 ]. Tourism is a community product, and it is therefore necessary to have community and local capabilities such as community leadership and formal and informal networks directly involved in tourism development and promotion efforts [ 30 ]. In Dieke’s words “tourism must be profitable to the communities to compensate for any dislocation of everyday life; it should gain the acceptance of the communities in relation to the type, scale and location of tourism development and planners should consider the need for protection of certain communities and sites and to meet their acceptable cultural standards” [ 5 , 50 ].

The third African concept covered in this chapter is “Ubuntu” which is an African value meaning ‘humanness’, sometimes referred to as humanity to others. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’, or ‘a person is a person through people’ [ 18 , 21 ]. The concept of Ubuntu goes beyond a sense of loyalty to something that is more deep-seated; is provides a sense of belonging and purpose [ 58 ]. As indicated earlier, that leadership is a group phenomenon that plays a significant part in the life of a group, tribe or community, hence, the trust relationship is of critical importance. The key values entrenched in African leadership include, being respectful to others and treating them with dignity. These values are reflected in the tourism sector where service excellence is at the centre of customer care and stakeholder engagement. Service excellence, customer care and stakeholder engagement cannot be obtained without trust and common good. Ubuntu is a critical African concept to an effective leader in the tourism industry as it promotes responsible tourism.

The forth concept is Paternalism, which is an African concept based on interconnectedness and solidarity [ 4 , 41 ] Paternalism is defined as the managers’ personal interest in workers’ off-the-job lives and personal problems, and managers’ effort to support the employees to achieve personal goals and improve welfare [ 35 ]. Paternalism is a policy or practice that is fundamental for leaders to make and base their decisions on, so that they can act accordingly for the common good; whilst, constructing proper organisational practices. This concept can be beneficial to the leaders in the tourism sector. For example, [ 59 ] refer to paternalistic leadership behaviour and affective organisational commitment as a concept that will have direct and indirect effects on performance of small businesses and therefore the performance of tourism destination. Paternalism is conceptualised in two types: authoritaritative and benevolent. Authoritaritative paternalism values job and does not include a sincere generosity, whilst benevolent paternalism emphasises the commitment of the subordinate and an intimate care of the manager for the subordinate.

Learn from their culture and customs.

Listen to what they have to say.

Create a platform for dialogue and participation.

Build on local wisdom and community assets.

Build the community’s capacity to find solutions to their own problems.

Build sustainable solutions and encourage ownership of assets.

Identify and prioritise the community’s needs with the community.

It is expensive in the short term, but cheap in the long term, which means the impact will be felt long after the fact.

Work with legitimate and credible community leadership.

Build-up process is slow, deep and strong.

Serve the community’s agenda and build the relationship.

Donor money and time is well invested for future generations.

“Most African businesses experience dilemma when choosing leadership approaches” [ 38 ]. African traditional leadership has been confined to communal areas and practiced African leadership that is “centred on culturally embedded values such as communalism, togetherness, rationalism, consensus and unity; these are encapsulated in the ethos of Ubuntu” [ 4 , 41 , 60 ]. Africa’s tourism industry requires leaders that understand the industry, its complexity and their role within it [ 8 ]. Ubuntu as a “traditional African value that prompts the establishment of a two way trust relationships as the essence of successful leadership” [ 41 ]. Leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah and Desmond Tutu are famous for their culturally embedded values/approaches. There is a great need for the African continent to consider service leadership and ethical leadership, which is characterised by integrity, competence, responsibility, accountability, fairness and transparency. Companies often face challenges building leadership potential and effectively managing the project. There is a need to train the employees to move into leadership positions, not only for succession purposes but also for empowerment and acknowledgement. According to [ 9 , 16 ], cultural enlightenment and awareness of employee diversity are critical leadership trait that encourages cross-cultural teamwork. This trait is important in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector where there is a higher proportion of women. Women generate higher returns on equity, while running balance sheets that are more conservative when it comes to business performance. In fact, where women account for the majority role players in the tourism sector, inclusion is necessary. The UN report indicated that in January 2017, only 10 women were serving as Head of State and 9 were serving as Head of Government [ 3 ]. This is an indication of the limited opportunities as far as the inclusion of women is concerned in the world. However, women such as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former President of Liberia, the first elected female head of state in Africa, Joyce Banda, who has made history becoming Malawi’s first female president and only the second woman to lead a country in Africa are inspiring.

9. Conclusions

There is a lot that has been written on leadership from a business perspective to the philosophers’ viewpoints; even politicians and historians among others have dissected the concept of leadership. Leaders as people, play an important role in an organisation and to the society. This chapter presented the concept of leadership in the 21st century in the tourism industry as one of the services sectors in global economic growth, and Africa in particular. Effective leadership examples in the tourism industry can be drawn from large destinations with strong performance like Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius and Zimbabwe in sub-Saharan Africa. Although South Africa, reported slower growth in arrivals in 2017, there was a strong increase in receipts, more lessons from the tourism leaders in the sub-region’s top destination can be useful. Island destinations Seychelles, Cabo Verde and Reunion, all reported double-digit growth in arrivals.

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Tshwane University of Technology.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Notes/Thanks/Other declarations

Thank you to Tebogo Ramoneng, Tumelo Rampheri and Zime Mzelemu.

Appendices and Nomenclature

Case study 1, africa’s young leaders face a testing 2020.

Two “dinosaurs” who were forced out of politics in 2019 – Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the 82-year-old president of Algeria, who had ruled since 1999, and Omar al-Bashir, 75, in power in Sudan since 1989 – fell victim to mass movements spearheaded by young protesters, though in each case the once-powerful rulers were left vulnerable when armed forces withdrew their support.

One of the most striking recent appointments was in Angola, where its president, João Lourenço, appointed Vera Daves de Sousa, a 34-year-old former researcher and analyst, to be the new finance minister. Elderly men, especially senior soldiers who fought in the decades-long civil war, have long dominated the political system in the former Portuguese colony. Vera Daves de Sousa, 34, is finance minister in Angola, where elderly men, many of them veterans of the long civil war, previously dominated politics.

Alex Vines, director of the Africa programme at London’s Chatham House, said Lourenço’s appointment of a swath of younger people, including many women, to senior positions within the government was a gamble. “He has leapfrogged a generation to appoint more technocratic, able people, including many women, to key posts. He sees them as change agents … Next year will be the litmus test for the reform process,” Vines said.

Perhaps the most high profile of the young leaders is Abiy Ahmed, the 43-year-old prime minister of Ethiopia and winner of 2019’s Nobel peace prize. Since coming to power in 2018, Abiy has ended a nearly 20-year military stalemate with Eritrea, and pushed through reforms at home, dramatically changing the atmosphere in what was regarded as a repressive state. Nick Cheeseman, professor of democracy at the University of Birmingham and an expert in African politics, said Abiy was facing a hard choice between a shift towards authoritarianism, or the difficult task of generating confidence and belief in his reforms. “What happens in Ethiopia has massive implications for the countries around it,” Cheeseman said.

In Sudan, the protest movement that swept away Bashir has opened the way to younger political figures. Nevertheless, some may not be any more progressive or less predatory than their former rulers. One is Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, a 43-year-old warlord accused of systematic human rights abuses, who has emerged as perhaps the most powerful man in the country. He is now deputy chairman of the sovereign council that still holds supreme power.

Elsewhere some young leaders who have challenged entrenched interests have stumbled. In South Africa, Mmusi Maimane, a 39-year-old once breathlessly hailed as the Obama of Soweto, resigned as leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance following disappointing election results.

Julius Malema, the 38-year-old leader of the populist, radical leftwing Economic Freedom Fighters.

In Uganda, Bobi Wine, an opposition MP and popular music star, has generated international attention but is yet to build the kind of political machine that would challenge the country’s veteran leader.

Yoweri Museveni, while in Zimbabwe, Nelson Chamisa, a 41-year-old former pastor who has led the Movement for Democratic Change since 2018, has struggled to mobilise sufficient numbers to destabilise the ruling Zanu-PF government under 78-year-old Emmerson Mnangagwa.“They have inherited, or are opposing, deep-seated neo-patrimonial systems. You can destabilise them, you can even bring down a leader, but the transitional politics are very, very difficult and sometimes they just don’t work out,” said Vines.

The young rulers and challengers remain a minority. The average age of African leaders is more than 60, which means that the continent with the youngest citizens has the oldest rulers.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/31/africas-young-leaders-face-a-testing-2020

Chapter review activity

How would you describe the leadership styles of the above-mentioned “Politicians in their 30s and 40s”?

Which leader/“politician” has principles of African leadership and why?

Due to the testing times in 2020, such as the COVID 19, advise the Africa’s young leaders on the issues of change management and state the importance of project leadership.

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Thought Leadership in Tourism: What It Is and Why It Matters More Than Ever

Over the last three years, we’ve seen the headlines and LinkedIn threads about “building tourism back better”. We’ve seen incredible entrepreneurs and companies make efforts towards this notion by thinking outside of the box when it comes to collaboration and innovation.

Spearheading paradigm shifts in sectors like travel tech, responsible travel and hospitality may seem like vastly different endeavours, but the thought leaders creating massive change are united by a number of common strategies and habits. So, what exactly is thought leadership, and why does it matter so much for where tourism is headed?

Understanding Thought Leadership in Tourism

Thought leadership isn't just about being an expert in your field; it's about actively contributing to the evolution of that field . In tourism, thought leaders are individuals or organizations that offer insightful perspectives, innovative ideas, and valuable knowledge and weave them into their products and services. They don't just follow trends – they set them, initiating conversations and driving change within the industry.

The Importance of Thought Leadership in Tourism

Inspiring Innovation: Thought leaders in tourism are trailblazers who dare to challenge the status quo. They inspire innovation by introducing fresh concepts, embracing technological advancements, and reimagining visitor experiences. Their forward-thinking approach leads to the creation of new and exciting offerings that captivate travelers and reshape the tourism landscape.

Building Trust and Credibility: In an era where travelers seek authentic and meaningful experiences, thought leadership creates trust. When individuals or organizations consistently share valuable insights, reliable information, and expert opinions, they establish themselves as trusted authorities. This credibility extends to their products and services, attracting customers who are confident in their choices.

Driving Sustainable Practices: Thought leaders have the influence to advocate for responsible and sustainable tourism practices. By championing ethical considerations, environmental responsibility, and community engagement, they guide the industry towards a more sustainable future. Their efforts not only protect natural and cultural resources but also resonate with conscious travelers who prioritize responsible choices.

Fostering Collaboration: Thought leaders often initiate dialogues that encourage collaboration among industry stakeholders. By bringing together diverse perspectives, they facilitate the exchange of ideas, best practices, and solutions to common challenges. This collaborative spirit propels the industry forward as a united force rather than isolated entities.

Shaping Industry Trends: Instead of following trends, thought leaders in tourism shape them. Through their influential content, discussions, and initiatives, they have the power to redirect the course of the industry. Whether it's embracing experiential travel, highlighting underexplored destinations, or promoting cultural exchange, thought leaders are at the forefront of these shifts.

Becoming a Thought Leader in Tourism

Becoming a thought leader in the tourism industry requires dedication, passion, and a commitment to excellence. It can feel overwhelming to know where to start, which is why I am so excited to be partnering with one of my very own clients and mentors who was named one of Travel Pulse’s “Most Influential Women in Travel in 2023”, Sahara Rose De Vore , in a six-week program called the Travel Thought Leaders Circle . The program brings you insights, education, mentorship and community to help you define thought leadership for yourself and determine the type of impact you want to have on the travel industry.

In the ever-evolving world of tourism, thought leadership is key to guiding the industry toward growth, innovation, and positive change. When you make the conscious decision to share your unique ideas and insights, you have the power to inspire, educate, and shape the future of travel for generations to come. Join us in the Travel Thought Leaders Circle so we can work together to help you refine your business in a way that reflects who you are and drives the type of change you want to see in the industry.

Sound good? Space is limited, so secure your spot in this one-time-only program here .

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The future of tourism: Bridging the labor gap, enhancing customer experience

As travel resumes and builds momentum, it’s becoming clear that tourism is resilient—there is an enduring desire to travel. Against all odds, international tourism rebounded in 2022: visitor numbers to Europe and the Middle East climbed to around 80 percent of 2019 levels, and the Americas recovered about 65 percent of prepandemic visitors 1 “Tourism set to return to pre-pandemic levels in some regions in 2023,” United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), January 17, 2023. —a number made more significant because it was reached without travelers from China, which had the world’s largest outbound travel market before the pandemic. 2 “ Outlook for China tourism 2023: Light at the end of the tunnel ,” McKinsey, May 9, 2023.

Recovery and growth are likely to continue. According to estimates from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for 2023, international tourist arrivals could reach 80 to 95 percent of prepandemic levels depending on the extent of the economic slowdown, travel recovery in Asia–Pacific, and geopolitical tensions, among other factors. 3 “Tourism set to return to pre-pandemic levels in some regions in 2023,” United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), January 17, 2023. Similarly, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) forecasts that by the end of 2023, nearly half of the 185 countries in which the organization conducts research will have either recovered to prepandemic levels or be within 95 percent of full recovery. 4 “Global travel and tourism catapults into 2023 says WTTC,” World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), April 26, 2023.

Longer-term forecasts also point to optimism for the decade ahead. Travel and tourism GDP is predicted to grow, on average, at 5.8 percent a year between 2022 and 2032, outpacing the growth of the overall economy at an expected 2.7 percent a year. 5 Travel & Tourism economic impact 2022 , WTTC, August 2022.

So, is it all systems go for travel and tourism? Not really. The industry continues to face a prolonged and widespread labor shortage. After losing 62 million travel and tourism jobs in 2020, labor supply and demand remain out of balance. 6 “WTTC research reveals Travel & Tourism’s slow recovery is hitting jobs and growth worldwide,” World Travel & Tourism Council, October 6, 2021. Today, in the European Union, 11 percent of tourism jobs are likely to go unfilled; in the United States, that figure is 7 percent. 7 Travel & Tourism economic impact 2022 : Staff shortages, WTTC, August 2022.

There has been an exodus of tourism staff, particularly from customer-facing roles, to other sectors, and there is no sign that the industry will be able to bring all these people back. 8 Travel & Tourism economic impact 2022 : Staff shortages, WTTC, August 2022. Hotels, restaurants, cruises, airports, and airlines face staff shortages that can translate into operational, reputational, and financial difficulties. If unaddressed, these shortages may constrain the industry’s growth trajectory.

The current labor shortage may have its roots in factors related to the nature of work in the industry. Chronic workplace challenges, coupled with the effects of COVID-19, have culminated in an industry struggling to rebuild its workforce. Generally, tourism-related jobs are largely informal, partly due to high seasonality and weak regulation. And conditions such as excessively long working hours, low wages, a high turnover rate, and a lack of social protection tend to be most pronounced in an informal economy. Additionally, shift work, night work, and temporary or part-time employment are common in tourism.

The industry may need to revisit some fundamentals to build a far more sustainable future: either make the industry more attractive to talent (and put conditions in place to retain staff for longer periods) or improve products, services, and processes so that they complement existing staffing needs or solve existing pain points.

One solution could be to build a workforce with the mix of digital and interpersonal skills needed to keep up with travelers’ fast-changing requirements. The industry could make the most of available technology to provide customers with a digitally enhanced experience, resolve staff shortages, and improve working conditions.

Would you like to learn more about our Travel, Logistics & Infrastructure Practice ?

Complementing concierges with chatbots.

The pace of technological change has redefined customer expectations. Technology-driven services are often at customers’ fingertips, with no queues or waiting times. By contrast, the airport and airline disruption widely reported in the press over the summer of 2022 points to customers not receiving this same level of digital innovation when traveling.

Imagine the following travel experience: it’s 2035 and you start your long-awaited honeymoon to a tropical island. A virtual tour operator and a destination travel specialist booked your trip for you; you connected via videoconference to make your plans. Your itinerary was chosen with the support of generative AI , which analyzed your preferences, recommended personalized travel packages, and made real-time adjustments based on your feedback.

Before leaving home, you check in online and QR code your luggage. You travel to the airport by self-driving cab. After dropping off your luggage at the self-service counter, you pass through security and the biometric check. You access the premier lounge with the QR code on the airline’s loyalty card and help yourself to a glass of wine and a sandwich. After your flight, a prebooked, self-driving cab takes you to the resort. No need to check in—that was completed online ahead of time (including picking your room and making sure that the hotel’s virtual concierge arranged for red roses and a bottle of champagne to be delivered).

While your luggage is brought to the room by a baggage robot, your personal digital concierge presents the honeymoon itinerary with all the requested bookings. For the romantic dinner on the first night, you order your food via the restaurant app on the table and settle the bill likewise. So far, you’ve had very little human interaction. But at dinner, the sommelier chats with you in person about the wine. The next day, your sightseeing is made easier by the hotel app and digital guide—and you don’t get lost! With the aid of holographic technology, the virtual tour guide brings historical figures to life and takes your sightseeing experience to a whole new level. Then, as arranged, a local citizen meets you and takes you to their home to enjoy a local family dinner. The trip is seamless, there are no holdups or snags.

This scenario features less human interaction than a traditional trip—but it flows smoothly due to the underlying technology. The human interactions that do take place are authentic, meaningful, and add a special touch to the experience. This may be a far-fetched example, but the essence of the scenario is clear: use technology to ease typical travel pain points such as queues, misunderstandings, or misinformation, and elevate the quality of human interaction.

Travel with less human interaction may be considered a disruptive idea, as many travelers rely on and enjoy the human connection, the “service with a smile.” This will always be the case, but perhaps the time is right to think about bringing a digital experience into the mix. The industry may not need to depend exclusively on human beings to serve its customers. Perhaps the future of travel is physical, but digitally enhanced (and with a smile!).

Digital solutions are on the rise and can help bridge the labor gap

Digital innovation is improving customer experience across multiple industries. Car-sharing apps have overcome service-counter waiting times and endless paperwork that travelers traditionally had to cope with when renting a car. The same applies to time-consuming hotel check-in, check-out, and payment processes that can annoy weary customers. These pain points can be removed. For instance, in China, the Huazhu Hotels Group installed self-check-in kiosks that enable guests to check in or out in under 30 seconds. 9 “Huazhu Group targets lifestyle market opportunities,” ChinaTravelNews, May 27, 2021.

Technology meets hospitality

In 2019, Alibaba opened its FlyZoo Hotel in Huangzhou, described as a “290-room ultra-modern boutique, where technology meets hospitality.” 1 “Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has a hotel run almost entirely by robots that can serve food and fetch toiletries—take a look inside,” Business Insider, October 21, 2019; “FlyZoo Hotel: The hotel of the future or just more technology hype?,” Hotel Technology News, March 2019. The hotel was the first of its kind that instead of relying on traditional check-in and key card processes, allowed guests to manage reservations and make payments entirely from a mobile app, to check-in using self-service kiosks, and enter their rooms using facial-recognition technology.

The hotel is run almost entirely by robots that serve food and fetch toiletries and other sundries as needed. Each guest room has a voice-activated smart assistant to help guests with a variety of tasks, from adjusting the temperature, lights, curtains, and the TV to playing music and answering simple questions about the hotel and surroundings.

The hotel was developed by the company’s online travel platform, Fliggy, in tandem with Alibaba’s AI Labs and Alibaba Cloud technology with the goal of “leveraging cutting-edge tech to help transform the hospitality industry, one that keeps the sector current with the digital era we’re living in,” according to the company.

Adoption of some digitally enhanced services was accelerated during the pandemic in the quest for safer, contactless solutions. During the Winter Olympics in Beijing, a restaurant designed to keep physical contact to a minimum used a track system on the ceiling to deliver meals directly from the kitchen to the table. 10 “This Beijing Winter Games restaurant uses ceiling-based tracks,” Trendhunter, January 26, 2022. Customers around the world have become familiar with restaurants using apps to display menus, take orders, and accept payment, as well as hotels using robots to deliver luggage and room service (see sidebar “Technology meets hospitality”). Similarly, theme parks, cinemas, stadiums, and concert halls are deploying digital solutions such as facial recognition to optimize entrance control. Shanghai Disneyland, for example, offers annual pass holders the option to choose facial recognition to facilitate park entry. 11 “Facial recognition park entry,” Shanghai Disney Resort website.

Automation and digitization can also free up staff from attending to repetitive functions that could be handled more efficiently via an app and instead reserve the human touch for roles where staff can add the most value. For instance, technology can help customer-facing staff to provide a more personalized service. By accessing data analytics, frontline staff can have guests’ details and preferences at their fingertips. A trainee can become an experienced concierge in a short time, with the help of technology.

Apps and in-room tech: Unused market potential

According to Skift Research calculations, total revenue generated by guest apps and in-room technology in 2019 was approximately $293 million, including proprietary apps by hotel brands as well as third-party vendors. 1 “Hotel tech benchmark: Guest-facing technology 2022,” Skift Research, November 2022. The relatively low market penetration rate of this kind of tech points to around $2.4 billion in untapped revenue potential (exhibit).

Even though guest-facing technology is available—the kind that can facilitate contactless interactions and offer travelers convenience and personalized service—the industry is only beginning to explore its potential. A report by Skift Research shows that the hotel industry, in particular, has not tapped into tech’s potential. Only 11 percent of hotels and 25 percent of hotel rooms worldwide are supported by a hotel app or use in-room technology, and only 3 percent of hotels offer keyless entry. 12 “Hotel tech benchmark: Guest-facing technology 2022,” Skift Research, November 2022. Of the five types of technology examined (guest apps and in-room tech; virtual concierge; guest messaging and chatbots; digital check-in and kiosks; and keyless entry), all have relatively low market-penetration rates (see sidebar “Apps and in-room tech: Unused market potential”).

While apps, digitization, and new technology may be the answer to offering better customer experience, there is also the possibility that tourism may face competition from technological advances, particularly virtual experiences. Museums, attractions, and historical sites can be made interactive and, in some cases, more lifelike, through AR/VR technology that can enhance the physical travel experience by reconstructing historical places or events.

Up until now, tourism, arguably, was one of a few sectors that could not easily be replaced by tech. It was not possible to replicate the physical experience of traveling to another place. With the emerging metaverse , this might change. Travelers could potentially enjoy an event or experience from their sofa without any logistical snags, and without the commitment to traveling to another country for any length of time. For example, Google offers virtual tours of the Pyramids of Meroë in Sudan via an immersive online experience available in a range of languages. 13 Mariam Khaled Dabboussi, “Step into the Meroë pyramids with Google,” Google, May 17, 2022. And a crypto banking group, The BCB Group, has created a metaverse city that includes representations of some of the most visited destinations in the world, such as the Great Wall of China and the Statue of Liberty. According to BCB, the total cost of flights, transfers, and entry for all these landmarks would come to $7,600—while a virtual trip would cost just over $2. 14 “What impact can the Metaverse have on the travel industry?,” Middle East Economy, July 29, 2022.

The metaverse holds potential for business travel, too—the meeting, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) sector in particular. Participants could take part in activities in the same immersive space while connecting from anywhere, dramatically reducing travel, venue, catering, and other costs. 15 “ Tourism in the metaverse: Can travel go virtual? ,” McKinsey, May 4, 2023.

The allure and convenience of such digital experiences make offering seamless, customer-centric travel and tourism in the real world all the more pressing.

Three innovations to solve hotel staffing shortages

Is the future contactless.

Given the advances in technology, and the many digital innovations and applications that already exist, there is potential for businesses across the travel and tourism spectrum to cope with labor shortages while improving customer experience. Process automation and digitization can also add to process efficiency. Taken together, a combination of outsourcing, remote work, and digital solutions can help to retain existing staff and reduce dependency on roles that employers are struggling to fill (exhibit).

Depending on the customer service approach and direct contact need, we estimate that the travel and tourism industry would be able to cope with a structural labor shortage of around 10 to 15 percent in the long run by operating more flexibly and increasing digital and automated efficiency—while offering the remaining staff an improved total work package.

Outsourcing and remote work could also help resolve the labor shortage

While COVID-19 pushed organizations in a wide variety of sectors to embrace remote work, there are many hospitality roles that rely on direct physical services that cannot be performed remotely, such as laundry, cleaning, maintenance, and facility management. If faced with staff shortages, these roles could be outsourced to third-party professional service providers, and existing staff could be reskilled to take up new positions.

In McKinsey’s experience, the total service cost of this type of work in a typical hotel can make up 10 percent of total operating costs. Most often, these roles are not guest facing. A professional and digital-based solution might become an integrated part of a third-party service for hotels looking to outsource this type of work.

One of the lessons learned in the aftermath of COVID-19 is that many tourism employees moved to similar positions in other sectors because they were disillusioned by working conditions in the industry . Specialist multisector companies have been able to shuffle their staff away from tourism to other sectors that offer steady employment or more regular working hours compared with the long hours and seasonal nature of work in tourism.

The remaining travel and tourism staff may be looking for more flexibility or the option to work from home. This can be an effective solution for retaining employees. For example, a travel agent with specific destination expertise could work from home or be consulted on an needs basis.

In instances where remote work or outsourcing is not viable, there are other solutions that the hospitality industry can explore to improve operational effectiveness as well as employee satisfaction. A more agile staffing model  can better match available labor with peaks and troughs in daily, or even hourly, demand. This could involve combining similar roles or cross-training staff so that they can switch roles. Redesigned roles could potentially improve employee satisfaction by empowering staff to explore new career paths within the hotel’s operations. Combined roles build skills across disciplines—for example, supporting a housekeeper to train and become proficient in other maintenance areas, or a front-desk associate to build managerial skills.

Where management or ownership is shared across properties, roles could be staffed to cover a network of sites, rather than individual hotels. By applying a combination of these approaches, hotels could reduce the number of staff hours needed to keep operations running at the same standard. 16 “ Three innovations to solve hotel staffing shortages ,” McKinsey, April 3, 2023.

Taken together, operational adjustments combined with greater use of technology could provide the tourism industry with a way of overcoming staffing challenges and giving customers the seamless digitally enhanced experiences they expect in other aspects of daily life.

In an industry facing a labor shortage, there are opportunities for tech innovations that can help travel and tourism businesses do more with less, while ensuring that remaining staff are engaged and motivated to stay in the industry. For travelers, this could mean fewer friendly faces, but more meaningful experiences and interactions.

Urs Binggeli is a senior expert in McKinsey’s Zurich office, Zi Chen is a capabilities and insights specialist in the Shanghai office, Steffen Köpke is a capabilities and insights expert in the Düsseldorf office, and Jackey Yu is a partner in the Hong Kong office.

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"People want to travel": 4 sector leaders say that tourism will change and grow

The global travel and tourism industry's post-pandemic recovery is gaining pace as the world’s pent-up desire for travel rekindles. Image:  Unsplash/Anete Lūsiņa

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Shinya katanozaka, gilda perez-alvarado, stephen kaufer.

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• In 2020 alone, the travel and tourism industry lost $4.5 trillion in GDP and 62 million jobs - the road to recovery remains long.
• The World Economic Forum’s latest Travel & Tourism Development Index gives expert insights on how the sector will recover and grow.
• We asked four business leaders in the sector to reflect on the state of its recovery, lessons learned from the pandemic, and the conditions that are critical for the future success of travel and tourism businesses and destinations.

The global travel and tourism sector’s post-pandemic recovery is gaining pace as the world’s pent-up desire for travel rekindles. The difference in international tourist arrivals in January 2021 and a similar period in January 2022 was as much as the growth in all of 2021. However, with $4.5 trillion in GDP and 62 million jobs lost in 2020 alone, the road to recovery remains long.

A few factors will greatly determine how the sector performs. These include travel restrictions, vaccination rates and health security, changing market dynamics and consumer preferences, and the ability of businesses and destinations to adapt. At the same time, the sector will need to prepare for future shocks.

The TTDI benchmarks and measures “the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable and resilient development of the T&T sector, which in turn contributes to the development of a country”. The TTDI is a direct evolution of the long-running Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), with the change reflecting the index’s increased coverage of T&T development concepts, including sustainability and resilience impact on T&T growth and is designed to highlight the sector’s role in broader economic and social development as well as the need for T&T stakeholder collaboration to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, bolster the recovery and deal with future challenges and risks. Some of the most notable framework and methodology differences between the TTCI and TTDI include the additions of new pillars, including Non-Leisure Resources, Socioeconomic Resilience and Conditions, and T&T Demand Pressure and Impact. Please see the Technical notes and methodology. section to learn more about the index and the differences between the TTCI and TTDI.

The World Economic Forum's latest Travel & Tourism Development Index highlights many of these aspects, including the opportunity and need to rebuild the travel and tourism sector for the better by making it more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient. This will unleash its potential to drive future economic and social progress.

Within this context, we asked four business leaders in the sector to reflect on the state of its recovery, lessons learned from the pandemic, and the conditions that are critical for the future success of travel and tourism businesses and destinations.

Have you read?

Are you a 'bleisure' traveller, what is a ‘vaccine passport’ and will you need one the next time you travel, a travel boom is looming. but is the industry ready, how to follow davos 2022, “the way we live and work has changed because of the pandemic and the way we travel has changed as well”.

Tony Capuano, CEO, Marriott International

Despite the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the future looks bright for travel and tourism. Across the globe, people are already getting back on the road. Demand for travel is incredibly resilient and as vaccination rates have risen and restrictions eased, travel has rebounded quickly, often led by leisure.

The way many of us live and work has changed because of the pandemic and the way we travel has changed as well. New categories of travel have emerged. The rise of “bleisure” travel is one example – combining elements of business and leisure travel into a single trip. Newly flexible work arrangements, including the opportunity for many knowledge workers to work remotely, have created opportunities for extended travel, not limited by a Monday to Friday “9 to 5” workweek in the office.

To capitalize on this renewed and growing demand for new travel experiences, industry must join governments and policymakers to ensure that the right conditions are in place to welcome travellers as they prepare to get back on the road again, particularly those who cross international borders. Thus far, much of the recovery has been led by domestic and leisure travel. The incremental recovery of business and international travel, however, will be significant for the broader industry and the millions who make their livelihoods through travel and tourism.

Looking ahead to future challenges to the sector, be they public health conditions, international crises, or climate impacts, global coordination will be the essential component in tackling difficult circumstances head-on. International agreement on common – or at least compatible – standards and decision-making frameworks around global travel is key. Leveraging existing organizations and processes to achieve consensus as challenges emerge will help reduce risk and improve collaboration while keeping borders open.

“The travel and tourism sector will not be able to survive unless it adapts to the virtual market and sustainability conscience travellers”

Shinya Katanozaka, Representative Director, Chairman, ANA Holdings Inc.

At a time when people’s movements are still being restricted by the pandemic, there is a strong, renewed sense that people want to travel and that they want to go places for business and leisure.

In that respect, the biggest change has been in the very concept of “travel.”

A prime example is the rapid expansion of the market for “virtual travel.” This trend has been accelerated not only by advances in digital technologies, but also by the protracted pandemic. The travel and tourism sector will not be able to survive unless it adapts to this new market.

However, this is not as simple as a shift from “real” to “virtual.” Virtual experiences will flow back into a rediscovery of the value of real experiences. And beyond that, to a hunger for real experiences with clearer and more diverse purposes. The hope is that this meeting of virtual and actual will bring balance and synergy the industry.

The pandemic has also seen the emergence of the “sustainability-conscious” traveller, which means that the aviation industry and others are now facing the challenge of adding decarbonization to their value proposition. This trend will force a re-examination of what travel itself should look like and how sustainable practices can be incorporated and communicated. Addressing this challenge will also require stronger collaboration across the entire industry. We believe that this will play an important role in the industry’s revitalization as it recovers from the pandemic.

How is the World Economic Forum promoting sustainable and inclusive mobility systems?

The World Economic Forum’s Platform for Shaping the Future of Mobility works across four industries: aerospace and drones; automotive and new mobility; aviation travel and tourism; and supply chain and transport. It aims to ensure that the future of mobility is safe, clean, and inclusive.

• Through the Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition , more than 100 companies are working together to power global aviation with 10% sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.
• In collaboration with UNICEF, the Forum developed a charter with leading shipping, airlines and logistics to support COVAX in delivering more than 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines to vulnerable communities worldwide.
• The Road Freight Zero Project and P4G-Getting to Zero Coalition have led to outcomes demonstrating the rationale, costs and opportunities for accelerating the transition to zero emission freight.
• The Medicine from the Sky initiative is using drones to deliver vaccines and medicine to remote areas in India, completing over 300 successful trials.
• The Forum’s Target True Zero initiative is working to accelerate the deployment and scaling of zero emission aviation, leveraging electric and hydrogen flight technologies.
• In collaboration with the City of Los Angeles, Federal Aviation Administration, and NASA, the Forum developed the Principles of the Urban Sky to help adopt Urban Air Mobility in cities worldwide.
• The Forum led the development of the Space Sustainability Rating to incentivize and promote a more safe and sustainable approach to space mission management and debris mitigation in orbit.
• The Circular Cars Initiative is informing the automotive circularity policy agenda, following the endorsement from European Commission and Zero Emission Vehicle Transition Council countries, and is now invited to support China’s policy roadmap.
• The Moving India network is working with policymakers to advance electric vehicle manufacturing policies, ignite adoption of zero emission road freight vehicles, and finance the transition.
• The Urban Mobility Scorecards initiative – led by the Forum’s Global New Mobility Coalition – is bringing together mobility operators and cities to benchmark the transition to sustainable urban mobility systems.

Contact us for more information on how to get involved.

“The tourism industry must advocate for better protection of small businesses”

Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Global CEO, JLL Hotels & Hospitality

In the next few years, I think sustainability practices will become more prevalent as travellers become both more aware and interested in what countries, destinations and regions are doing in the sustainability space. Both core environmental pieces, such as water and air, and a general approach to sustainability are going to be important.

Additionally, I think conservation becomes more important in terms of how destinations and countries explain what they are doing, as the importance of climate change and natural resources are going to be critical and become top of mind for travellers.

The second part to this is we may see more interest in outdoor events going forward because it creates that sort of natural social distancing, if you will, or that natural safety piece. Doing outdoor activities such as outdoor dining, hiking and festivals may be a more appealing alternative to overcrowded events and spaces.

A lot of lessons were learned over the last few years, but one of the biggest ones was the importance of small business. As an industry, we must protect small business better. We need to have programmes outlined that successfully help small businesses get through challenging times.

Unfortunately, during the pandemic, many small businesses shut down and may never return. Small businesses are important to the travel and tourism sector because they bring uniqueness to destinations. People don’t travel to visit the same places they could visit at home; they prefer unique experiences that are only offered by specific businesses. If you were to remove all the small businesses from a destination, it would be a very different experience.

“Data shows that the majority of travellers want to explore destinations in a more immersive and experiential way”

Steve Kaufer, Co-Founder & CEO, Tripadvisor

We’re on the verge of a travel renaissance. The pandemic might have interrupted the global travel experience, but people are slowly coming out of the bubble. Businesses need to acknowledge the continued desire to feel safe when travelling. A Tripadvisor survey revealed that three-quarters (76%) of travellers will still make destination choices based on low COVID-19 infection rates.

As such, efforts to showcase how businesses care for travellers - be it by deep cleaning their properties or making items like hand sanitizer readily available - need to be ingrained within tourism operations moving forward.

But travel will also evolve in other ways, and as an industry, we need to be prepared to think digitally, and reimagine our use of physical space.

Hotels will become dynamic meeting places for teams to bond in our new hybrid work style. Lodgings near major corporate headquarters will benefit from an influx of bookings from employees convening for longer periods. They will also make way for the “bleisure” traveller who mixes business trips with leisure. Hotels in unique locales will become feasible workspaces. Employers should prepare for their workers to tag on a few extra days to get some rest and relaxation after on-location company gatherings.

Beyond the pandemic, travellers will also want to explore the world differently, see new places and do new things. Our data reveals that the majority want to explore destinations in a more immersive and experiential way, and to feel more connected to the history and culture. While seeing the top of the Empire State building has been a typical excursion for tourists in New York city, visitors will become more drawn to intimate activities like taking a cooking class in Brooklyn with a family of pizza makers who go back generations. This will undoubtedly be a significant area of growth in the travel and tourism industry.

Governments would be smart to plan as well, and to consider an international playbook that helps prepare us for the next public health crisis, inclusive of universal vaccine passports and policies that get us through borders faster.

Understanding these key trends - the ongoing need to feel safe and the growing desire to travel differently - and planning for the next crisis will be essential for governments, destinations, and tourism businesses to succeed in the efforts to keep the world travelling.

UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

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About UN Tourism

UN Tourism’s leadership vision acknowledges the most pressing challenges facing tourism and identifies the sector’s ability to overcome them and to drive wider positive change, including the opportunities responsible tourism offers for the advancement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

UN Tourism members have endorsed the Management Vision of the Secretary-General which seeks to position tourism as a policy priority, lead in knowledge creation, enhance the Organization’s capacity through building new and stronger partnerships , and offer better value for existing Members while also expanding membership.

To realize the Management Vision, UN Tourism’s work is based around five distinct pillars:

• making tourism smarter through celebrating innovation and leading the digital transformation of the sector;
• making tourism more competitive at every level through promoting investment and promoting entrepreneurship;
• creating more and better jobs and providing relevant training;
• building resilience and promoting safe and seamless travel; and
• harnessing tourism’s unique potential to protect cultural and natural heritage and to support communities both economically and socially.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide. 

UN Tourism encourages the implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism , to maximize tourism’s socio-economic contribution while minimizing its possible negative impacts, and is committed to promoting tourism as an instrument in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) , geared towards reducing poverty and fostering sustainable development worldwide.

UN Tourism generates market knowledge, promotes competitive and sustainable tourism policies and instruments, fosters tourism education and training, and works to make tourism an effective tool for development through technical assistance projects in over 100 countries around the world. 

UN Tourism’s membership includes 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members and over 500 Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.

Basic Documents

Our management.

The management team works towards a comprehensive vision for development of the tourism sector. This includes positioning tourism as a policy priority, establishing thought leadership in knowledge and policy creation, increasing resources and strengthening UN Tourism’s capacity through meaningful partnerships.

Governing Bodies

 The bodies of the World Tourism Organization are the:

• General Assembly
• Regional Commissions
• Executive Council
• Secretariat

Member States

An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers

Working With the Private Sector

Bringing together over 500 companies, educational and research institutions, destinations and NGOs, the UN Tourism Affiliate Members provides a space for members to engage in dialogue, share information and take further action.

UN Tourism Liaison Office in Geneva

As part of the UN Tourism Geneva Liaison Office (GVLO) scope of work to represent UN Tourism to the UN System and Diplomatic Missions in Geneva and in building strategic partnerships for increased capacity, GVLO has participated in numerous United Nations System led activities.

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UN Tourism’s Ambassadors for Sustainable Tourism are drawn from the worlds of sport, entertainment, business, gastronomy and more.

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Conversations with Tourism Leaders

Conversations with Tourism Leaders  about progress in Responsible Tourism and the  Platform for Change

Jane Ashton,  Sustainability Director, easyJet In conversation with Jane Ashton, Sustainability Director, at easyJet about the promise of hydrogen.  video

Martin Brackenbury,  previously President IFTO and UNWTO The conversation ranged over previous experiences of avian flu, MERS & SARS and how the travel and tourism industry learns to live with Covid   video

John Coplin , FRAE, RB211 aero-engine Chief Designer, then Director of Technology and Design at Rolls Royce John speaks with passion about why tourism matters and argues that the engineers need to be funded to make the transition to hydrogen, it needs to happen faster across the world in the next ten years.  video

Shannon Guihan,   Chief TreadRight & Sustainability Officer for The Travel Corporation Shannon interviews Harold Goodwin about the Platform for Change  video

Inge Huijbrechts , Global Sustainability & Security Senior Executive, Radisson Hotels Group We talked about the impact of Covid on hotels, what it has meant for sustainability and what needs to be done to encourage all accommodation owners and operators to adopt sustainability - progress needs to be faster.  video

Clare Jenkinson,  Head of Sustainability at ABTA Trust, Covid as a catalyst for change and developments amongst travel agents and tour operators  video

Chris Lyle,  International Aviation Policy Consultant Chris argues that responsibility for overseeing the essential reduction in greenhouse gas emissions should pass from ICAO to UNFCCC.  Aviation is not progressing rapidly enough to  Net Zero.  video

Eric Ricaute,  Founder & CEO, Greenview Eric talks about the pressure from the banks and investors to ensure that new hotels and reports are sustainable, the wave of change and hints at a new tool soon to be launched to measure Net Zero.  video

John Sage , President at Accessible Travel Solutions John describes the processes that tourism businesses and destinations need to use to become more inclusive and cater for people with disabilities and we talk about why it matters.  video

Becca Samson,  Sustainability & CSR Lead at Booking.com We talk about the continuing growth in consumer demand for sustainable tourism and about what Booking.com is doing on its platform to enable consumers to find sustainable product and purchase it.  video

James Thornton,  CEO, Intrepid Travel We talk about what Intrepid is doing, its willingness to share the sustainability tools it has developed and the importance of sustainability going mainstream in our sector.  video

Garry Wilson,  CEO, easyJet holidays Garry talks about his ambition at easyJet to create mainstream Responsible Tousim holidays and his enthusiasm for hydrogen.   video

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On Being A Great Tourism CEO and Industry Leader

By feature writer Dr. Peter Tarlow

Many people outside of the tourism industry tend to think of tourism and travel as an ongoing never-ending party. Yet anyone who has ever worked in the world's largest peacetime industry knows that travel and tourism professionals spend long hours at work and that travel and tourism works to a great extent like any other large corporation.  Just as in other businesses tourism and travel professionals need to deal with budgets, have to justify lost opportunities and must overcome the issue of spoilage.  The loss of revenue from an unsold airline seat or hotel room can never be recaptured.  Travel and tourism executives have other problems that CEOs or leaders in other industries do not have.

Because Travel and Tourism are composite industries, the head of a Convention and Visitor Bureau (as they are known in the USA) or Office of Tourism as they are know in many other countries, cannot simply set policy. S/he is dependent on other executive's goodwill and willingness to cooperate.  Poor customer service in one part of the tourism system reflects not only on that component but also on the entire travel and tourism system.  At other times, travel and tourism executives must deal with challenges over which they have little or no control.

Finally, travel and tourism executives are not necessarily beholden to their shareholders or even to people who understand the industry.  In many cases politicians and others outside of the tourism industry become involved in tourism decisions. Thus tourism industry executives may be fired for reasons beyond that person's control or tend to be stay in place long after their corporate usefulness has expired.   To help you to be the best travel and tourism executive possible, Tourism Tidbits offers the following suggestions.

• Ask yourself some hard and basic questions.   Often mistakes are made when we ask the wrong questions. The old computer science adage: garbage-in/garbage out could not be more accurate.  Questions to ask include:  What am I the CEO or tourism executive over?  How much control do I really have?  Exactly what is our business?  Who participates in this business?  Who are my allies?  Where do my challenges lie?  Finally, ask yourself if I never showed up at work who really would miss me?
• Remember that a CEO or tourism leader (executive) wears many hats.   There is no one successful leadership style for tourism industry leaders, because each tourism industry or component industry has unique and special circumstances.  Nevertheless all tourism executives should consider a mixture of the following; show leadership.
• If the CEO has no sense of direction those under him/her will soon break apart. It is clearly the tourism executives' role to know where s/he is taking the industry and demonstrate that s/he is in command,
• Shake things up.   A good tourism executive is aware that travel and tourism are dynamic industries. Re-invent yourself and your industry on a regular basis. Never be satisfied with where you are, especially with your market share.
• Coach others and prepare others to take over the reigns of command.   The old adage that the best way to learn (or see an error) is by teaching others still holds true.  Develop a cadre of disciples who at some point will be able to take your industry to a new level.
• Remember that an executive in travel and tourism must be both a care giver and a boss.   It Is not easy to combine the two, but employees tend to provide better customer service when they know that those at the top care about them and not just the bottom line. Tourism executives need to know how to maintain their sense of mission and dignity and at the same time demonstrate that they care about those who work in their industry.
• Time is both your ally and your enemy, be prepared!   How we use time often determines our rate of success.  Time management may be the most difficult and important part of tourism executive leadership.  Because tourism and travel are component and service industries there will always be periods when time usage is out of the executive's control. It is for this reason that tourism executives use the parts of their day that they control both wisely and efficiently.  When planning one's day prioritize, what can wait for later and what must be done now!? Then ask what feelings you need to engender during the day.  Ask yourself what subconscious messages you are giving others by the way that you spend your time.  It is a mistake to assume that those working under your command do not tend to mimic the way that you spend your time.
• Know who you are and how you got to where you are.   No CEO or tourism executive can be successful if s/he does not first have a sense of self.  Are you a compulsive person or hang-loose?  Do you need to control others?  What are the quirks in other people that upset you?  Then teach yourself to listen to your intuition.  Often we commit errors by allowing others to talk us into doing what we know is wrong.  On the other hand make sure that you look at all of your options before making a decision.   Note that there is a difference between listening to your intuition after having studied the options and simply jumping to conclusions.   Finally what will the consequences of your decision be? Who will be hurt and who will benefit?  When you look back at what you did, will you be happy?
• When working with others in your office, make sure that you can answer key questions. Why are your appointing the person to the job?  Have you given X person his/her position because you trust that person, because that person is capable, because your want to send a message about your vision to others or merely because the person is a friend?  Are you trying to replicate yourself or do you seek people who can compensate for your weaknesses?  No one on your team is perfect, but knowing why you chose X person for Y job allows you to evaluate both success and failures.  Remember all CEOs and tourism executives are also human beings, all have flaws and all will someday depart the stage.
• Know when to get off the stage while others still want more.    The hardest thing in life is timing.  A successful CEO or tourism executive knows when to come on the stage and when to depart.  Remember that you are working not only for the present but also for your legacy for years to come.

About the Author

Dr. Peter E. Tarlow is president of Tourism & More and a well-known speaker throughout the world on topics of importance to the tourism and hotel industry. He also is the writer and editor or the free tourism e-newsletter Tourism Tidbits. Tarlow can be reached at [email protected] .

Published with the kind permission of the author.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, transformational leadership in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Entrepreneurial Opportunities

ISBN : 978-1-83909-286-2 , eISBN : 978-1-83909-285-5

Publication date: 2 March 2020

The hospitality and tourism industry is highly labor-intensive. It is constituted by a fast-paced, dynamic, unpredictable and unstable operating environment that requires an extraordinary leadership ability, and leaders may need to adopt a transformational leadership style. A plethora of theoretical and empirical studies have shown the importance of transformational leadership. However, there is still much to be learned. Meanwhile, no study to date has measured the relationship between transformational leadership, job involvement, and job satisfaction among employees in the hospitality and tourism industry in New Zealand. This study expands our understanding of transformational leadership in the specific context of hospitality and tourism.

• Transformational leadership
• Transactional leadership
• Job involvement
• Job satisfaction
• Hospitality and tourism industry
• Idealized influence
• Inspirational motivation
• Intellectual stimulation
• Individualized consideration

Vargas-Sevalle, L. , Karami, M. and Spector, S. (2020), "Transformational Leadership in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry", Ratten, V. (Ed.) Entrepreneurial Opportunities , Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 73-97. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-285-520201007

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3 Top Tourism Leadership & Management Tips with Executive Coach Sabrina Braham | Travel Business Success Podcast 57

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Do you think you know the top 3 business skills guaranteed to increase your travel, tour or hospitality business success?  I bet you will be surprised….

** Sabrina Braham MA PCC ** Tourism Leadership Coach

Listen today and learn the same skills that great business leaders use like Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, Warren Buffett, richest businessman in the world, Howard Schultz and Chip Conley, global head of hospitality and strategy for Airbnb.

According to top research, your ability to clearly envision your business (dream, purpose, plan, scope), communicate it and enroll your team (including vendors, suppliers, partners, stakeholders), is a best practice of the most successful and profitable businesses in the world.

Can you relate to this?

I hate to say it, your abilities (or lack of them) to manage and lead others, (especially yourself) is part of the 3 top reasons why travel and hospitality businesses and careers struggle or fail…

Good news. You can learn to communicate, lead and manage yourself and others better.

In this issue of Travel Business Success Radio, I interviewed Fortune 1000 executive coach (and my wife) Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC (Professional Certified Coach) on top tourism leadership and management tips you can put to use right now.

All the brilliant travel marketing in the world (and you know I LOVE Marketing), will not help you, if don’t follow these 3 simple leadership and management tips Sabrina shares during this short fun video interview.

Tourism Leadership & Management Topics Include:

• Customer Service
• Leadership Development
• Problem Solving
• Conflict resolution
• Core Values
• Strategic Alignment
• Operational Systems
• Emotional Intelligence
• Communications
• How to Get Promoted

Tourism Leadership “Soft Skills”

These tourism leadership “soft skills ” are a muscle in your brain you can develop. Invest in your abilities to vision with clarity, empower others and grow yourself. It will help you go far – guaranteed!

Thank You Fellow Travel and Hospitality Professionals

Thank you for forwarding this tourism leadership and management podcast and link to others, “Liking” and commenting in Facebook, tweeting and sharing in other social networks and groups. Please use the links above and below this post to share.

Please post your travel business, marketing, sales, social media, management and operations and strategic planning comments and questions below.

Let me know in the comments box below what you think of this one on one interview format.

Also let us know other “Soft Skills” you would like to learn from Sabrina, me and other top gun organization development (OD) and entrepreneurs I know.

Comments (02)

What a wonderful podcast. I truly enjoyed listening to you with Sabrina on this topic. I definitely think you should do more!! I truly liked the suggestion about a future podcast on “dealing with constructive criticism.” This is something I struggled with early in our business years. I did finally work to “not take it personally” but, sure could have used some of that advice early on.

Great advice. I totally agree with getting feedback and actually working to improve. At no time are we 100%, there is always room to improve. We work closely with our suppliers and employees to see what is important to them in making a “happier” summer season. You are so right on with this advice!

The hardest lesson to learn, is to listen. I am trying but, love to talk. 🙂 Any extra tips in this area will be welcome.

A final note, this is the first time I listened to you and your wife, I now understand. You compliment each other so well. What a team! Do more of these!!

Thanks Doreen for your great comments and accolades. Coming from you means a lot to us both. Thank you!

After over 27 years consulting with tourism project worldwide to help them start, grow or sell their tourism business, it’s clear to me that it is the “Soft skills” of the leaders, management and staff that make a HUGE difference. We are talking not only sales, revenues and profits, but the more important intangibles on happiness, less stress, more referrals and a big difference in exit opportunities for founders.

I will connect with Sabrina soon for some more Travel Business Success podcasts on communications, listening, leadership and how to deal with constructive criticism. 🙂

Thanks in advance for sharing this podcast. Also I would really appreciate you giving it a 5-star review in iTunes. This really helps me and other tourism professionals worldwide find and prosper from the advice, insights and interviews.

To your continued success, Tourism Tim PS How about we do another podcast interview soon on your progress and insights in the last year on your Alaskan Tour business soon?

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Global tourism industry - statistics & facts

What are the leading global tourism destinations, digitalization of the global tourism industry, how important is sustainable tourism, key insights.

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Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide 2019-2033

Number of international tourist arrivals worldwide 1950-2023

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Leading global travel markets by travel and tourism contribution to GDP 2019-2022

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4 Leadership Traits for Hospitality and Tourism Careers

Becoming a strong leader is one of the most effective ways to demonstrate your unique value and dedication as a professional in this dynamic field.

While certain individuals appear to be born leaders, most people need to develop and nurture leadership skills throughout their careers.

Practice honing these 4 qualities to strengthen your leadership skills.

1. Adaptability 

Adaptable leaders are not afraid to get their hands dirty. Individuals who can adjust to change possess great people skills and poise under pressure.

Flexible hospitality and tourism professionals are ready to tackle any task at hand, including responding to a weary traveler’s demands or completing a team checklist.

2. Team-Oriented 

Being a team player is an essential trait to develop as an individual in the hospitality and tourism industry. Team players work constructively with everyone in the business, from employees and coworkers to managers, customers, and guests. They create weekly schedules to staff the hotel or event, and they resolve conflicts between employees should they arise.

A team leader is a positive force all the time—when profits are high and when cash flow is tight. Knowing what strengths are essential to company performance helps team players make valuable use of time and resources. In fact, CEO of Zipline Logistics, Walter Lynch, told Business News Daily that leaders "need to be genuinely interested in growing the skills of others, not just in delegating tasks or managing processes." 1

Likewise, when team members need reassurance, guidance or additional support, an exemplary team player is there to offer assistance, trust, and clear communication.

3. Entrepreneurial

Not every person with an entrepreneurial mindset is a business owner. Entrepreneurs come in all shapes, sizes, and ranges of abilities. They have different strengths and weaknesses, but there are a few common ways most entrepreneurs think and act in order to become successful leaders.

First, entrepreneurs seek out new opportunities. Whether they are working toward a manager’s position or they’re starting a new career from scratch, entrepreneurs have a clear vision of the future they want.

Most importantly, entrepreneurs take ownership of outcomes. Good, bad, and everything in between—entrepreneurs step up to the plate when it comes to scheduling preventative maintenance on a property or resolving a shortage of housekeeping supplies.

4. Passionate

Finally, to keep growing and improving, leaders in hospitality and tourism management must be passionate about what they do each day. Passion takes the form of energy, excitement, kindness, and other characteristics that will make a difference for you and your guests or clients.

It’s important to remember it takes practice and commitment to become an effective leader. "Becoming a leader is a marathon and not a sprint. It takes time and effort to develop effective leadership skills," 2 Lynch says.

Choosing a career in hospitality and tourism is an excellent opportunity for business-minded leaders and customer-focused professionals to showcase their strengths. By starting your future at Ohio Business College, you can take your career further in this highly competitive, fast-paced industry.

OBC’s Business Administration: Marketing and Tourism associate degree gives you a head start into this exciting career field with the necessary leadership skills, knowledge, and hands-on expertise employers look for. Learn more about OBC’s associate degree in marketing and tourism.

1–2 BusinessNewsDaily.com. “3 Important Things to Teach Your Future Leaders.” Accessed July 17, 2017. http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5818-leadership-training.html .

Sustainability Leaders United

About sustainability leaders united.

Sustainability Leaders United celebrates and connects sustainable tourism impact makers. Through our interviews we give changemakers an opportunity to share their success strategies, dreams and ambitions. Our destination showcases put a spotlight on best practices around the world.

The project was founded in New Zealand back in 2014, by Florian Kaefer  and  Natàlia Ferrer Roca . The motivation was – and still is – to encourage tourism professionals to embrace sustainability and to inspire you to make tourism more resilient and better for communities and the natural environment.

Now based in Switzerland, Florian continues to develop and manage SLU as a private initiative, supported by collaborators around the world – most notably Supriya AN , our social media ninja.

In mid-2022 “Sustainability Leaders United” was born  – replacing “Sustainability Leaders Project” alongside a complete redesign of the website, attributed to the project’s growing success.

In early 2024 we published our first Sustainability Leaders Yearbook – and hit the 10,000 followers mark on LinkedIn .

Testimonials

Steve Noakes

Karma Tshering

Palitha Gurusinghe

Ary Suhandi

James Crockett

Jonathon Day

Anna Alaman

Kathleen Pessolano

The Bahamas

Theodota Nantsou

Amran Hamzah, Ph.D

Shannon Stowell

Peter de Wilde

Greater bruxelles area.

Eduardo Santander

Les Carlisle

South africa, join partner network.

Sustainability Leaders United is transforming businesses and communities by inspiring professionals through stories and examples, and by transferring knowledge and ideas across borders and disciplinary boundaries.

Let’s connect:

Contact us with your question or idea – or  follow our highly engaged community on LinkedIn .

"Sustainability Leaders United has been a fantastic way of connecting with organizations seeking insights into sustainable tourism and hospitality. Florian and the team provide professional vetting to ensure the best possible fit between event organizers and speakers. The process creates a win-win for organizations and speakers: I am able to add value for event organizers through tailored presentations while advancing my mission of promoting the importance of sustainability in the tourism system."

Dr Jonathon Day

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Local News | Berks visitors bureau hires new leader to help…

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Local news | berks visitors bureau hires new leader to help boost tourism, heather zimmerman, who last served as executive director of the kutztown folk festival, begins may 20 as president and ceo..

The Reading and Berks County Visitors Bureau has chosen a new leader to replace its longtime president, the nonprofit announced Thursday.

Heather Zimmerman of West Lawn, who last served as executive director of the Kutztown Folk Festival, begins May 20 as president and CEO.

The bureau, which does business under the name Pennsylvania’s Americana Region, works to increase tourism in Berks and that will be Zimmerman’s primary focus, officials said.

“Heather has extensive knowledge about the industry, and we look forward to working with her as we continue to promote the outstanding features of Berks County,” said  Cathy Wegener, board president.

Since 2003 the bureau has been led by President and CEO Crystal Seitz, who will transition into retirement over the next several months.

Zimmerman is a Berks native and a graduate of Kutztown University with a background in hospitality and tourism.

She said that through social media and digital marketing the bureau is now able to reach more people in more places than it once could have dreamed of, which helps bring more visitors to Berks.

Part of what makes the county stand out, she said, is its diversity of attractions, events and businesses. That means it has something to draw tourists of all types, including those who live here, she said.

“We run the gamut here,” she said.

For the visitors bureau she will implement the organization’s strategic plan, develop opportunities that advance its goals, oversee daily operations and strive to advance the role of tourism in Berks through advocacy, community awareness and relationship building, bureau officials said.

In essence, she will work to grow tourism in the area, they said.

“I am excited to continue the hard work of Crystal and her team and find new ways to develop and promote tourism in our area,” Zimmerman said. “I look forward to introducing visitors to all we have right here in our backyard.”

A state report studying travel and tourism spending across Pennsylvania in 2022 showed that visitors’ direct spending in Berks reached $983.2 million that year, surpassing 2019’s pre-COVID-19 spending by 15% and far surpassing the amount spent during the pandemic years.

In addition, hospitality-related jobs in Berks grew to 6,550 in 2022 from 5,970 in 2021, and labor income rose to $228.4 million from $205.5 million during the same period.

In her most recent position, Zimmerman helped revitalize the Kutztown Folk Festival with new vendors, rebranding, new marketing materials and a new website, visitors bureau officials said. Under her direction, USA Today ranked the nine-day celebration as one of North America’s top cultural festivals in 2023 and 2024.

Zimmerman also has hotel experience, having served as director of sales and operations of the Hampton Inn & Suites, Kutztown, which she helped open in 2019. Before that, she was the area manager of two local hotels for more than eleven years.

She is on the bureau’s board, is the former board chair of Penn State Berks’ Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Management Advisory Committee and a former board member of the Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce.

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2024 WTMA Responsible Tourism Awards recognise and honour sustainability leaders

T he recent Africa Travel Week 2024, which took place from 7 to 12 April in Cape Town at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) saw Bangu Masisi from Transfrontier Parks Destinations unveil the recipients of the prestigious World Travel Market Africa (WTMA) Responsible Tourism Awards. These awards recognise businesses and initiatives that are making a positive impact through responsible tourism practices.

"These awards are integral to WTM Africa's responsible tourism programme, and spotlighting those that have truly made a difference is important for the encouragement of others to do the same," said Masisi.

Alderman James Vos opened the awards ceremony, congratulating the winners and emphasising the importance of sustainable business practices in the tourism industry. "When it comes to sustainable business practices, let's keep pushing those boundaries," said Vos.

The 2024 awards included six categories, with gold and silver winners presented with trophies created by Ngwenya Glass, five of eight global winners came from Africa in the Global Responsible Tourism Awards in 2023.

Harold Goodwin, WTM Africa's responsible tourism advisor and one of the judges, said, "Congratulations to the winners. I am also very excited about those acknowledged as 'ones to watch' in the awards. Those are often new ideas from new people, and it's very exciting to see these businesses come to the fore."

The winners of the World Travel Market Africa (WTMA) Responsible Tourism Awards 2024 are:

1. Nature positive

Gold: Denis Private Island – Seychelles

Denis Private Island was recognised for its holistic approach to sustainable tourism, which prioritises the restoration and conservation of the island's natural habitats and wildlife. The eco-lodge's operations fund this work and are driven by the owners' deep commitment to the Seychelles' environmental heritage.

Silver: !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre – South Africa

One to Watch: HBD Príncipe - São Tomé and Príncipe

One to Watch: Plett Ocean – South Africa

2. Employing and upskilling local communities

Gold: Grootbos Lodge & the Green Futures College – South Africa

The Grootbos Foundation won a Responsible Tourism Award for leveraging tourism to drive sustainable development. Funded by the business and donors, the foundation has provided training to over 200 graduates, entrepreneurship support to nearly 1,000 individuals, and empowered female biodiversity stewards. These initiatives demonstrate the foundation's commitment to investing in local communities and conserving the unique fynbos ecosystem.

Silver: Save Wildlife - Uganda

One to Watch: Matoke Tours – Uganda

One to Watch HBD: Príncipe - São Tomé and Príncipe

3. Making travel inclusive

Gold: Warrior on Wheels Foundation – South Africa

Warrior on Wheels won a Responsible Tourism Award for its work providing empowering sport and adventure experiences for children with disabilities, changing perceptions and bridging gaps between able-bodied and differently-abled communities. As a not-for-profit reliant on sponsorships and partnerships, Warrior on Wheels has hosted over 89 experiences for more than 100 families since its founding eight years ago.

One to Watch: Bontel Adventures – Kenya

4. Increasing local sourcing - creating shared valued

Gold: Okavango Gin

Okavango Gin won a Responsible Tourism Award for its sustainable and community-focused practices. The gin uses locally sourced ingredients, is distilled off-grid, and incorporates recycled materials - creating an authentic product that supports the local economy. The company's innovative approach has driven 75% revenue growth and now employs six people directly, with additional jobs in the supply chain. The judges were impressed by how Okavango Gin captures the essence of the Okavango Delta while delivering a positive impact.

Silver: Muhabura Cultural Experience and Craft Centre – Uganda

5. What are you doing about climate change?

Gold: Ecodrop – Zimbabwe

Ecodrop won a Responsible Tourism Award for its innovative solution to eliminate single-use plastic bottles in Southern Africa's tourism sector. Ecodrop provides reverse osmosis water dispensers and reusable bottles, removing over 72,000 plastic bottles at Victoria Falls in just ten months. The judges were impressed by Ecodrop's scalable, destination-level system that reduces waste and petroleum demand, showcasing the viability of this model in tackling plastic pollution in tourism.

Silver: Century City Conference Centre – South Africa

One to Watch: Sunsail and The Moorings

6. Championing cultural diversity

Gold: Trip to Help - Kenya & Tanzania

Trip to Help, a travel agency in East and North Africa, won a responsible tourism award for its sustainable and ethical practices. The company's mission is to "Travel Consciously, Sustainably and Fairly," offering experiences that benefit local communities. Trip to Help ensures 80% of payments go directly to the local economy, and the people they work with earn a living wage. The company also supports over 3,000 children's access to free education, including English lessons, in Maasai areas, contributing to its industry recognition.

Silver: Traditional African Homestays - South Africa

One to Watch: Come Make We Go – Nigeria

One to Watch: Cultural Oneness Festival Ghana

The Gold winners in the WTM Africa Responsible Tourism Awards being presented here now are automatically entered into the Sabre Global Responsible Tourism Awards.

Senators approve former Honolulu mayor as Hawaii Tourism Authority board chair

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Hawaii Tourism Authority board has a new leader.

Tuesday, the state Senate voted to approve former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hanneman as HTA’s board chair.

He’ll now lead the 12-member board as they oversee how the agency spends its budget.

The Senate also confirmed Blaine Miyasato to HTA’s board.

He stepped down as chairman in December.

Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

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Tourism, business leaders anticipate boost from 50 Cent and his projects

By Chelsie Burroughs

Click here for updates on this story

    SHREVEPORT ( KTBS ) — Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson got a lot accomplished during his two days in Shreveport.

Thursday, he and city officials made his lease of G-Unit Studios officials with an afternoon signing ceremony, followed by a welcome party. Friday, the hip-hop mogul had meetings with key business owners and downtown leaders about not only bringing movies to the city but other businesses as well.

Jackson said it’s important for him to build a relationship with the city to help make it a success. He’s not just about G-Unit Studios, and he has no plans to compete with existing businesses. Instead, he wants to bring in more businesses.

“There’s so many cool opportunities here that I’m looking at. I’m not looking to put competitors right next to each other. I’m like, no this business is already there we don’t need to do that. We want something different. A lot of people when they come out want to enjoy the nightlife,” said Jackson.

And he wants to be a part of transforming Shreveport’s nightlife. Jackson is already looking at buildings to buy in downtown Shreveport.

Visit Shreveport-Bossier President Stacy Brown says 50 Cent will have an economic impact on the downtown area.

“This can have a really a rollover effect in our economy, not only for the individuals that come here in the film industry but those that want to come visit and see what’s happening in the film industry,” said Brown.

Like many other business owners, Ryan Williams believes this will benefit entrepreneurs in many ways.

“I think any time someone wants to invest in your community, it’s a good thing. I think that’s amazing. Along with all the rest of things we have coming into town. I think that this is just a part of a bigger picture,” said Williams.

As for 50 Cent, he says he is glad the community has welcomed him with open arms. The music mogul is excited about his future in Shreveport.

“Well, it’s really been great. Like, they welcomed me with open arms. So, I’m excited. My ideas for the film studios and stuff like that are already in motion so it’s going in a way that I feel really good about. It’s an amazing accomplishment for me,” said Jackson.

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Maui fires caused countless dollars in damage. Now, Hawaii lawmakers grapple with the bill

The good news: Hawaii's House and Senate leaders hammered out an agreement on the draft of the state budget bill costing $19.2 billion for the fiscal year 2024-2025 this week. But lawmakers are racing against the clock to pass crucial legislation including the ongoing costs of Maui's wildfire response and how to best tackle AI-generated political ads by next Friday, May 3

Nearly 300 bills remain in conference committees, with less than half receiving hearings. These committees, comprising members from both the House and Senate, are tasked with reconciling differences on bills that passed both chambers but with varying amendments.

But which bills are among the most pressing, and what could they mean for Hawaii’s future? 

Hawaii’s state budget is a top priority

The Aloha State legislators appear to have reached a tentative agreement that adjusts the previously approved budget for fiscal year 2023 to cover new expenses, such as disaster recovery costs related to the Maui wildfires last August which resulted in 101 deaths and nearly $6 billion in damages . The budget doesn’t include the initially suggested $1 billion for Maui wildfire expenses. Instead, those funds will be handled separately through other bills.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

The appropriations draft does take into consideration wildfire-related expenses and funds essential services and public education for the state. Notable allocations include $6 million for small and remote schools, $2.5 million for workforce readiness programs, and $1.7 million for surveys on social-emotional well-being in schools. Funds are also set aside for teacher training in computer science, trauma-informed care, and various educational programs.

House and Senate leaders highlighted specific agency additions, including funds for insurance and software licenses, meat inspections, and a state rental housing fund. Additionally, significant investments are planned for geothermal energy exploration, rural medical air transport projects, and mapping and assessing wildfire vulnerabilities.

Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, who led the Senate's conference negotiations, said, "The budget bill that we passed today balances the ongoing needs of Maui while also preparing our State for future disasters and working to diversify our economy and workforce to keep our keiki in Hawaii."

Leading the negotiations for the House, Rep. Kyle T. Yamashita recommitted his efforts to ensure disaster relief and social services remain the top priority for the budget. "As we commenced this legislative session, our immediate focus remained to address the Maui wildfire recovery efforts, prioritizing safety and rehabilitation of our communities while ensuring core services for our state were not neglected."

Aside from operational costs, the budget also allocates $4.5 billion for capital improvement projects, with $1.5 billion to be financed through bonds. These projects involve developing infrastructure at airports, highways, harbors, and other state facilities.

More: What is the shaka? Hawaii lawmakers want to officially claim 'hang loose' hand gesture

Campaign & government ethics

Regarding good governance, a pending ethics bill would require legislators to disclose clients who provided over $5,000 in income to the member, their partner, or their employer in the previous year. Additionally, there are bills aiming to limit executive emergency powers and protect public officials’ personal information.

Hawaii’s cost of living crisis

Efforts to tackle Hawaii's rising cost of living have hit significant roadblocks. Initiatives to address the housing crisis, including raising loan limits for direct loans from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, granting more zoning powers to counties, and permitting residential use in commercial zones, are presently stalled in conference.

Similarly, initiatives intended to alleviate housing shortages on Maui, including a pilot program to accommodate school employees and the establishment of an Interagency Council for Maui Housing Recovery, have made minimal progress.

Of particular concern is a crucial aspect of the governor’s agenda: the proposal to adjust income tax brackets and standard deduction amounts to reflect the rising cost of living and counter the impact of inflation. This proposal has yet to receive a conference hearing.

"As with any budget, difficult decisions must be made, but we are confident that the strategic forward-thinking collaboration between the Legislature and administration ... is proactive in developing a diversified economy and programs to address the needs of our most vulnerable residents," said Dela Cruz.

Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter @JeremyYurow.