Status and Prospects of Human Potential in Tourism and Hospitality: Strategic Analysis

The national Tourism and Hospitality project aims to reach 140 million domestic and inbound tourists by 2035. In this respect, providing high-quality services to such numbers of customers requires a talent pool of service providers with relevant skills and interdisciplinary knowledge. The industry experiences a shortage of personnel at all levels, and the gap between demand and supply is exacerbated by the lack of specialized academic institutions, the outdated training programs, the gap between academic education and market needs, and the poor salary prospects. This article identifies the systemic challenges that can only be solved by implementing a strategic approach to developing human resources for local tourism. The research featured the labor potential and capital in the tourism industry, as well as the system of socio-economic relations between industry workers, tourism enterprises, government officials, and education institutions that form the industry’s talent pool. The author identified the key threats to the sustainable development, specified the optimal approaches to the strategic development of personnel training in higher and vocational education, and highlighted the relevant qualification requirements in the context of digital transformation. The strategic recommendations for the development of tourism qualifications may help the education system to satisfy the current industry challenges in line with global and national trends.