Human Resource Development in Tourism Industry

Tourism has emerged as an important socioeconomic activity. It is an important international industry and a leading economic driver of the 21st century service sector. Human Resource Development (HRD) is central to the sustainability-oriented tourism development initiative. It has been observed that over the years, there has been a change in the demand and supply pattern of human resources for the travel industry, with the demand in favor of more educated and specialized personnel. However, the development of human resources in tourism is subject to a number of obstacles, and is severely lagging in terms of professionalism. There is no evidence of any kind of HRD approach being followed by the tour operators/travel agencies. Skill shortage within the industry is an outcome of short-term management and lack of investment in people. The tourism workforce appears to be "uneducated, unmotivated, untrained, unskilled and unproductive". Thus, there is a need to enhance the image of the industry personnel through standard human resource management and development practices, which require the cooperation of the people involved in the tourism business. In this Paper an effort has been made to shed light on problems and challenges of HRD in the tourism industry in India