Participants’ perception of training programmes in the tourism industry

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to deal mainly with the participants’ perception of their attendance in publicly funded training programmes in the tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach: The investigation is based on e-mail interviews with 12 employees in the Swedish tourism industry who have actively participated in such courses as well as some courses offered by private organisations. Findings: The results show that the interviewees have a positive perception of their participation and they believe that their attendance has had an overall positive impact on them or on their businesses. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether their participation has had an extraordinarily positive impact on business outcomes in terms of subsequent increased turnover, greater productivity or sales, or an expanded customer base. Lack of time and money and the prevalence of unsuitable courses prevent business owners and their employees from attending such courses. Originality/value: This research is the first Swedish qualitative investigation on the issue.