HC Tourism

POCI-01-0145-FEDER-023622

Perfil e Tendências do Capital Humano no Sector do Turismo

This project occurs in the context of the creation of a laboratory of investigation, eTourism & Travel Lab, emerging as an instrument of mobilization, of both teachers and students, for the resolution of specific problems coming up from the scope and the regional relevance and in close collaboration with the regional agents and the business sector. Specifically, this laboratory of tourism aims at the development of products and tourism destinations by using information and communication technologies. In the context of this candidature, this project starts with a first study entitled “Profile and Trends of Human Capital in the Tourism Sector”, being its main objective to identify, understand and develop the profile of the human capital of the tourism sector in Portugal in order to suit the trends of this industry.

Código:02/SAICT/2016

Domínio Científico Principal: Ciências Sociais

Área Científica Principal: Outras Ciências Sociais

PARCERIA:

INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO DO CÁVADO E DO AVE

INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO DE COIMBRA

TURISMO DO PORTO E NORTE DE PORTUGAL, E.R.

INVESTIGADOR RESPONSÁVEL IPC:

ANDREIA FILIPA ANTUNES MOURA (ESEC)

FINANCIAMENTO:

Investimento Elegível: 144.811,55 €

Investimento Elegível IPC: 19.587,20 €

DESCRIÇÃO SUMÁRIA:

The growing importance of the tourism sector in the Portuguese economy is one of the pillars of the economic growth of the country. This sector contributed to 19,7% of the total exports in 2014, to 15,7% of Portuguese GDP, to 337,000 jobs (7,4% of the total employment) and it directly and indirectly contributes to a total of 831,500 jobs (18,4% of the economically active Portuguese population) (WTTC, 2016).

Being an industry of people, it directly depends on the performance of activities, on skills, professionalism, quality and competitiveness, so it is essential to answer with precise planning politics which should be the most approximated ones to the real needs of the sector.

The tourism industry includes a variety of businesses, offers different ways of tourist experiences, provides diversity of supply services for the tourists. In addition, the enterprises are mainly micro ones, consisting of a small number of workers, therefore the talent of the human capital in this sector emerges as a significantly bigger challenge than the one faced in all sectors. According to WTTC (2015) there is a shortfall of 14 million jobs in the sector but the level of schooling reveals lower levels, mainly accounting for unskilled labour. So, in the context of eTourism Travel Lab”, this project proposes the development of its first study, entitled as “Profile and Trends of Human Capital in the Tourism Sector?, in coordination with the involved entities. It aims to identify future trends of human capital as well as to identify, understand and develop the profile of the human capital concerning both the technical and the higher graduate professionals of the tourism sector, by taking into account the specific needs of the current business sector in the Portuguese tourism sector.

The profile to develop will specifically focus on the technical skills and knowledge identified by part of the business sector, all the stakeholders identified in the tourism sector, thus providing a relationship between polytechnic institutions networks and the social and the productive sector, facilitating knowledge transfer routines and qualified human resources.

This investigation, which is meant to be solid and credible, must include a thorough review of reliable documentation and conduct its research in a methodical way by basing its research proposals on an explicit set of tests (Yin, 2011). In addition to a thorough literature review and collection of secondary data, at the same time, it intends to invest in the collection of the primary data through field research. The investigation will specifically focus on the sample of the business sector of the region under investigation, covering the North (data collection by IPCA), the Central Region (IPC data collection) and the South Region (collection data of UAlg).

Período de execução:

Data de início: 01/04/2017

Data de termo: 30/09/2018

Localização:

Norte: 86,47%

Centro: 13,53%