An Explanatory Analysis of the Possible Solutions to the Shortage of Skilled Professionals in the Hospitality and Gastronomy Industry.

Abstract

The shortage of skilled professionals is one of the biggest challenges facing the hotel and gastronomy industry today. It is becoming increasingly difficult for companies in the industry to recruit suitably skilled professionals (DEHOGA, 2019). At the same time, the industry is showing a general growth. 1.4 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded in 2018, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe in 2018 was 713 million with an increase of 6% compared to 2017(UNWTO, 2019). The topic of this dissertation is the shortage of skilled professionals in the hotel and gastronomy industry. In particular, the reasons for the shortage of skilled professionals and the potential solutions are discussed. The work aims to present a clear understanding of the hotel and gastronomy industry concerning the causes of the shortage of skilled professionals, to present a series of practical solutions to counteract the shortage of skilled professionals, to evaluate the practical solution approaches and to make recommendations to the industry. In order to achieve these objectives and to give structure to the research, the following two research questions have been proposed: 1. How can the problem of the acute shortage of skilled professionals in the hotel and gastronomy industry be evaluated and what are possible reasons? 2. What concrete solution approaches do exist to effectively address the current shortage of skilled professionals in the hotel and gastronomy industry and how can they be deepened and put into practice? Twelve semi-structured interviews have been conducted as part of the primary data research. The entire research process, as well as the data analysis, use individual elements of the Grounded Theory. The interview was conducted with industry experts from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy from different departments and levels of hierarchy. This research contributes to the existing literature by proposing possible solution approaches, which can be useful for the industry itself as well as for further research.