Apresenta

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Inofor Institute for Innovation in Training
INOFOR SKILLS TRENDS AND TRAINING NEEDS IN
PORTUGALS TOURISM SECTOR Teresa
Gaspar Vera Beleza www.inofor.pt
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Inofor Institute for Innovation in Training

• The situation in Portugal
• It is imperative that Portugal has an
  up-to-date, comprehensive knowledge
  infrastructure on the skills that are needed to
  boost the countrys competitiveness and
  employment, just as other European countries (UK,
  France, Spain, Italy, and Nordic countries), the
  US and Canada have.
• INOFOR (a public agency answerable to Portugals
  Ministry for Social Security Labour) was
  charged with undertaking studies and developing
  tools that would help anticipate skills and
  training needs and identify trends.

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
INOFORS project Skills Trends Training Needs
DiagnosisIts purpose

• To identify occupational profiles and forecast
  training needs for each activity sector
• To construct training standards, for each target
  group and in line with national priorities, and
  to develop a national skills repertoire

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Stakeholders

• Training policymakers, training provider
  organisations and trainers, industrial
  associations and trade unions, labour market
  regulators, employers and employees
• Input from all these players is called for at
  different stages (e.g. technical validation of
  training standards) of the studies, because they
  play an important role in the social and economic
  recognition of the system and the skills
  ultimately produced

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
The studies carried out are based on
A social methodology
A technical methodology
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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Social methodology

• The project sets up and develops a knowledge
  network that connects stakeholders, resources
  and activities, and brings together sector and
  occupation related knowledge that is current,
  diversified, and socially and economically
  useful
• enterprises, industrial associations, trade
  unions, occupational associations, educational
  and vocational training establishments,
  technology centres, sector experts, etc.

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Technical methodology

• Demarcation and organisation of the
  Sector/Activity (pinpointing the precise area to
  be studied and organising sub-sectors according
  to different approaches Classification of
  Economic Activities, Clusters, Value Chain,
  Productive Process, type of product end-use, type
  of raw material used, others)
• methods used statistical data, other studies
  on the sector, meetings with specific social
  players

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Technical methodology

• The Sectors socio-economic profile (national and
  international perspectives, analysis of corporate
  strategies relating to markets, products,
  technologies and organisation, leading to
  identification of strategic groups of
  enterprises)
• methods used documentary research analysing
  statistical data interviewing experts meeting
  specific social players selecting enterprises
  for case-study and carrying out case study work
• Analysis of employment and its qualitative and
  quantitative evolution (new jobs increases and
  decreases in occupations changing job content
  and skills), and identification of the main
  influencing factors
• methods used documentary research (employment
  standards, etc.), interviews with specialists
  meetings with specific social players case-study
  interviews

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Technical methodology

• Long-term Sector scenarios
• (10-year forecasts)
• Examining contingencies and variables, and what
  the sector could or should be in the medium-term
  future
• Anticipating corporate and employment behaviour
  in relation to different contexts and specific
  sector variables
• methods used documentary research (sector
  trends...) identifying and interviewing experts
  scenario methodology, etc.

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Technical methodology

• Occupational Profiles
• - Identification and anticipation of skills
  requirements
• - Broadening and enriching profiles
• - Professional mobility, exploring inter-sector
  capacities
• - Forward-looking and dynamic profiles
• methods used empirical analysis of occupations
  appraisal of profiles with sectors social
  partners
• Training needs diagnosis and proposals for
  changes to training provision
• - Attracting and skilling young people
• - Retraining workers
• - Injecting/attracting high value-added skills
• methods used examining currently available VET
  in the light of the occupational profiles
  created.

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Tourism Sector Study
In 2002, INOFORs Skills Trends and Training
Needs Diagnosis project started work on the
Tourism Sector study. The study covered
accommodation, catering, entertainment/attractions
, distribution, etc. and is intended to provide
key referential data on skills identification and
anticipation, as well as a diagnosis of the
sectors training needs.
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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Portugals Tourism Sector
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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Portugals Tourism Sector

• In Accommodation and Catering, we found that no
  major changes had affected the occupations,
  skills and various areas of activity. When
  employee skills changes did exist, they were
  found to be closely associated with the type of
  tourism/product concerned (rural tourism, golf,
  activity, health and fitness, etc...).

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Portugals Tourism Sector

• Major changes were found in the following areas
• 1. Distribution (travel operators), where there
  is a growing tendency to separate travel design
  from travel sales activities, and create holiday
  consultancy departments, and this is impacting on
  workers skills
• - Tourism Operators
• Skills needs in market analysis and mass/tailored
  travel product design
• - Travel Agents
• Skills needs in customer relations, building
  customer loyalty and travel organisation

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Portugals Tourism Sector

• 2. Recreational and Leisure activities
  (important role in offsetting the effects of
  sectors seasonality, enhancing the appeal of
  regions, and diversifying existing products)
• Skills needs in the use of the suppliers
  network and in designing package products, and in
  defining and implementing marketing strategies
  and promoting them in different contexts
  (cultural, sports/activity, casinos, cultural
  spaces, hotel units).

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Portugals Tourism Sector

• 3. Central and Local Administration authorities
  activities ( impact on sector policy-making and
  regulation, and their links with players and
  activities associated, directly or indirectly,
  with the tourism sector)
• - Skill needs in facilitation, promotion,
  territorial marketing, environmental policy,
  history, culture, handicrafts, gastronomy.

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis

• While this study was underway, a Protocol was
  devised for strategic workforce development
  planning for the Tourism Sector.
• Public bodies working in the area of VET (INOFOR,
  DGVC, IEFP, INFTUR, Ministry of Science
  Technology and Higher Education), as well as
  representatives of industrial associations and
  trade unions, were all involved in designing the
  Strategic Plan.

Strategic workforce development planning for the
Tourism Sector
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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Objectives of the Plan

• - To structure training provision in order to
  meet the current and future training needs that
  have been identified for tourism activity
• To sustainably improve workforce skills standards
• To increase transparency and mobility of
  qualifications on the employment market through
  professional certification, based on skills and
  qualification standards.
• An outside consultancy firm, using its own
  interactive learning based methodology, was hired
  to energise and mediate in the process.
  Participative working techniques are applied,
  using individual and group reflection.

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Stages of the Strategic Plan

• The first step in strategic reflection on the
  tourism sector was an appraisal of the current
  situation and training provision (initial and
  continuing, public and private sector training),
  so that a diagnosis could be reached.
• Next, on the basis of the diagnosis, the
  proposals for changes and the identified trends
  (for sector development, ICTs and training
  provision), various strategic options were
  defined, in accordance with what the group had
  decided were priority areas, resulting in a
  3-year and a 10-year strategic vision.
• The process will conclude with the definition of
  action plans by enterprises (currently underway),
  which will be submitted to the different
  government departments (Ministry for Social
  Security and labour, Education Ministry, Ministry
  of the Economy, and Ministry of Science
  Technology and Higher Education).

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Achievements so far
3-year Strategic Vision Some of the broader
needs - Better articulation between relevant
government departments/ministries - Harmonisation
of the training provided by different operators
on the basis of a multiannual action plan (to be
devised) - Widespread use of ICTs achieved using
classroom instruction and online learning -
Development of training standards endorsed by the
system that must be met by all training
operators - Development of sector specific
teaching aids/material - Improved system of
recognition, validation and certification of
academic and vocational skills
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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Achievements so far

• Some specific needs
• Initial training
• - Adoption of Level III as the minimum
  qualification standard
• Maintaining territorial coverage of initial
  training provision, matching it to regional needs
• Continuing training
• - Structuring training provision in line with
  demand and skills, and lessening emphasis on
  generalised training
• - Greater enterprise involvement/responsibility
  in further training and re-training programmes

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Achievements so far

• 10-year Strategic Vision
• Making Level III a prerequisite standard for
  accessing tourism-related occupations
• Articulation of formal and non-formal learning
  in an open and flexible curricular model, which
  allows for mobility between the different
  training systems
• - Development of a skills portfolio for all
  workers in the sector

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Some Tourism indicators for Portugal

• Tourism related activities employ an estimated
  10 of Portugals workforce. Just as in other
  economic activity areas, low skills and academic
  attainment also predominate in the tourism
  sector. Most workers acquire their know-how by
  learning at the workplace.

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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Some Tourism indicators for Portugal
Portugals market share Arrivals of Foreign
Visitors
(source Direcção Geral do Turismo, 2002)
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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Some Tourism indicators for Portugal
Portugals market share Tourism Revenues
(source Direcção Geral do Turismo, 2002)
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Project Skills Trends and Training Needs
Diagnosis
Thank you for your attention!
inofor_at_mail.telepac.ptteresa.gaspar_at_inofor.gov.pt
vera.beleza_at_inofor.gov.pt
www.inofor.pt