Higher Education Policy Governing the Future Vocational Skills Development in the Hospitality Sector—An Example from Ireland

Abstract

While tourism figures are set to increase worldwide, there exists a palpable skills shortage in the broader tourism and hospitality industry at all levels. Nevertheless, most governments appear to be slow to address this skills shortage at a strategic policy level. Using the Irish context as an example, this paper aims to evaluate government higher education (HE) policy responses to skills shortages in other sectors such as the medical devices and ICT sectors and to assess whether and to what extent these could be applied to the hospitality and tourism (H&T) sector. The lessons learned from the Irish example can also be applied to other countries that experience a significant growth in tourist numbers and that are faced with similar skills shortages.