Promoting Sustainable Tourism Through Employee Skills: Contextualizing Quality Education and the Human Resource Management Perspective (SDG-4)

This research sought to establish the interdependent relationship between various factors concerning employee skills and sustainable tourism with the goal of achieving the targets set under the SDG-4. In this study, the soft and hard skills related to employability skills were the independent variables whereas sustainable tourism development was the dependent variable. The primary data were collected from 253 industry experts, including tour operators, hotel managers, travel agents, and destination marketers, offering significant perspectives on the operational intricacies and difficulties encountered within the tourism sector. Further, this research explored the importance of these factors using importance performance map analysis (IPMA). A measurement model was developed from the respondents specialized in the field of tourism. This research utilized statistical methodologies to assess the significance of various employee skills in promoting sustainable tourism. These findings demonstrate the significant impact of interpersonal, communication, competence, problem solving, and technological skills in promoting sustainable tourism. Further, it was found that competence skills had the highest importance and success in promoting sustainable tourism. These findings have significant implications for managers and stakeholders, encompassing strategic insights into workforce training, technological integration, and sustainability practices. Educational institutions should prioritize training programs that enhance the interpersonal, communication, competence, problem solving, and technology skills of their students to fulfill SDG-4. By investing in the development of these skills, educational institutions can develop a more adaptable and skilled workforce capable of promoting sustainable tourism. Novelty stems from this study's comprehensive investigation of both soft and hard skills, yielding a holistic understanding of their collective influence. This study contributes to existing knowledge by examining the relationships between skill set requirements and the educational setup in the context of the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia.