Skills Studies Tourism sector 2018

Skills Studies

Tourism sector

2018

Research and Projects

RP 02/18

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Disclaimer: This report is published under the responsibility of the Human Resource Development Council

(HRDC). The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of

HRDC.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. BACKGROUND OF THE SECTOR ........................................................................................... 6

1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................................... 6

1.2 DEFINITION OF THE SECTOR AND SUB-SECTORS ..................................................................... 7

1.3 INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT - WORLD TOURISM TREND ............................................................ 8

1.4 TOURISM'S CONTRIBUTION TO EMPLOYMENT WORLDWIDE ................................................... 9

1.5 Long-term perspective of world tourism .......................................................................................... 10

1.6 TOURISM SECTOR – LOCAL PERSPECTIVE .............................................................................. 11

1.6.1 CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOURISM SECTOR TO THE ECONOMY ............................................ 11

1.6.2 CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOURISM SECTOR TO GDP ............................................................... 12

1.6.3 EMPLOYMENT IN THE TOURISM SECTOR ................................................................................. 12

1.6.4 NUMBER OF HOTELS, ROOMS AND BED PLACES .................................................................... 13

1.6.5 FUTURE TOURIST ARRIVALS ...................................................................................................... 15

1.6.6 TOURISM EARNINGS & EXPENDITURE ...................................................................................... 16

1.7 FUTURE OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN MAURITIUS .............................................................. 17

1.7.1 CRUISES SECTOR ........................................................................................................................ 17

1.8 EDUCATION AND SKILLS LANDSCAPE ....................................................................................... 20

1.8.1 THE GLOBAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS LANDSCAPE ............................................................... 20

1.8.2 THE LOCAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS LANDSCAPE .................................................................. 21

1.9 LINKAGES BETWEEN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEMS AND THE WORKPLACE ........ 25

1.9.1 THE NATIONAL TRAINING FUND .................................................................................................25

1.9.2 SECTORAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT SCHEME (SSDS) ...............................................................27

1.9.3 NATIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (NSDP) .......................................................27

1.9.4 GRADUATE TRAINING FOR EMPLOYMENT SCHEME (GTES) ...................................................29

1.9.5 YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME (YEP) ...............................................................................29

1.9.6 SECTORAL COMMITTEE FOR THE TOURISM SECTOR ..............................................................30

1.10 STRATEGY LANDSCAPE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR .................. 30

1.10.3 BUDGET SPEECH 2018/2019 ............................................................................................................ 32

SKILLS ISSUES: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ................................................................................. 33

2. METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................................38

2.1 DEFINING THE SECTOR ............................................................................................................... 38

2.2 DATA COLLECTION APPROACH .................................................................................................. 39

3. SURVEY FINDINGS .................................................................................................................................45

3.1 SECTOR PROFILE ......................................................................................................................... 45

3.1.1 BUSINESS PROFILE ...................................................................................................................... 45

3.1.2 EMPLOYMENT PROFILE ............................................................................................................... 46

3.1.2.1 Reasons for employing expatriates ................................................................................................. 48

3.1.3 SYSTEM FOR TRANSFER OF SKILLS .......................................................................................... 48

3.2 RECRUITMENT AND JOB READINESS ........................................................................................ 49

3.3 WHAT MAKES VACANCIES HARD TO FILL AND WHAT ARE THE CRITICAL VACANCIES FOR THE

SECTOR? 55

3.3.1 OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 55

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3.4 FUTURE SKILLS REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................... 65

3.4.1 FUTURE BUSINESS SCENARIO ................................................................................................... 65

3.5 FUTURE VACANCIES .................................................................................................................... 68

3.6 TOP SKILLS IN DEMAND IN NEXT 5 YEARS ............................................................................... 70

3.7 INDUSTRY - EDUCATION LINKAGES ........................................................................................... 71

3.7.1 STATUS OF LINKAGES OF ENTERPRISES WITH THE EDUCATION SYSTEM ......................... 71

3.7.2 ENTERPRISE AFFILIATIONS ........................................................................................................ 72

3.7.3 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES ........................................................................................... 73

3.7.4 BARRIERS TO BUILD LINKS WITH EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS ........................ 76

3.8 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................ 76

3.8.1 DIFFICULTIES IN TRAINING EMPLOYEES .................................................................................. 76

3.8.2 PREFERRED WAY FOR ACQUIRING SKILLS .............................................................................. 77

3.8.3 STEM AND OTHER SKILLS .......................................................................................................... 78

3.8.4 LANGUAGES .................................................................................................................................. 80

3.8.5 FOREIGN LANGUAGE USAGE...................................................................................................... 81

3.9 SKILLS BAROMETER .................................................................................................................... 82

3.9.1 GAUGING THE LEVEL OF SKILLS MISMATCH IN ENTERPRISES ............................................. 82

3.10 SKILLS SHORTAGE ....................................................................................................................... 84

3.11 Qualitative Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 87

Future of the sector: .......................................................................................................................................... 87

Labour/employment .......................................................................................................................................... 87

Reorganising the institutional and legal set-up of the tourism sector ................................................................ 88

Tourism products and services ......................................................................................................................... 88

Branding/Image/security ................................................................................................................................... 88

Training/skills development .............................................................................................................................. 89

Cultural tourism and Mauritian product ............................................................................................................. 89

4. RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................................90

References ..................................................................................................................................................... 101

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Contribution of the Tourism sector to GDP .................................................................................... 12

Table 2: Employment in the Tourism sector ................................................................................................. 13

Table 3: Tourist accommodation 2000 - 2017 .............................................................................................. 14

Table 4: Hotel Classifications ........................................................................................................................ 15

Table 5: Tourist arrivals 2006-2021 .............................................................................................................. 15

Table 6: Tourism Earnings ............................................................................................................................. 16

Table 7: Tourist arrivals by sea and air ......................................................................................................... 18

Table 8: SC Results in Travel & Tourism by gender, 2016 ............................................................................. 21

Table 9: HSC results 2016 by grade achieved, Travel & Tourism .................................................................. 22

Table 10: Enrolment as per field of studies 2016 ......................................................................................... 22

Table 11: New admissions on taught programmes as at December 2016 ................................................... 23

Table 12: Approved training programmes under NSDP ............................................................................... 28

Table 13: Distribution of establishments in the population by size and sector of activity ........................... 40

Table 14: Distribution of establishment by sector in the sample, with respective blowing up factors and

population weight adjustments .................................................................................................................... 43

Table 15: Holders of Work and Occupational permits (n=152) .................................................................... 47

Table 16: Reasons for employing expatriates by respondents for holders of Occupational permits (%) .... 48

Table 17: Reasons for employing expatriates by respondents for holders of Work permits (%) ................. 48

Table 18: Preparedness of employees to enter the world of work as per educational background (%) ..... 51

Table 19: Satisfaction of enterprises with the skills mix of school leavers in the past 2 years .................... 52

Table 20: Satisfaction of enterprises with the skills mix of TVET holders in the past 2 years (n = 112) ...... 53

Table 21: Satisfaction of enterprises with the skills mix of university graduates in the past 2 years (n = 112)

...................................................................................................................................................................... 54

Table 22: Common occupations by occupation groups in the Tourism sector ............................................ 56

Table 23: List of hard to fill vacancies as per occupational groups .............................................................. 58

Table 24: Main causes for having hard to fill vacancies ............................................................................... 60

Table 25: Reasons difficult to recruit for occupational groups ..................................................................... 60

Table 26: Consequences of hard-to-fill vacancies on establishments .......................................................... 62

Table 27: Measures to remedy “hard-to-fill vacancies” ............................................................................... 63

Table 28: Skills requirements for different occupational groups ................................................................. 64

Table 29: Future size of labour and business activities in case business environment remain same or

improves ....................................................................................................................................................... 65

Table 30: Skills and support requirements of enterprises in case of expansion .......................................... 66

Table 31: Vacancies as per occupational groups for the sample .................................................................. 68

Table 32: Most in-demand occupations ....................................................................................................... 69

Table 33: Six most skills in demand for the sector........................................................................................ 70

Table 34: Skills requirements and subjects/fields for the sector .................................................................. 70

Table 35: Membership of respondents (n=59) ............................................................................................. 73

Table 36: Main difficulties encountered while training employees ............................................................. 77

Table 37: Measures to improve training ....................................................................................................... 78

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Trend in tourist arrivals up to 2030 ............................................................................................... 11

Figure 2: Sectoral growth rate 2012 – 2015 ................................................................................................. 11

Figure 3: Contribution to GDP of the Tourism sector 2006-2017 ................................................................. 12

Figure 4: Number of rooms and bed places .................................................................................................. 14

Figure 5: Tourist arrivals ............................................................................................................................... 15

Figure 6: Average Expenditure per tourist .................................................................................................... 16

Figure 7: Tourist arrivals and earnings (forecast) ......................................................................................... 17

Figure 8: Training incentives under the NTF ................................................................................................. 25

Figure 9: Programmes approved (n=133) ..................................................................................................... 28

Figure 10: Tourism sector strategic plan ...................................................................................................... 31

Figure 11: Economic activities of respondents ............................................................................................. 45

Figure 12: Number of years in operation ...................................................................................................... 46

Figure 13: Whether the only organisation or part of a larger organisation ................................................. 46

Figure 14: Employment of expatriates .......................................................................................................... 47

Figure 15: Existence of system of transfer of skills from expatriates to local employees (n=45) ................ 49

Figure 16: Percentage of organisations which recruited over the past 2 years (n=132) .............................. 49

Figure 17: Recruitment of new employees as per their educational background (n=112) .......................... 50

Figure 18: Preparedness of employees entering the world of work as per educational background ......... 51

Figure 19: Skills mix of school leavers listed under 'not satisfied at all.' ...................................................... 53

Figure 20: Skills mix of university graduates listed under 'fully satisfied.' ................................................... 55

Figure 21: Distribution of employees as per occupational groups for the sample (n=8136) ....................... 56

Figure 22: Future size of labour and business activities in case business environment remain same or

improves ....................................................................................................................................................... 66

Figure 23: Vacancies in the short-term ......................................................................................................... 68

Figure 24: Percentage of enterprises linked of with schools, TVET, professional bodies or universities. .... 72

Figure 25: Whether establishment is a member of any industry associations/councils (local or

international) (n=132) ................................................................................................................................... 72

Figure 26: Do you benefit through membership from any skills development opportunities (n = 60) ....... 73

Figure 27: Participation of enterprises in skills development initiatives ...................................................... 75

Figure 28: Major barriers to build links with education and training providers ........................................... 76

Figure 29: Awareness for the STEM skills (n=132) ........................................................................................ 79

Figure 30: Importance of STEM as per establishments (n=132) ................................................................... 79

Figure 31: Measures to be taken to promote acquisition of STEM skills ..................................................... 80

Figure 32: Importance of foreign language in establishments (n=132) ........................................................ 80

Figure 33: Needs for foreign language in establishments ............................................................................ 81

Figure 34: Mismatch for all occupational groups in terms of skills and qualifications ................................. 83

Figure 35: Skills obsolescence as per occupational groups .......................................................................... 84

Figure 36: Level of skills shortage as per occupational groups ..................................................................... 85

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1. BACKGROUND OF THE SECTOR

1.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of this latest edition in this series of studies is to provide new insights on skills requirements

for the Tourism and Hospitality sector from a demand perspective. This study attempts to provide

evidence on skills requirements to help informed decision making and project development. The

main objectives of the study are:

To map current and future skills requirements in the Tourism and Hospitality sector;

To identify the critical skills and hard-to-fill posts by occupational groups in the Tourism

and Hospitality sector;

To analyze the education and industry linkages to foster employability; and

To assess the perception of skills mismatch across occupational groups in the sector.

The past few years are considered as a landmark for the Tourism and Hospitality industry for

Mauritius as for the first time, more than one million tourists visited the country. This achievement

has been the result of a continuously prosperous Tourism and Hospitality industry since the 1970s.

The sector has been constantly increasing in importance for the Mauritian economy and its

contributions in terms of GDP and employment is not negligible.

Mauritius is famous worldwide for its tropical climate, blend of white flour sand beaches

accompanied with turquoise lagoon, lush vegetation, multiculturalism and of course hospitality

which plays a pivotal role in marketing the sector. Beside its natural beauties, the country is also

renowned for its hospitability and services. These assets have contributed to project the Mauritian

destination at the 8th position by the Trip Advisor website and at the 3rd position among African

countries (Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015).

These achievements have rest on few important pillars which have been aggressive marketing,

stable political environment and most importantly the Mauritian hospitality with the people working

in the sector. The last point has a huge bearing on the development of the sector as Mauritius is

renowned for its hospitality and services.

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Today the Tourism and Hospitality sector is at the crossroad of its development. With more than

four decades of operation, the sector needs to revamp itself in many areas to sustain its importance

as an engine of growth and employment. With new markets opening up and better air connectivity,

the sector has moved to another level in its development. However to keep pace with the

development in the sector worldwide, various initiatives and adjustments need to be made.

The sector is predominantly a service oriented sector and the contribution of its human resources

determine the success of the sector. We have seen that operators in the sector are facing numerous

issues especially in terms of availability of human resources. This survey aims mainly at identifying

the different HR issues, especially skills, being faced by operators. The report will make an in-depth

analysis of the various issues pertaining to human resources and it will also provide us with a status

of where the sector stand in terms of skills. It will also try to address other issues of human resource

development for the sector in the future.

1.2 DEFINITION OF THE SECTOR AND SUB-SECTORS

For this study, a parallel with the breakdown of activities used by Statistics Mauritius has been done.

This is line with the National Standard Classification (NSIC) - adapted from the UN International

Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities. The tourism sector is defined by the

following two sub-sectors, based upon NSIC 2007 under codes 55 and 56:

DIVISION 55: ACCOMMODATION

Short term accommodation activities

Large hotels (more than 80 rooms)

Small hotels(up to 80 rooms)

Guest house

Tourist residence


Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailers

Parks

DIVISION 56: FOOD AND BEVERAGES SERVICE ACTIVITIES

Food and beverage service activities

Restaurants and mobile food service activities

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Restaurants (including liquor)

Restaurant (Excluding liquor)

Tour operator activities

Activities of tourist guides

Sport fishing

Activities for amusement parks and theme parks.

Ticket sale activities for theatrical, sports and others.

Amusement and entertainment events

Operation of excursion, cruise or sightseeing boats

Renting of pleasure boats with crew or fishing cruises.

1.3 INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT - WORLD TOURISM TREND

Sixty years ago, since the tourism sector started to emerge as a global economic sector, few could

have forecasted the speed and strength of its development both in terms of the number of people

crossing borders and its economic impact as a generator of foreign exchange, income and

employment opportunities.

Despite the different issues and problems which have emerged at regional and global level, the

tourism sector has always been able to overcome its issues. It has become the most flourishing

industry in the world. According to Mr Rifai, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation

(UNWTO) Secretary General, “Tourism is one of the most resilient and fastest growing economic

sectors but also very sensitive to risks, both actual and perceived. As such, the sector must continue

to work together with governments and stakeholders to minimise risks, respond effectively and build

confidence among travelers.” 1

The number of tourists worldwide has been increasing with a positive constant gradient for the past

6 years. According to statistics from UNWTO, the year 2016 was expected to become the sixth

consecutive year of robust growth. In the year 1950, at the embryonic stage, the tourism sector had

only made a receipt of around USD 2 billion with 25 million tourists’ arrivals. In the Annual Report

2015 of the UNWTO2, it was stated that the number has crossed the 1 billion USD mark threshold

1 United Nations World Tourism Organisation, World Tourism Barometer, Volume 14, November 2017 2 United Nations World Tourism Organisation, Annual Report 2015

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in year 2013 and has improved by 8.8 percent in 2015. It is expected that a threshold of 1.8 billion

USD is expected to be crossed by the year 2030.

The strength and health of the sector can be illustrated by the figures provided by the UNWTO.

Likewise, international tourism receipts earned by destinations worldwide have surged from 2

billion USD in 1950 to 104 billion USD in 1980, USD 495 billion in 2000, and USD 1260 billion

in 2015. It should be also noted that international tourism now represents 7 percent of the world’s

exports in terms of goods and services, up from 6 percent in 2014. It was noticed that tourism has

grown faster than world trade over the past four years. As a worldwide export category, tourism

ranks third after fuels and chemicals and ahead of food and automotive products. In many

developing countries, tourism ranks as the first export sector (UNWTO Annual Report 2016).

1.4 TOURISM'S CONTRIBUTION TO EMPLOYMENT WORLDWIDE

Travel and tourism generated around 107,833,000 jobs directly in 2015 and this was forecasted to

grow by 1.9 percent in 2016 to 109,864,000 which represented 3.6 percent of total employment

(World Travel and Tourism Council Economic Impact Report 2016).

These employments include those employed in hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger

transportation services excluding commuter services. It also includes, for example, the activities of

restaurants and leisure industries directly supported by tourists. By 2026, travel and tourism is

expected to account for around 135,884,000 jobs directly. This represent an increase of 2.1 percent

over the next ten years, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council3.

The total contribution of travel and tourism to employment including the wider effects from

investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts was 283,578,000 jobs in 2015 which

represented 9.5 percent of total employment. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council

Economic Impact Report 2016, this was expected to increase by 2.2 percent in 2016 to reach

289,756,000 jobs, representing 9.6 percent of total employment. Furthermore, by 2026, travel and

tourism is forecasted to support 370,204,000 jobs amounting to 11 percent of total employment.

3 World Travel and Tourism Council, Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2016 World

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1.5 Long-term perspective of world tourism

The UNWTO Tourism Towards 2030 is UNWTO’s long-term outlook and it makes an assessment

of the development of the sector over the two decades from 2010 to 2030 with an aim to provide a

global reference on tourism future development. The key outputs of Tourism Towards 2030 are

quantitative projections for international tourism demand over a 20-year period, with 2010 as the

base year and ending in 2030. The updated forecast has been enriched with an analysis of the social,

political, economic, environmental and technological factors that have shaped tourism in the past,

and which are expected to influence the sector in the future.

According to the UNWTO Tourism Towards 2030, the number of international tourist arrivals

worldwide is expected to increase by an average of 3.3 percent a year over the period 2010 to 2030.

In absolute numbers, international tourist arrivals will increase by some 43 million a year, compared

with an average increase of 28 million a year during the period 1995 to 2010. At that projected rate

of growth, international tourist arrivals worldwide are expected to reach 1.4 billion by 2020 and 1.8

billion by the year 2030. International tourist arrivals in the emerging economies of Asia, Latin

America, Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Mediterranean Europe, the Middle East and Africa

will grow faster compared to that of advanced economy destinations. The strongest growth by

region will be seen in Asia and the Pacific regions (UNWTO Tourism Towards 2030). Figure 1

shows the trend in terms of tourist arrivals worldwide up to 2030.

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Figure 1: Trend in tourist arrivals up to 2030

1.6 TOURISM SECTOR – LOCAL PERSPECTIVE

1.6.1 CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOURISM SECTOR TO THE ECONOMY

The tourism sector has been continuously developing since the 1970s and its share to the Mauritian

economy has continuously been an important one making it an essential pillar of the economy. This

can be seen by the constant increase in the number of people being employed in the sector, its

increase in terms of revenue for the country and also its share of the GDP. Henceforth, to be at par

with Statistics Mauritius classifications and definitions, the tourism industry will also be referred to

as the ‘accommodation and food service activities’. According to Statistics Mauritius, the

‘accommodation and food service activities’ was forecasted for 2017 to grow by 3.2 percent and

tourist arrivals for 2017 was 1341860. Figure 2 shows the sectoral growth rate of the sector between

the periods of 2012 to 2015.

Figure 2: Sectoral growth rate 2012 – 2015

Source: Statistics Mauritius

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1.6.2 CONTRIBUTION OF THE TOURISM SECTOR TO GDP

The tourism sector has on average contributed between 6 to 8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product

of the country over the past 10 years. The year 2007 was an exceptional year where the contribution

was 8.7 percent as presented in Table 1 and Error! Reference source not found..

Table 1: Contribution of the Tourism sector to GDP

Year Percentage contribution to GDP

2006 7.8

2007 8.7

2008 7.9

2009 6.7

2010 7.0

2011 7.1

2012 7.0

2013 6.1

2014 6.3

2015 6.7

2016 6.9

20171 7.1

20182 7.0 1 Revised 2Forecasts

Source: Digest of National Accounts 2017 and national Accounts Estimates June 2018, Statistics Mauritius

Figure 3: Contribution to GDP of the Tourism sector 2006-2017

1.6.3 EMPLOYMENT IN THE TOURISM SECTOR

The number of employees in the tourism sector has kept on increasing since the beginning of its

existence. The data from the Digest of Labour 2017 (Statistics Mauritius) clearly state that since

year 2005, employment in the sector has constantly increased. Table 2 shows the employment trend

for the Tourism sector for the period 2005 to 2017.

7.88.7

7.96.7 7 7.1 7

6.1 6.3 6.7 6.9 7.1

0

2

4

6

8

10

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

GD

P

Year

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Table 2: Employment in the Tourism sector

YEAR LARGE ESTABLISHMENT

SMALL ESTABLISHMENT

TOTAL EMPLOYEMENT

2005 21.0 9.9 30.9

2006 21.3 10.3 31.6

2007 21.4 10.3 31.7

2008 24.9 11.1 36.0

2009 23.6 12.1 35.7

2010 24.4 12.9 37.3

2011 25.1 12.7 37.8

2012 25.2 13.2 38.4

2013 25.2 14.4 39.6

2014 25.7 13.3 39.0

2015* 26 13.9 39.9

2016* 26.8 14 40.8

2017** 26.8 14.8 41.6

Source: Statistics Mauritius * Revised ** Provisional

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council 20184, the tourism sector directly supported

41600 jobs in 2017 and this is expected to rise to 51000 jobs in 2028. Furthermore, the report

highlighted that the total contribution of the Travel and Tourism to employment, including jobs

indirectly supported by the industry was 131000 in 2017 and this is expected to rise to 156000 in

2028.

1.6.4 NUMBER OF HOTELS, ROOMS AND BED PLACES

Looking at the rise in tourist arrival figures for the past 15 years, it can be deduced that this growth

has been accompanied by an increase in tourism accommodation. Thus, to be able to accommodate

the visitors the number of hotel has kept on growing. Table 3 gives a better illustration of this growth

from 2000 to 2017 in terms of accommodation.

4 World Travel and Tourism Council 2018, Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2018 Mauritius Report

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Table 3: Tourist accommodation 2000 - 2017

Year No. of hotels

No. of rooms

No of bed places

2000 95 8657 17779

2001 95 9024 18350

2002 95 9623 19597

2003 97 9647 19727

2004 103 10640 21355

2005 99 10497 21072

2006 98 10666 21403

2007 97 10857 21788

2008 102 11448 23095

2009 102 11456 23235

2010 112 12075 24698

2011 109 11925 24242

2012 117 12527 25496

2013 107 12376 25105

2014 112 12799 26174

2015 115 13,617 28,732

2016 111 13,547 29,139

2017 111 13,511 29,650

Source: Statistics Mauritius

Figure 4: Number of rooms and bed places

A hotel classification system was introduced in February 2016, in a bid to consolidate the tourism

industry with well-defined criteria for operational standards. The classification system, which

adopts a customer-centric approach, has greatly contributed towards upholding the image of

Mauritius as an upmarket destination and reinforcing tourist confidence by ensuring value for

money. A total of 99 hotels have been classified as follows:

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

0 5 10 15 20

Nu

mb

er

Year

No. of rooms No of bed places

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Table 4: Hotel Classifications

Star Category Number of Hotels

Five Star Luxury 7

Five Star 25

Four Star Superior 3

Four Star 23

Three Star Superior 7

Three Star 25

Two Star 9

Source: Ministry of Tourism, Mauritius

1.6.5 FUTURE TOURIST ARRIVALS

The past ten years has seen a constant rise in the number of tourist visiting Mauritius, with the

exception of 2009 due to the world economic crisis. In 2018, it is expected that 1410000 tourists

will visit Mauritius and by 2020, the number of tourist visits is expected to grow to 1,625000 as

depicted in Error! Reference source not found..

Table 5: Tourist arrivals 2006-2021

Year Number of tourists

2006 788,276

Figure 5: Tourist arrivals

2007 906,971 2008 930,456 2009 871,356 2010 934,827 2011 964,642 2012 965,441 2013 992,503 2014 1038334 2015 1151252 20161 1275227 20171 1341860 20182 1410000

20192 1515000

20202 1575000

20212 1625000 1 Revised 2 Forecasts

Sources: Statistics Mauritius, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Wilkofsky Gruen

Associates

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

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1.6.6 TOURISM EARNINGS & EXPENDITURE

One of the most important gain from the tourism industry is its earnings. The past decade has seen,

with the exception of 2013, an increase in the earnings from the tourism sector. This trend is

expected to continue with earnings of Rs 60.3 billion for 2017 and expected earnings of 64 billion

for the year 2018 as presented in Table 6.

Table 6: Tourism Earnings

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 1 2016 2017* 2018**

Tourism Earnings* (Rs million)

35,7 39,5 42,7 44,4 40,5 44,3 50,2 55.8 60.3 64

* Gross tourism earnings are estimated from banking records.

1 Effective January 2015, gross tourism earnings are estimated from banking records as well as returns submitted by Money-changers and Foreign exchange dealers.

* Revised ** Forecast

Source: Economic and Social Indicators (1st semester 2018) Statistics Mauritius

The average expenditure per tourist increased to around Rs 44,900 in 2017 from around Rs 43,800

in 2016. During the 1st semester of 2017, it was noted that tourists from Russia were the highest

spenders followed by those from Switzerland, UK, China and the US5. Some 60 percent of total

expenditure was on accommodation, 12 percent on food and beverages, 9 percent on shopping, 7

percent on sightseeing and 4 percent on entertainment and recreation. The trend of tourists spending

is presented in Error! Reference source not found..

Figure 6: Average Expenditure per tourist

Source: Budget Supplement 2018-2019

5 Statistics Mauritius, Survey of Inbound Tourism

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Figure 7: Tourist arrivals and earnings (forecast)

Source: Three Year Strategic Plan, Budget 2018/19

1.7 FUTURE OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN MAURITIUS

The tourism industry has not been spared from the effect of globalization of the world economy.

There is an inevitable paradigm shift occurring in the tourism industry in the world. A new breed

of sophisticated and highly demanding tourists are driving industry changes. Digitalization of the

sector is opening up an astonishing array of travel and vacation options for the new tourists. Even

destinations that have performed extremely well in the past are radically re-thinking their

development and strategy. With the different and huge development happening in the sector and as

Mauritius builds on the good performance of the tourism sector during the past years, the

government came up with different initiatives to sustain and further develop the sector in other

avenues. The main idea is to develop new markets, which include penetrating new countries and

new client profiles.

1.7.1 CRUISES SECTOR

The cruise sector is one where major changes are happening and it has taken a giant leap in its

development in the recent years. Therefore, special attention to the development of cruise traffic

and cruise linked activities in Mauritius has been taken to promote the sector. One of the initiative

is the construction of a cruise terminal. The benefits that our economy will reap from a fully

dedicated cruise terminal are significant, especially for our tourism and port industries, with

enormous multiplier effects. This will also add to more job creations in this field.

Today, beside our traditional tourist market, we are welcoming tourists from practically all countries

of the world. This has been possible through a better transport connection whether air or sea. This

change has been experienced during the past decade as a growing number of cruise vessels have

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chosen Port Louis harbour as a port of call. Mauritius is regularly being scheduled on the circuit of

world renowned cruise ships such as Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. A new terminal is now

operational which offer quality services to all cruise passengers. Thus, this has led to the accelerated

development of the cruise sector in Mauritius and the development of the cruise sector has been

enormous as this has brought revenues to the country.

Statistics Mauritius started separating the tourists’ arrival figures by air and sea in 1997. Since then,

the number of cruise passengers visiting Mauritius has been showing an up and down trend year on

year off with a fluctuated number of cruise ships calling to the island, as shown in

Table 7.

Table 7: Tourist arrivals by sea and air

Year Sea Air Total 2009 23,265 848,091 871,356 2010* 23,648 911,179 934,827 2011 25,047 939,595 964,642 2012 16,930 948,511 965,441 2013 12,815 979,688 992,503 2014 3,336 1,034,998 1,038,334 2015 19,425 1,131,827 1,151,252 2016 28,365 1,246,862 1,275,227

2017** 29,565 1,312,295 1,341,860 *As from 2010, a new methodology for computation of tourist nights is being used. "Tourist nights" for year Y refer to nights spent by tourists departing in year Y. ** Provisional

In 2017, 30 cruise ships arrived in the country and carried some 45,914 cruise travelers which

included 29,565 tourists, 7,188 excursionists, 662 Mauritian residents and 15,381 crew members

(Statistics Mauritius). With the development and expansion of the cruise sector, more and more

Mauritians are now being employed in cruise ships. We have experienced the emergence of many

cruise recruitment agencies in the past years with the number of Mauritians being employed by big

cruise ship liners via the local cruise recruitment agencies has increased considerably over the past

few years.

However, this development has not been solely beneficial to the sector as this has affected skills for

the tourism sector. With the development of the cruise sector, this has led to the opening of

employment opportunities for Mauritians in cruise ships. More and more cruise companies are

recruiting Mauritians who are renowned for their skills to work in cruise ships. With the

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attractiveness of the cruise ships and the pay package being offered, Mauritians already working in

the hotel sector are moving to cruise ships. This is putting an enormous pressure on the hotel sector

in terms of skills availability as many hotel operators are claiming in different forum that the cruise

sector is depleting the local skills in certain trades.

There exist many reasons why Mauritians are being recruited by international cruise liners. The

reasons are the ability of Mauritians to adapt easily to any environment or to people from different

countries. Mauritians are renowned for their capabilities to communicate in different languages. A

hardworking reputation and its legendary smile and innate hospitality make the Mauritian people a

very attractive workforce for the cruise industry. Therefore, cruise ships are recruiting massively

and hence depleting employees from the hotels. This is mainly the case for certain trades like waiter,

bartender, cook and housekeeper, amongst others.

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1.8 EDUCATION AND SKILLS LANDSCAPE

1.8.1 THE GLOBAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS LANDSCAPE

Education has been identified as an important determinant of economic growth. Higher levels of

educational attainment lead to a more skilled and productive workforce, producing more efficiently

a higher standard of goods and services, which in turn forms the basis for faster economic

development. The OECD G20 training strategy prioritized education, lifelong learning, job training

and skills development strategies linked to growth strategies (ILO, 2011). After wide consultations

with stakeholders and the examination of the body of knowledge, the critical elements which

emerged were:

Broad availability of quality education as a foundation for future training which implies that

education for all and children in school and not at work, is an essential foundation of future

training.

Continuous workplace training and lifelong learning enable workers and enterprises to

adjust to an increasingly rapid pace of change.

Building solid bridges between the world-of-work and training providers in order to match

skills provision to the needs of enterprises. This is often done best at the sectoral level where

the direct participation of employers and workers together with government and training

providers can ensure the relevance of training.

Anticipating and building competencies for future needs. Sustained dialogue between

employers and trainers, coordination across government institutions, labour market

information, employment services and performance reviews are steps to an early

identification of skill needs.

Tourism education, as a major platform for human capital development for the tourism industry has

a very close relationship with the economic development of the tourism industry (Ladkin, 2005).

However, despite rapid growth in the past 40 years, tourism higher education still faces uncertainties

in terms of the content and nature of tourism degrees and this restricts employment opportunities

for tourism graduates (Dale and Robinson, 2001).

In some countries, there is a lack of provision of Travel and Tourism courses from education

institutions. This is often due to a lack of qualified tourism educators. Where Travel and Tourism

courses are offered, the curricula can be poorly designed and outdated. There often needs to be a

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greater balance between theory and practice, a change from a traditional teaching mode to a more

modernised, international, innovative, and interactive teaching mode, and in general greater

responsiveness to and alignment with the sector’s needs.

1.8.2 THE LOCAL EDUCATION AND SKILLS LANDSCAPE

Education is one of the key growth enablers of socio-economic development. Government spending

on education has averaged 3.4 percent of GDP during the past few years. In 2016, nine out of every

ten children aged between 11 and 17 years were enrolled in general and pre-vocational secondary

education. Around 15 percent of a cohort sitting for the Certificate of Primary Education

examination did not reach the required level to pursue general secondary education and were

channelled to a pre-vocational programme. Of these, one quarter would not make it to the end of

the programme. Children’s inability to acquire the minimum level of education explains the

widening literacy gap between the better educated and the rest of the population which results in

unskilled and low skilled labour, unemployment and rising inequality.

In 2016, out of 3602 students examined at SC level in Travel and Tourism, 2588 passed with a

credit as grading (1 – 6). Table 8 provides the detailed information on the results.

Table 8: SC Results in Travel & Tourism by gender, 2016

Cambridge School Certificate 2016 Performance in Travel & Tourism

Total Examined Pass Rate

Boys 1381 851

100% 61.62%

Girls 2221 1737

100% 78.21%

Total 3602 2588

100% 71.85%

At HSC level, 911 students passed (including both principal and subsidiary level), out of a total of

1136 students examined. Table 9 provides the detailed information on the results.

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Table 9: HSC results 2016 by grade achieved, Travel & Tourism

Cambridge HSC/GCE 'A' Level 2016 Grade Distribution and % Pass – Travel & Tourism

Grade Achieved Total Examined

Principal Pass

Subsidiary Pass A+ A B C D E U b c d e

Number 18 124 306 337 225 15 111 1136 785 126

Percentage 1.58 10.9 26.9 29.7 19.8 1.3 9.8 100 69.1 11.9

Enrolment at Tertiary Level

As at December 2016, there were ten publicly-funded institutions operating in Mauritius. These

included four public universities, namely, the University of Mauritius (UoM), University of

Technology, Mauritius (UTM), Open University of Mauritius (OU) and Université des

Mascareignes (UdM). The other publicly-funded institutions were the Mauritius Institute of

Education (MIE), Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI), Rabindranath Tagore Institute (RTI), Fashion

and Design Institute (FDI), Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD) and Mauritius

Institute of Health (MIH). In addition to the publicly-funded institutions, there are 54 private

institutions registered locally and out of these 54 private institutions, 37 were fully operational.

The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) publishes on a yearly basis the report entitled

‘Participation in Tertiary Education’ where statistics on enrolment at private and public tertiary

level institutions are provided as per field of studies, as shown in Table 10.

Table 10: Enrolment as per field of studies 2016

Field of studies Number enrolled Percentage of enrollment

Accounting 10,912 22.7%

Administration/Management 6,117 12.7%

Information Technology 3,866 8.0%

Engineering 3,550 7.4%

Banking/Finance 2,424 5.0%

Medicine 2,537 5.3%

Education 2,544 5.3%

Law 1,856 3.9%

Business/ Commerce/ Marketing 1,968 4.1%

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Languages 1,422 3.0%

Travel/Hotel/ Tourism 1,460 3.0%

Science 968 2.0%

Source: (TEC, 2017)

New admissions for year 2016 have been presented at Table 11. It can be observed that 4.6 percent

of all students enrolled, studied Travel & Tourism and related courses in 2016.

Table 11: New admissions on taught programmes as at December 2016

Institutions All courses Travel & Tourism

related courses

Publicly funded institutions 7,315 324

Private institutions 4,250 174

Overseas 2,604 158

TOTAL 14,169 656

Source: Participation in Tertiary Education (2017), TEC, 2017

Among the key goals of the country’s vision towards 2030 is to ensure inclusive and equitable

quality education whilst promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. All learners should be

equipped with knowledge, skills and right attitudes for future learning, their personal development

and well-being as well as future employment. Improvement of teacher quality and the enhancement

of innovative learning environments will accelerate the acquisition of deep skills to face the 21st

century challenges.

Further, to position Mauritius as an education hub, higher learning opportunities will need be

expanded, alongside a renewed focus on research and innovation. By 2030, all students will

complete secondary education either with “generic” skills or “technical” skills. The tertiary

enrolment rate, which was 47.4 percent in 2015, is targeted to increase to 50 percent by 2020 and

60 percent by 2030 (Three-Year Strategic Plan 2017/18 – 2019/20).

Education being the key ingredient for economic development, the sector is being called upon to

emerge as a strong pillar of the economy in the future. It accordingly requires profound and

transformative changes with innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness being central to that

change. The strategic decisions announced in the Three Year Strategic Plan 2017/18-2019/20 by

the government for the education sector are as follows:

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Rolling out the Nine Year Continuous Basic Education Reform: The focus will be on

quality basic education for the consolidation of foundational skills and holistic development

of learners, thus preparing them for upper secondary schooling.

Introducing E-learning platforms that will serve as a powerful lever to accelerate and

enhance student learning with the acquisition of higher-order skills. In addition, E-learning

reduces reliance upon private tuition. Digital learning contents will enable students to study

at their own pace after school hours.

Developing a Special Education Needs (SEN) Strategy with the aim to achieve full

inclusion of all learners, irrespective of their disabilities, by creating and providing a

disability-friendly environment commensurate with their specific needs.

Rebranding TVET: A TVET Strategy will be

developed to focus on implementation of a new

framework for TVET with focus on review of

training programmes and strengthening of

capacity building. This will benefit the sector as

the majority of employees in the sector have TVET

as qualifications.

Strengthening Higher Education: The shift from

middle to high income economic status of

Mauritius will necessitate transformative changes in the higher education sector. The

diversity of offerings, both programmatic and institutional will necessitate a properly

regulated higher education system with strong emphasis on quality and relevance.

Polytechnic Education will provide a new and attractive pathway for the development of

advanced technical skills as well as training at the middle-management level. The

involvement of industry in programmatic conceptualization and delivery will guarantee

relevance and employability.

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1.9 LINKAGES BETWEEN EDUCATION AND TRAINING SYSTEMS AND THE WORKPLACE

1.9.1 THE NATIONAL TRAINING FUND

As per the HRD Act 2003, one of the main functions of the Human Resource Development Council

(HRDC) is to administer, control and operate the National Training Fund (NTF). This Fund

provides the necessary incentives for employers to develop their human resources through training.

Over the last 27 years of its existence, the scheme has paid out a total amount of Rs 3 billion to

employers as training incentives and has facilitated direct training of around 829,400 trainees in the

private sector. It has also helped to create a national culture at the level of enterprises by promoting

both institutional and in-house training.

The HRDC has revised the training incentives continuously since 2006 so as to encourage

employers to invest more in training and at the same time, to ensure the sustainability of the NTF.

The HRDC has also revamped the Online Training Levy/Grant System which will be more

advantageous to the employers for prompt processing of their grant applications. The revamped

Online System has officially been made available since March 2017. As at April 2018, around 1960

employers have been registered and over 500 are availing of the new online platform. The HRDC

intends to set up an integrated computerized accounting system which will also cover its online

system and the accounting system.

Figure 8: Training incentives under the NTF

Source: HRDC Annual Report 2016-2017

During the 18 months period ending 30 June 2017, the HRDC received an amount of Rs 905 million

(net of commission of 4 percent) as training levy from 17,387 employers and disbursed an amount

of Rs 361.9 million as training grant. It is to be noted that the training grant system has facilitated

the training of 77409 employees of the private sector for that period. The bulk of training was

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conducted through the institutional training (55 percent), in-house training (35 percent), and

overseas training (7 percent). However, refund to training institutions and employers under the

other incentives schemes namely Multimedia Facilities Scheme, TNA Scheme and Foreign

Expertise Scheme represented 3 percent of total grant refund. It is to be noted that the HRDC did

not disburse any refund under the POTI Scheme despite that Council of the HRDC had extended

the said Scheme to other sectors as per the list of the Business Mauritius in the financial year 2014.

On average, 45,000 trainees have benefited yearly under the training incentive schemes as from

2006. As per statistics, five main sectors of the economy namely: Financial Services; Wholesale

and Retail; Manufacturing sector; Community, Social and Personal Services and Hotel and Tourism

have been making maximum use of the Training Grant System, as shown in Figure 9. Out of a total

of Rs 351 million disbursed for the period Jan 2016-Jun 2017, Rs 37 million was for the tourism

sector, representing 11 percent of the total number of trainees (HRDC Annual report 2016- 2017).

Figure 9: Analysis of grant disbursement by economic sectors for 18 months to 30 June 2017

Apart from the Levy Grant scheme, the HRDC has formulated and manages a number of other skills

development initiatives and programmes for enterprises of the private sector. The HRDC regularly

works in concertation with stakeholders to come up with tools to better suit the needs of the industry.

One such programme is the Sectoral Skills Development Scheme (SSDS).

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1.9.2 SECTORAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT SCHEME (SSDS)

The SSDS has been developed to assist group of employers from the same sector or sub-sector to

initiate skills development proposals which are validated and submitted by their industry

associations. A co-funding philosophy is adopted (cash or in kind), where the HRDC may provide

funding up to 80 percent of the total amount disbursed on skill development. This scheme is over

and above whatever the employer may already be benefitting through Levy Grant Schemes and is

not subject to that ceiling. As at date, there has been no projects approved under the SSDS for the

tourism sector.

1.9.3 NATIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (NSDP)

Skills development for the youths plays an important role in the transition from school to work.

Realizing the importance of the linkage, the

Government of Mauritius initiated the National

Skills Development Programme (NSDP) to train

unemployed youth in high demand areas. In the

Budget Speech 2016/2017, government

announced the measure that “Government will

enlist 4,000 persons under the National Skills

Development Programme for training in

technical skills that are in high demand. This will

include training for 1,000 young people in each of

the following sectors: ICT, tourism and

hospitality; nursing and paramedics and construction and other industries.”

Since the start of the NSDP, for the Tourism sector, approval has been granted for a total number

of 1996 trainees as at June 2018, out of which 537 have already completed training, 335 are still in

training while the rest is about to start training in due course. As at June 2018, a total number of

133 courses has been completed under the NSDP scheme, as shown in Figure 9, where most of the

courses were from the ICT and Tourism sector.

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Figure 9: Programmes approved (n=133)

Table 12 shows the training programmes which were approved under the NSDP for the tourism

sector as at June 2018.

Table 12: Approved training programmes under NSDP

Course title No of trainees

approved

Barman 48

Cook-Food production 48

Waiter 48

Housekeeping 98

Front office 32

F&B 50

Bar Operations 36

Food production 72

Front Office Operations 48

Restaurant Services 132

Housekeeping Operations 72

Serveur sur Mesure Training Programme 20

Hotel Housekeeping Technique for Attitude Resort 44

Restaurant and Bar Services for Attitude Resort 80

Culinary Skills and Techniques 40

Kitchen Operations 230

Restaurant and Bar Service 2 50

41 43

13

4 6 5 41 3 4 3 1

5

05

101520253035404550

Un

its

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Housekeeping Attendant Course 80

Food and Beverage Service Attendant Course 40

Original Italian Cuisine Course: Basic Level 48

Principles of hospitality and service training programme 84

Hotel Housekeeping Technique 20

Culinary Skills 20

Restaurant and bar services techniques 20

Food and beverage services 25

Food & Beverage Attendant Course 40

Restaurant & Bar Service 50

Introductory course in Food Production for the Hospitality sector 20

Introductory course in Restaurant and Bar Service for the Hospitality

sector

20

TOTAL 1615

1.9.4 GRADUATE TRAINING FOR EMPLOYMENT SCHEME (GTES)

The issue of graduate unemployment is a complex one as tackling this issue is more than just

offering employment to graduates. HRDC has come up with the GTES to try to complement the

issue of skills need for graduates through a series of measures. The main objective of GTES is to

enhance the employability prospects of unemployed graduates by providing them with skills as per

the requirements of an evolving job market. Such initiative has as objective to up-skill or reskill

existing unemployed graduates, thus improving their chances of getting a job. Only one course

(ARHIM Graduate Innovative Learning - AGILE) has been approved under this scheme for the

tourism sector as at April 2018, which has benefited a total number of 17 graduates.

1.9.5 YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME (YEP)

The integration of youth into the labour market has always been one of the biggest challenges facing

an economy. Without experience, youth are unable to penetrate the labour market and are more

likely to be caught in the “no job-no experience and no experience-no job” cycle. To be able to

tackle this phenomenon affecting many countries, the YEP was initiated with the objective to

promote work placement and training for the youth aged between 16 and 35 years. This measure is

implemented by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations. Since October 2015,

the YEP has been extended to the public sector. According to the YEP Secretariat, there is a total

number of 24,710 (10,795 males and 13,915 females) youth registered with YEP as at 31 July 2017.

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1.9.6 SECTORAL COMMITTEE FOR THE TOURISM SECTOR

As per Section 11 (1) and (2) of the HRD Act 2003, the HRDC established a Sectoral Committee

for the tourism sector. Under the Sectoral Committee, various projects have been undertaken for the

tourism and hospitality sector. The Sectoral Committee comprises of people from the industry and

projects which emanates from the Sectoral Committee are mostly for the development of HRD for

the sector. The roles and functions of the Committee are as follows:

serve as liaison between the Council of the HRDC and its sector;

advise the Council on emerging economic trends and relevant training needs in the sector;

assist in identifying and forecasting skills needs for the sector;

assist in the mounting and implementation of skills development projects in the sector;

assist in assessing the relevance of skills development projects for the sector and make

appropriate recommendations to Council ; and

advise on policies and strategies for skills development for the sector.

1.10 STRATEGY LANDSCAPE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR

1.10.1 ECONOMIC VISION 2030

The Economic Vision 2030 of the Government of Mauritius aims to jumpstart a new phase of high

growth with shared prosperity and enhanced quality of life, ultimately transforming Mauritius into

an inclusive, high-income country by 2030. This Vision 2030 Development Model has identified

growth sectors that have the potential to accelerate growth. As such, growth enablers have also been

identified with accompanying strategies to develop a range of Mauritian industries with the aim to

improve the productivity of the growth sectors and to enhance the capacity to compete on an

international scale. To keep development of these growth sectors and enablers on track, the Three-

Year Strategic Plan has been prepared to provide short to medium term strategic directions and

targets against which progress can be evaluated.

To further develop the sector, the government has taken the following strategic decisions:

Broadening the tourist base: Open Skies agreements will be negotiated to increase flight

routes and tap into the rising middle-income group in Asia. The SSR International Airport

will be developed into a major regional logistics and aviation hub. For this purpose, major

work will be undertaken at the SSR International Airport to cater for increases in both

passenger and cargo traffic. The passenger terminal handling capacity will be increased to

4.5 million by 2020 with the refurbishment of the old passenger terminal and to 6 million in

2030 with an extension of a new terminal.

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Promoting local products and handicrafts: Linkages between small enterprises in the

handicraft sector and the tourism sector will be reinforced to provide an outlet for local

artisans to sell their products and to promote authentic Mauritian products.

Upholding quality of services: Front-liners will be equipped with the right skills and

attitude to be the brand ambassadors of Mauritius.

Enhancing quality assurance of service delivery: A quality label, similar to the Hotel

Classification System, will be developed for non-hotel accommodations. In addition, all tour

operators will be regulated to ensure high service standard and customer safety.

Diversifying the tourism product: The range of tourism activities will be expanded to

include:

Adventure sports such as bike trails and marked hiking trails;

Cruise tourism;

Cultural tourism and cultural themed discovery tours, with rehabilitation or

construction of museums, galleries and historical monuments;

Events such as International Chef Competition and Rugby-10 Tournament,

especially during low tourist season;

Medical tourism; and

Yacht tourism through the creation of marinas.

Adopting eco-friendly infrastructure: The tourism sector will mainstream eco-friendly

practices such as the adoption of energy-saving technology, renewable energy and rain-

water harvesting.

Figure 10: Tourism sector strategic plan

Source: Three Year Strategic Plan, Budget 2018/19

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By diversifying the tourist base and tourism product portfolio through economic diplomacy to

establish more flight routes and increase the country’s connectivity, the tourism sector will be able

to enjoy sustained growth, both in terms of visitor arrivals and earnings. The goal is to enhance the

reputation of Mauritius as a leading island destination. At the same time, tourism products will be

diversified to expand the range of our offerings to complement our pristine natural assets such as

beaches and coral reefs.

1.10.2 HOSPITALITY AND PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT

Mauritius has successfully positioned itself on the international scene as a renowned up-market

tourist destination. The Property Development Scheme (PDS) is attracting investment from abroad

by allowing non-citizens to acquire residential properties under the PDS. Letter of approvals or

certificates issued to companies to develop an IRS or RES project will continue to remain in force.

Non-citizens acquiring immovable property under IRS or RES, for more than USD 500,000 or its

equivalent, will still be eligible to apply for a residence permit. The Property Development Scheme

will offer numerous high-return investment opportunities.

Mauritius enjoys a tropical climate and boasts a hospitable multi-cultural population and is known

for its clean environment and pristine coastline. Investment in tourism in Mauritius is boosted by

an excellent range of supporting infrastructure including a well-established network of roads, an

efficient seaport and a modern international airport. Current opportunities include:

Hotel Development

Invest Hotel Scheme

Marinas

Leisure/Amusement Parks

Health Tourism

Heritage Tourism

Green Tourism

1.10.3 BUDGET SPEECH 2018/2019

Some of the measures announced in the Budget Speech 2018/2019 to further strengthen the

dynamism of our tourism industry are as follows:

http://www.investmauritius.com/schemes/pds.aspx

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First, the coming of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in Mauritius will further open up air access

not only to the Netherlands but also to neighboring regions namely, Germany, Scandinavian

countries and Eastern Europe. This will further diversify markets in Europe.

Second, the Asia-Africa air corridor initiative is now fully embedded in the Mauritian air

access policy. It has given positive results in terms of Asia connection. To maintain that

dynamism and meet rising demand, Air Mauritius will operate an additional weekly flight

to Singapore.

Third, concerning Africa connection, the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority will

promote the twin destinations offer of Bush & Beach Tourism of Kenya and Mauritius.

Fourth, Government will give a voucher that will entitle a tourist to a Rs 200 discount on a

minimum purchase of Rs 1,000 of Mauritian handicraft products. This should increase

expenditure per tourist while at the same time giving a boost to Mauritian handicraft.

Fifth, to attract more Asian tourists, hotels will be allowed to host gaming machines within

their premises, subject to access being restricted to non-residents and foreigners only and

against payment of the appropriate license fee and betting tax.

Sixth, in the same spirit of attracting more visitors, a noncitizen acquiring a residential

property for an amount below USD 500 000 will be entitled to a Multi-Entry Visa for a

maximum of 180 days per year for a consecutive period of 5 years and renewable every 5

years depending on the status of ownership.

SKILLS ISSUES: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

According to the Global Talent Trends and Issues for the Travel and Tourism Sector 20156, the

rapid pace and extent of change in global and national markets for talent will be significant across

economies as a whole and specifically for Travel and Tourism sector. The market for Travel and

Tourism talent is already challenged with high staff turnover and competition with other industry

sectors for the best people. In some cases, adverse supply trends such as declining demographics,

new regulations and new technology are threatening the labour supply for the sector. There has been

a global shift in terms of customer service preferences and changing visitor markets and these have

led to changes in the skills of required labour for the sector. All these require a new brand of skills

for the sector to develop and prosper. The sector need new talents.

6 Global Talent Trends and Issues for the Travel and Tourism Sector 2015, World Travel and Tourism Council

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Planning for and meeting future talent demand in Travel and Tourism sector is going to require all

stakeholders including the government to implement and promote proactive and careful talent

supply management policies and together with education and training, develop stronger and more

coordinated talent efforts. A flourishing Travel and Tourism sector will also require regular

monitoring and projecting of talent demand, supply and imbalances to predict in advance any

looming shortages.

Although there are many talent commonalities facing the Travel and Tourism sector globally, the

talent required is far from uniform across countries in terms of demand and supply. There is huge

diversity across countries in terms of the general development and maturity of Travel and Tourism.

So an understanding of the talent picture for different countries is vital as a ‘one-size fits all’ will

be incorrect and ineffective.

Understanding the sector’s outlook, issues and scope will be crucial if Travel and Tourism is to

realise its growth potential over the next decade. The Global Talent Trends and Issues for the Travel

and Tourism Sector 2015 looked into these issues and it concerned 46 countries. The countries are

geographically diverse, encompass all of the world’s major economies and include countries such

as Barbados, Morocco and Thailand where Travel and Tourism is a particularly important sector.

The 46 countries account for 81 percent and 88 percent of direct world Travel and Tourism

employment and GDP respectively.

Impacts of talent imbalances

One aspect which was highlighted and which has an important bearing on the industry is impacts

of Travel and Tourism talent gaps and deficiencies. This issue was emphasized through the current

and potential future jobs for the sector and consequently creating imbalances in talents for the sector.

For example, it was seen that the main effects of talent shortages on Travel and Tourism businesses

in the UK have been an increase in the workload of other staff and leading difficulties to meet

customer service objectives.

Skill shortages have also caused significant numbers of tourism establishments not able to meet

quality standards. Increasing operating costs and losing business to competitors were also

commonly mentioned by tourism establishments as negative impacts of skill shortages. The impact

of difficulties in recruiting is causing lower morale and less creativity among the existing workforce.

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The tourism sector in Europe

Tourism is a major economic activity in the European Union with wide-ranging impact on economic

growth, employment, and social development. It has the capacity to be a powerful tool to fight

economic decline and unemployment. However, being the fact that this sector is very dynamic, the

tourism sector faces a series of challenges. The European Commission has been working on ways

to address the challenges which the sector is facing. The main challenges for the sector in Europe

nowadays are:

Security and safety - environmental, political, and social security

Economic competitiveness - seasonality, regulatory and administrative burdens

Employment - difficulty of finding and keeping skilled staff

Technological – keeping up to date with advances in technologies and IT developments

caused by the globalisation of information. (IT tools for booking holidays, social media

providing advice on tourism services, etc.)

Markets and competition - growing demand for customised and new products and also

growing competition from other EU and non-EU destinations.

In this vein, the European Commission has come up with few policies and actions. The EU policy

aims to maintain Europe's standing as a leading tourist destination while maximising the industry's

contribution to growth and employment. It also promotes cooperation between EU countries,

particularly through the exchange of good practices. The EU's competence in the tourism sector is

one of support and coordination the actions of member countries. Few of the EU proposed policies

are:

Enhancing on the products that European tourism sector has to offer, that is to work on a

number of initiatives to diversify and improve the range of tourism products and services

such as sustainable tourism, accessible tourism, tourism for seniors and tackling low-season

tourism.

Enhancing existing and expanding new tourism in Europe - Supporting tourism businesses

to maintain Europe’s position as a leading tourist destination. The quality of its services

needs to be continuously improved. The European Commission is involved in initiatives that

improve the mobility and skills of workers, particularly for IT skills, and help tourism

entrepreneurs to manage their businesses.

Promoting destination Europe - To enhance the visibility of Europe as a tourist destination

and increase tourism to the EU, the Commission is implementing a wide range of

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/offer_en

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communication and promotion activities. It is also taking measures to make it easier to travel

to Europe.

Regional Skills Needs – Finland and the Baltic region

The development of tourism in the Baltic Sea region and especially in Finland has become more

international even though, the region faces global competition which has to be responded to by the

destinations. Tourism already contributes significantly to the economy of the Baltic Sea region.

Growth in the tourism industry has supported the economic recovery in the region for several years.

According to Baltic Sea Tourism Forum 2015 of the European Commission, the number of

international tourist arrivals around the Baltic Sea increased significantly by almost 50 percent since

the millennium to more than 106 million in 2013. Arrivals for example from China, India and Russia

have increased at a double-digit rate. However, tourism in the Baltic Sea region will only be able to

continue its growth in the long run, if the efforts will be oriented to international markets and

marketing will be coordinated accordingly.

To support and sustain the growth of the sector, skills development and similar professional skills

enhancement programme is essential across the region. This therefore need to combine efforts to

improve skills and to promote tourism education without borders in the region in order to maintain

and to boost competitiveness of the region. According to the European Commission (2016), higher

education institutions need to ensure that they equip graduates with relevant and up-to-date skills,

because relevant skills are a pathway to employability and prosperity.

The new Skills Agenda for Europe (European Commission, 2016) aims at making better use of the

skills that are available. The plan is to equip people with the new skills that are needed, to improve

the quality and relevance of skills formation and to make skills more visible and comparable. The

definition of skill by the European Commission (2014) means the ability to apply knowledge and

know-how to complete tasks and solve problems. The term skill refers typically to the use of

methods or instruments in a particular setting and in relation to defined tasks. Skills are studied

within the tourism industry and in the context of international tourism business development. Thus,

skills refer to professional skills, that is, the graduates’ ability to apply knowledge, know-how and

methods when working in the tourism industry to meet the challenges and tasks of their professions.

37 | P a g e

The relevant skills needed and identified for Finland are classified in five categories where it

describes the relevant skills for international tourism business development for Finland. These skills

are:

Product and experience design and development;

Digital marketing communication and sales;

Collaboration and networks;

Internationalisation; and

Managing business operations.

38 | P a g e

2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 DEFINING THE SECTOR

Before delving into the methodological aspects of the study it was vital to clearly define the

Tourism, Hospitality and Recreational Activities sector for the purpose of this study. The basis for

the classification of this sector was NSIC 2007 codes 55 and 56 of Statistics Mauritius. However,

amendments were made by either omitting industrial activities not relevant to the sector or adding

others relevant to the better reflect skills and labour profile of that sector. It is worth noting that the

final classification of the sector was vetted by Statistics Mauritius. The Tourism, Hospitality and

Recreational Activities sector was therefore defined by the following two classes:

Accommodation


Large hotels (more than 80 rooms)

Small hotels (up to 80 rooms)

Guest house

Tourist residence


Camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailers

Parks

Food and Beverages Service Activities

Food and beverage service activities

Restaurants and mobile food service activities

Restaurants (including liquor)

Restaurant (Excluding liquor)

Tour operator activities

Activities of tourist guides

Sport fishing

Activities for amusement parks and theme parks.

Ticket sale activities for theatrical, sports and others.

Amusement and entertainment events

Operation of excursion, cruise or sightseeing boats

Renting of pleasure boats with crew or fishing cruises.

39 | P a g e

2.2 DATA COLLECTION APPROACH

In order to meet the research aims and objectives of the study, a mixed-method approach was

adopted, with slight adjustments in line with specificity of each particular sector. This is to provide

a comprehensive and more accurate picture of skills and training for that sector.

Data were collected via two main methods, namely:

Quantitative survey of sector employers via structured questionnaire and face-to-face

interviews

Qualitative interviews via focus group discussions with sector employers and industry

associations representatives as well as individual interviews with key actors, with long years

of experience and know how in that sector were also held.

QUANTITATIVE SURVEY: SAMPLING

SAMPLING FRAME

Ideally the sampling frame should be equal to the population covered by a survey. However, this is

rarely the case in practice and the quantitative survey for Skills Studies 2016-2017 was no exception

because the frame was constructed from two different secondary data sources where each had its

own limitations. In fact, the two sampling frames used were: Statistics Mauritius database for ‘large

establishments’, that is, those employing 10 or more people; and SMEDA database of small

establishments, that is, those employing less than 10 people (to cater for ‘other than large

establishments’ category). In order to obtain a representative sample, the population of

establishments was further stratified by sector of activity and number of employees.

This study was conducted for 10 different sectors. For large establishments, all establishments

falling under any one of the 10 sectors under study were considered as population. Enterprises

classified as non-operational or dormant were excluded from the frame. Hence, after cleaning the

Statistics Mauritius sampling frame of large establishments, 3871 entries were obtained. For other

than large establishments, a sampling frame comprising 3428 entries were obtained from SMEDA.

To extract the sample, both sampling frames were merged into one main database using NSIC Level

4 and Level 5 classification as basis, ensuring that other enterprise details were aligned.

40 | P a g e

With regard to the size of establishment, for each dataset (that is for large and small establishments)

data on size of workforce were categorised as follows: 1-4 employees; 5-9 employees; 10-49

employees; 50-99 employees; 100-199 employees; and 200 or above employees. For this study, the

1-4 employees category was excluded from the combined sampling frame for reasons mentioned in

the section below. The population thus comprised of 4268 establishments that were distributed as

shown in Table 13. Around 1400 establishments were targeted in the sample of establishments to

be surveyed.

Table 13: Distribution of establishments in the population by size and sector of activity

No of employees category Grand Total SECTOR 5-9 10-49 50-99 100-199

200 or above

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing 9 143 16 14 14 196

Construction 93 419 46 22 29 609

Financial & Insurance Activities 2 87 17 6 21 133

ICT 13 219 33 19 17 301 Manufacturing 100 601 87 61 29 878 Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities 20 330 29 19 8 406

Textile & Apparel 26 171 49 32 51 329 Tourism, Hospitality & Recreational Activities 14 144 28 28 52 266

Transportation & Storage 6 71 15 7 12 111

Wholesale & Retail Trade 114 783 83 38 21 1039

Grand Total 397 2968 403 246 254 4268

INCLUSION/EXCLUSION CRITERIA

SECTOR OF ACTIVITIES

As mentioned earlier, the NSIC (Rev 2) Level 1 was used for defining the 10 sectors under study.

Sectors like ‘Wholesale and retail trade’ and ‘Financial and insurance activities’; ‘Transportation

and storage’; and ‘Textile and apparel’ were considered as are described by the NSIC classifications,

that is, no amendment was brought to respective NSIC classifications. For ‘Agriculture, forestry

and fishing’ and ‘Construction and allied services’ sectors, other economic activities were added

over and above existing ones to better represent skills scenario in those sectors. While the

‘ICT/BPO’ and ‘Tourism, hospitality and recreational activities’ sectors were significantly re-

amended by, firstly, renaming the sector and then collating Level 4 and 5 activities from other

sectors of NSIC classification and removing a few existing activities listed. This exercise again

41 | P a g e

ensured representativeness of the skills and labour profile of those sectors (to be considered under

other sectors). The ‘Manufacturing’ sector was slightly modified with activities falling under

‘Textile and apparel’ division considered as a sector in itself and a few activities from ‘non-textile’

division, for example, those related to IT shifted to the ‘ICT/BPO’ sector. The detailed classification

of each sector is given in the annex of each respective sector report.

SIZE OF ESTABLISHMENT

From the database of SMEDA, one-man establishment represented nearly half of the total number

of establishments, that is, 47% (1595 units) and those accounting for less than 5 (including 1

employee) employees accounted for a staggering 87%. However, such small establishments are not

appropriate for surveys on skills as has been demonstrated by a number of international studies, for

example CEDEFOP Research Paper No 357. The main reasons for excluding very small

establishments (that is, those employing less than 5 employees) in the survey are as follows:

The smaller the sampled organisations, the more likely none of the pre-selected occupational

groups is present; organisations where none of the pre-selected groups is present need to be

filtered to END. This leads to enhanced screening costs.

In very small organisations, especially those employing less than 5 persons, there is often just

one employee within the selected occupational group; in such cases, it is difficult for the

respondent to answer the task and skill questions for the respective job or position without

having the individual job holder in mind. Strengths and weaknesses of individual employees

may therefore strongly influence the results in small establishments and may lead to a certain

distortion of the results.

These very small organisations, often referred as micro-enterprises, are often only poorly

covered by the available address registers and even where they are generally covered, the

address quality is usually much poorer than for the larger organisations. This is mainly due to

the considerably higher mortality and relocation rate among these smaller units. That is why it

is recommended to exclude these units, that is, those with less than 5 employees, totally by

setting a general size threshold. Otherwise, distortions of the results due to selectivity of the

entries in the address sources would have resulted.

7 User guide to developing an employer survey on skill needs. Research Paper No 35.CEDEFOP.2013

42 | P a g e

SAMPLING PROTOCOL – DETERMINING THE SAMPLE SIZE USING BLOWING UP TECHNIQUE

It can be observed that the number of establishments varies greatly across sector as well as size

category. Hence, using probability proportional to size across the sampling matrix will result in an

imbalanced establishment representation in the sample; with over-representation of small

establishment as well as over-representation of sectors like Manufacturing and Wholesale and retail

trade where the number of establishments are much higher. To counter this issue, a disproportionate

sampling method based on Neyman Allocation principle was adopted whereby at each stratum level

(that is, sector level), cells with large number of establishments were given less weight and vice

versa. Thus, in the purposely disproportionally designed samples the stratification table was not

only a simple allocation formula, but also an essential tool for controlling and steering the total

selection process. It was worth noting that there is no reference or guideline as to the choice of a

particular weight value.

Table 14 depicts the different weights or blow up factors that were applied at each stratum level for

each sector to obtain the sample. Thus the total sample size obtained was 1376 which represented

around one third of the population of establishments. Thus, for the survey, 132 enterprises were

targeted as sample for the Tourism, Hospitality & Recreational Activities.

43 | P a g e

Table 14: Distribution of establishment by sector in the sample, with respective blowing up factors and population weight adjustments

SECTOR

Workforce category

Population Sample 5-9 10-49

50-99 100-199

200 or above

Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing

0.56 0.59 0.56 0.57 0.57 0.59 115

Construction 0.25 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.24 0.25 152

Financial & Insurance Activities

1.00 0.91 0.88 0.83 0.90 0.91 121

ICT 0.46 0.44 0.45 0.42 0.47 0.45 134

Manufacturing 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.24 0.25 220

Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities

0.35 0.33 0.34 0.32 0.38 0.33 135

Textile & Apparel 0.38 0.40 0.41 0.41 0.39 0.40 132

Tourism, Hospitality & Recreational Activities

0.43 0.45 0.46 0.46 0.44 0.45 132

Transportation & Storage 0.83 0.83 0.80 0.86 0.83 0.83 92

Wholesale & Retail Trade 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.14 0.16 156

Grand Total 397 2968 403 246 254 4268 1376

At the analysis stage, due to a number of factors8 that were independent of steps taken at the

planning phase, 1252 enterprises were sampled. Sectors that were most affected were the

Financial & Insurance activities sector and the Textile & Apparel sector. Hence, a different

weighting protocol was adopted as per Annex 1.

STATISTICAL CONFIDENCE

The standard error associated with a given sample estimate is not determined by the size of the

population being observed (providing the population is reasonably large), but by the size of the

sample itself. In practice, once a sample size exceeds 100 cases (whatever the size of the total

population) it is likely to deliver an acceptable degree of accuracy provided it is a random sample.

The sample generated in this research had a standard error of less than 2.5% at the 95% level of

confidence.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN AND ADMINISTRATION

The quantitative questionnaire and qualitative discussion guide were designed by the HRDC. The

structured questionnaire comprised 6 sections, namely, Section A: Firmographics; Section B:

8 Factors like cessation of business, change in main activity of an enterprise resulting in either change in workforce capacity and/or change in sector of activity resulted in modification of sampling protocol.

44 | P a g e

recruitment and recruitment difficulties; Section C: Future skills requirement; Section D: Industry

–education linkage; Section E: Skills and skills development; and Section F: Skills barometer. It

was administered face-to-face to heads or management level respondents of establishments and

responses were recorded using the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) method. The

interviews were undertaken between November 2016 and May 2017.

All survey interviews were designed to take around an hour to complete (excluding questions 12 to

17 that required a separate and more in depth consultation). Potential respondents were called on a

range of days and times and on up to at least 8 occasions before being recorded as a non-respondent

and replaced by other establishment with similar business profile, that is, similar economic activity

and range of employees.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

A number of qualitative interviews were conducted at the same time as the structured interviews.

Such interviews were conducted, not only to complement the views obtained via quantitative survey

but also to address areas or issues that could not be tackled otherwise. Respondents were sector-

savvy people, usually members of industry associations, who had several years of experience and

good knowledge of current and future skills requirements of that sector. Qualitative interview for

each sector was carried out at 2 levels, namely, via individual interviews and via focus group

discussion. A triangular approach was adopted to complement the quantitative findings with the

qualitative ones.

PRESENTATION OF SURVEY DATA IN THE REPORT

Individual question bases are provided on the graphs and charts in this report. Cross-tabulations

were undertaken, based on key variables such as sub-sector, size of workforce and occupational

group. Numerical results are presented in the form of frequencies, indexes and percentages while

the same were usually presented in the form of charts, mostly pie charts, bar charts and line charts.

Most data used in this report are rounded to the nearest whole percentage or number. For this reason,

on occasion, data in tables or charts may not add up exactly to 100 per cent. The remainder of the

report now sets out research findings.

45 | P a g e

3. SURVEY FINDINGS

3.1 SECTOR PROFILE

3.1.1 BUSINESS PROFILE

There were 132 respondents for the survey which were distributed into nine activities, as presented

in Figure 11. Among the respondents, there were 39 restaurants (including liquor) representing 30

percent and 18 large hotels (more than 80 rooms), which represented 14 percent.

Figure 11: Economic activities of respondents

Number of years in operation

Among the organisations surveyed, two-third of the respondents said that they have been in

operation for more than 10 years, as shown in Figure 12. In addition, one quarter of organisations

were operating for more than five years in the sector. This give us an indication that more than 90

percent of respondents were more or less well settled in their different activities in the sector, that

is they have five or more years of operation.

39

18 1714

129

75 4 4

2 1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Re

stau

ran

ts (

incl

ud

ing

liqu

or)

Larg

e h

ote

ls (

mo

re t

han

80

ro

om

s)

Tou

rism

an

d R

ecr

eat

ion

al A

ctiv

itie

s

Sma

ll h

ote

ls (

up

to

80

ro

om

s)

Fast

Fo

od

Op

erat

or

Sho

rt-t

erm

acc

om

od

atio

nac

tivi

tie

s/To

uri

st r

esi

den

ces/

Gu

est

ho

use

s

Tou

r o

pe

rato

r ac

tivi

ties

Re

stau

ran

ts (

exc

lud

ing

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or)

Cat

eri

ng

Serv

ices

Cat

amar

an c

ruis

es

Spa

and

We

llne

ss

Trav

el A

gen

cy

Distribution of respondents in numbers

46 | P a g e

Figure 12: Number of years in operation

Type of enterprises

Almost half of the establishments surveyed (53 percent) pointed out that they were the only

establishment in their organisation. The remaining respondents said that they formed part of a larger

organisation, as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13: Whether the only organisation or part of a larger organisation

3.1.2 EMPLOYMENT PROFILE

When it comes to employment of expatriates, almost one third of respondents (34 percent) said that

they were employing expatriates, as shown in Figure 14. The response confirm the general mood in

the sector where employers are claiming that there is a shortage of domestic labour for some specific

skills and one of the many reasons for this shortage is the high labour turnover in the sector where

many workers are shifting to cruise ships. Employing expatriates is one way of meeting immediate

shortage of labour. In many forum, employers and employers’ associations are claiming that in the

2% 1%7%

25%

66%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Less than 1year

1-3 years Over 3 yearsup to and

including 5years

Over 5 yearsup to and

including 10years

Over 10 years

Per

cen

tage

47%

53%

one of a number of establishments within a larger organisation

the only establishment in the organisation

47 | P a g e

years to come, some trades will have to be catered fully by expatriates as Mauritians are not ready

to work in those trades.

Figure 14: Employment of expatriates

From respondents’ data gathered, it was found that more employees having “work permit” were

employed in the organisations surveyed as compared to those having “occupational permit”. It was

also noticed that the majority of those having “work permit” were in the category of ‘Professionals’.

For “occupational permit”, ‘Managers’ were in higher numbers as shown in Table 15. In total, the

132 companies surveyed were employing 152 expatriates.

Table 15: Holders of Work and Occupational permits (n=152)

Occupational Groups Number of expatriates as at 30

September 2016

Work Permit

Occupation

Permit

Managers 6 24

Professionals 51 16

Technicians and associate professionals 16 0

Clerical support workers 0 0

Service and Sales workers 11 15

Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery

workers

0 0

Craft and related trade workers 0 0

Plant and machine operators and

assemblers

0 0

Elementary occupations 8 5

Total 92 60

66%

34%

No Yes

48 | P a g e

3.1.2.1 Reasons for employing expatriates

The study also revealed that the most important reason, according to respondents, for employing

expatriates was “relevant skills and experience not available locally”. Two-third of respondents

used both occupational and work permit for employment. The detailed response is depicted in Table

16 and Table 17.

Table 16: Reasons for employing expatriates by respondents for holders of Occupational permits (%)

Reason Occupational Permit

Relevant skills and experience not available locally 68%

Expats are multi-skilled, hence, can be used for different jobs 38%

Relevant qualifications not available locally 33%

They are more productive 26%

Expats are more flexible (in terms of working extra hours/ week-ends/attitude) 24%

Mauritians not willing to work in that post 7%

Table 17: Reasons for employing expatriates by respondents for holders of Work permits (%)

Reason Work Permit

Relevant skills and experience not available locally 69%

Expats are more flexible (in terms of working extra hours/ week-ends/attitude) 52%

They are more productive 49%

Relevant qualifications not available locally 37%

Expats are multi-skilled, hence, can be used for different jobs 17%

Mauritians not willing to work in that post 14%

Local labour too costly 11%

3.1.3 SYSTEM FOR TRANSFER OF SKILLS

When transfer of skills was addressed, almost half of the respondents (53 percent) said that there

existed a system of transfer of skills from expatriates to local employees, as depicted in Figure 15.

Based on the responses, it can also be noted that almost half of the enterprises surveyed (47 percent)

were not promoting a transfer of knowledge from expatriates to locals.

49 | P a g e

Figure 15: Existence of system of transfer of skills from expatriates to local employees (n=45)

Respondents were also requested to state the ways/methods which they were mostly using to

transfer knowledge from expatriate workers to local workers. According to the respondents, the

most common ways/methods of transferring the knowledge in order of preference were as follows:

Through technical training;

On the job coaching/learning;

Mentoring; and

On-the-job training.

3.2 RECRUITMENT AND JOB READINESS

Regarding recruitment among the enterprises surveyed within the past two years, a large majority

(85 percent) of enterprises surveyed said that they did make recruitment. This high percentage

illustrates that organisations in general in this sector continuously recruit as shown in Figure 16.

Figure 16: Percentage of organisations which recruited over the past 2 years (n=132)

When it comes to the recruitment of “fresher” - that is those without any work experience - almost

two-third of enterprises (63 percent) said that they did recruit “fresher” coming from the secondary

school. In addition, half of the enterprises (51 percent) said that they recruited “fresher” coming

from the TVET stream or other training institutions. It should be noted that 39 percent of those

47 53

0

20

40

60

80

100

No Yes

Pe

rce

nta

ge

15%

85%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

No Yes

Per

cen

tage

50 | P a g e

enterprises surveyed did recruit “fresher” from University. For the latter, this can be considered as

a good percentage considering that the majority of employees composing the labour force in this

sector are mostly at operational level. The responses are shown in Figure 17.

Figure 17: Recruitment of new employees as per their educational background (n=112)

Enterprises recruiting employees usually expect that the latter are fully prepared with the necessary

skills to take jobs. However, this is not necessarily the case as many academics, researchers and HR

professionals argued that academic/training institutions cannot fully prepare students to fit in

workplace. This was confirmed from the responses gathered from those who recruited during the

past two years where it was found that employers were not too satisfied with the “preparedness of

those who left the educational/training system” to take jobs. This means those who were recruited

were not ready to join the world of work.

Among “fresher”, alarmingly, only 2 percent of respondents said that those leaving the secondary

school were well prepared to take jobs. For TVET, 14 percent of the respondents said that they were

well prepared for jobs. It should also be noted that 42 percent of the respondents said that those

leaving secondary school were poorly prepared to take jobs. Around one quarter (24 percent) of the

respondents said that university graduates were poorly prepared.

When it comes to the preparedness for work for those who are non-first time job seeker, that is those

who have certain job experience, the picture is a bit different. Respondents said that 34 percent of

those with secondary school background were well prepared. However, 15 percent also said that

those non-first time job seeker with TVET background were poorly prepared. Interestingly, 24

percent of the respondents said that university graduates who were non-first time job seeker were

well prepared to join their enterprises. The detailed results are presented in Table 18.

63

51

39

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Secondary School TVET or other training afterschool

University

Pe

rce

nta

ge

51 | P a g e

Table 18: Preparedness of employees to enter the world of work as per educational background (%)

Fresher Non-fresher

S.S.

(n=71)

TVET

(n=74)

UNI.

(n=45)

S.S.

(n=96)

TVET

(n=65)

UNI.

(n=58)

Well prepared 2 14 5 34 30 24

Poorly prepared 42 24 24 27 15 17

Don’t know 1 1 2 0 0 2

(Varies too much to say) 54 6 3 11 5 1

S.S.: Secondary school; TVET: Technical Vocational and Education training; UNI: university

N: number of respondents

The response clearly make us reflect on the education and training system and how far the Mauritian

education and training system is supporting enterprises in their search for skilled workers. Based on

the figures, it was noticed that work experience is crucial for employees to be more prepared to

enter the world of work, as shown in Error! Reference source not found..

Figure 18: Preparedness of employees entering the world of work as per educational background

For school leavers, based on the different requirements provided, it was seen that on average, less

than half of the enterprises were fully satisfied with different requirements listed. 48 percent were

fully satisfied with ‘team working’ of school leavers. Also, only around 10 percent were fully

satisfied with school leavers’ ‘self-management’, ‘problem solving’, ‘foreign language skills and

international cultural awareness’.

2

14

5

3430

24

42

24 24 27

15 17

1 1 2 0 0 2

54

6 3

115

10

10

20

30

40

50

60

(n=71) (n=74) (n=45) (n=96) (n=65) (n=58)

S.S. TVET UNI. S.S. TVET UNI.

Fresher Non-fresher

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Preparedness of employees to enter the world of work as per educational background (%)

Well prepared Poorly prepared Don’t know (Varies too much to say)

52 | P a g e

On average, as presented in Table 19, between half and one third of respondents were neither

satisfied nor dissatisfied with the requirements for school leavers. In addition, only one fifth of the

respondents were not satisfied at all with foreign language skills and international cultural

awareness of school leavers. The detailed responses are presented in Error! Reference source not

found.. Error! Reference source not found. shows the skills mix listed under ‘not satisfied at all.’

Table 19: Satisfaction of enterprises with the skills mix of school leavers in the past 2 years

(n = 112)

School Leavers

Fully

satisfied

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

Not satisfied

at all

Not

applicable

Basic literacy and use of English and French 28% 54% 9% 9%

Basic numeracy skills 34% 39% 13% 14%

Technical skills 22% 46% 21% 11%

Analytical skills 16% 46% 25% 13%

Good communication skills 29% 49% 13% 9%

Use of IT 41% 28% 4% 27%

Self-management 13% 41% 34% 12%

Team-working 48% 34% 10% 8%

Business and customer awareness 19% 39% 31% 11%

Problem solving 10% 42% 39% 9%

Positive attitude to work 36% 45% 11% 8%

Knowledge about their chosen job/career 21% 40% 31% 8%

Relevant work experience 29% 46% 10% 15%

Foreign language skills 12% 20% 25% 43%

International cultural awareness 14% 20% 34% 32%

53 | P a g e

Figure 19: Skills mix of school leavers listed under 'not satisfied at all.'

For those school leavers holding a TVET qualification, 43 percent of the respondents were fully

satisfied when it comes to team work, as shown in Table 20. 53 percent said that foreign language

skills and international cultural awareness were criteria not relevant to this sector. However, one-

third or more of the respondents were fully satisfied with the basic numeracy skills, technical and

communication skills, use of IT and positive work attitude of TVET school leavers. The detailed

response is presented in Table 20.

Table 20: Satisfaction of enterprises with the skills mix of TVET holders in the past 2 years (n = 112)

TVET holders

Fully

satisfied


Not satisfied

at all

Not

applicable






Use of IT 32% 24% 1% 43%






4%

9%

10%

10%

11%

13%

13%

21%

25%

25%

31%

34%

34%

39%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Use of IT

Basic literacy and use of English and French

Team-working

Relevant work experience

Positive attitude to work

Basic numeracy skills

Good communication skills

Technical skills

Analytical skills

Foreign language skills

Business and customer awareness

Self-management

International cultural awareness

Problem solving

Not satisfied at all

54 | P a g e





For university graduates, ii was found that more that 40 percent of respondents said that they were

fully satisfied with the following; basic literacy and use of English and French, basic numeracy

skills and use of IT, as shown in Table 21.

Table 21: Satisfaction of enterprises with the skills mix of university graduates in the past 2 years (n = 112)

Graduates

Fully

satisfied


Not satisfied

at all

Not

applicable






Use of IT 47% 6% 1% 46%










55 | P a g e

Figure 20: Skills mix of university graduates listed under 'fully satisfied.'

3.3 WHAT MAKES VACANCIES HARD TO FILL AND WHAT ARE THE CRITICAL VACANCIES FOR THE SECTOR?

3.3.1 OCCUPATIONAL ANALYSIS

In terms of the number of employees in the tourism sector, as per Statistics Mauritius, in 2017, there

were around 41,600 people working in the sector. The total contribution of the Travel and Tourism

to employment, including jobs indirectly supported by the industry was 131,000 in 2017 (Travel &

Tourism Economic Impact 2018, Mauritius). For the study, there were 132 enterprises which were

surveyed and as per the information gathered, there was a total 8136 employees in the 132

enterprises. The employees were distributed in the nine occupational groups as per National

Classification Standards (NASCO) and this is presented in Figure 21. Given the nature of the sector,

it was no surprise to see that the majority of employees were in the occupational group ‘Service and

sales workers’ (49 percent). This was followed by ‘Elementary occupations’ (14 percent),

‘Managers’ (11 percent), ‘Professionals’ (8 percent), ‘Technicians and associate professionals’ (7

percent) and ‘Clerical support workers’ (7 percent). The lowest number of employees were in the

occupational group ‘Craft and related trade workers’ (2 percent), ‘Plant & machinery operators’

(1%) and ‘Skilled agricultural & fishery workers’ (1 percent).

17%

19%

20%

22%

23%

25%

25%

26%

27%

31%

36%

37%

41%

47%

48%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%


International cultural awareness

Self-management

Problem solving

Relevant work experience

Business and customer awareness

Knowledge about their chosen job/career

Analytical skills

Technical skills

Positive attitude to work

Good communication skills

Team-working

Basic literacy and use of English and French

Use of IT

Basic numeracy skills

Fully satistied

56 | P a g e

Figure 21: Distribution of employees as per occupational groups for the sample (n=8136)

There are many “generic” jobs or common jobs which exist in all sectors, that is, jobs which are

not specific to any sector and example are IT administrator, accountant, clerk and driver. However,

like in all sectors, this sector has a number of specialised jobs that exist and few examples are food

and beverage manager, chef, bar supervisor, waiter and housekeeper. Table 22 shows a list of some

of the most common jobs found in each occupational group for the Tourism and Hospitality sector.

Most of these jobs are specific for the sector.

Table 22: Common occupations by occupation groups in the Tourism sector

Occupational groups Job titles

Resident Director

Kitchen Manager

Food and Beverage Manager

Restaurant Manager

Front Office Manager

Boathouse Manager

Head of Department

Sales and Marketing Manager

Tours Manager

Professionals

Spa Therapist

Chef

Fitness Coach

Graphic Designer

Guest Relations Executive

Yoga Teacher

Managers11%

Professionals 8%

Associate Professionals &

Technicians7%

Clerical support workers

7%Service & sales

workers49%

Skilled agricultural,

forestry & fishery workers

1%

Craft & related trade workers

2%

Plant & machinery operators

1%

Elementary occupations

14%

57 | P a g e

Pastry Chef

Associate Professionals & Technicians

Skipper/Boatman

Frigorist

Health & Safety Officer

Maintenance Technician

Restaurant Supervisor

HVAC Technician

Bar Supervisor


Storekeeper

Reservation Clerk

Payroll Clerk

Front Office Clerk

F&B Secretary

Service & sales workers

Waiter

Housekeeper

Cook

Barman

Tourist Guide

Labourer

Craft & related trade workers

Diver

Butcher

Carpenter

Plumber

Plant & machinery operators

Driver

Machinist

Brewer

Elementary occupations

Kitchen helper

Maintenance worker

Porter

Housekeeping attendant

Maid Gardener

One of the main issues raised by employers is the inability to recruit the right persons with the right

skills. One of the main objectives of this study is to try to find out what are the different jobs where

employers are finding it difficult to recruit. The responses were gathered for each of the nine

occupational groups as per Statistics Mauritius classifications. Table 23 gives an indication of the

different job titles as per the occupational groups where it was difficult to fill vacancies by

58 | P a g e

employers. It should be noted that the difficulties to recruit are both for ‘generic’ jobs and ‘sector

specific’ jobs.

Table 23: List of hard to fill vacancies as per occupational groups

Occupational groups Job Titles

Managers

Director of Hotel

General Manager

HR Manager

Food and Beverage Manager

Managing Director

Reservation Manager

Sales Department Manager

Sales Manager

Manager Bar and Restaurant

CEO

Assistant Manager

Front Office Manager

Commercial Manager

Technical Manager

Operational Technical Manager

Hotel Manager

Room Division Manager

Deputy General Manager

Maintenance Manager

Chief Executive Officer

Executive Assistant Manager

Stewarding Manager

Development Wellness Manager

Business Manager

Marketing Manager

Professionals

Chef

Accountant

Spa Therapist

Sous Chef

Executive Chef

Assistant Chef

Indian Chef

Brewer

Customer Service Officer

Sales Executive

Chef De Rang

Technicians and associate professionals Restaurant Supervisor

Maintenance Technician

IT Officer

59 | P a g e

Frigorist

Food and Beverage Supervisor

Commercial Executive

Hotel Representative

Clerical support workers Reservation Clerk

Head Receptionist

Receptionist

Night Auditor

Secretary

Tours Operator

Planning Officer

Service and sales workers Waiter

Cook

Fast Food Operator

Barman

Griller

Barista

Cashier

Animateur

Tourist Guide

Assistant Executive Housekeeper

Head of House Keeping

Commis de cuisine

Golf Superintendent

Animal Keeper

Trainee Cook

Butler

Craft and related trades workers Pastry Chef

Skilled agricultural, forestry & fishery workers

Labourer

When it comes to critical post, that is when the posts are crucial for the functioning of the industry,

Annex 2 provides a list of the jobs as per the occupational groups which are critical for the sector.

The jobs are classified as per the different occupational groups.

Through the survey and information gathered, Annex 3 was compiled for the sector where it shows

the different qualifications, experiences, skill types and other requirements demanded by employers

for the most common jobs for the following occupational groups:

Managers

Professionals


Technicians and associate professionals

60 | P a g e

Service and Sales

Elementary occupations.

Table 24 illustrates the main causes for enterprises having hard to fill vacancies. As presented, it

can be seen that the causes vary for the different occupational groups.

Table 24: Main causes for having hard to fill vacancies

Man

ager

s

Pro

fess

ion

als

Tech

nic

ian

s an

d a

sso

ciat

e

pro

fess

ion

als

Cle

rica

l su

pp

ort

wo

rker

s

Serv

ice

and

sal

es w

ork

ers

Skill

ed a

gric

ult

ura

l, fo

rest

ry

and

fis

her

y w

ork

ers

Cra

ft a

nd

rel

ated

tra

des

wo

rker

s

Pla

nt

and

mac

hin

e

op

erat

ors

an

d a

ssem

ble

rs

Elem

enta

ry o

ccu

pat

ion

s

Too much competition from other employers

24% 19% 0% 11% 6% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Not enough people interested in doing this type of job

25% 16% 49% 29% 45% 0% 100% 51% 0%

Poor terms and conditions (e.g. pay) for post 6% 0% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Low number of applicants with the required skills

64% 78% 51% 51% 53% 0% 50% 100% 0%

Low number of applicants with the required qualification

34% 40% 51% 35% 15% 0% 0% 51% 0%

Low number of applicants with the required attitude, motivation or personality

48% 60% 0% 35% 31% 0% 50% 51% 0%

Low number of applicants generally

13% 6% 0% 0% 23% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Poor career progression / lack of prospects

3% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 49% 0%

Job entails shift work/unconventional working hours

14% 15% 0% 42% 18% 0% 0% 51% 0%

Difficult working conditions

3% 4% 49% 0% 6% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Seasonal work

1% 0% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Remote location/poor public transport facility

2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 49% 0%

Don't know

0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Other, please specify

2% 0% 0% 0% 20% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Reasons enterprises found difficult to recruit for all occupational groups

There exist different causes for organizations finding it hard to fill vacancies. These difficulties vary

for the different occupational groups. Table 25 summarizes the different reasons for each

occupational group where and why it is difficult to recruit.

Table 25: Reasons difficult to recruit for occupational groups

Occupational

groups

Reasons employers found it difficult to recruit

61 | P a g e

Managers 64 percent said that there exist a low number of applicants with the required

skills

Almost half said that there were low number of applicants with the required

attitude, motivation or personality

One third said that there was low number of applicants with the required

qualification

Around one-quarter said that there were too much competition from other

employers and not enough people interested in doing this type of job

Professionals More that three-quarter of respondents said that there exist low number of

applicants with the required skills

60 percent said that there was low number of applicants with the required


40 percent pointed out that there was low number of applicants with the

required qualification

Technicians and

associate

professionals

51 percent of respondents said that there was low number of applicants with

the required skills and low number of applicants with the required qualification

49 percent said that there was not enough people interested in doing this type

of job and similar percentage said that there was difficult working conditions

Clerical support

workers

51 percent said that there was low number of applicants with the required skills

42 percent said that the job entails shift work/unconventional working hours

35 percent also pointed out that there was low number of applicants with the

required qualification and also low number of applicants with the required


Service and sales

workers

53 percent said that there was low number of applicants with the required skills

45 percent said that there was not enough people interested in doing this type

of job

31 percent pointed out that there was a low number of applicants with the

required attitude, motivation or personality

Skilled agricultural,

forestry and fishery

workers

For this occupational group, there were no responses

Craft and related

trades workers

For the Craft and related trades workers occupational group, there was

insignificant number of responses

Plant and machine

operators and

assemblers

For Plant and machine operators and assemblers occupational group, there

was insignificant number of responses

Elementary

occupations

For this occupational group, there were no responses

Consequences where enterprises cannot recruit

As stated previously, there exist many reasons why it is hard to fill some vacancies by enterprises

and these difficulties have some consequences on enterprises. Table 26 shows that when there are

62 | P a g e

situations where it is hard to fill certain vacancies, it has effects on the business/establishment. The

survey showed that its effects have certain consequences depending on the different occupational

groups. It was found that in general, this situation increases the workload on other staff and also it

causes difficulties to introduce new working practices. The detailed responses are presented in Table

26.

Table 26: Consequences of hard-to-fill vacancies on establishments

Ma

na

ge

rs

Pro

fessio

na

ls

Te

ch

nic

ian

s a

nd

asso

cia

te

pro

fessio

na

ls

Cle

rica

l su

pp

ort

wo

rke

rs

Se

rvic

e a

nd

sa

les w

ork

ers

Sk

ille

d a

gri

cu

ltu

ral,

fo

restr

y

an

d f

ish

ery

wo

rke

rs

Cra

ft a

nd

re

late

d t

rad

es

wo

rke

rs

Pla

nt

an

d m

ach

ine o

pe

rato

rs

an

d a

sse

mb

lers

Ele

me

nta

ry o

ccu

pa

tio

ns

Lose business or orders to

competitors

8%

12%

8%

2%

8%

0%

0%

0%

9%

Delay developing new products or

services

6% 12% 14% 4% 6% 0% 0% 0% 10%

Have difficulties meeting quality

standards

17% 11% 7% 17% 18% 0% 29% 12% 14%

Experience increased operating

costs

6% 6% 12% 1% 4% 0% 0% 0% 5%

Have difficulties introducing new

working practices

14% 14% 17% 34% 19% 100% 0% 0% 9%

Increase workload for other staff

23% 25% 21% 23% 17% 0% 0% 57% 19%

Outsource work

3% 2% 2% 3% 3% 0% 29% 0% 6%

Withdraw from offering certain

products or services altogether

1% 0% 0% 1% 2% 0% 0% 0% 1%

Have difficulties meeting customer

services objectives

16% 11% 13% 5% 13% 0% 43% 0% 13%

Have difficulties introducing

technological change

1% 3% 2% 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% 3%

Don't know

6% 5% 4% 9% 9% 0% 0% 31% 13%

To remedy the situation of “hard-to-fill-vacancies”, various measures are being taken by

organisations. These measures essentially target different occupational groups at different levels

and the survey results are presented in Table 27. It is important to note that on average, less than 20

percent of employers are not favouring an increase in salaries to remedy the situation and this apply

63 | P a g e

for all occupational groups. However, ‘redefining existing jobs’ is being considered for some

occupational groups in a view to cope with the situation. In some instances and for some

occupational groups, more than half of the enterprises are trying to ‘promote multi-tasking’. For

other occupational groups, organisations are also ‘prepared to offer training to less well

qualified/skilled recruits’ to remedy the situation of hard-to-fill vacancies. The detailed results of

the survey is depicted in Table 27.

Table 27: Measures to remedy “hard-to-fill vacancies”

Man

ager

s

Pro

fess

ion

als

Tech

nic

ian

s an

d a

sso

ciat

e p

rofe

ssio

nal

s

Cle

rica

l su

pp

ort

wo

rker

s

Serv

ice

and

sal

es w

ork

ers

Skill

ed a

gric

ult

ura

l, fo

rest

ry a

nd

fish

ery

wo

rker

s

Cra

ft a

nd

rel

ated

tra

des

wo

rker

s

Pla

nt

and

mac

hin

e o

per

ato

rs

and

ass

emb

lers

Elem

enta

ry o

ccu

pat

ion

s

Increasing salaries

14% 21% 19% 11% 13% 0% 0% 13% 17%

Increasing the training given to existing workforce to acquire required skills

32% 24% 28% 27% 29% 0% 0% 54% 27%

Redefining existing jobs

42% 45% 47% 25% 41% 50% 43% 13% 36%

Increasing advertising / recruitment expenditure 21% 31% 28% 12% 17% 0% 0% 0% 18%

Embarking on / expanding trainee programmes (DTP, STM, YEP...)

17% 18% 25% 31% 18% 50% 0% 0% 12%

Recruiting graduates under the GTES programme 6% 4% 12% 2% 3% 0% 0% 0% 5%

Promote multi-tasking

59% 57% 49% 38% 56% 50% 29% 25% 58%

Using new recruitment methods or channels (e.g. social media...)

10% 13% 0% 6% 7% 0% 0% 0% 13%

Recruiting expatriate workers

14% 11% 15% 6% 13% 0% 43% 0% 13%

Bringing in contractors to do the work, or contracting it out

6% 4% 0% 6% 6% 0% 0% 0% 8%

Being prepared to offer training to less well qualified/skilled recruits

30% 30% 17% 20% 36% 50% 0% 12% 33%

Sensitisation about the sector and jobs to improve attractiveness of jobs

7% 12% 2% 5% 10% 0% 0% 13% 11%

Nothing

7% 4% 13% 8% 7% 0% 29% 34% 11%

Other, please specify

3% 5% 0% 3% 6% 0% 0% 0% 2%

Very often, employers find it difficult to employ skilled labour with specific skills. These difficulties

are also more pronounced for certain occupational groups. The results of the survey show that

difficulties faced by employers vary across different occupational groups as employers require

different/specific skills for each occupational group. The results of the survey are presented in Table

28 where it clearly shows that different occupational groups require different skills and qualities.

64 | P a g e

Table 28: Skills requirements for different occupational groups

Man

age

rs

Pro

fess

ion

als

Tech

nic

ian

s an

d a

sso

ciat

e

pro

fess

ion

als

Cle

rica

l su

pp

ort

wo

rke

rs

Serv

ice

an

d s

ale

s w

ork

ers

Skill

ed

agr

icu

ltu

ral,

fore

stry

and

fis

he

ry w

ork

ers

Cra

ft a

nd

re

late

d t

rad

es

wo

rker

s

Pla

nt

and

mac

hin

e

op

era

tors

an

d a

sse

mb

lers

Ele

me

nta

ry o

ccu

pat

ion

s

Flexibility and versatility to tackle a wide range of technical and non-technical subjects

28% 24% 51% 39% 7% 0% 0% 51% 0%

Analytical skills

36% 40% 51% 15% 9% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Problem-solving skills

46% 43% 51% 35% 10% 0% 50% 49% 0%

Basic ICT Skills

16% 18% 0% 11% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Ability to learn

29% 23% 0% 14% 23% 0% 0% 0% 0%

To change the status quo

18% 40% 0% 15% 9% 0% 0% 51% 0%

Ability to grasp concepts quickly

24% 39% 0% 21% 17% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Ability to argue on one's feet

37% 39% 51% 39% 11% 0% 0% 100% 0%

Ability to work methodically (organization and planning skills)

33% 33% 0% 28% 20% 0% 0% 51% 0%

Accuracy and attention to detail

21% 45% 49% 23% 25% 0% 100% 51% 0%

Ability to analyze technical and statistical data

22% 13% 0% 6% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Good communication, spoken, written and presentation skills

44% 31% 0% 17% 21% 0% 0% 100% 0%

Team work

22% 34% 0% 23% 17% 0% 0% 100% 0%

Innovative skills

17% 42% 0% 6% 9% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Ability to take initiative and experiment with alternatives

38% 13% 0% 22% 8% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Network with clients

15% 7% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Technical skills

27% 20% 51% 0% 13% 0% 50% 51% 0%

Good attitude

31% 35% 49% 23% 29% 0% 50% 100% 0%


15% 4% 0% 11% 13% 0% 0% 51% 0%

Creative skills

15% 35% 0% 6% 8% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Customer handling skills

28% 18% 0% 11% 22% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Strategic management skills

22% 11% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Literacy skills

10% 0% 0% 11% 4% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Mathematical skills

3% 4% 0% 0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0%

65 | P a g e

Any other skill not listed above? Please specify

9% 11% 0% 11% 22% 0% 0% 0% 0%

3.4 FUTURE SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

3.4.1 FUTURE BUSINESS SCENARIO

For the study, respondents were asked about their future size of their workforce and their future

business activities by assuming two scenarios which are “assuming that the business environment

will remain the same” or in case “business environment will improve in the future”. All the 132

establishments surveyed gave their opinions for this question.

For the first part where respondents assumed that the business environment will remain the same,

in terms of workforce, nearly half of the establishment (49 percent) pointed out that their workforce

will remain the same. Positively, it should also be noted that, around 40 percent also said that even

if the business environment remain the same, their workforce will expand. In addition, even in a

situation where future business environment will remain stagnant, business activities will expand

according to more than half of the respondents (56 percent). Around one third of respondents (31

percent) also said that their business activities would remain the same. Only 7 percent of

establishments were pessimist where they said that their business activities would contract.

When respondents were asked to assume that the business environment will improve, 68 percent

respondents claimed that their workforce will expand. One quarter of respondents also said that

their workforce will remain constant. Similar response was received from respondents in terms of

business activity when they assumed that business environment will improve. A little more that

three-quarter of enterprises (77 percent) claimed that business will expand whereas 16 percent also

claimed that business activities will remain the same.

It can be concluded that respondents were optimist when it comes to future size of labour force and

future business activities even in the event of business environment remaining the same or business

environment improves in the future. The detailed responses are presented in Table 29 and

66 | P a g e

.

Table 29: Future size of labour and business activities in case business environment remain same or improves

Assuming business environment remain the same

In terms of size of workforce % In terms of business activity %

Contract 5 Contract 7

Don't know 5 Don't know 6

Expand 41 Expand 56

Remain the same 49 Remains the same 31

Total 100 Total 100

Assuming business environment improves

In terms of size of workforce % In terms of business activity %

Expand 68 Expand 77

Remain the same 26 Remain the same 16

Contract 1 Contract 1

Don't know 5 Don't know 6

Total 100 Total 100

67 | P a g e

Figure 22: Future size of labour and business activities in case business environment remain same or improves

In case of future expansion of the enterprises in the same or different fields, there are a list of skills

which will be in need, as presented in Table 30. The types of support needed for the skills were also

provided by respondents in Table 30.

Table 30: Skills and support requirements of enterprises in case of expansion

Future Sector of Activity Specific skills requirement Type of Support needed

Mini Club, Gym and Sauna

Qualified trainers Foreign trainers

Bar Barmen Experienced professional to give training

Brewery Technical skill in brewery Professional trainer

41%

49%

5% 5%1%

5%

68%

26%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Expand Remain the same Contract Don't know

Per

cen

tage

In terms of workforce

Assuming business environment remain the same

Assuming business environment improves

68 | P a g e

Car renting Professional drivers Qualified professional trainer

Catering Chef Patissier, Cook, Stewarding, Waiters

NTC 2, 3 and 4

Diving activities and Spa Spa Therapist and deep sea divers

Professional Therapist

Ecology Land and environment care Legislation

Exports Frigorist (Expatriate) HACCP, Health and Safety and Food Handling

Finance, Construction and Web TV

Skills in construction and finance Skilled people in construction and finance

Gastronomie Chefs de cuisines, barman, animator

Qualified trainers in tourism sector

Home service Helper, cleaner and handyman Trainer in communication

Outside catering Cook, Waiter and Barman Brevet d'etude professionelles

Real estate Project management logistics Software developer

Restaurant Cooks and waiters Experienced professional

Same activity Government help for awareness and finance

Training

Same activity Good communication in languages

Qualified trainers

Same activity Tourism and Management Support from the Ministry of Tourism

Same activity Qualified employees in catering HRDC and YEP Schemes

Same activity Chefs and Front Office Professional trainer with experience

Same activity Front Office Trainer in guest relation and complaints handling

Same activity Foreign languages Foreign trainers with international exposure

Same activity Reservation desk Qualified trainers in the field

Same activity Waiters Training in languages and customer care

Same activity Operational level employees EHSGD and AHRIM

Same activity Customer service and housekeeping

Foreign trainer in customer care

Same activity Management skills Foreign trainer

Same activity Technical skills and hospitality Experienced trainer in this sector

Same activity Customer service, Bar and Restaurants and hospitality

Specialised trainers

Same activity Cook, Sous-Chef, Chef de Partie Foreign trainers

Same activity Skippers Trainers in life saving and first aid

Same activity Babysitters Early Childhood Care

Same activity Expatriate Chef in specialised cuisines

Food handlers certificate

Same activity Therapist and Spa Specialist Qualified trainers

Same activity Cook On the job training

Same activity Barman On the job training

Spa Therapist, Hairdresser, Nail artist Professional in massage therapy

Sport Centre Gym instructor Qualified trainer in swimming and first aid

69 | P a g e

3.5 FUTURE VACANCIES

When it comes to vacancies, from the survey, it was found that there were 892 short-term vacancies

for the different occupational groups as presented in

Table 31. It was noticed that around 70 percent of the vacancies were for the occupational group

“Service and sales workers”.

Table 31: Vacancies as per occupational groups for the sample

Occupational groups No of current

vacancies (n=132)

No. of vacancies in the

short term (n=132)

Managers 22 25

Professionals 47 54

Technicians and associate professionals 2 4

Clerical support workers 18 65

Service and sales workers 315 630

Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers 1 19

Craft and related trades workers 3 4

Plant and machine operators and assemblers 0 8

Elementary occupations 59 83

T0TAL 392 892

Figure 23: Vacancies in the short-term

The tourism sector, just like many other sectors, is facing difficulty to recruit people for certain

occupations. The survey has tried to find out the most in-demand occupations for the sector. For

this question, respondents enumerated the six most occupations where they were facing difficulties

2%6%

1%7%

71%

2% 1% 1%

9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Managers Professionals Techniciansand associateprofessionals

Clericalsupportworkers

Service andsales workers

Skilledagricultural,forestry and

fisheryworkers

Craft andrelatedtrades

workers

Plant andmachine

operatorsand

assemblers

Elementaryoccupations

Pe

rce

nta

ge

70 | P a g e

to recruit people and all the occupations have been compiled and presented in Table 32. The jobs

listed by respondents are both sector specific and also ‘generic’ jobs.

Table 32: Most in-demand occupations

Occupations Occupations

Waiter Accounts officer

Cook Analyst, job

Housekeeper Animateur

Barman Assistant front office manager

Chef Assistant manager

Receptionist Baker, pastry-cooks and confectionery makers

Steward Beach attendant

Administrative officer Butler

Handyman Carpenter

Fast food operator Catering officer

Front office worker Crew member

Accountant Delivery boy

General manager Digital marketing specialist

Guest relation officer Diver, aquatic products

Guide Electrical technician

Helper, kitchen Engineer

Sales representative Finance administrator

Skipper, boat Frigoboy

Barrista Gardener

Cashier Human resource officer

Clerk IT Professional

Housekeeping assistant Labourer, forestry

HR manager Marketing assistant

Maintenance officer Mason

Secretary Nail artist

Security officer Network Administrator

Training Manager Plumber

Cleaner Public area attendant

Customer service officer Restaurant Manager

Driver Shift manager

Food and Beverage executive Spa therapist

Maid Supply delivery manager

Maintenance supervisor Support manager

Marketing officer Translator

php developper Veterinarian

Public relations officer Web designers

Search engine optimization officer Web developper

71 | P a g e

Sports coaches Welder

Technician

3.6 TOP SKILLS IN DEMAND IN NEXT 5 YEARS

One of the question in the survey was related to scarce skills and difficulties employers were having

to fill the scarce skills for the coming 5 years. Respondents were requested to prioritise the scarce

skills where they would be having difficulties to recruit. The top 6 skills in demand in the Tourism

and Hospitality sector as ranked by the respondents were as follows:

‘Good communication skills (spoken, written and presentation)’

‘Team work’

‘Ability to work methodically (organisation and planning skills)’

‘Customer handling skills’

‘Good attitude

‘Ability to learn’

It was seen from the responses that employers were putting more emphasis on “soft skills” as

compared to technical skills. The six most skills in demand for the sector are presented in Table 33.

Table 33: Six most skills in demand for the sector

Most preferred skills demand for the next 5 years (n=132) Percentage of respondents

Good communication skills (spoken, written and presentation) 60

Team work 56

Ability to work methodically (organisation and planning skills) 47

Customer handling skills 45

Good attitude 42

Ability to learn 40

Respondents also enumerated the fields and related subjects for the sector where education and

training institutions should focus upon in the medium term (in the next 5 years) and this is presented

in Table 34.

Table 34: Skills requirements and subjects/fields for the sector

Skills requirements Subjects/Fields

Communication skills Languages, business communication, complaints handling

Customer service/Public relation Sales techniques, languages, communication

72 | P a g e

Foreign language German, Italian, Mandarin, Russian, Italian, Spanish

Creativity, innovation and team work Relevant training

Emotional intelligence Relevant training

Hospitality Tourism and hospitality

IT skills IT courses

Analytical and organizational skill Tourism management

Basic skills to analyse financial statement Accounting and finance

Chinese cuisine Chinese cooking

Culinary skill Culinary course

Marketing skill Commerce, marketing and business modules

Basic knowledge of electrical appliances Electrical

International and local culture History and geography

Restaurant and bar services Food and beverage modules

Service housekeeping Housekeeping

Administrative skills Management and accountancy

Geographical skill History and geography

Night Auditing Accounting

Spa and massage Anatomy

Sports and wellness Physical education

Cashier skills Accounting

First aid and lifesaving skills First aid and lifesaving

Health and safety Health and safety modules

Project management Management

Soft skills Communication

Veterinary and animal care Biology

3.7 INDUSTRY - EDUCATION LINKAGES

3.7.1 STATUS OF LINKAGES OF ENTERPRISES WITH THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

On the question of linkages between enterprises and educational institutions, with the exception of

TVET, between 64 to 76 percent of respondents said that they had no intention to get involved with

educational institutions. 44 percent of respondents said that they were linked with TVET institutions

and this is comprehensible given the nature of the industry where the majority of employees are in

the occupational group of “Service and Sales Workers”. Alarmingly, it is worth noting that more

than one third (37 percent) of respondents also pointed out that they had no intention to link up with

TVET institutions.

From these responses, it can be concluded that the industry is more or less detached from training

providers as a significant percentages of enterprises are not linking up with TVET providers. This

73 | P a g e

should not have been the case given the fact that the nature and composition of the workforce for

the sector, TVET should have been a prime partner for enterprises. This raises the questions of

whether enterprises are satisfied with the quality of TVET training, whether from public or private

centres, or enterprises are not regarding training as a prime element in their development. The

detailed results are shown in Figure 24.

Figure 24: Percentage of enterprises linked of with schools, TVET, professional bodies or universities.

3.7.2 ENTERPRISE AFFILIATIONS

When it comes to membership of associations/councils locally or internationally, less than half of

the organisations surveyed (45 percent) said that they were members of an association/council

locally or internationally. This is shown in Figure 25.

Figure 25: Whether establishment is a member of any industry associations/councils (local or international) (n=132)

14 15

44

14

28

10

21 1915

9

76

64

37

71

65

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Primary School Secondary School TVET Professional bodies(e.g. ACCA)

Universities (Only77% answered this

section)

Per

cen

tage

Yes we have No – but plan to do so in the near future No intention of getting involved

45% 44%

11%

Yes No Don't Know

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

74 | P a g e

For those organisations who were members of associations/councils locally or internationally, the

following associations/councils were named as shown in Table 35.

Table 35: Membership of respondents (n=59)

Associations Number

AHRIM 22

Business Mauritius 10

Both AHRIM and Business Mauritius 7

Tourism Welfare Fund 6

Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority 4

Ex Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority 4

Association of Inbound Operators (Mauritius) 3

Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2

Association of Tourism Professionals 1

TOTAL 59

The majority of organizations forming part of associations/councils locally or internationally were

satisfied with their membership as 83 percent of them claimed that they did benefit some skills

development opportunities, as shown in Figure 26.

Figure 26: Do you benefit through membership from any skills development opportunities (n = 60)

3.7.3 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

Respondents were surveyed on their willingness to participate in skills development initiatives

either individually or as part of the industry. The result is presented in Figure 16. In general, based

on the different initiatives listed, it was found that enterprises surveyed were not participating in

skills development initiatives either individually or as part of the industry. It was found that on

average, between 45 to 70 percent of enterprises were not participating at all in the different

programmes/initiatives which existed. For those willing to participate, this varied according to the

different programmes/initiatives which existed. It was found that 57 percent were willing to provide

83%

17%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Yes No

75 | P a g e

placement for students and 49 percent were keen on the apprenticeship schemes. The detailed

responses are presented in Figure 27.

76 | P a g e

Figure 27: Participation of enterprises in skills development initiatives

27 27

14

7

57

29

23

8

37

14

20

15

9

1513

49

12

1719

13

2017

14

23

17

2123

1619

24 24

1512

79 10

03

811

14

2

68 8 9

5

49 49

58

70

23

51

5558

45

61

55

63 64

5254

31

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Spo

nso

r St

ud

en

ts /

Sch

ola

rsh

ip in

sp

ecif

ic a

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late

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o t

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ess

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the

est

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hm

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ates

Rec

ruit

me

nt

Pro

gram

mes

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tici

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e in

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ET/

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iver

sity

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ry B

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ds

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pat

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urs

e D

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on

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e p

lace

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nt

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en

ts

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e in

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stry

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its

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ts (

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on

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te la

test

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uip

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nt

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cess

es)

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vid

e re

al li

fe p

roje

cts

and

re

sou

rces

fo

r st

ud

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ts t

o w

ork

up

on

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tne

rin

g in

re

sear

ch a

nd

inn

ova

tio

n

Par

tici

pat

ion

in C

are

ers

eve

nts

(C

are

er t

alks

)

Pro

vid

e yo

ur

staf

f as

tra

iner

(TV

ET/U

niv

ersi

ty)

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loye

es a

s st

ud

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t m

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rs

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al t

rain

ing

pro

gram

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s

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er

TVET

/Un

ive

rsit

y fa

cilit

ies

for

ind

ust

ry p

urp

ose

s (e

spe

cial

ly f

or

SMEs

)

Sect

or

Skill

s D

eve

lop

men

t Sc

hem

e

Iden

tifi

cati

on

of

skill

s n

eed

s at

se

cto

r le

vel

Ap

pre

nti

cesh

ips

Sch

em

es

Per

cen

tage

Already participating

Willing to participate individually

Willing to participate as part of an industry association

None

77 | P a g e

3.7.4 BARRIERS TO BUILD LINKS WITH EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROVIDERS

The survey revealed that there exist some barriers for enterprises to build links with the education

and training providers. As presented in Figure 28, 28 percent of respondents said that lack of

resources (e.g space, staff) was the main barrier. 24 percent said that there is also a lack of

administrative flexibility to build links with the education and training providers. The detailed

responses are presented in Figure 28.

Figure 28: Major barriers to build links with education and training providers

3.8 SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

3.8.1 DIFFICULTIES IN TRAINING EMPLOYEES

Training of employees has always been a daunting challenge for a number of employers. The

respondents have highlighted the different difficulties that they usually face while training their

employees. It should be noted that 29 percent of respondents said that they were not encountering

any problems. The remaining 71 percent provided the different reasons where they were having

28%

24%

20%

14%13% 13%

12%

9%

5%

30%

Lack

of

reso

urc

es

(e.g

. sp

ace

, sta

ff.)

Lack

of

adm

inis

trat

ive

fle

xib

ility

No

t in

lin

e w

ith

cu

ltu

re/p

olic

y o

f o

ur

esta

blis

hm

en

t

Dif

ficu

lty

fitt

ing

in w

ith

th

e e

du

cati

on

al in

stit

uti

on

’s

tim

eta

ble

We

are

will

ing

bu

t w

e d

on

’t k

no

w h

ow

to

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ibu

te

Imp

rop

er

pla

nn

ing

by

edu

cati

on

an

d t

rain

ing

inst

itu

tio

ns

Lack

of

fisc

al i

nce

nti

ves

to

est

ablis

h li

nks

Edu

cati

on

al a

nd

tra

inin

g p

rovi

der

s a

re n

ot

inte

rest

ed

He

alth

, saf

ety

and

/or

regu

lato

ry c

on

stra

ints

to

acco

mm

od

ate

stu

den

ts

Oth

ers

Per

cen

tage

78 | P a g e

problems to train. Table 36 provides the list of difficulties ranging from the most important to the

least important difficulties.

Table 36: Main difficulties encountered while training employees Percentage

No problem encountered 29

Lack of time for training 11

Lack of motivation 8

Slow learners and need more attention 7

Lack of interest of employees 7

After training, employees leave and many join cruise ships 5

Training cannot be delivered after working hours 5

Negative attitude towards training 5

Lack of communication skills and language barrier 5

Literacy and numeracy skills lacking 5

Absence of employees 4

Problem of languages especially English 4

Difficult to train during peak season 3

Too long for refund from HRDC 1

Lack of management vision 1

3.8.2 PREFERRED WAY FOR ACQUIRING SKILLS

For those employers who are involved in training, they prefer different methods of training. As per

the survey, the five most common preferred way for acquiring skills are provided below. It can

logically derived that this can be representative for the whole sector.

List of methods for acquiring skills in order of preferences:

1. On the job / mentoring (informal learning)/knowledge sharing

2. In-house (company organizes the training)

3. Tailor-made courses

4. Seminars / workshops / short courses (Non-award)

5. Vocational route (NTC, NC...)

Accordingly, the majority of respondents made suggestions which could be implemented to

improve the training system. It should be noted that the responses were compiled and grouped and

these suggestions are presented in order of priority in Table 37.

79 | P a g e

Table 37: Measures to improve training

More professional trainers and institutions are required

Change the mentality/attitude of employers/employees towards training

Training should be updated with the requirement of the job market

Training should be more tailor made and in-house training

Training institutions should focus and put more emphasis on soft skills

All process/procedure should be more flexible and friendly

Need to have an awareness campaign to promote training among employers

More tailor made courses for the sector and on-the-job training

Need to have more experienced and qualified trainers

Training should be more technical rather than academic

Need for more financial and technical support from the government

Need to promote specialised training for certain fields

Provide more resources/incentives for employers and employees

Review the Levy System and increase grant level for certain items like overseas training

Trainers from public institutions need to visit and collaborate with employers/organisations

Necessity to provide training opportunity for school leavers/freshers

Enterprises should provide more training facilities

More practical training should be encouraged

More career guidance services should be provided

Need to develop TNAs to identify training gaps

Government must make training compulsory in every sector of activity

HRDC and training centres are already facilitating training which is benefiting employers

Training refund process should be quicker

More incentives for trainees

More communication between the government and enterprises

Provide incentives for skilled/retired persons to train

Need to install continuous learning in enterprises

All companies should have their own in-house trainer

Need to have a training best practice for the sector

There should be more focus on professional work ethics and discipline

Training centres should be more accessible

3.8.3 STEM9 AND OTHER SKILLS

In the survey, there was a question whereby respondents were asked whether they were aware of

STEM and STEM skills. It was found that 91 percent of respondents were not aware of STEM and

STEM skills as shown in Figure 29.

9 STEM SKILLS: are defined as those skills “expected to be held by people with a tertiary-education level degree in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and maths” (STEM). These skills include “numeracy and the ability to generate, understand and analyse empirical data including critical analysis; an understanding of scientific and mathematical principles; the ability to apply a systematic and critical assessment of complex problems with an emphasis on solving them and applying the theoretical knowledge of the subject to practical problems; the ability to communicate scientific issues to stakeholders and others; ingenuity, logical reasoning and practical intelligence”.

80 | P a g e

Figure 29: Awareness for the STEM skills (n=132)

When respondents were explained the meaning and significance of STEM skills, 45 percent of

respondents then said that STEM skills were somewhat important for their establishments. 27

percent added that it was very important. The results are shown in Figure 30.

Figure 30: Importance of STEM as per establishments (n=132)

Having recognised the importance of skills, to promote the acquisition of STEM skills, various

measures can be taken at different levels. The different measures proposed and thus preferred by

respondents are presented in Figure 31. Nearly half of the respondents (48 percent) preferred

“government should recruit and retain more specialist teachers” and “more STEM apprenticeship”

as measures to promote STEM skills. Surprisingly, only 14 percent of respondents said that “making

mathematics compulsory at ‘A’ level” is a measure which can promote STEM skills.

STEM EDUCATION: is an interdisciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons as students apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in contexts that make connections between school, community, work, and the global enterprise enabling the development of STEM literacy and with it the ability to compete in the new economy. (Tsupros, 2009).

5%

91%

4%

Yes No Don't Know

14

45

27

14

0

10

20

30

40

50

Not important at all Somewhat important Very important Not applicable

Pe

rce

nta

ge

81 | P a g e

Figure 31: Measures to be taken to promote acquisition of STEM skills

3.8.4 LANGUAGES

Given the nature of the sector, the importance of foreign languages is something vital for the sector.

As rightly pointed out in the survey, 78 percent of respondents said that foreign languages are

important for the sector, as shown in Figure 32.

Figure 32: Importance of foreign language in establishments (n=132)

48 4846

38

3330

27 26 25 2422 21

1917

14

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Go

vern

men

t sh

ou

ld r

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it a

nd

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ain

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re s

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ialis

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ach

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re S

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ease

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ents

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arn

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su

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t ST

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ou

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sin

esse

s sh

ou

ld p

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de

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anci

al in

cen

tive

s -

e.g

.sp

on

sors

hip

/ s

ign

-on

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ses

for

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uat

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cru

its

Incr

ease

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e at

trac

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nes

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f p

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ical

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pri

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ente

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ses

to p

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de

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sch

ola

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tu

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ty le

vel

Mak

ing

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hem

atic

s a

com

pu

lso

ry s

ub

ject

at

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eve

l

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ren

tage

78%

22%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Yes No

Per

cen

tage

82 | P a g e

According to the respondents, the most common and important foreign languages in their

establishments in order of priority are as follows: French, English, German, Italian, Spanish,

Mandarin, Russian, Dutch, Hindi, Arabic and Portuguese.

3.8.5 FOREIGN LANGUAGE USAGE

As stated, foreign languages are essential for the different establishments and for the sector in

general. It was found in the study that 48 percent of respondents said that foreign languages were

essential core competence for their work. The results are presented in Figure 33.

Figure 33: Needs for foreign language in establishments

48

23

20

6

3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

They are essential core competence for our work

They can be beneficial, but they are not a requirementwhen recruiting staff

Lack of foreign language skills is a deterrent to acquiringnew clients/ markets

We will need foreign language skills in 2-3 years

They assist international staff mobility within our establishment – e.g. ability to work in overseas offices

Percentage

83 | P a g e

3.9 SKILLS BAROMETER

3.9.1 GAUGING THE LEVEL OF SKILLS MISMATCH IN ENTERPRISES

The last part of the survey aimed at gauging the level of mismatch among enterprises of the Tourism

and Hospitality sector. This exercise was not an easy task as it was to measure the complex issue of

mismatch. Nevertheless, for the purpose of this study, mismatch was measured at 3 levels, namely,

Skill level (vertical) - that is, over-skilled or under-skilled; Qualification level (vertical) - that is,

overqualified10 or underqualified; and Skills obsolescence. Each of those terms were defined in the

questionnaire to ensure uniformity of understanding among employers.

In order to be able to gauge the level of mismatch amongst the employees of the Tourism and

Hospitality sector, it was important to capture the data at each occupational group level. The issue

of skills mismatch has been widely discussed and debated by employers throughout all sectors of

the economy. This is a phenomenon which is present in all countries and various measures are

adopted to tackle the mismatch level. From the survey, it was found that the degree of mismatch

vary from one occupational group to another. In Figure 34, the qualification level and skill level

mismatch of employee has been presented.

It was seen that for the occupational groups ‘Elementary occupations’ and ‘Plant and machine

operators and assemblers’, more than half of the employers said that there was no mismatch in terms

of qualification and skill level of their employees. For ‘Managers’ and ‘Professionals’ more that 20

percent of respondents said that there was no mismatch in terms of skills and qualifications. In

general, the element of mismatch of skills and qualifications, according to respondents seems to be

moderate. As presented in Figure 34, the mismatch level depend on the occupational groups. The

results also pointed out that there was no serious mismatch level for all occupational groups with

the exception of ‘Elementary occupations’ in terms of qualifications.

10 OVER-QUALIFICATION: A situation in which an individual has a level of qualification higher than that required by their current job

(Cedefop, 2010b). UNDER-QUALIFICATION: A situation in which an individual has a lower qualification level than that required by their current job (Cedefop, 2010b). OVER-SKILLING: A situation in which an individual is not able to fully utilise his or her skills and abilities in their current job (Cedefop, 2010b). UNDER-SKILLING: A situation in which an individual lacks the skills and abilities necessary to perform to acceptable standards in their current job (Cedefop, 2010b). SKILL OBSOLESCENCE: Skill obsolescence refers to the situation in which skills are no longer demanded or useful in the labour market (economic skill obsolescence) or the decay of skills resulting from lack of use (technical skill obsolescence) (DTI et al, 2010).

84 | P a g e

Figure 34: Mismatch for all occupational groups in terms of skills and qualifications

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

8

1

1

1

1

0

2

0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

10

2

2

1

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6

8

10

13

7

7

22

22

9

0

5

15

36

39

38

40

45

48

43

41

43

50

23

31

22

56

73

82

57

59

14

15

15

17

7

14

14

27

18

24

31

23

34

22

0

0

22

5

24

22

21

23

31

24

29

18

22

11

31

31

22

0

18

18

11

2

21

20

24

18

14

10

8

6

5

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0

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0

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3

2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Managers – Skills level (n=127)

Managers – Qualification level (n=127)

Professionals – Skills level (n=80)

Professionals - Qualification level (n=80)

Technicians and associate professionals - Skills level (n=42)

Technicians and associate professionals - Qualification level (n=42)

Clerical support workers - Skills level (n=86)

Clerical support workers - Qualification level (n=86)

Service & sales workers - Skills level (n=119)

Service & sales workers - Qualification level (n=119)

Skilled agricultural, forestry & fishery workers - Skills level (n=13)

Skilled agricultural, forestry & fishery workers - Qualification level(n=13)

Craft & related trades workers - Skills level (n=9)

Craft & related trades workers - Qualification level (n=9)

Plant and machine operators & assemblers - Skills level (n=11)

Plant and machine operators & assemblers - Qualification level(n=11)

Elementary occupations - Skills level (n=82)

Elementary occupations - Qualification level (n=82)

Scale NA Scale 3 Scale 2 Scale 1 Scale 0 Scale -1 Scale -2 Scale -3

85 | P a g e

Regarding the obsolescence of skills for the different occupational groups, between 64 to 81 percent

of respondents said that for all occupational groups, respondents said that there were no skills

obsolescence, as presented in Figure 35. However, for most of the occupational groups, between 10

to 18 percent of respondents pointed out that there were a small degree of skills obsolescence.

Figure 35: Skills obsolescence as per occupational groups

3.10 SKILLS SHORTAGE

In terms of skills level, for the occupational group of ‘Managers’, 52 percent said that there were

no shortages at all. In addition, almost one third of respondents (32 percent) pointed out that for

“Professionals” also there were no shortages. One third of respondents pointed out that they had

mild skill shortages for “Service and Sales Workers”. The detailed responses are presented in Figure

36. It should be noted that for ‘Skilled agricultural, forestry & fishery workers’, ‘Craft & related

trades workers’ and ‘Plant and machine operators & assemblers’, almost 90 percent of respondents

said that skills shortages were not applicable for these three occupational groups.

73 73

81

72 7469

78

64

72

10 115

1013 15

1118

119 11

2

129 8

0

9 107

410

5 38

11 95

1 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Man

agers

Pro

fession

als

Tech

nician

s and

associate

pro

fessio

nals

Cle

rical sup

po

rt wo

rkers

Service

& sale

s wo

rkers

Skilled agricu

ltural, fo

restry

& fish

ery w

orke

rs

Craft &

related

trades

wo

rkers

Plan

t and

mach

ine

op

erators

& assem

ble

rs

Elem

en

tary occu

patio

ns

Scale 0 Scale 1 Scale 2 Scale 3 Scale NA

86 | P a g e

Figure 36: Level of skills shortage as per occupational groups

Finally, the survey gave an opportunity for respondents to provide any comments they wished to

make in relation to skills and skills development. From the inputs provided, following is a list of

the different issues/comments made by respondents:

More emphasis should be put on technical rather than academic training

Learning a third language is important for skill development in Mauritius for the

sector and this should be made compulsory for those embarking in training for

this sector

Need to increase high quality training providers in the field of tourism and enhance

the quality of training

Communication skill is very important for the sector

Continuous learning is important to know the market locally and internationally

It is very difficult to recruit at technical level

Need to introduce training in soft skills at school level

Government should review the shift system for the hotel sector to encourage people

to join and remain in the sector

52

32

20

29 31

52

6

27

125 3

16 15

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No shortage Insignificant Mild Acute Not applicable

87 | P a g e

The training system should be reworked to meet local industry requirements

There is a mismatch of skills provided by secondary schools/universities and the

world of work

License to run training centers are provided too easily

Lack of motivation and seriousness from young people to learn

There is an acute lack of skilled workers for the sector in the country

Need to set up a proper career guidance service for all sectors

Lack of professional trainers

Need to address the problem of youth

Set up more specialised institutions for training

Learning should be more work-based for the sector especially at operational level

School leavers should be better prepared to join the world of work

For certain trades in the sector, people with low qualifications should be selected

and properly trained

Training for the sector should be more towards vocational and apprenticeship

Lack of technical, problem solving and decision making skills in youngsters

More emphasis should be placed on work ethics

Too much focus on the academic side in schools. ICT should be given more

importance

Not enough emphasis on the communication skills and multi-tasking

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3.11 Qualitative Analysis

The survey has been devised in such a way that it reflects as far as possible the true nature of the

sector in terms of skills status. As mentioned, various statistical methods have been used including

face to face questionnaires to enable to get the maximum objective results. However, to supplement

the quantitative data collected, an exercise was carried out whereby qualitative face-to-face

interviews were conducted with key persons who are knowledgeable in the field. The interviews

were conducted with representatives of tourism industry associations, training providers and

professionals in the field. A focus group discussion was also conducted and those who participated

were employers’ representatives, public and private training providers and ministries. Throughout

the qualitative exercises, various issues were raised by respondents and these issues have been

regrouped under different headings for better clarity and administration.

Future of the sector

Through interviews or the focus group discussions, the general feeling among participants was that

the Tourism sector is enduring a good phase compared to the previous years where there was a

downturn due to economic crisis. The sector has picked up and this is reflected in the number of

arrivals. All the stakeholders, whether employers’ representatives or training providers were

optimistic about the future of the sector. All pointed out that tourist arrivals will increase which will

consequently bring an increase in the revenue and employment and the sector’s contribution to the

economy will increase.

Labour/employment

Throughout the qualitative interviews and the focus group discussions, the pertinent issue of labour

was raised. This issue was the main concern of employers as they were presently enduring

difficulties to recruit skilled labour. It was argued throughout the qualitative exercise that recruiting

people for the sector is becoming more and more difficult. The problem of recruitment according

to respondents were classified at three different level. Firstly, employers were not getting people to

work. Secondly, when people are available to work, getting the right people with the right skills and

attitudes was a problem. Finally, employers were also finding it difficult to retaining those people

as there is a high labour turnover in the sector especially for skilled employees. Furthermore, the

cruise is posing a huge challenge for employers in the sector as more and more people are leaving

for cruise ships.

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Reorganising the institutional and legal set-up of the tourism sector

Among the issues raised throughout the qualitative surveys, the legal and institutional set-up were

highlighted by almost all respondents. It was proposed that the institutional and legal set up should

be organised on two different levels. The first level should be more concerned with the macro

aspects of the sector and this is where a public–private partnership should be promoted. At this

stage, the authorities, private sector together with strategists should work towards one common goal

of promoting the sector together with developing the necessary environment and enablers to

promote the sector.

Secondly, a better regulation of the tourism sector and the tourism related activities should be

undertaken by the authorities. Issues like Remuneration Orders for the sector should be addressed

pertaining to employees. Some legal set-up need to be developed and existing ones should be

amended to better fit the sector. Regulations should also be developed for training providers in terms

of quality of courses and trainers.

Tourism products and services

Another issue pointed out was in relation to the different sub-sectors and their products on offer for

tourists. Respondents agreed that there has been a growth of the different sub-sectors and

consequently their products have varied but still a lot has to be done. Today Mauritius is embarking

into green-tourism and eco-tourism and other allied services. There is a need to develop a proper

set-up as an enabler for locals to develop Mauritian products. A lot has been done in terms of

improvement in the business environment in some instances, however, new policies and strategies

need to be developed. The first thing that need to be done according to respondents is to train our

local entrepreneurs/craftsmen to develop local products whether handicrafts or services. Relevant

institutions should be empowered to develop local brands and if required, international expertise

should be solicited.

Branding/Image/security

The tourism sector worldwide is a very fragile sector when it comes to image. The success of the

industry worldwide depends on the image it projects for tourists abroad. Maintaining a good image

of the country in terms of political stability and security is very important. We have seen many

security issues in recent years where tourists have been attacked and robbed. Problems have arisen

in hotels and at sea. For the latter, skippers of boats need to be fully trained, attested and licensed

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by the competent authority. Thus, a comprehensive programme for security for tourists should be

developed with the participation of all stakeholders. Respondents acknowledged that many good

initiatives and programmes exist but they are being carried out in isolation. Therefore, the sector

need to be branded continuously.

Training/skills development

In terms of services, Mauritius is renowned worldwide. The standard of services provided need to

be maintained and upgraded as our competitors have reached similar standard of services.

Employees in the sector need to be fully trained and carefully selected where a sense of

responsibility needs to be inculcated. Public and private training providers should enhance their

skills development capabilities and also train people for the future jobs. It is known that the majority

of employees in the sector work at the operational level. There were suggestions that all employers,

especially large and medium sized organisations should have a continuous development

programmes for their employees. Regular job analysis and TNSs should be conducted at the industry

level.

Cultural tourism and Mauritian product

Mauritius is blessed to have so many cultures and people of various origin. There are positive efforts

by the relevant institutions to promote the Mauritian culture abroad. However, according to

respondents, more need to be done as Mauritius has the potential to develop a strong cultural

tourism.

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4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This section provides a summary of the whole study and the conclusions derived there from. It also

gives some recommendations for the skills development for employees of the sector to consolidate

and further improve the sector.

The survey has provided interesting findings and a good indication of the sector in term of

employment, skills scarcity, skills development and skills needs. It also provided an opportunity for

respondents to express their concerns of skills development and skills shortages. There were various

salient issues which were identified which mainly related to employment, skills scarcity and training

amongst others.

As a generic observation, the sector was seen as an important economic contributor for the

Mauritian economy. In terms of GDP contribution, on average, the sector has contributed around 7

percent of the GDP over the past five years. In the year 2017, total earnings of the sector was

estimated to be 60.3 billion Mauritian rupees. The sector employs around 41600 employees directly

and 85000 indirectly according to some industry specialists. In terms of tourist arrivals, the number

of tourists has increased over the past years and in 2018, 1.4 million tourists were expected to visit

Mauritius.

To further boost the tourism sector and cater for its future growth in terms of arrivals, the Ministry

of Tourism came up with a Strategy Plan 2018-2021 for the sector. The main aims of the Strategy

Plan are to consolidate, diversify, modernise and sustain the competitiveness of the sector with key

initiatives and actions to be implemented. The Plan addresses the different threats of the sector and

also the different measures to address these threats.

As in many sectors, getting skilled workforce is a cause of concern for employers. One of the many

challenges of the sector is, even though the sector is employing more people, to attract employees

to work in the tourism sector. Also, one important challenge of the sector in terms of employment

is the cruise industry as many employees from hotels and hospitability are leaving and joining the

cruise sector.

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For the study, there were respondents from 132 enterprises representing nine different sub-sectors.

In terms of the composition of the tourism sector workforce, given the nature of the sector, it was

found that the majority of employees were in the occupational group “Service and Sales Workers”

and its composition were more than 49 percent of the workforce for the sector which represent

around half of the workforce. When it comes to vacancies, nearly 85 percent of respondents stated

that they did recruit over the past two years and the majority of recruitment were for the occupational

group “Service and Sales Workers” and according to operators, this trend is expected to continue

in the future.

Figures from Statistics Mauritius show that the number of employees has continuously increased

over the years. The main reasons highlighted by the respondents for continued recruitment over the

years were mainly due to the expansion of the sector, labour turnover and many skilled employees

taking jobs in cruise ships.

When it comes to the future of sizes of enterprises, nearly 50 percent of respondents said that in

case business environment would remain the same in the future, their enterprises would remain the

same in terms of workforce. However, on a more optimistic note, it was found that nearly 40 percent

of enterprises said that even if the business environment remain the same, their workforce will

expand. More than 90 percent of respondents said that in case the business environment improves

in the future, their workforce will also expand or remain the same. This is a good indication that the

sector will keep on growing in terms of workforce and size unless the sector is hit by some

unforeseen circumstances.

In terms of educational background, the study revealed that, as expected, the vast majority of

employees have a secondary or TVET as educational background and respondents clearly indicated

that this would continue in the future. In terms of new recruitment also, it was found that most of

the new recruits had either a secondary or TVET as educational qualifications.

To keep the standard of the Mauritian hospitality, professionals and operators emphasised the

importance of training and development of the workforce. During the study, it was found that

employers were putting emphasis on skills development of their employees. Figures from the

HRDC Levy Grant Scheme show that the sector is the second biggest beneficiary in terms of

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training refund. In addition, the different associations and the government are investing in various

skills development initiatives for the sector.

However, the survey also revealed that there was a sort of a “disconnect” between educational

institutions/training providers and the industry in terms of courses being provided and skills

required by the industry. One of the reasons stated by respondents was that the involvement of the

industry with the education institutions/training providers was low with the exception of TVET.

The different reasons put forward as to why employers were reluctant to participate in different

training initiatives were the relevancy of training programmes available were not as per the

requirement of employers. The quality of trainers and the cost of training were also mentioned as

deterrent for employers to get involved with educational institutions/training providers.

One important element highlighted by respondents and widely documented by operators is that on

average, employers were not too satisfied with trainings being provided by public TVET institutions

and few of the public universities. This has also been highlighted by different industry associations,

employers and professionals. The reasons put forward by the industry are that the relevance of some

courses are not as per actual industry demand. In addition, certain public institutions do not have

the necessary infrastructure and adequate manpower to cater for the new hospitability sector needs.

To cater for this lacunae of skills development, many employers who have the capability, have set

up their own training institutions to compensate for the lack of manpower and also to provide

industry/enterprise relevant courses for their needs. Also, employers were very much involved in

in-house training and on-the-job training.

The study also revealed that there were two initiatives which were highly common among

employers in the sector. These initiatives were providing ‘placement’ for new entrants in the job

market and participation in the ‘apprenticeship scheme’. These two initiatives have been successful

with the industry as training is conducted in a dual mode that is trainees/apprentices have the

opportunity to be at the workplace and also follow theoretical courses simultaneously.

Given the nature of the sector, one important finding of the study was with regards to foreign

languages. It was found that almost three-quarter of respondents said that foreign languages were

important for their establishments and for the sector as a whole. The fact that tourists are coming

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from all continents to Mauritius, a knowledge of a third language is becoming imperative for

employees especially those working directly with tourists. The most in-demand languages beside

English and French are German, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, Dutch and Arabic.

It was also revealed that there were mix responses in terms of future skills requirements and future

availability of skills for the sector. It was noticed that when it comes to planning for future labour

force of enterprises in terms of future skills demand and future jobs, employers did not have a clear

idea of their future needs in terms of numbers and skills requirements. This meant that employers

were unable to foresee the number of employees they would require in the medium and long term.

Adding to that, employers were not in a position to predict the future skills which would be required

for their enterprises. With the digitalisation of the sector, service delivery has changed and the study

has barely captured the future local needs of the sector in terms of jobs and skills.

4.1 RECOMMENDATIONS

The study gave the possibility to weight the sector in terms of its human capital strengths and

weaknesses. Issues addressed were mainly related to skills development and the future landscape

of skills for the sector. Like most of the sectors, this sector faces new challenges especially with

digitalisation and customer centeredness. The tourism sector in Mauritius is competing globally and

to survive at international level, the sector should be ready to face the fourth industrial revolution.

The configuration of customers for the sector has changed over the past decade. Firstly, we have

the traditional tourists coming from all over the world with specific demand. Secondly, nowadays,

we are having a local clientele also where Mauritians are increasingly enjoying our restaurants and

hotel resorts. This has led to an increase in the number of restaurants and local booking for hotels

by Mauritians.

It is found that there is a dearth of trained manpower in restaurants and hotels in the country to cater

to the ever increasing needs of both the domestic clientele and foreign tourists. Considering these

aspects various, short term open courses should be promoted both by private and public-funded

training institutions to equip the students with skills to involve in various tourism and hospitality

related activities. Enterprises should take advantage of the different governmental schemes for skills

development like the NSDP.

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Training capacity in the fields of “restaurants and bar” and “culinary” should be doubled. Another

important element is that foreign languages should be introduce in all tourism related training

especially for front end trades. A system of ‘Foreign Language Proficiency Class’ should be set up

at the national level where everyone following tourism related courses should follow a certain

degree of foreign languages. This will equip trainees for easy communication with foreign tourists

and better services.

Review the recruitment strategies One of the major concern and challenge for the sector is to get enough skilled people to work. The

study has revealed that there exist vacancies at all occupational groups especially at the “Service

and Sales Workers” level and for certain jobs which are scarce. The tourism sector in Mauritius,

especially hotels, has traditionally operated and recruited skilled labour on a regional basis, that is,

hotels have usually employed people who live in the proximity of hotels. However, with time, the

number of people available in the vicinity of hotels and willing to work in the sector has decreased.

To address this issue, hotels need to re-think about their recruitment strategy. The “catchment

areas” in terms of recruitment for hotels should be extended so that people from different regions

can be reached by hotels. This can be achieved through an extension of the existing transportation

system for employees and the delocalisation of training centres. For the latter, training centres

should be made more accessible so that school leavers are encouraged to enrol for tourism related

fields.

Many associations of hotels are also proposing to recruit expatriates to cater for the lack of personnel

in the industry. However, this proposal should be carefully considered as bringing expatriates will

only solve the immediate operational problem of the sector. Mauritians are renowned for their

hospitability. There is the danger that by bringing expatriates with a different culture, especially at

the hospitability level, this could hurt the Mauritian “touch” in terms of hospitability. One

possibility which could be considered is to bring a limited number of expatriates for few trades for

short-term contract of three months during peak season. To decide on the limited short-term

contract, the industry through their associations should provide the numbers with justifications.

Another way to cater for the scarcity of employees in the sector could be to enrol foreign students

via exchange programmes for placement in the industry. Local training providers who are affiliated

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with international training institutions could promote exchange programmes for certain fields and

for specific period.

Attracting fresh employees As mentioned, the tourism sector has two main issues which is affecting its labour force. Firstly,

there is the issue of attracting people to work in the sector and secondly, retaining those already in

the sector. Labour turnover is very high in the sector as many employees change employment within

the sector very often. There is also the problem of qualified and experienced employees leaving

local tourism sector and shifting to the more attractive cruise industry.

The different industry associations are putting much emphasis on promoting the sector to attract

people to work in the sector. This initiative has started some years back in schools. This effort

should continue. To have a constant supply of skilled labour for the sector, one of the main objective

of the different industry associations should be to increase enrolment in public and private training

centres in the field of tourism for coming years. Various strategies should be adopted to increase

enrolment in training centres. More concerted efforts need to be made for regular and aggressive

information campaigns by hotels and industry associations to showcase the sector. Some industry

associations are targeting certain secondary schools and this initiative should be extended to all

secondary schools in the future

It is also important to have information campaigns to show the reality of the sector in terms of

working hours and skills demand. One way of conducting the information campaigns is that hotels

should be more involved in the community. Besides providing jobs for people, hotels should adopt

an integrated community involvement in their proximity. This will encourage youth to join the

sector. Some hotels have started similar initiatives but these need to be extended to all regions.

Reduce the disconnect between industry and training providers The results of the study show that there is a “disconnect” between the industry and public and

private training providers. Many employers said that they had minimal links with training providers.

To bridge this “disconnect” both the sector/operators and training providers need to make an effort.

It is highly recommended that both stakeholders should sit together and find solutions on how to

reduce the “disconnect”. The end result should be that training should meet employers’ needs in

terms of their skills requirements.

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One way to achieve this could be that employers/industry should be more involved in designing

training programmes. There should be a mechanism whereby industry needs in terms of skills and

numbers are communicated to training providers. Regular meetings between the industry and

training providers should be conducted. For this to become a reality, the different industry

associations/employers should take the lead to organise regular meetings with training providers.

Another mean of bridging this “disconnect” is that employers should put more emphasis on dual-

training, that is, employers should invest time in training by providing potential employees

opportunity to be trained and placed in their enterprises. The National Skills Development

Programme is an ideal pathway where employers engage with training providers to mount training

programmes and trainees are placed in enterprises. The NSDP has among its objectives to promote

dual-training where trainees are exposed to the world of work while learning.

Structured placement for trainees One of the findings of the study was that many employers are using the apprenticeship scheme and

job placements extensively. The apprenticeship scheme is a well-structured scheme which has been

in place for a number of years and usually there exist a coordination between the enterprises and

training providers. When it comes to training being provided by some private training providers

which include job placements, very often these placements have been seen as unstructured and there

are evidences that placements are being used as cheap labour by enterprises.

For the apprenticeship scheme and placement to really work, apprenticeship and job placement

should be more structured. Placements should be structured with well-defined learning outcomes

and tasks to be undertaken by trainees during placement. Each trainee should be accompanied and

mentored during placement. Regulatory bodies should ensure that theoretical programme are

accompanied by structured placement. Enterprises and training providers should take the

responsibility to structure courses and placement. As far as possible, placement should also be made

compulsory for courses approved by the relevant authorities.

Quality of training The tourism sector is a very dynamic sector in terms of its products and services. With constant

changes in the sector in terms of tourists demand, skills requirements and digitalisation, there is a

need to review the training system to meet the new requirements of the sector. Mauritius has always

been known for its warm welcome and quality products. However, it is important to realise that our

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competitors have already reached the same level in terms of quality of services and products. What

should be aimed as a destination is to offer different products to tourists. This can only be achieved

through development of new products and services complemented with new skills of the employees.

Very often, it has been widely publicised that some public and private training providers in the

sector have been blamed for the unsatisfactory and sub-standard level of training they are providing.

On one hand, the industry blames training providers for not producing enough employees with up-

to-date skills and on the other hand, training providers blame the industry for not indicating their

skills demand so that courses could be mounted accordingly.

To tackle this situation, strict regulations should be developed and imposed on training providers

when designing training programmes. A training development framework/guideline should be

developed whereby all programmes developed should abide to it. Approval should be obtained only

when certain standards are met in terms of contents, infrastructure and qualification of trainers.

Licencing and renewal of trainers’ licence should not be granted based on qualification only. MQA

and the relevant authorities should be in a position to assess whether while applying for a trainer’s

licence, the person is capable to deliver training. For renewal of trainer’s licence, the relevant

authority should request that trainers show proof that they have conducted training while they were

registered. Train-the-trainer should also be made mandatory for all private registered trainers.

Industry- training providers linkages One of the important findings of the study was that employers were not willing to pair with public

training providers as the latter are not meeting employers’ expectations in terms of skills

requirements and training standard. As for private providers, employers are highlighting that the

level of training being provided is not to the satisfaction and needs of employers. Public and private

providers are still offering courses in “traditional” fields and there are very few providers who are

able to train people for future jobs/skills. This need to be changed as the industry should be able to

tell providers what new skills are required for different jobs and training should be based on future

skills requirements.

As per the requirement of the sector, design and delivery of training should be more geared towards

technical training with more emphasis on practical and industrial placement. One way of meeting

with the industry’s requirements is through partnering of local training providers with external

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training providers. This will enhance the level of training and also provide new courses as per the

market needs. Where required and possible, local training providers should provide certification

courses and encourage National Certificate courses. As highlighted in the study, the majority of

employees in the sector have TVET as educational background and this will continue in the future.

Therefore more emphasis should be put on TVET education for the sector. New National

Certificates and Higher National Diplomas in different fields need to be added for a wider choice

for students. Course contents for university courses should also be adapted and regularly reviewed

so that it meets the industry demand.

Design of training programmes When it comes to the design of training programmes for the sector, it can be observed that most

training programmes are supply-driven, that is training contents are designed and marketed to

enterprises. The main drawback of such supply-driven courses is that in general, it does not meet

the skills requirement of enterprises. The best way to proceed for training design would be that

employers and training providers consult each other to design a programme with set objectives and

outcomes. As far as possible, employers and industry associations should encourage tailor-made

training programme. When applying for approval of training courses, one of the requirements

should be the justification by employers of the training through TNAs or a training plan.

Regarding the design of training programmes, it is highly recommended that two essential aspects

need to be considered. Firstly, employers should be more involved in designing training programme

and new modules like ‘soft skills’, ‘analytical skills’ and ‘communication skills’ need to be included

in trainings. Training programmes also need to be reviewed regularly, especially those at public

training providers. This can only be made possible through a close collaboration between the

industry and training providers. Secondly, given the nature of the industry where most of the

trainings are at technical level which include different trades, it is imperative that industrial

placement should be included for all training for the industry.

In addition, training schedule should be flexible to accommodate trainees who are already working

and who are willing to upgrade their skills. To go a step further, the validity of approved training

programmes should be limited for a specific number of months/years so that this limit training

providers from offering same training programmes for a number of years where the training contents

are no more in demand by the sector.

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Regulation of training providers Training providers, whether private or public, play an important role in feeding the industry with

skilled people. Authorities should ensure that trainings which are being provided by both private

and public providers needs to be as per skill requirements of the market and employers’ needs.

Therefore, there is a need to ensure a quality assurance of all approved trainings to ensure that the

trainings are delivered as per the required standard. Trainers and training providers need to be

regularly monitored to maintain a minimum delivery standard. It is also recommended that fee-

paying courses which are delivered privately should be closely monitored in terms of its relevance,

content, trainers and facilities. Very often, people are following fee-paying courses delivered by

private institutions but are unable to get a job as the certificates. As far as possible, training with

certification should be encouraged by the industry and training providers should be empowered to

deliver certification courses.

Promotion of a culture of training among employees This sector is highly service-oriented and as mentioned before, more than three-quarter of the

employees in the sector work are at the operational level. The survival of the Mauritian tourism and

hospitality sector depend entirely on the quality of its services. For delivering high quality services,

the level of skills of the employees need to be high and need to be constantly upgraded. This could

be achieved if there is a culture of training in the sector whereby both the employees and employers

see training more as an investment rather than a cost. Training should be continuously provided to

employees as clients are becoming more demanding in terms of service delivery. There is also the

issue of tourists nowadays coming from ‘new markets’ which means new exigencies and new

cultures. Employees should be already trained to cater new markets and cultures.

Identification of new jobs/skills As all the sectors of the Mauritian economy, the tourism sector has also evolved in terms of its

customer base and workforce. Nowadays, tourists are visiting the country from all continents. The

sector has also evolved with technology where digitalisation has brought changes in the way

services are being offered. The technological changes have brought new jobs with new skills

needed. For example, mobile application developer for hotel booking and digital marketer are few

jobs which have emerged with technology. It is therefore important for the industry to identify new

emerging jobs and skills which will be required for the future and importantly to communicate these

jobs and skills to training providers. The latter are expected to develop courses/training programmes

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to prepare the future employees. Employers need also to be prepared to invest more on certain types

of “scarce skills”. Even though it is difficult, it is vital to identify those jobs/skills in advance.

Importance of foreign languages The study has revealed that for this sector, a third language is important for employees especially

for those involved directly with customers. Therefore, it is highly recommended that beside English

and French, a third language should be included for students studying tourism related subjects and

for certain courses, this should be made compulsory. A third language is also recommended at

secondary school level and by introducing a third language at secondary school level, beside the

tourism and hospitality sector, all other sectors of the economy will also benefit.

Government initiatives should be more sector-based/targeted The Government has come up with many programmes to promote skills development for different

sectors. However, the different programmes should be more focused and targeted as each sector has

his own specificities. The government should in collaboration with industry associations mount

sector specific programmes with specific targets. A targeted skills-development approach will

certainly help to address skills issues for the sector.

Various initiatives have been put in place to address skills development issues. Employers just need

to make the most of the different schemes available at different level. At the HRDC level, there

exist certain schemes which employers can benefit if they want to address their skills problems. The

Sectoral Skills Development Scheme (SSDS) and the National Skills Development Programme

(NSDP) are two programmes where employers can benefit either individually of by clustering

themselves. The recent increase in refund for levy Grant is an example where HRDC is trying to

encourage employers to train their employees.

Develop cultural tourism, crafts and niche markets Mauritius, having a rich culture, needs to develop the cultural tourism and organise regular cultural

fairs or promote activities related to arts and culture. Our local artists need to be promoted via

cultural shows. The last budget has tried to address this but more need to be done. The intervention

of the Ministry of Arts and Culture is required for the development of the cultural tourism through

setting a framework and training of people to promote the cultural tourism. Organisation like the

MTPA is already working on similar initiative to promote our cultural richness. New organisations

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like Air Mauritius, association of hotels and private sector should join hands to promote the

Mauritian cultural tourism.

Regarding crafts, it is proposed that the Mauritian crafts should be promoted as this has a huge

potential for earnings. Unfortunately, crafts available in the Mauritian markets for tourists are

imported. Certain initiatives are being implemented but more need to be done. Moreover, Mauritius

has a strong reputation in terms of its products but we need to innovate and find an identity for a

Mauritian craft product. The contribution of local organisations like the different cultural centres

could contribute to develop a Mauritian craft industry.

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References

ILO, 2011, A Skilled Workforce for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth: A G20 Training

Strategy International Labour Office – Geneva, viewed 12 July, from

https://www.oecd.org/g20/summits/toronto/G20-Skills-Strategy.pdf

Ladkin, A. (2005). Careers and employment. In: D. Airey, & J. Tribe (Eds.), An international

handbook of tourism education (pp. 437-450). UK: Elsevier.

Dale, C., & Robinson, N. (2001). The theming of tourism education: a three-domain approach.

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 13 (1), 30-34.

Digest of National Accounts of Statistics Mauritius (2016), Statistics Mauritius, from

http://statsmauritius.gov.mu

The World Bank, ‘Doing Business 2018, World Bank Group Flagship Report’, Economy Profile-

Mauritius, http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/mauritius

Digest of Labour Statistics of Statistics Mauritius (2016), Statistics Mauritius,

http://statsmauritius.gov.mu.

https://www.oecd.org/g20/summits/toronto/G20-Skills-Strategy.pdf

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ANNEX 1: Weighting protocol sample to population

Base: 1,252 All interviews

Raw counts

Raw % Weighted

counts Weighted

Frequencies Weighted

counts Weighted

Frequencies

Agriculture, forestry and fishing x 5-9 8 0.6% 3 0.2% 9 0.2%



Agriculture, forestry and fishing x 101-199

8 0.6% 4 0.3% 14 0.3%

Agriculture, forestry and fishing x 200 and above

9 0.7% 4 0.3% 14 0.3%

Manufacturing (Non-textile) x 5-9 12 1.0% 29 2.3% 100 2.3%




Manufacturing (Non-textile) x 200 and above

13 1.0% 9 0.7% 29 0.7%

Textile and Apparel x 5-9 2 0.2% 8 0.6% 26 0.6%




Textile and Apparel x 200 and above 10 0.8% 15 1.2% 51 1.2%

Tourism, Hospitality and Recreational activities x 5-9

7 0.6% 4 0.3% 14 0.3%


74 5.9% 42 3.4% 144 3.4%


19 1.5% 8 0.7% 28 0.7%


14 1.1% 8 0.7% 28 0.7%

Tourism, Hospitality and Recreational activities x 200 and above

18 1.4% 15 1.2% 52 1.2%

ICT / BPO x 5-9 9 0.7% 4 0.3% 13 0.3%

ICT / BPO x 10-49 86 6.9% 64 5.1% 219 5.1%

ICT / BPO x 50-100 19 1.5% 10 0.8% 33 0.8%

ICT / BPO x 101-199 10 0.8% 6 0.4% 19 0.4%

ICT / BPO x 200 and above 7 0.6% 5 0.4% 17 0.4%

Financial & Insurance Activities x 5-9 12 1.0% 1 0.0% 2 0.0%



Financial & Insurance Activities x 101-199

4 0.3% 2 0.1% 6 0.1%

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Base: 1,252 All interviews

Raw counts

Raw % Weighted

counts Weighted

Frequencies Weighted

counts Weighted

Frequencies

Financial & Insurance Activities x 200 and above

7 0.6% 6 0.5% 21 0.5%

Wholesale & Retail Trade x 5-9 22 1.8% 33 2.7% 114 2.7%




Wholesale & Retail Trade x 200 and above

8 0.6% 6 0.5% 21 0.5%

Transportation and storage x 5-9 2 0.2% 2 0.1% 6 0.1%




Transportation and storage x 200 and above

5 0.4% 4 0.3% 12 0.3%

Construction x 5-9 14 1.1% 27 2.2% 93 2.2%

Construction x 10-49 105 8.4% 123 9.8% 419 9.8%

Construction x 50-100 18 1.4% 13 1.1% 46 1.1%

Construction x 101-199 7 0.6% 6 0.5% 22 0.5%

Construction x 200 and above 9 0.7% 9 0.7% 29 0.7%

Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities x 5-9

17 1.4% 6 0.5% 20 0.5%


88 7.0% 97 7.7% 330 7.7%


16 1.3% 9 0.7% 29 0.7%


6 0.5% 6 0.4% 19 0.4%

Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities x 200 and above

7 0.6% 2 0.2% 8 0.2%

Total 1252 100.0% 1252 100.0% 4268 100.0%

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Annex 2: Post critical for the sector as per occupational groups

Occupational Groups Job Title

Managers Travel Manager

Managers Account Manager

Managers Administration Manager

Managers Area Manager

Managers Assistant Manager

Managers Assistant F & B Manager

Managers Assistant Sales Manager

Managers Assistant HR Manager

Managers Assistant HR Manager/Coordinator

Managers Assistant Restaurant Manager

Managers Bar Manager

Managers Business Manager

Managers Central Reservation Manager

Managers CEO

Managers Cluster General Manager

Managers Commercial Manager

Managers Corporate Manager

Managers Deputy General Manager

Managers Development Wellness Manager

Managers Director

Managers Director Of HR & Administration

Managers Director Of Marketing

Managers Director of Sales & Marketing

Managers Director PR & Communication

Managers Duty Manager

Managers Estate Manager

Managers Event Manager

Managers Executive Director

Managers Executive Housekeeper Manager

Managers Executive Manager

Managers F&B Outlet Manager

Managers F&B Manager

Managers Finance and Administrative Manager

Managers Finance Manager

Managers Floor Manager

Managers Garden Manager

Managers General Manager

Managers Golf Director

Managers Group And Incentive Manager

Managers Guest Experience Manager

Managers Guest Relation Manager

Managers Head Of Department Inbound

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Managers Head Of Department Outbound

Managers Hotel Director

Managers Hotel Manager

Managers Housekeeping Manager

Managers HR Coordinator / Talents Development Manager

Managers HR Executive Manager

Managers HR Manager

Managers HR Coordinator

Managers Inventory Manager

Managers IT Assistant Manager

Managers IT Manager

Managers Laundry Manager

Managers Maintenance Manager

Managers Maintenance Coordinator

Managers Night Duty Manager

Managers Operation Manager

Managers Operational Technical Manager

Managers Outlet Manager

Managers Planning Manager

Managers Procurement Manager

Managers Project Manager

Managers Purchasing Manager

Managers Quality & Coaching Manager

Managers Quality Assurance Manager

Managers Quality Manager

Managers Reception Manager

Managers Reservation Manager

Managers Resident Manager

Managers Resort Manager

Managers Restaurant Manager

Managers Revenue & Reservation Manager

Managers Revenue Control Manager

Managers Revenue Executive Manager

Managers Room Division Manager

Managers Sales & Marketing Manager

Managers Security Manager

Managers Senior Operation Manager

Managers Service Manager

Managers Shift Manager

Managers Sports and Leisure Manager

Managers Store Manager

Managers Supply Chain Manager

Managers Supply Manager

Managers Tour Manager

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Managers Training Centre Manager / Coordinator

Professionals Accountant

Professionals Decorator

Professionals Assistant Manager

Professionals Assistant Operation Manager

Professionals Assistant Financial Controller

Professionals Banqueting and Events Manager/Supervisor

Professionals Brewer

Professionals Business Analyst

Professionals Captain

Professionals Chef

Professionals Chef De Partie

Professionals Customer Service Officer

Professionals Demi Chef De Partie

Professionals Designer

Professionals Divers

Professionals Duty Manager

Professionals Executive Chef

Professionals Executive Sous Chef

Professionals Fleet Supervisor

Professionals Group Finance Accountant

Professionals Gym Instructor/ Spa Therapist

Professionals Head Chef

Professionals Head Cook

Professionals Head Master

Professionals Health & Safety Officer

Professionals HR Executive

Professionals Indian Chefs

Professionals Internal Controller

Professionals IT Administrator

Professionals Marketing Officer

Professionals Nursing Officer

Professionals Photographer

Professionals Pricing & Yield Data Analyst

Professionals Reservation Agents

Professionals Responsable de Communication

Professionals Responsable de Restaurant

Professionals Senior Accountant

Professionals Senior Accounts Clerk/ Auditing Clerk

Professionals Senior Spa Therapist

Professionals Senior Credit Controller

Professionals Skippers, Boatman, Bosco

Professionals Sous-Chef

Professionals Spa Supervisor

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Professionals Spa Therapist/ Beautician

Professionals Spa Therapist/ Hairdresser

Professionals Trainee Cost Controller

Professionals Yoga Teacher

Technicians and associate professionals Graphic Designer

Technicians and associate professionals Accounting Officer

Technicians and associate professionals Administrative assistant

Technicians and associate professionals Administrative Secretary

Technicians and associate professionals Airport Supervisor

Technicians and associate professionals Assistant Restaurant Manager

Technicians and associate professionals Assistant Bar manager

Technicians and associate professionals Assistant Front Office Manager

Technicians and associate professionals Assistant Head Gardener

Technicians and associate professionals Central Reservation Officers

Technicians and associate professionals Graphic Designer

Technicians and associate professionals Head Cook

Technicians and associate professionals Head Therapist

Technicians and associate professionals HVAC Technician

Technicians and associate professionals IT Coordinator

Technicians and associate professionals IT Technician

Technicians and associate professionals Maintenance And Operation Supervisor

Technicians and associate professionals Maintenance Officer

Technicians and associate professionals Sport Instructor

Technicians and associate professionals Uniform Executive

Technicians and associate professionals Zoo Keeper

Clerical support workers Supervisor

Clerical support workers Accounts Clerk

Clerical support workers Accounts Officer

Clerical support workers Administrative Assistant

Clerical support workers Administrative Officer

Clerical support workers Administrator

Clerical support workers Archive Clerk

Clerical support workers Assistant Executive Housekeeper

Clerical support workers Assistant HR

Clerical support workers Assistant Boathouse Manager

Clerical support workers Breakfast Supervisor

Clerical support workers Butcher

Clerical support workers Carpenter

Clerical support workers Chef De Cuisine

Clerical support workers Clerk

Clerical support workers Commercial Executive

Clerical support workers Communication And Sales Executive

Clerical support workers Cost Control Clerk

Clerical support workers Cost Controller

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Clerical support workers Electrician

Clerical support workers Executive Assistant

Clerical support workers Executive Housekeeper

Clerical support workers Executive Housekeeping

Clerical support workers Executive Secretary

Clerical support workers F&B Outlet Supervisor

Clerical support workers F&B Secretary

Clerical support workers F&B Storekeeper

Clerical support workers F&B Supervisor

Clerical support workers Front Office Assistant

Clerical support workers Wedding Coordinator

Clerical support workers Front Office Supervisor

Clerical support workers Head Of Leisure

Clerical support workers Hotel Representative

Clerical support workers Hotel Service Representative

Clerical support workers Housekeeping Coordinator

Clerical support workers HR Assistant

Clerical support workers HR Officer

Clerical support workers Maintenance Helper

Clerical support workers Pastry Chef De Partie

Clerical support workers Pastry Demi Chef De Partie

Clerical support workers Planning Officer

Clerical support workers Plumber

Clerical support workers Project Officer

Clerical support workers Purchasing Clerk

Clerical support workers Purchasing Officer

Clerical support workers Receiving Officer

Clerical support workers Receptionist

Clerical support workers Reservation Clerk

Clerical support workers Reservation Coordinator

Clerical support workers Secretary

Clerical support workers Senior Porter

Clerical support workers Store and Purchasing Officer

Clerical support workers Supervisor

Clerical support workers Tours Operator(Staff)

Clerical support workers Trainee Front Office

Clerical support workers Trainee Quality Officer

Clerical support workers Trainee Secretary

Clerical support workers Wages Clerk

Clerical support workers Wellness Centre Manager

Clerical support workers Wellness Centre Supervisor

Clerical support workers Wellness Centre Therapist

Service and sales workers Aide Cuisinier

Service and sales workers Airport Representative

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Service and sales workers Animal Keeper

Service and sales workers Animateur

Service and sales workers Assistant Cook

Service and sales workers Bagagiste / Driver

Service and sales workers Baker

Service and sales workers Bartender

Service and sales workers Barista

Service and sales workers Barman

Service and sales workers Beach / Pool Service

Service and sales workers Beach Boy

Service and sales workers Beach Supervisor

Service and sales workers Beach Waiter

Service and sales workers Bell Boy

Service and sales workers Butcher

Service and sales workers Butler

Service and sales workers Cashier

Service and sales workers Chef De Partie Cook

Service and sales workers Chef De Rang

Service and sales workers Chef De Service

Service and sales workers Chef Restaurant

Service and sales workers Chief Steward

Service and sales workers Commis De Cuisine

Service and sales workers Commis Chef

Service and sales workers Conceirge / Porter

Service and sales workers Cost Controller

Service and sales workers Crew Member

Service and sales workers Crewman

Service and sales workers Customer Sales Advisor

Service and sales workers Delivery Boy

Service and sales workers Demi Chef De Rang

Service and sales workers Diving Centre

Service and sales workers Driver / Messenger

Service and sales workers Driver Van

Service and sales workers E-Commerce Executive

Service and sales workers Entertainer

Service and sales workers F& B Hostess

Service and sales workers Fitness Coach

Service and sales workers Floor Supervisor

Service and sales workers Front Office Supervisor

Service and sales workers Golf Pro

Service and sales workers Grillers

Service and sales workers Guest Communication Officer

Service and sales workers Guest Relation Officer

Service and sales workers Guide

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Service and sales workers Head /Commis Sommelier

Service and sales workers Head Boatman

Service and sales workers Head Entertainer

Service and sales workers Head Laundry

Service and sales workers Hostess

Service and sales workers Hostess Mini Club

Service and sales workers Housekeeper

Service and sales workers Housekeeping Supervisor

Service and sales workers Housekeeping/Laundry Attendant

Service and sales workers Kids Club Attendant

Service and sales workers Landscaper

Service and sales workers Launderer

Service and sales workers Laundry and Linen Supervisor

Service and sales workers Laundry Attendant

Service and sales workers Linen Attendant

Service and sales workers Maintenance Executive

Service and sales workers Maintenance Officers

Service and sales workers Mini Bar Attendant

Service and sales workers Pastry Chef

Service and sales workers Porter

Service and sales workers Public and Guest Relation Officer

Service and sales workers Reservation Executive

Service and sales workers Reservation Officers

Service and sales workers Restaurant Supervisor

Service and sales workers Sales Agent

Service and sales workers Sales and Marketing

Service and sales workers Salesman

Service and sales workers Security Officer

Service and sales workers Senior Therapist

Service and sales workers Sewing Attendant

Service and sales workers Shop Assistant

Service and sales workers Shop Attendant

Service and sales workers Sous Chef

Service and sales workers Spa Therapist

Service and sales workers Sports And Leisure Skipper

Service and sales workers Staff Canteen

Service and sales workers Steward

Service and sales workers Store Attendant

Service and sales workers Store Supervisor

Service and sales workers Storekeeper

Service and sales workers Supervisor

Service and sales workers Supply Chain Coordinator

Service and sales workers Tourist Guide

Service and sales workers Trainee Cook

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Service and sales workers Trainee Room Attendant

Service and sales workers Trainee Waiter

Service and sales workers Trainee Waitress

Service and sales workers Valet

Service and sales workers Waiter

Service and sales workers Waiter / Barman

Craft and related trades workers Beach Attendant

Plant and machine operators and assemblers Handyman ( Painter )

Plant and machine operators and assemblers Store Assistant

Elementary occupations Attendant

Elementary occupations Cleaners

Elementary occupations Fast Food Operator

Elementary occupations Gardener

Elementary occupations Handy Man

Elementary occupations Handyman / Gardener

Elementary occupations Helper

Elementary occupations Kitchen Helper

Elementary occupations Linen Supervisor

Elementary occupations Maids

Elementary occupations Public Area Attendant

Elementary occupations Public Area Cleaner

Elementary occupations Security Guards

Elementary occupations Steward (Cleaner)

Elementary occupations Steward (Plongeur)

Elementary occupations Watchman

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Annex 3: Requirements demanded by employers for different occupational groups

Occupational group

Job Title Qualification Experience Skill Type Other requirements

Managers Director Degree/Masters 10 years

Business awareness, organisational skills, analytical skills, multi-tasking, decision making

Communication, negotiation skills

Managers Head of Department Diploma/Degree plus NC4/5 5 years

Organisational and planning skills

Good knowledge of the hotel sector, multi-tasking

Managers Shift Manager HSC/Diploma 5 years

Good knowledge of the hotel sector, planning and customer oriented

Willingness to work long and odd hours

Managers Front Office Manager HSC plus Diploma 2/3 years Customer service, planning and organisational skills

Work under pressure, work odd hours, pleasant personality

Managers Guest Relation Manager HSC plus Diploma 2/3 years

Customer service, communication, languages

Pleasant personality, customer service

Managers Boathouse Manager HSC plus Certificate in lifesaving 2/3 years

Planning and organisational skills, good knowledge mechanic Planning boat excursions

Managers Restaurant Manager Diploma in Restaurant and Bar 2/3 years

Good knowledge in Restaurant and Bar, Customer service Leadership and communication

Professionals HR Manager/Executive Degree in HR/Management 5 years

HR, managerial, analytical and legal skill

Confidentiality, communication, decision making

Professionals Sales & Marketing Manager/Executive

Degree in Marketing/Management 5 years

Negotiating, communication, IT skills Accountancy and leadership

Professionals Banquet and Event Manager

Degree in Marketing/Management 6 years

Event management, negotiating skills Customer service

Professionals Health & Safety Officer

Diploma/Degree in Health & Safety 3 years OSHA, safety measures Dependable, proactive

Professionals Spa Therapist Certificate/Diploma in Spa Therapy 2 years

Massage, facial, manicure, pedicure

Customer service, communication, planning

Professionals Chef/Executive Chef Diploma in culinary 7 years

Excellent knowledge of cooking skills, food handling, handling of kitchen

Ability to work under pressure, good communication, organisational skills

Clerical support workers Supervisor Form 4/5 and NC3/4 2 years

Supervisory skills in restaurant, bar, laundering and housekeeping

Leadership, good attitude and work under pressure

Clerical support workers Clerk HSC 2 or 3 yrs

Administrative skills, computer literate, accounting Should be multi-skilled

Clerical support workers Hotel Representative HSC 3 years

Negotiation skills with good communication and presentation skills

Good knowledge of the sector and languages

Clerical support workers Receptionist SC/HSC plus NC3/4 1 year

Customer service, telephone skills, languages and computer literate

Good communication and pleasant personality

Clerical support workers Reservation Clerk HSC 2 years

Customer service, computer literate, communication, languages,

Presentation skills, work under pressure

Clerical support workers Accounts Clerk/Officer

HSC plus ACCA Level 2 or Diploma/Degree in Accounting 2 years

Computer literate with good knowledge of Accounting packages

Reliable and ability to work under pressure

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Technicians and associate professionals Frigorist Form 4/ plus NTC 4 2/3 years

Good knowledge of electrical products and a qualified technician

Good attitude and customer service

Technicians and associate professionals Sous Chef NTC 3/4 6 years

Culinary, bakery and pastry skills

Good attitude and customer service

Technicians and associate professionals Sports Instructor

Form 5 plus Diploma in related field 2/3 years

Good knowledge of sports , wellness and anatomy

Communication skills and languages

Technicians and associate professionals F & B Coordinator

Form 5 plus Diploma in related field 5 years

Good knowledge in restaurant and bar

Organisational, planning, customer care skills

Technicians and associate professionals Electrician SC plus NTC in Electrical 2 years

Good knowledge of electric installations and repairs Team worker and dependable

Technicians and associate professionals Maintenance Officer

Diploma/Degree in Engineering 10 years

Technical skills for the construction sector

Managerial and decision making skills

Technicians and associate professionals

Maintenance Supervisor

NTC/Diploma in related fields 5/6 years

Good knowledge of all infrastructure installations and repairs

Communication and decision making

Service and sales workers Waiter Form 3/4 plus NTC 3

3- 6 months Skills in restaurant and bar

Good communication, third language, food handling, customer service

Service and sales workers Crew Member Form 4/5 1 year

Should be a team worker and able to perform multi-tasks

Customer care, cashier, taking orders, work odd hours, languages

Service and sales workers Housekeeping Form 3/4 plus NTC 3

3- 6 months

Cleaning and handling of chemical products

Good communication, customer care, reliable, honest

Service and sales workers Cashier Form 5 and above 1 year

Capacity to handle money and operate a cash till

Customer care, good communication, knowledge of foreign currencies, honest

Service and sales workers Cook Form 4/5 plus NC 3 2 years

Culinary skills and kitchen management

Flexible, work under pressure, work odd hours, food safety and hygiene and HACCP knowledge

Service and sales workers Barman Form 4/5 plus NC 4 1 year Restaurant and bar skills

Good communication, customer care, third language, good knowledge of cocktails

Service and sales workers Fast Food Operator

Form 4/5 plus Food Handlers Certificate

3- 6 months

Customer handling skills and multi-skilled

Work odd hours, good communication, customer care, skills to handle tills

Elementary occupations Kitchen Helper

Primary education and above

3- 6 months

Literate and ability to work under pressure

Hygiene, neat and knowledge of HACCP

Elementary occupations Gardener CPE and above 1 year Landscaping skills

Creative skills and good knowledge about plants

Elementary occupations Steward CPE and above

3- 6 months Cleaning and use of utensils

Good attitude and knowledge of detergents

Elementary occupations Cleaner CPE and above

3- 6 months General cleaning

Good attitude and knowledge of cleaning products and handling of cleaning equipment

Elementary occupations Pubic Area Attendant Form 3 and above

3- 6 months Attending customers request Good communication

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Elementary occupations Handyman

Form 3 plus Vocational education 1 year

Basic knowledge of general works

Good communication and attitude

Skills Studies Tourism sector 2018

Documents