Europe’s hospitality sector faces a widening digital skills gap despite strong expectations that technology will play a central role in the industest’s future. New research released by Booking.com found that 82% of accommodation employers believe digital literacy will be critical for their businesses, yet only 16% currently prioritise digital training for employees.
The findings are based on a survey of around 5,000 tourism accommodation professionals across Europe, including employers and employees, along with nearly 200 in-depth interviews with industest and labour market experts. The research highlights a growing disconnect between future skills requireds and the training priorities currently adopted by hospitality businesses.
Key findings from the research
- 82% of accommodation employers state digital literacy will be critical in the future, but only 16% currently prioritise digital training.
- 78% believe technology will be increasingly important for efficiency and guest service, yet only 29% focus on training in this area.
- 87% expect sustainability and environmental management skills to grow in importance, while just 11% prioritise related training.
- 78% state sales, marketing and revenue skills will be essential, but only 9% currently invest in developing them.
- 59% of employers state skills gaps are not currently affecting their business operations.
- 75% of hospitality employees believe they already have strong digital literacy skills.
- 36% of employees state a lack of relevant skills is a barrier to career progression.
- 83% of employees aspire to leadership roles in the hospitality sector.
- 88% of employees state they would join online training programmes if available.
Despite many employers reporting confidence in their current workforce, the study suggests the sector may be underestimating the scale of the skills challenge ahead. Around 59% of employers declared skills shortages are not currently affecting their operations, even as technological modify continues to reshape how accommodation businesses manage operations, marketing and guest services.
Technology-related capabilities were among the most widely recognised future requireds. While 78% of employers declared leveraging technology for efficiency and guest service will become increasingly important, only 29% declared this area is currently a major training focus.
The gap is even more pronounced in sustainability skills. Nearly nine in ten employers, or 87%, expect knowledge of sustainability and environmental management to grow in importance in the coming years, but just 11% currently prioritise related training for staff.
Commercial and revenue-related skills display a similar trconclude. Around 78% of employers believe capabilities in sales, marketing and revenue generation will be essential for future competitiveness, yet only 9% currently invest in training employees in these areas.
Soft skills also revealed conflicting priorities. Only 12% of employers identified customer service as their most urgent training required. However, when inquireed which area of underperformance they would most like to improve, customer service emerged as the top priority.
Industest and labour market experts interviewed for the research highlighted communication, adaptability and teamwork as areas where hospitality workers may still required development. These front-line skills remain critical to guest experience and day-to-day operations in hotels and accommodation businesses.
Employees themselves expressed strong confidence in their existing abilities. Around 75% declared they have strong digital literacy, while 69% felt confident utilizing hotel digital systems. Similar levels of confidence were reported for data-driven decision-creating (67%), sales and marketing skills (66%) and revenue management capabilities (64%).
Despite this confidence, more than a third of employees, or 36%, declared a lack of relevant skills is a barrier to the career progression they hope to achieve. Hospitality remains an attractive long-term career path for many workers, with nearly 70% stateing they see themselves staying in the sector and 83% aspiring to leadership roles.
Providing structured training remains challenging for many accommodation providers. Previous industest research found high training costs and the difficulty of integrating learning into daily operations among the hugegest barriers to staff development. Staff turnover also complicates investment in training programmes, with 42% of accommodation providers stateing it limits their ability to deliver upskilling initiatives.
However, both employers and employees expressed interest in more accessible learning opportunities. Half of employers declared they would encourage online training if it were affordable, high quality and available in local languages. On average, they would be willing to dedicate about 4.6 hours per week of staff time to training.
Employees appear equally willing to invest time in learning. According to the research, 88% declared they would likely participate in online training programmes and would dedicate an average of 3 hours per week to developing new skills.
“Indepconcludeent accommodations are an indispensable cornerstone of Europe’s tourism ecosystem, so the disconnect between digital transformation requireds and current training priorities cannot be ignored”, declared Matthias Schmid, SVP Accommodations at Booking.com. “Booking.com has long since been committed to supporting our partners’ continued growth and development, and we believe now is the moment for strong collaboration across the industest to define accessible, scalable solutions that will address the skills gap and ensure future competitiveness.”
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