Hard and Soft Skills in the Sports, Events, and Tourism Industries

Introduction

Within the Tourism, Events and Sports sector, there are many skills needed to be employable within the industry; however, some of the complex and soft skills are transferable due to their nature. The key elements for such diverse fields are their transferability, particularly their soft skills that are intrinsic in many cases. Succi and Contri (2020) suggested that it is one of the controversial debates in educational management today. It relates to graduates and the industries being discussed, and it could be argued at times. Some say there is a lack of transferability. In some of the soft skills, however, as this chapter will discuss that the skills are essential in these specific sectors of the service industry and are necessary to increase an individual's opportunity for employability (Curissiman and Clarke, 2010; Clarke, 2017; Succi & Contri, 2020).

So, what has become apparent through the issues and arguments that have been raised is that Higher Educational Institutions (HEI's) would need to equip students and practitioners to continue their education with the necessary soft skills. This will need to be through the courses and continued personal development (CPD) for those currently working or intending to move into the industry. However, through the practitioners, both the industries feel they aren't (Hurrell, 2016). Hurrell (2016) blames HEI's for previously not preparing graduates adequately for not preparing them for the current market and thus continuously lacking those transferable skills required.

What is a starting point is the understanding of soft skills, for example, that are needed for the Events, tourism and sports industries? Gaining a background to these will help lay the foundation for what possibly will or could be transferable across each of the different sectors of the service industry.