PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM THROUGH HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) is currently in the process of finalising the National Human Resource Development (NHRD) Plan which among others is intended to map the skills in different sectors of the economy, such as the Tourism Sector. Part of the NHRD Plan’s development processes include robust engagement of different stakeholders. It is in this respect that HRDC made a presentation at the 35th Annual Hospitality & Tourism Association of Botswana (HATAB) General Meeting held on the 25^th April, 2019 in Kasane.

Themed “Sustainable Tourism: Driving Force for Job Creation, Economic Growth & Development”, the 35^th HATAB Conference seek to demonstrate that the tourism sector has an immense potential to significantly raise its contribution in Botswana’s economy. HRDC found it significant to engage with its strategic stakeholders at the HATAB General Meeting, to address the National HRD Plan’s broad stakeholder perspectives.

In his presentation, the Chief Executive Officer of HRDC, Dr Raphael Dingalo, cited some of the issues that were identified in the NHRD Plan situational analysis report which among others included: Relatively high expenditure

on education with less return on investments; issues of skills mismatch which include relevance of curriculum to the needs of labour market and effective internship to make graduates ready for work; high unemployment rate especially among the youth.

In addition, Dr Dingalo also noted that the Human Resource Development (HRD) challenges arise from three variables which are; economy (people without jobs), education (people with jobs but without skill) and employment (jobs without people).

“To address these challenges, HRDC together with its strategic partners is developing the NHRD Plan which upon its implementation should be able to ignite globally competitive human resource, active citizenship, industry driven HR skills, transformation of the current labour force and many other game changes’’ said Dr Dingalo.

The NHRD Plan seeks to drive towards a globally competitive worker who has strong social capabilities, creative entrepreneurship, high communication & Information Communication and Technology (ICT) skills as well as theoretical and technical knowledge.

In this regard, HRDC is currently undertaking a Tourism Sector Baseline Survey which is meant to collect data on the occupations existing in the Tourism Sector and to identify the demographics and educational qualifications of the staff members working in the Tourism establishments.

The study intends to identify training and skills needs of staff in the tourism establishments and to assess the existing skills shortages in the Industry.

A questionnaire requesting data has been sent through the HATAB Office and it is important for the industry to provide the requisite information.

In conclusion, Dr Dingalo informed the meeting that HRD by nature is a multi-sector and multi-stakeholder phenomena, therefore it is important for all the key players of the economy to come on-board and contribute towards the plan.

“Collaboration of the public and private sector, civil society, community and learners is very key in ensuring that all the stakeholder perspective issues are efficiently addressed in the NHRD Plan” noted Dr Dingalo.