Tourism talent management: empirical research among tourism academics, practitioners, and government officials

This study explores tourism talent management by integrating the perspectives of tourism academics, senior industry practitioners, and government officials. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 academics specializing in tourism research and education, 10 senior tourism practitioners, and 5 government officials responsible for tourism industry planning and development in China. Through thematic analysis, this research provides fresh insight into different stakeholders’ perceptions of talent management in China’s tourism industry. Tourism academics indicated the importance of tourism as a research area and expressed their strong sense of social responsibility as tourism scholars. Tourism practitioners emphasized the need to move from being service providers to being tourism talent pool incubators. They also recognized the importance of corporate social responsibility for both tourism talents’ individual excellence and the sustainable development of China’s tourism industry. Tourism government officials acknowledged the government’s role in fostering corporate social responsibility through talent management in China’s tourism industry.