Five minutes spent with any business leader will have them telling you either of the acute problems faced in recruitment, or the great employees who have left the tourism industry for greener pastures in other economic sectors. Perhaps both.

The fact is we are facing a skills crisis throughout the economy. “1.1 million open positions in the UK,” screamed a headline in the London Evening Standard in September. Who came bottom of the ladder? Yes, it was our sector, with a 75% increase in open positions throughout the overall hospitality sector.

Is the resource crisis all down to the pandemic?

Certainly Covid has acted as an accelerant. However, back in 2015, Office of National Statistics (ONS) data revealed that in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA), tourism only produced 55% of the earnings of the construction industry and an appalling 28% of the GVA of manufacturing – both similar sized industries.

Low productivity inevitably leads to low wages, low investment and high turnover, frequently as much as 30%.

So, are the problems underlying and structural, or more immediately related to the pandemic?

By way of example, how much are we investing in our people? Or to rephrase, how much are we really investing in our people? Everyone knows the line, “people are our greatest asset”, but does this hold water when, as the UNWTO found, 41% of travel companies have no training budget whatsoever?

Formal career progression in the travel sector compares poorly to the broader economy. So in practicing what we preach, should a fresh look be taken at the problem?

A key challenge is the general perception in our sector that “training” is not a revenue generating activity. In the middle of our “fifth winter” of starved income, bosses are rightly focused on making money.

However, who is to say e-learning does not generate revenue? A survey from US company Skillsoft found poor knowledge cost companies 8% of annual revenues. Once addressed, they saw 40% increases in customer satisfaction.

Concrete ROIs such as these are increasingly prevalent and though it’s true quantification has historically been an issue, this is changing with the introduction of new innovations.

Losing out?

Who do you categorise as your workforce anyway? Should it be confined to direct employees? With travel’s value chain averaging more than 80% of its impact, what about your suppliers and downstream distributors?

A July 2020 survey from McKinsey found companies with advanced supplier collaboration achieved Ebit (earnings before interest and tax) increases of almost 200% over those that did not. So what benefits can a small investment in supplier and B2B customer engagement bring to your business?

Too often companies rely on the same traditional methods they have used for years. However, are these still relevant in today’s environment? Rapid technological innovations are well acknowledged in so many fields such as booking, fulfilment or payments.

So why is the industry failing to grasp the benefits of e-learning and losing out to so many other sectors that are taking advantage? E-learning costs have been falling rapidly since the early days of legacy systems, and new LXP (Learning Experience Platforms) bring transformative new functionality – and data – at affordable costs.

Patrick Richards is founder director of sustainability consultancy TerraVerde, and a non-executive director of LVG Learning.

• On Tuesday (14 December), LVG will sponsor a webinar entitled "Why tourism’s people model is broken post-pandemic and what to do about it" where an expert panel will discuss causes and practical solutions. The event will start at 10am. Anyone wishing to attend should send business contact details to info@lvglearning.com.