Hospitality Sector after COVID19-The Challenges, the Opportunities  in Cyprus and SkillsSWAP

The outbreak of COVID19 had a great impact on the hospitality sector in Cyprus. According to KPMG Hospitality Industry   Report( May 2020)  international tourist arrivals in Cyprus reduced by 78%.Over 75% of hotels in the EU remain temporarily closed, with occupancy of open hotels at 12%.

Despite the proven resilience of the hospitality sector over the years, now this sector is   facing a  great uncertainty, as a result of declining consumer and business confidence. According to KPMG Industry Report , COVID 19 has created   new challenges which are:

• Reluctance to travel will limit tourist arrivals
• Expected health and safety protocols and social distancing measures both from governments and tour operators will reduce capacity
• Significant disruption in the airline industry, especially for Cyprus which is practically only accessible by air
• Extent of lockdown and travel restrictions in key source markets
•  Uncertain length of the pandemic, potential of resurgence and vaccine unavailability
• Uncertainty increasing, weighing on consumer and business confidence
• Greater shift of demand to the platform accommodation economy, such us AirBnB.

These challenges however lead to new opportunities:

• Proven resilience of the tourism sector in past crises
• Government support includes a strategy to restart the tourism sector  
• Cyprus is considered as one of the safest countries (low number of Covid-19 cases) compared to other EU countries
• A ‘new norm’ can push businesses to re-think their business model, such as re-engineering of the hotel’s operational workflow
• Adaptation through innovation, digitisation, safety, hygiene and cleaning protocols
• Flexibility with booking policies, refunds and prices to stimulate local and international demand.

As already mentioned, the hotel business will have to rethink their business model. This means that the hospitality sector needs to adopt to the new situation   through innovation, digitalization, safety and hygiene and cleaning protocols. The hospitality sector’s personnel will need to acquire new skills apart from the traditional skills they already have.

But how are they going to acquire these skills? They could do these through Work Based Learning.

The Skills Swap concept can be really valuable in helping them to acquire these skills. The By 'skills Swap', we mean structured WBL opportunities where employees and apprentices are released from their roles with one employer for a fixed duration (typically half a day to 2 weeks) to learn skills provided by another employer. At the same time, employers’ benefit from the skills Swap from the new skill(s) and/or fresh perspectives that their employees bring to their business as a result of the ‘swap’. 

To learn more about the SkillsSwap Project visit the project’s web page www. http://skills-swap.projectsgallery.eu/.