Skills Required for Tourism Workers Post Covid-19 in Thailand

王梦倪

Abstract：Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic，enterprises cannot operate normally. A growing number of industries are in trouble，especially the hard-hit hotels and airlines. Objective：To conduct in-depth interviews with tourism practitioners and managers，encourage them to think about the COVID-19 epidemic after the epidemic，and summarize the skills that tourism operators need to possess. By collecting 2 July 2020 solstice interviews with Bangkok tourism operators and stakeholders on 10 July 2020，information is collected，contents are analyzed，and necessary statistics are made. The study found that COVID-19 has had a serious impact on the Thai economy，particularly tourism. According to the interviews and analysis of tourism industry personnel，the most needed abilities to survive the epidemic are network sales ability，communication ability and language ability.

Keywords：unemployment，required skills，tourism workers，transferable skills，survive，post covid-19

The COVID-19 outbreak has brought the entire tourism industry to a standstill. The world has paid a heavy price for the crisis，but Thailand is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Although Thailand is a developing country，its tourism industry is booming. But with the recent COVID-19 outbreak，Thailand's tourism industry is facing unprecedented challenges. If we do not do something，the near stagnation of tourism and the unemployment of its workers will become a vicious circle.

1.1 Research Scope

This paper takes Bangkok，the capital of Thailand，as the research object. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the guest satisfaction of large outdoor hotels in Bangkok，in order to find more opportunities and create more innovative products，so that the hotel can attract more and more tourists. Therefore，the researchers of this paper will interview some guests and hotel managers in Bangkok. The study was conducted in Bangkok from January to April 2020.

1.2 Review previous research results.

By collecting articles published in People magazine，the researchers looked at how Thailand's tourism industry recovered after the COVID-19 epidemic and what skills tourism workers need to develop to adapt to social needs.（Yan Wei（2020））analyzed the operating pressure and coping strategies faced by Chinese smes most affected by COVID-19. Based on the economic resilience of tourism industry，Professor Yan finally concluded that tourism industry will maintain a high recovery efficiency.

After the disaster，people will pay more attention to life，care about health，and have a new understanding of sanitation and epidemic prevention. This requires tourism workers to change their ideas，goals and methods to adapt to the new social needs.

2.1 Research Design

The research method is qualitative interview with the aim of revitalizing Thailand's tourism industry and helping tourism workers find new jobs and new skills they need to survive. In this study，interviewees conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews. It mainly uses more open questions and allows discussion with interviewees. The researchers used in-depth interviews to encourage respondents to express their ideas and to add questions that allowed them to explain and explore more. We can get more information about this topic.

2.2 Target population

This study takes the tourism practitioners of tourism-related companies as the research object. Using a qualitative approach，interview several tourism managers and workers in their workplaces about their views on the impact of COVID-19 on tourism in Thailand.

2.3 Sampling procedure

The researchers used semi-structured interviews to collect data from groups such as travel agencies and banks. Sixteen open-ended questions were used to interview leaders and employees of travel agencies，banks and other companies. For the sample size of this study，at least 2 people from different companies were interviewed.

2.4 Data analysis technology

In order to analyze the data collected in the semi-structured interviews，the researchers used content analysis to encode and analyze the key information in the interview records of tourism managers and employees，and manually coded them.

3.1 Impact of VID-19 on tourism

Thailand was once a popular destination for international tourists，but it has been locked down because of the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Thailands tourism industry has been hit hard by the lack of foreign tourists，which has also contributed to the tourism crisis. Thailands tourism industry as a whole is paralyzed. The economies of all tourism-related regions have been greatly affected. With the loss of a large number of tourism professionals，Thailand's tourism recovery is also facing a huge challenge.

3.2 Ways to restore tourism in Thailand

Thailand's tourism industry has been paralyzed by the COVID-19 outbreak. We need to overcome the difficulties that come with it.We can't go out because of the social distancing. We can no longer look at our jobs and businesses the same way. We need to change old ideas，open up new businesses，and learn and improve new skills. Especially in the special period when network business is very hot，network sales skills and network advertising skills are particularly important.

3.3Significance of this study

The way companies operate and work will change，and the world is already changing rapidly，accelerated by COVID-19. There will be no "jobs for life". Future generations of COVID-19 need to be able to adapt to a changing workplace and have the ability to constantly update their skills. We need to put the unemployment crisis in perspective and solve the survival crisis of tourism workers，which will also lay a solid foundation for the recovery of Thailand's tourism industry.

Reference：

[1]Yan，W.（2020）. Impact of New Crown Epidemic Situation on Tourism Development and Coping Strategies. Business Economics Research（11），190-192.

（作者單位：中国移动国际）