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- The impact of tourism in the restaurant business: a case study in the city of OportoPublication . Rocha, Ana; Azevedo, Daniel; Silva, SusanaThe evolution of the restaurant business has always been strongly associated with the evolution of the tourism sector. In fact, several authors have identified and described the relationship between these two sectors. Restaurants and gastronomy are a significant part of the local culture and can work as a major touristic attraction. At the same time, restaurants profit from the increase in tourists in a particular market. However, there is few information on how the tourism sector impacts the restaurant business. This study aims to shed some light on how restaurants are influenced by the growth of tourism and how they adapt themselves to this ”new” customers. For that, a quantitative study was conducted in the city of Oporto which has been considered for the past years on of the best destinations in Europe and in the world, and that recognition has led to a steady increase in tourism, making it an excellent case study. A sample of 69 restaurants located in the city answered an online questionnaire with questions about restaurant location and characteristics, business growth and response to the increase in tourists at three specific periods in time — 2012, 2015 and 2018. Statistical analyses were performed with IBM SPSS 25.0. The preliminary results showed that most (n=53, 78,1%) of the restaurants were small or medium enterprises, 82,4% were located nearby touristic enterprises, 89,7% were nearby public transport stop and nearby touristic monuments. Regarding the number of foreign clients, there is a significant increase between 2012 and 2015, and a slight increase for 2018. There is also an increase in average selling price of a meal for 2012 and 2018. Regarding seasonality, results showed a higher distribution of customers across the year. The results valued the changes made in the restaurants namely hiring new collaborators with foreign languages abilities. Regarding the differences between historical and non- historical city centre restaurants there were statistical differences in the number of tourists in 2015, the number of tourists and the selling price of a meal in 2018. The restaurants in historical city centre had more tourists and a higher price. Thus, we can conclude that the characteristics of the restaurants customers has changed overtime and there is a decrease of seasonality associated to this business. The increase in the average selling price of a meal suggest that there is room for restaurants to upgrade their value proposition. Therefore, it is important the business sector follow this evolution and the specific needs of the customers related to this changes.
- Digital influencers: possible roles in the promotion of tourist destinationsPublication . Ramalho, Bárbara; Silva, Susana; Silva, CândidaIn the globalisation era, digital influencers have become a key communication source of the 21st century and an important player in several business activities. They are known as content creators, they can influence large audiences who want to consume their contents and are available to be influenced by their information and behaviors. Additionally, digital platforms have played an important role in the development of new digital marketing strategies for the promotion of tourist destinations, namely integrating opinion leaders as products and service influencers. Therefore, this study aims to understand the role of digital influencers in the promotion of tourist destinations and to identify the strategies used for their promotion. To answer our objectives a qualitative study was conducted. 17 digital influencers participated in our study, of both genders, with a mean age of 26 years (SD=7.98). All the participants fulfilled a demographic questionnaire and it was conducted a semi-structured interview to answer the research question "How do Portuguese digital influencers promote a tourist destination?". The interviews were verbatim transcript and data analysed according to thematic analysis procedures. The preliminary results showed that “trip characteristics” and “influencer function” are the main categories. For the trip it is important to define the main reasons to visit the tourist destination, positive and negative dimensions related to the trip, and interests in the place. The influencer functions emerge from the communication with the followers, digital, technical and soft skills needed to be professional. Thus, it can be concluded that digital influencers can have an important role in the promotion of a tourist destination. The digital influencer should have significant communication skills but also digital, technical and soft skills. Therefore, it is crucial to train future tourism professionals to be prepared for this professional option. We discuss the main practical and theoretical implications and offer some suggestions for further studies.
- Motivation as a lever for service excellencePublication . Silva, Ana Isabel; Oliveira, Mónica; Silva, SusanaIn recent years, we have seen a change in mentalities in the way organisations are managed. Day by day, we realize that an organization's human resources are the key to success. In this sense, human resources management assumes an essential position that will allow to achieve levels of motivation and satisfaction of employees central to the performance of the organization. In the hotel sector, we still observe organizations with little focus on human resources management. However, it is from the sectors where this management becomes vital. The satisfaction and motivation of employees are directly reflected in customer satisfaction, compromising the future of the hotel unit. This work aims to understand the impact of the employee's motivation on their performance, according to their perspective. Thus, the method used was the questionnaire survey, addressed to all employees of the InterContinental Porto — Palácio das Cardosas hotel. Data analysis was performed through descriptive and statistical analysis, with resources to the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) program. The results obtained did not allow us to observe any direct relationship between employee motivation and performance, according to their perspective.
- Social media in hotel crisis communication: a case studyPublication . Silva, Cândida; Silva, Susana; Rodrigues, BrunaThe evolution of social media has transformed the way people communicate, share experiences and search for information before and after a trip. These platforms can bring countless benefits to businesses but implementing them effectively brings countless challenges. In the hotel industry, the use of social media as a digital marketing strategy has become fundamental to promote brands and services, as well as to create a closer relationship with the customer. It then becomes essential to understand how hotels can use these platforms effectively. Moreover, defining communication strategies, especially in periods of global crisis, with customers and public that include social networks are fundamental and a great challenge. In this sense, in this paper a case study of a hotel in a period including the global pandemic crisis of COVID-19 was conducted where good practices for social media management in hospitality are proposed, supported by the literature review and the practical learning provided in the fieldwork. These good practices also take into consideration the application of successful social media strategies in a hotel during times of crisis.
- ICT skills in hospitalityPublication . Silva, Susana; Aires, Cátia; Silva, Cândida; Melo, AntónioGlobalization and advances in information and communication technology (ICT) have contributed to the computerization of society, but also to the improvement of working conditions in diverse areas of activity. Hospitality have not been an exception to this reality and increasingly is seen a proliferation of ICT in these areas of activity and the consequent need for training and specialization by these professionals. Thus, this research aims to understand the level of preponderance of ICT in the hotel activity and to characterize the use of ICT in hotel activities. Thus, a quantitative study was conducted with the dissemination of an online survey to hospitality companies during November 2017 to January 2018. Our sample has 51 hotel companies from different categories and several tourism regions in Portugal. The respondents were 15 (29,5%) female and 36 (70,5%) male with mean age of 45,7 (SD=12,1) years. In our sample, 43 (84%) had a formalized Room Division department, 38 (74,5%) had F&B department, and 32 (62,7%) had sales and marketing department. The results suggested that, for each department, the need of digital skills is related to the specific features of the Department. For the majority of the departments, the seniority of the activity is related to the need of an advanced level of digital skills, for example in the room division department, the front office manager needed a medium (n=26, 58%) or advanced (n=17, 38%) level of digital skills but, for 40% (n=15) of the participants, the housekeeper, to order online the amenities, needed a basic of digital skills. In the F&B department Food and Beverage, the Head Chef for the task of procurement, through an online system, the goods needed for an event, 75% (n=28) of the participants referred that requires a medium-advanced level of digital skills. To the Barman, for promoting, in the Instagram, the image of a new cocktail available, we observed that 13 (38%) participants referred the need of basic level of digital skills. Only in the sales and marketing department, all the functions required an advanced level of digital skills, the sales manager, for the several tasks needed medium-advanced level of skills (n=27, 85%), 85% (n=27) of the revenue managers also needed an medium-advanced level of digital skills, and 47% (n=15) of the participants referred that sales promoter needed an advanced level of digital skills. In conclusion, this paper discusses the ICT skills needed to develop the several activities in each department of a hotel, as well as in managing the different issues of each department, namely in the relationship with costumers and guests, before, during and after the reservation, using ICT to promote hotel ecologic sustainability, managing social networks and promoting the hotel online.
- Great expectations: the graduate view of skills in hospitalityPublication . Silva, Susana; Silva, Cândida; Soares, GiselaSkills are understood as key issues in the labour market and conceptualised as individual attributes needed to perform competent work. The distinction between hard and soft skills is one of the most used theoretical conceptualization – hard skills being understood as technical skills, required of professionals, and soft skills being seen as personal traits which are not specifically related to the function. One hundred years after the publication of Mann’s A Study of Engineering Education (1918), and as employers expect a new level of readiness from new hires, the focus is on bridging the soft skills gap. However, most of the literature delves into mismatched expectations of both industry and educators, and little documentation can be found regarding the skills that future employees believe their employers will require.
- Online recruitment for organizational knowledge management: a quantitative studyPublication . Silva, Susana; Silva, Cândida; Martins, DoraThe process of Recruitment and Selection of new employees has a growing influence on business results and, nowadays, the use of knowledge and information and communication technologies enables this process to be faster and more complete. The need to improve the existing resources in companies has conditioned the changes in the Recruitment and Selection process and, over time, we observe the transformation of this process. Thus, Recruitment and Selection became a strategic process in Human Resources Management improving the organization's competitiveness. The objective of the study is to understand the role of online recruitment for organizational knowledge management; and to characterize the most used social networks in Online Recruitment, identifying the main reasons to use online recruitment during the process of recruitment and selection. ln this quantitative study, 112 companies fulfilled a questionnaire that evaluated the online recruitment process. The main results suggested that national companies and companies with more than 250 employees use more online recruitment. The fact that some companies have job openings available on multiple websites simultaneously, making information available 24 hours a day, reducing the time and process costs and streamline communication between candidates and the organization are some of the most listed reasons to use the Online Recruitment. Otherwise, the use of traditional methods of recruitment and the fact that the access to social networks are not allowed in some organisations are some of the reasons cited for not using this method of recruitment. Thus, it can be concluded that the Information and Communication Technologies are present in the process of recruitment and selection and that this is a reality existing in organizations as a tool to support of knowledge management.
- Knowledge management through competencies: an exploratory study in the automotive industry sectorPublication . Martins, Dora; Oliveira, André; Silva, SusanaOrganisations and human resources managers (HRm) are currently facing a new set of obstacles and experiencing an urgent need to keep up with the expanding digitalization brought by the Digital Age. This has caused a great impact on business success and sustainabilíty and as well as concerns regarding much-needed refreshed competencies for effective performance. Despite the global influence caused by this scenario, the industry is one of the most affected sectors, particularly in the automotive area. This study focuses on understanding HRm's opinions and beliefs including competency shifts caused by the influences and obstacles of the digital era in the automotive industry sector. The investigation carried out, assumed a qualitative methodology by applying eleven semi-structured interviews that collected the participants' perspectives and their concerns regarding the influences and challenges brought by the digital age including its impact on the change of competencies sought by organisations. AII participants were active human resources (HR) professionals in different organisations in the automotive industry sector. The results showed that new topics such as competitiveness and continuous improvement gained substantial importance and that new challenges surfaced with the evolution of technology, such as employee's difficulty to adapt and the impact of technology on their socialization levels. In contrast, the shortening of physical distances through technology was seen as the major advantage. Additionally, this study points to digital competencies, technical capacity, Microsoft Office proficiency, proactivity, and cooperation as the current most valued competencies for automotive industry sector organisations. Further discussion was taken into consideration regarding the study results obtained confirming the impact of technology in the competencies profiles of automotive industry sector organisations. It can be concluded that the study's contributions and shortcomings are highlighted in addition to further suggestions made regarding future research on the theme.
- An overview of higher education in tourism and hospitality in PortugalPublication . Moura, Andreia Antunes; Costa, Vânia; Loureiro, Isabel Sofia; Silva, Susana; Mira, Maria do Rosário; Pereira, Sílvia RaquelObjective: This study evaluates the higher education provision in Portugal's tourism and hospitality sector, examining its evolution and alignment with labor market demands to address the growing skills gap in the industry.TheoreticalFramework: The research is grounded in concepts of labor market demands, educational alignment, and workforce development amid digital, societal, and economic transformations. Theories on skills mismatch and human capital development help understand the dynamics between education and employment in this sector.Method: A comprehensive review of higher education offerings in tourism and hospitality in Portugal was conducted, assessing the number of courses and student vacancies while analyzing job market trends. Data were collected from national educational databases and industry reports to examine the evolving relationship between educational programs and labor needs.Results and Discussion: Results indicate a notable increase in tourism and hospitality courses and student vacancies in Portugal’s higher education system, reflecting efforts to cultivate a skilled workforce. However, gaps persist in regional job distribution and the need for specialized training in certain areas.Research Implications: Thefindings suggest that higher education institutions are progressing in closing the skills gap by offering programs aligned with industry needs, which may influence workforce development strategies and curriculum design.Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by analyzing Portugal's educational response to labor market shifts, highlighting the growing alignment between education and industry needs, and providing actionable insights for improving human capital development in tourism and hospitality.
- Gender (in)equality: The case of hospitalityPublication . Silva, Susana; Silva, Cândida; Correia, Rui; Ribeiro, JoaquimUnited Nations stated that one of the objectives of Sustainable Development by 2030 is to achieve Gender Equality. Despite the increasing of women in the labour market, and more specifically in hospitality and tourism, it is priority to have a better understanding of this reality. Therefore, this study aims to explore the gender perspective in hospitality. A quantitative study was conducted in order to answer the main objectives. The questionnaire used had 95 questions organized in 14 sections: sociodemographic characteristics; gender distribution according to the several functions of the hotels; and implementation of equality practices in the hotels. One hundred hotels participated in our study. The results showed that gender prevalence can be different according to department and seniority of the function. Women are prevalent in Administrative and Housekeeping and men in Food and Bevarage (F&B) and in Maintenance department. Men occupy more senior positions than women. The legal policies and human resources practices are gender equality-sensitive but there still exists differences related to important issues such as same salary for the same function. In conclusion, there are important aims to achieve in gender equality in hospitality related to the practices implement and the need of a deep debate in this field. The paper ends with some implications and suggestions for future research.