Keywords

1 Introduction

The tourism activity increased about 25 % in the last decade and represents nowadays approximately 12 % of the world economic activity. Actually, tourism, one of the largest industries of the world and a key driver for socio-economic progress, is increasing all across the globe. As a matter of fact, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) states that “an ever increasing number of destinations worldwide have opened up to, and invested in tourism” and that “many new destinations have emerged in addition to the traditional favourites” (UNWTO 2014, p. 2).

Urban tourism is linked to socio-economic development. “Whether visiting for leisure, business, or to meet friends and relatives, tourists contribute to the local economy and support jobs across the city and beyond” (UNWTO 2012, p. 4). Tourism policy therefore is a very important part of urban development, “it is not just a strategy to provide a competitive product to meet visitors’ expectations but a way to develop the city itself and provide more and better infrastructures and bring conditions to residents” (UNWTO 2012, p. 7).

Tourism also appears to be a major sector of job creation. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (2015), the sector will continue to outperform the wider economy, as it has done for 4 consecutive years, generating 105 million direct jobs in 2014 (3.6 % of total employment). By 2025, the industries will account for 131 million direct jobs, an increase of 2 % over the next 10 years. This greater need for human resources emphasizes the fact “the story of successful tourism enterprises is one that is largely about people—how they are recruited, how they are managed, how they are trained and educated, how they are valued and rewarded, and how they are supported through a process of continuous learning and career development” (Failte Ireland 2005, p. 8).

The purpose of research is based on the construction of an emerging urban tourism destination and its human capital challenges. UNWTO refers to urban tourism as trips taken by travellers to cities or places of high population density. The duration of these trips is usually short (1–3 days) (UNWTO 2012). City tourism is one of the fastest growing travel segments worldwide.

The chapter will be conducted from two perspectives, macro (large-scale social processes) and micro (small groups or individual interactions). This chosen approach can be explained because tourism involves social structures and institutions, as well as companies hiring individuals to meet the customers’ needs. Moreover, providing fulfilling employment opportunities to the local population is a fundamental aspect of economic development, as well as a manner to favour key players and meet customers’ needs.

In a macro-analysis perspective, governments target to increase the value of their destination in order to strengthen tourist attraction and competitiveness. Tourism may impact positively economic indicators, such as employment, growth, external balances and investments. Moreover, the performance of the sector may generate indirect impacts over other sectors (agriculture, craft industry, culture, construction, building and public works, services, transport…).

The consciousness of the importance of the stakes highlights the tourism development as a vector of economic and social development, and imposes the necessity to adopt a strategic vision. Thus, destinations build strategic plans to achieve their goals. They design and clarify their vision in the short term, middle term and long-term horizons to position their country as a receiving country. They also have to give adequate attention to human resources development, since they “play an important role in stimulating the request, creating a relaxation atmosphere, formulating a buying decision, forming and maintaining the interest, the sympathy for a certain tourism product or holiday destination, hotel or food unit, way of transport of form of entertaining and in determination of tourist coming back” (Gherman et al. 2011, p. 234). The destinations also have to operationalize financial plans in order to support tourism activities and attract important investors, property developers, tour operators and international chains. They also have to define the pertinent instruments of their policies and specify the conditions of their feasibility.

In a microanalysis perspective, people are an organisation’s greatest asset (Bolton and Houlihan 2007). Actually, an emergent destination wishing to develop tourism has to think about betting on human capital and provide a sufficient volume of workers, mainly characterised by low skills (Westwood 2004; Di Liberto 2013). In fact, growth in tourism in developing countries means that “the sector has become an important source of employment for those previously dependent on subsistence living so that what is, ostensibly, the same work in a technical sense is constructed in very different ways across social, cultural and economic contexts” (Baum 2007, p. 1396).

The mainstay of the chapter is formed by an analysis concerning the construction of an emerging destination and will emphasise on the importance of human capital as a key resource to develop tourism. Thus, both a documentary study exploring the Algerian strategy in matter of tourism development and a qualitative analysis, based on interviews led with professionals of the sector in Oran, will be presented. Beforehand, a review of literature will allow an exploration of the importance of human capital in the industry and the way international chains are expanding, proceeding and optimising guests’ satisfaction.

2 International Chains Expansion and Their Quest for Quality

Whitelock and Yang (2007) state that the globalization of the market is influencing companies, which are seeking for new geographical coverage beyond their domestic market, especially in the emerging destinations. International expansion shows a variety of market entry modes, via a mixture of acquisitions, hotel consortia, mergers, direct ownerships, joint ventures, franchising, management contracts or strategic alliance agreements, affecting at various levels control and coordination processes (Azevedo et al. 2002). Those entry modes have something in common. They must “achieve effective and efficient control at the same time as ensuring sufficient responsiveness to local market conditions is a challenge for any service firm but particularly so for those that employ multiple market entry methods” (Brookes and Roper 2010, p. 2).

The issue of decentralising decisions in the business units arises. What degree of latitude might be given to the units abroad? Is it pertinent to impose the same model and processes in all the countries or on the contrary would it be wiser to adjust the strategies to the different destinations? Concerning this matter, Child and McGrath (2001) through an extensive review of the literature firmly recommend decentralisation, which is at the same time a better way to achieve agreed goals rather than to impose them top-down, and a manner to get a better understanding of the market realities, especially if the companies lack of experience in the country. International groups are struggling on the ground of the quality of service to position themselves and appear different in the consumer’s mind. Therefore, the quality of service must be reached at all levels.

Regarding the literature, the quality of service concept is subjective according to the fact that perception varies and depends on individuals, time and space. Kapiki on his part highlights the fact that “quality service is a management tool that provides companies by a means of monitoring service from the customers’ perspective” (Kapiki 2012, p. 54).

The essence of the word “service” is based on an interaction between a customer and a front-line employee, during a human experience lived by the guest through his emotions and feelings. In order to measure service quality and any possible gap between customers’ expectations and services delivered, Parasuraman et al. (1994) developed the SERVQUAL scale to assess service quality using five dimensions:

  • Tangibles aspects (Physical facilities, equipment, and appearance of personnel)

  • Reliability (Ability to perform the promised services dependably and accurately)

  • Responsiveness (Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service)

  • Assurance (Knowledge, courtesy and ability to inspire trust and confidence)

  • Empathy (Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers).

In an increasingly competitive market, guests’ overall perception of quality is crucial and correlated to employee’s behaviours, attitudes, responsiveness and ability to meet the clients’ needs (Richard and Gill 2003). Thus, service attitude is a central competency for employees (Jui-Min Li et al. 2009) who must give customers a positive image that strengthen satisfaction (Doucet 2004) and loyalty (Dimitriades 2007). But, in the meantime, “downward pressures on the overall cost of tourism (low cost airlines, aggressive tour operators, electronic distribution, deregulation) encourages the use of low cost labour and, to an extent, may also deflate expectations of service and product quality” (Baum 2007, p. 1396).

Globally, the consumer experience is a multidimensional concept made of people encounters with products, services and businesses (Lewis and Chambers 2000). This experience is related to cognitive and emotional aspects. According to Bitner (1992) and Carbone and Haeckel (1994), to manage a total customer experience, where mechanics and humanics clues are significant. Mechanics are composed of “sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and textures generated by things” (Carbone and Haeckel 1994, p. 13), while humanics are linked to social interactions between and among customers and employees. Humanics are very important, “they are engineered by defining and choreographing the desired behavior of employees and customers involved in the customer encounter” (Carbone and Haeckel 1994, p. 13). At the centre of these humanics, the reception job position plays at the same time a marketing role and a connection towards operational activities. It is a central asset in the tourism industry (Dogor Di Nuzzo 2009).

The ability of welcoming reflects a real will to favour satisfaction and wellness of guests. Reception is also linked to image and reputation. Consequently, the skills necessary to deliver a high quality of service are among the most important factors to be taken into consideration, to increase the competitiveness of a company.

Three dimensions emerge when dealing with reception positions: “(1) the gratitude (to recognise the visitor by concrete gestures); (2) the hospitality (to fulfil its expectations, exceed them and solve his problems) and (3) the mothering (to take care of him at different degrees)” (De Grandpré et al. 2012, p. 1). Moreover, the customer is more sensitive to reception than any other elements of the stay, such as activities or visits (Dulude and Bastien 1998). The moment of encounter is crucial, since a tourist becomes the ambassador of a destination (or not), according to his experience (Servet and Tesone 2005).

3 The Analysis of the Urban Tourism Development in Oran

The documentary and qualitative studies have been conducted in order to give some sense, understanding and interpreting of the professional representations, in a particular urban context. For a better understanding, some background information concerning Algeria and Oran are provided. The ground and the sample as well as the modalities of data collection and processing are detailed below.

Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia, to the east by Libya, to the west by Morocco, to the southwest by Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Mali, to the southeast by Niger, and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. Some background information concerning Algeria and Oran, an important coastal city located in the North-West of the country, are useful to understand the particular context.

The analysis of the Fig. 1 shows the evolution of the tourism in Algeria over a 10 years period. The travel departures show 88 % increase, whereas the arrivals show a global increase of 59 %. However, the evolutions show for the departures an increase, dated from 2008, whereas the arrivals are constantly increasing over the period, except for the last year, which sees a reduction of about 400,000 tourists, consecutive to terrorist threats in the country.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Algerian Tourism Statistics 2005–2014 (in thousands). Source: authors’ elaboration on Eurostat 2015

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The research is firstly based on documentary study to grasp the characteristics of tourism reception in the Oranese region. Choosing this region is understandable by the fact that Oran is the metropolis of the Algerian West, including 26 municipalities whose 14 are coastal zones. Its coast extends over 124 km, approximately 1/10 of the national coast (Kacimi 2013). The urban area of Oran, on the south shore of the Mediterranean Basin is the second biggest city of Algeria, which counts two million inhabitants nowadays and received more than 14 million tourists in 2012. Oran, a country town of the Oranese province is located at 432 km from the capital, Algiers. The city is considered as the touristic capital and the main commercial and industrial centre of the west part of the country. Its port registers an important traffic with Europe and one can also reach Oran by ferry from the ports of Marseille, Sète, Alicante or Almería, via the national company.

Oran is called the second Paris, a fiesta capital and the birthplace of Raï, this rebellious music that has been exported all around the world. The place is known for its liberal mores. The explanation may be historical. Oran was Spanish for 300 years. Sidi El Houari the historical district named ‘the old Oran’ holds to this day the imprint of various occupations experienced by the city (Spanish, Ottoman and French). The hospitality industry is prosperous. With 46 hotels under construction and more than 6000 beds, Oran is ranked first Province (Wilaya) of the country in terms of accommodation facilities. The sector generates 30 % of the GDP and employs 5 % of the working population.

To collect the qualitative information, a questionnaire was developed around several themes including the training, the sense of reception, the perceived quality of service level and its management. Concerning the data collection and sampling, 22 semi-directive interviews were led in the region of Oran, face-to-face, between October 2014 and January 2015, with professionals, travel agents and front-line employees in different hotels, until the saturation point was reached. The average duration of the interviews lasted 30 min. The Table 1 reveals the precise composition of the sample.

Table 1 Sample composition
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The interviews were entirely transcribed and prepared for an analysis of thematic contents. We used Nvivo 10 software, a qualitative data analysis computer software package. It has been designed for qualitative researchers working with very rich text-based and/or multimedia information, where deep levels of analysis on small or large volumes of data are required to facilitate the work of codification and reduction of the data. The data processing led to the production of results presented now.

4 Findings

On the one hand, the documentary study highlights the Algerian strategy chosen to develop tourism (Sect. 4.1). On the other hand, thematic contents analysis gives four results: an insufficient volume of students currently in training to meet the needs (Sect. 4.2), criteria of recruitment based on a cultural propensity to be welcoming (Sect. 4.3) and the increasing influence of new international chains spreading quality improvement in Oran (Sect. 4.4).

4.1 Algeria Is Setting Up a New Strategy of Tourism Development

Tourism is sensitive to conjunctures. But, beyond political, economic and social concerns, the Arab Spring did not generate noticeable changes in the tourism configurations of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries (Lanquar 2015). Algeria with more than half a population of 34 million inhabitants is composed of people less than 25 years old. This group faces unemployment challenges for 21 % of them (Banque Africaine de Développement 2011, p. 7). According to Lanquar, “Algeria is one of the few MED 11 countriesFootnote 1 where tourism suffered greatly from the 2008 world economic crisis: tourist arrivals in 2010 fell sharply and scarcely exceeded the international tourist arrivals of 2005” (2011, p. 119). The economy has grown strongly in the last number of years, mainly thanks to the rise in the world markets of oil and gas prices (98 % of the exportation in 2014) and the strong demand for those natural resources.

Economic growth has been increasing up to 6 % annually. However, Algeria is very dependent on the oil windfall. Especially with the current drop in prices, fluctuations therefore may weaken public finances. The country has finally embarked on the development of its infrastructure, in poor condition in many regions, after more than one decade of serious disrepair. Highways, dams, power plants and desalination of seawater, the realization of ongoing projects abound. Algeria faces several threats, as punctual terrorism continues to hang over and to threaten foreign investment.

Among, its closest competitors, Algeria is ranked at the 147th position in its contribution to the GDP, out of 174 the country is still very far after Morocco (42nd rank) and Tunisia (39th rank). Tourism in Algeria is less developed than in its neighbours. For instance, “Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, and a lot of tourist arrivals in Algeria have family connections in the country and will stay with family rather than in hotels” (Eurostat 2015). The tourism sector in Algeria is also “in a paradox situation, on one hand we notice a deficit in accommodation capacity, in marketing, a lack of know-how in hostelry, restaurant, etc. On the other hand, we find an attractive image and a shining touristic potential and capacity” (Bouadam 2011, p. 1). So, why is tourism in Algeria underestimated? Kacimi (2013) wanders if it is because of the weakness of the services, the lack of professionalism, the insufficient accommodation facilities, the insecurity in the country and/or a non-achievement of the reforms? (Kacimi 2013).

As a matter of fact, Algeria still suffers from the lack of priority given to tourism and from an insufficient political vision to cluster with other economic sectors such as agriculture, communication and transportation (Lanquar 2015). It was only in 2008 that the national institutions began taken into account the issues, in order to transform Algeria into a “must-visit” worldwide destination, by 2025 (Khiat 2014).

To ensure development, the Algerian government created a project in 2008 to build its vision of tourism. This plan is currently an integral part of the National Scheme of Town Planning (SNAT 2025) and a strategic framework of reference for tourism policies. This plan:

  • Shows its tourism development vision at different temporal horizons, either in the short (2009), middle (2015) and long term (2025) in order to consolidate Algeria as a receiving country;

  • Defines means of its implementation and specifies conditions of its feasibility;

  • Insures in a sustainable development framework, the triple balance of social equity, economic efficiency and ecological protection;

  • Promotes natural, cultural and historical potential of the country and put them at the disposal of tourism in Algeria in order to push it to the rank of destination of excellence in the Euro-Mediterranean region (National Agency of Investment Development 2015). Algeria also proposes a politico-legal environment favourable to tourism development with measures such as the launch of several projects which adds up 65,540 beds and the encouragement of the Algerian state for investing, by offering advantages to the investors. From then on, mainly French investors are trying to dominate the market, especially those targeting a business clientele.

The improvement of the tourism sector in Algeria can also be reached thanks to several measures related to diversification and quality offers. Safety measures and improvement of the signalling system, roads and infrastructures have been decided. Moreover, a plan to inform the key actors in the industry of a quality approach has been clearly defined. The documentary analysis having allowed a better understanding of the context in which the government intervened and set its goals, the results of the analysis of the interviews led with the professionals is now presented.

4.2 The Volume of Students in Tourism is Insufficient to Meet the Needs

According to the interviewed professionals, the take up of their new job in the tourism sector often seems fortuitous and without direct link with their previous background. For two third of the interviewees, their current job is far away from the tourism world and from front-line positions, as indicated by the professionals interviewed. Career paths may be different. “I am an IT specialist” (Travel agent 2). “I have graduated from the university, thus I am an urbanism engineer specialized in town planning, nothing to do with the service” (Hotel 1). “I studied international trade at the university, I also trained in computing” (Travel agent 1). Generally speaking, their current job position seems to have been learned “on the job” according to the interviewees. The importance of the experience seems determinant, in order to be able to hold the position and deal properly with the clientele. “I worked with my father in the travel agency; I can tell I have learnt the job with him, through his experience” (Travel agent 4).

4.3 Recruitment Criteria Based on a Supposed Cultural Propensity to Welcome Guests

In the opinion of professionals, the criteria of recruitment are for a large part based on social skills. “Welcome first of all is a personal aspect, it belongs to people, we are smiling or we are not” (Hotel 3). The front-line staff competencies are described with some traits and skills “the smile, the appearance, the attention” (Hotel 12). Accordingly, some professionals perceive that the propensity to welcome is truly innate. “It is a question of courtesy, if we are polite; we are appreciated by anybody, no need to study for that!” (Travel agent 3).

However, the natural trait dedicated to welcome customers turns out insufficient to master the front-line positions, “that is why some time of adaptation is needed. Practically, it is necessary that they do their training more than once, many points remain unclear at their level […] there are basics, things to be known before entering in the hospitality industry” (Hotel 3). The culture of the service sounds delicate and historically sensitive, since the image of service sometimes merges with an image of submission. “In Algeria, we still not have this culture of service to others, people think, I am not going to serve him, it is rather embarrassing. We always have this feeling to make something that disturbs, that is against nature, that remembers the past. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It is a quality to be at the service of others” (Hotel 3).

4.4 International Chains Spreading the Quality of Service Delivery Among the Market

The arrival of international chains on the market globally seems to have strengthened the quality of reception, in many ways, since the new entrance of international chains, like Starwood, Hyatt, Hilton or Accor. “When these firms set up in Algeria, people are trained in these hotels. Such as very well-known hotels, the Sheraton or the Meridien, Hilton or Mercure. In those places, people are really trained to new procedures, new tools” (Hotel 5). The necessity for Algeria “to improve the sector” (Travel agent 10) springs from the speeches. The professional wish is to optimize the reception service to upgrade the quality and achieve better financial outcomes. Actually, “when we exceed the expectation of a customer, it is a personal satisfaction and an extra financial return for the industry” (Hotel 11).

Concerning the continuous training, the contents and the learning conditions vary largely according to the operational policies. The duration of the trainings is heterogeneous and often takes place as an extra working time. “Sometimes we have 1 h trainings and sometimes from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m., during several days. The thing is, it is hard to resist, we have our shifts and the training at the same time” (Hotel 1). Unanimously, the first moments at the reception desk are considered crucial and delicate. The opportunity to give a good impression definitely requires professional skills. The first contact with the customer “plays a role at 80 %. If the customer is satisfied with his/her welcome, then we can overtake all other problems. But at the opposite, if a customer is not satisfied, whatever we will do for him/her, we will fail, because we have poorly started the relationship” (Hotel 7).

5 Discussion

The findings highlight the importance of examining the performance and competitiveness of the tourist sector, through the impulse of national touristic policies and through a better management of human resources, on both a macro and micro level. Actually, the implementation of strategies of tourism imposes the implication of all the key economic players to follow the new touristic orientations.

Times have changed and the Algerian government since 2008 has decided to prioritise tourism to develop the country. In a macro-analysis perspective, with an unemployment rate approaching 10 %, the tourism sector could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs, thanks to its domestic tourism (1.6 million Algerians living abroad visited the country in 2012) and thanks to foreign tourists. This tourism development will be possible, provided the fact that valuing the jobs in the industry, offering quality training and fostering behavioural change of the population towards the image of service, are taken into consideration.

The results of the qualitative analysis highlight both the urgency of increasing the volume of tourism students and the necessity of educational and vocational training to improve professional skills in the country. Indeed, training is an important component of success in tourism and hospitality organisations. Therefore, governments and other public institutions play an important role in the improvement of tourism-orientated education. The institutional reforms and the development of pertinent curricula should attract investors and support education in the sector.

Nevertheless, the national orientation towards tourism must be taken into account. For example, in Algeria, the tourism consideration has changed to move on from historical sufferings. “The Algerian government’s revolutionary orientation meant that after the revolution and up to 1980s, it opposed tourism. The nature of tourism service towards foreigners, including Algeria’s former colonisers implied servitude towards foreigners, which the government viewed as unacceptable both to national pride and to Algerians image abroad” (Gray 2000, p. 400).

Service has always been and probably will always be highly important in the tourism industry. Every viable company must provide an acceptable and effective level of service, in order to retain customers, avoid costs due to poor quality of service, revenues loss and negative word of mouth. If a real cultural dimension of hospitality in the Maghreb is underlined, individual traits or a personal orientation naturally centred on customer relationships are not sufficient, a real orientation towards service, based on hard and soft skills, must be boosted, sustained and professionalised in the industry. Educational and vocational education is thus essential.

6 Conclusion

The aim of this paper was to examine the construction of emerging urban tourism destinations and its human capital challenges. It has been found that the construction of an urban emerging destination needs governmental decisions, plans and measures, which federates the key actors of the sector and attracts investors. The importance of Human Resource Development in the tourism sector is also linked to the global improvement of the quality of service, through learning and performance at individual and organizational levels.

Human capital must respond to the new challenges of emerging urban tourism destinations. From a micro-analysis perspective, the issue of quality of service delivery is central and related to human capital management. Kapiki adds that “a quality service management system is a result-oriented approach. Increasingly, guests are willing to pay more when they visit hospitality properties offering service that meets or exceeds their service expectations” (2012, p. 54). The results show that international standards applied in hotels of international reputation, during the service delivery, are now spreading in the Oranese market. The control of quality needs processes and some forms of measurement, adjustment and inspection activities, to see if the standards are respected on a daily basis. In this way, international chains are pollinating national business units, through processes and good practices, but they also attract professionals and constitute a new benchmark reference for their competitors.

Managing a city as a destination involves addressing many challenges. “Managing urban tourism, however, is no simple task. As metropolitan areas expand rapidly, both the public and private sector face radical changes, as well as significant opportunities” (UNWTO 2012, p. 4). In fact, a positive working environment combined with satisfying job conditions, which encourage loyalty, commitment and engagement, have to be globally considered when setting up management policies.

Avenues of research may consist in studying over time the evolution and degree of maturity of the Oranese urban tourism market, confronted to the difficulties exposed during this preliminary research. To avoid some limits, questioning various actors upstream and downstream, including teachers in the hospitality sector and customers may highlight the phenomenon. Moreover, a comprehensive analysis of strategies and best practice examples in the context of emerging urban tourism destinations around the globe and especially in the Mediterranean Basin, would help understanding the challenges, and the ways chosen to get prepared for the future. An interdisciplinary approach will also enrich the research and provide comparative and complementary views.