PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION AS A QUALITY ASSURANCE MECHANISM IN THE TOURISM WORKFORCE

Abstract

The paper substantiates professional certification as a mechanism for assuring the quality of the tourism workforce. The economic function of certification is identified as the reduction of information asymmetry in the labour market: the employer cannot verify a candidate's competence before hiring, and the client cannot verify the provider's competence before purchase. A three-component system is proposed — occupational standard, independent assessment procedure and a public register — and the links between them are established. Modelling shows that as certification coverage rises from zero to eighty per cent, the hiring risk index falls by 46 per cent while the service quality index rises by 40 per cent. Conditions for the effective operation of the system are formulated.