The impact of human resource competencies of front line employees on tourist arrivals of unclassified hotels in Western province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The prime objective of this study is to examine the impact of Human Resource (HR) competencies of front line employees on tourist arrivals of unclassified hotels in western province in Sri Lanka. Thus, a comprehensive conceptual model was developed and tested on a survey strategy and 131 frontline employees were taken as the potential respondents for this research. The findings revealed that there is significant positive impact of HR competencies of front line employees on tourist arrivals of unclassified hotels in western province in Sri Lanka. Interpersonal skills and communication skills were only identified as the significant dimensions in HR competencies. This study limits only to five unclassified hotels in western province in Sri Lanka and was carried out only as a cross-sectional study. The study has highlighted the importance for managers in developing interpersonal and communication skills of front line employees to promote tourist arrivals and highlighted the necessity of skill assessment of front line employees to identify skill gap existing in them.