COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCES OF STAFF IN TOURIST AND HOTEL AND RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING

The article presents a general overview and analysis of professional communicative competencies of employees of the tourism and hotel and restaurant sectors, with an emphasis on the importance of their maximum consideration in the management and marketing activities of enterprises. The specific features of tourism and hotel and restaurant business in the application of communicative competencies of personnel are proven, their differences from any other industries are due to the different nature of communications. The communicative competencies of personnel of three categories are analyzed – “first line”, focused on communicating with consumers when providing services, “second line”, which communicates mainly with partners and within the team, and management personnel. The key communicative competencies of “first line” personnel at different stages of the consumption cycle of the corresponding product are highlighted. A general overview and analysis of professional communicative competencies of employees of enterprises and establishments of the tourism (hotel and restaurant) sector, as well as individual “independent” service providers, is presented, with an emphasis on the importance of their maximum consideration in personnel policy and marketing activities. The specific features of tourism and hotel and restaurant business in the application of communicative competencies of personnel, their peculiar “exclusivity” and difference from any other industry, even within the socially oriented service sector, are proven, which is due to the provision of services (and, accordingly, the implementation of communications) in the process of moving in space with due consideration of all local natural, economic and linguistic and cultural differences, are provided. In the future, in-depth research in this area is possible, in particular, an analysis of the evolution of communicative competencies of employees of the tourism and hospitality sector during their career growth, or tracing differences in the application of professional communications at different stages of activity, with the formulation of relevant recommendations for their improvement, etc. Overall, the presented study is important for improving the quality of services (tourism, hotel, restaurant) in conditions of high competition among enterprises and destinations on the market.