In a study by Magalhães, Araújo and Andrés-Marques (2022), current tourism and hospitality workers perceived that their soft skills, e.g., teamwork and flexibility skills, developed the most during the pandemic, but they also became aware of the fact that their hard skills, e.g., digital and language skills, were the most in need of improvement (Magalhães, et al., 2022). Tourism and hospitality jobs also require hard skills, most especially, digital skills. Although a tourism education may not specifically focus on developing those skills or delivering graduates that have advanced digital and technological skills, it is crucial to note that they are expected in the jobs of tomorrow and by employers in the industry, nonetheless. In the future, tourism and hospitality jobs will require a “seamless blend of talent and technology” even more, with machines taking care of the technological side and humans providing people with meaningful connections and experiences (Carlile et al., 2021). As such, it is imperative that universities find ways to enhance those competences in the students during their studies in order to make them employable when they graduate. This handbook is part of that effort, presenting some of the best practices and methods for learning these vital skills for the future of work. 17
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