Mid Sweden University

This paper discusses the main problems associated with the limitations that have arisen against the background of new realities of operation and competitiveness of the hotel and catering businesses during the pandemic. The purpose of the study is to comprehensively investigate the existing stages of establishment of personnel management system and attract new marketing levers and strategies for flexible adaptation of enterprises in a changing environment, and thus increase the competitiveness of the hospitality establishments. In the furtherance of this goal methods of information gathering, comparative analysis, scientific research and theoretical generalisation were used. Surveys were used as primary data to gather information. Secondary data were the results of the work of researchers and developers in the field of new technologies. The object of research is a number of measures and tools to improve the competitiveness of institutions, including – personnel management systems and the general and most acceptable types of innovations to protect business. Alternative online services for reengineering common processes have also been identified to reformat into a new consumer interaction format during pandemic. The paper considered in detail and characterised the issue of social media marketing as one of the main known methods of combating the current crisis in the business sector. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of adaptation conditioned by new marketing innovations and a new approach in the establishment of the management system to new market conditions and consumer demands. A conceptual approach to media marketing for enterpises based on the POST method was proposed, which, in fact, is a set of basic goals based on strategic accents, a kind of task plan, the implementation of which provides business units with their own positions in the market of services considering the current conditions. In addition, given the specific nature of the hotel industry, the need to improve the human resources management system and to introduce the latest technology has been suggested.

Cruising is a lifestyle that involves living for extended time on a boat while traveling from place to place for pleasure. Cruise lines have a dual character; they are partly in the transportation business, and partly in the leisure entertainment business, a duality that carries down into the ships themselves, which have both a crew headed by the ship's captain, and a hospitality staff headed by the equivalent of a hotel manager. The business is extremely volatile. Cruise lines frequently sell, renovate, rename their ships just to keep up with travel trends. That is why the aims of the study were to focus on the development of cruise tourism in the Red Sea, to characterize the major cruise lines in the Red Sea. There are 11 cruise lines that operate in the Red Sea. Cruise line rating scores were developed in this study. The Royal Caribbean International is a leader. The Oceania Cruises is an outsider. The primary reasons that consumers will be motivated to book a cruise: good value offered by the cruise lines; love of cruising; get away with friends or alone; family reunions, honeymoons/weddings/anniversaries; try out new sustainable ships; shorter cruises; and «work and play» opportunity.

In this paper the Swedish higher tourism education is presented by analyzing the development of tourism education. Descriptive information of English taught University programs has been collected with a purpose to gain a deeper understanding of the general features of tourism higher education in Sweden. Methodology. The paper is based on a web-based content analysis of Swedish universities’ web-sites. In total six master degree programs at five universities were analyzed. Results of the analysis showed that the first Swedish academic program in tourism was opened in 1978 and from its inception tourism education is of growing significance. Instead of the higher number of degree programs in tourism, which are taught in Swedish, there is a limited number of those taught in English. Just one Bachelor Programme is taught in English in International Tourism is developed at Dalarna University and one Ph.D. Programme in Tourism is developed at Mid Sweden University. Master programs related to tourism are offered at Dalarna University, Linnaeus University, Lund University, Mid Sweden University, and Umea University. Based on the curricula analysis of these programs, five main themes are identified: 1) tourism as a social phenomenon; 2) sustainable development of tourism; 3) tourism destination development; 4) economics of tourism, and 5) tourism through service studies. The findings show that the major university programs in tourism adopt an interdisciplinary approach, which combines elements of social sciences, humanities, and business administration. According to the observed curricula, the view on tourism as on social phenomenon prevails. In the studying process, the concept of sustainable development and classical social concepts such as ethnicity, gender, class, culture, and power relations are widely integrated into different tourism courses, making the programs comprehensive, and attractive for international students. The recognition of the tourism programs is supported by the increasing number of international students obtaining degree program in Sweden. Practical implications. This paper presents the Swedish experience of institutionalization of tourism studies into the higher education, which may be interesting for program administrators, faculty, and prospective graduate students. Value/originality. The analysed data shows the specific features of master’s programs in tourism studies and identifies the focusing of Swedish higher education on sustainability.