From research evidence to a repeatable regional skills-anticipation mechanism
The methodological development of the TOUR-X Skills WatchTower was structured around the objective of creating a transferable and repeatable mechanism for identifying current and emerging skills needs in the tourism sector. Rather than treating skills anticipation as a one-off forecasting exercise, the WatchTower was designed to establish a continuous relationship between evidence collection, analysis, interpretation and the adaptation of vocational education and training provision.
The methodology was developed around several interconnected components. The first was the consolidation of existing knowledge on tourism-sector skills demand. This involved the structured review of policy evidence, sector research, labour-market information and the results of the TOUR-X Training Needs Analysis. This phase provided the conceptual framework for the subsequent design of the survey and ensured that the WatchTower focused on evidence gaps that could not be adequately addressed through existing macro-level sources alone.
The second methodological component concerned the design of a dedicated survey instrument for tourism SMEs. Between February and March 2025, the project team developed a survey intended primarily for business owners, managers, HR representatives, supervisors and other professionals with direct operational knowledge of workforce needs. The choice of these respondent groups reflected the objective of obtaining information from actors able to assess skills shortages and training priorities in relation to actual business operations rather than from external observers alone.
The questionnaire was designed to examine several dimensions of skills demand. These included workforce structure, current skills shortages, existing training practices, barriers to upskilling, expected future skills, digital transformation, sustainability, customer-service needs and emerging technologies. The instrument combined structured questions, Likert-type response scales, checklists and open-ended questions in order to balance comparability with the possibility of capturing contextual information. The survey was also designed to remain sufficiently concise for use by tourism SMEs, with an indicative completion time of less than approximately fifteen minutes.
A third component of the methodology concerned the technical translation of this research framework into an operational digital environment. The original Description of Action foresaw the technological implementation of a WatchTower capable of collecting and combining data at regional and national level, with graphical design, system deployment, links to additional data sources and defined reporting outputs. It also envisaged the enrichment of the system through both survey results and secondary sources, thereby creating a basis for repeated skills monitoring over time.
Following the validation of the survey instrument, HOU developed the digital WatchTower platform. The first functional prototype was delivered on 9 June 2025. According to the Final Technical Report, the platform incorporated the validated survey together with chart-based reporting views, visual analytics, filters, regional and thematic comparison, data-reporting functions and tools supporting the interpretation of tourism skills needs. The final technological environment was designed to allow users to explore information according to dimensions including region, tourism subsector, workforce profile, thematic skills domain, current skills shortages and expected future demand.
The overall methodological logic can therefore be understood as a sequential evidence cycle. Existing research provides the initial analytical framework; enterprise-level data allows the identification of more specific and current skills needs; validation ensures the relevance and usability of the instrument; the digital platform processes and visualises the information; and the resulting intelligence can then support decisions concerning curricula, training provision, workforce development and regional skills policy.
This cyclical structure is particularly important for the long-term relevance of the WatchTower. The methodology was not limited to the creation of a static database. It established procedures for repeated survey administration, data processing, updating of secondary information and the interpretation of trends. The WatchTower should therefore be understood as an infrastructure for continued tourism skills intelligence, rather than as a single survey or stand-alone dashboard. This interpretation is consistent with both the original Task 5.2 design and the implementation described in the Final Technical Report.
Source basis: TOUR-X Final Technical Report; TOUR-X Description of Action; D5.2 WatchTower Methodology.