Career development in the tourism and hospitality industry has attracted greater attention, leading to a higher recognition of the relevance of formal and industry-specific education and training. New career opportunities emerge as new challenges arise, urging for ongoing and renewed debates surrounding higher-level skills and the development and optimization of human capital. Building bridges between higher education institutions, the industry, and other relevant stakeholders - primarily via needs assessment, curriculum design, and monitoring of on-the-job training practices and processes - is critical to promoting the employability of a graduate-level skilled workforce. This book takes steps towards contributing to higher valuation of tourism and hospitality jobs by: combining theoretical and practical viewpoints from scholars, researchers, and practitioners, showcasing challenges and opportunities associated with managing human capital in tourism and hospitality, offering critical and reflective perspectives on competencies development, graduate employability, and improvement of human resource management practices. It will be of interest to researchers, students, teachers, and professionals who want to further explore the area of human capital in tourism and hospitality.

Contributions by: Debora Cordeiro Braga, Ralf Burbach, Claudia-Elena Tuclea, Huynh Cat Duyen, Pedro Ferreira, Amelia Gesheva, Sofia Gomes, Stefan Jooss, Christos Kakarougkas, Julia Lenz, Marília Durão, Maria João Carneiro, Ana Maria Malta, Marianna Managou, Jorge Marques, Mariana Martins, Enrico Cardoso Mazzola, Sonia Mileva, Cecilia Leao Oderich, Joana A Quintela, Ligia Maria Rocha Pinto Ribeiro, Karina Trindade dos Santos, Monica Segovia-Perez, Faruk Seyitoglu, Maria Jose Silva, Olimpia State, Theodoros Stavrinoudis, Mihail-Ovidiu Tanase, Dao Anh Thu, Gabriela Tigu, Gabriele Tragschitz-Köck, Daniela Wagner