COMPETENCY MODEL AND MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING IN TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY IN SERBIA

In today’s global and highly competitive business world what essentially differentiates one organization from another are the people who work there. Regardless of the technological advantages of a hotel or a travel agency, the people, their development, motivation and satisfaction are key factors for success on the market. Therefore, many hotels started applying competency models to determine skills, knowledge and personal characteristics needed for good business performance. The advantages of this model are also reflected in the recruitment, selection, training, development, promotion, performance evaluation, and rewarding employees. The emphasis is on the selection of career advancement criteria by the multi-criteria decision-making process, the essence of which is to identify all available criteria for comparing possible alternatives, to compare all the alternatives according to the selected criteria, and thus to choose the most favourable alternative. The aim of the research is to develop a software package that will, based on executive manager’s selection in a hotel and a travel agency, present specific steps of business decision-making application in the field of human resources. The AHP method is used to conduct a weight analysis of professional competencies prioritized for future reference in terms of career advancement. Sampling methods for data collection from eight top hotel managers and five travel agency managers are used for the purpose of this paper, as well as qualitative and quantitative surveys including interviews and questionnaire. A detailed case study illustrates the application of the proposed evaluation system for management staff advancement in tourism and hotel industry. The estimated results show that the most important criterion is professional knowledge, followed by business planning and subsequently team work and foreign language skills. This solution is general and can also be applied in candidates ranking for employment, promotion or training.