Defining training needs of five‐star hotel personnel: an application in the Antalya Region of Turkey

Purpose - To provide an useful way for tourism industry professionals regarding defining training needs of hotel personnel and noting the interests of hotel managers in the training subject. Design/methodology/approach - Questionnaire technique was used both for superiors and staff in a sampled five‐star hotel in Antalya. For statistical evaluation the SPSS program was used. Findings - According to the combination of the scoring table used in questionnaire, the training areas given before and in the sampled hotel, for superiors and staff most suggested are; organizational structure, management and organization, communication, motivation, accounting‐budgeting, foreign languages (German, English and French) and customer relations. Research limitations/implications - It is not possible to generalize the findings for all five‐star hotels in Antalya, but this study can be evaluated as a starting point in defining training needs of hotel personnel. In addition to this, much more researches must be done may be in other parts of Turkey in order to compare the results of this study. Practical implications - Useful information in orienting tourism professionals to defining needs. Beside this study benefiting from managerial observations and forming of focus groups can be suggested. Originality/value - The findings can be seen as a practical implications for tourism professionals and academicians as well.