S4S3 - Tourism

Why are some regions and countries better at stimulating competitiveness, productivity and economic growth?

One of the main goals of the European Union is to reduce disparities in the level of development between regions. And this is not happening. Within countries, some regions are growing faster than others. They have dynamic businesses and innovation clusters, and they develop and commercialise internationally significant products and services – while others do not.

Could other regions and countries replicate the same model and achieve the same result?

The EC believes that these approaches to economic growth and competitiveness are replicable – and developed an approach and a tool to support each region in identifying their own competitive advantages. They called the approach Smart Specialisation. Today, many countries beyond the EU have adopted smart specialisation in their national or regional development strategies.

Skills for Smart Specialisation

While smart specialisation is primarily about the economics of specialisation, VET and skills are the engine that drive smart specialisation. The reason why the ETF set out to develop a methodological approach, Skills for Smart specialisation, in 2019, is that regions and countries that have the right skills are able to certain things better. They are able to:

1. Produce more
2. Produce more complex products and services
3. Innovate and make new products or develop services that are not yet available
4. Industries are related through their skills. Industries that enter a region are often related to the region’s current industries. Vice versa is also true. Industries that exit a region, tend to be unrelated to other industries in the region. This is because industries are related through their skills.

These four points make human capital development of a region is a key determining factor for smart specialisation.

Montenegro

This report (condensed summary, extended summary, or the full report) presents findings from an ongoing effort to assess the implication of skills development for the Republic of Montenegro’s smart specialisation strategy. The ETF’s role is to support Montenegro as it endeavours to give vocational education and training (VET) systems a clear role in the implementation of its smart specialisation strategy (S3). Smart specialisation is an innovative policy approach that aims to boost jobs and growth by enabling countries and regions to better exploit their competitive advantage. For Montenegro, this means taking full advantage of its existing labour assets and investing in skills. Indeed, policy that prioritises human capital development will foster growth and innovation in the two priority areas identified by smart specialisation: renewable energy sources and sustainable health tourism. From the quantitative and qualitative research carried out by the Montenegrin government authorities with the ETF’s support, it is clear that there is strong potential for growth in both renewable energy sources and sustainable health tourism. The current skills supply in Montenegro can be tailored to provide the priority areas with the skills necessary for growth. This can be accomplished through more flexible and targeted programmes in post-secondary or tertiary education as well as VET. Transferable skills also need to be developed in initial education and in continuing, life-long learning courses. Fluency in English is essential as are ICT skills. Standard qualifications for careers in the two sectors need to be updated. Finally, in order to have greater precision in terms of skills and training gaps, better data collection at the subsector level is recommended. This will improve the government’s ability to plan its education policy.  

In this report, eight policy proposals are put forward. The purpose behind these measures is to upgrade the current system by enhancing skills development, which will lead to growth and innovation in Montenegro. These policy measures are as follows:

1. Prioritise the development of more sensitive human capital-related statistics and analyses that are crucial to proper education planning by assessing the current situation, estimating needs and emerging trends.
2. Consolidate the human capital dimension of government strategies to shore up SMEs’ innovation capacity, reduce skill mismatches and increase the potential for job creation, economic growth and competitiveness.
3. Enhance awareness and follow-up of S3 priorities through increased stakeholder involvement, long-term budget support for S3 activities, engaging civil society and improving public-private partnerships. 
4. Strengthen the role of the industry and businesses in S3 follow-up. Businesses are profit-oriented and as such are exposed to market competition to the highest extent. Therefore, this group has the greatest needs and the greatest potential for human capital development. Industry and business should, thus, take the lead in human capital needs identification as well as skills development and planning.
5. Develop a strategic framework for health tourism so that Montenegro can become a health tourism destination. For this to happen, new services, new skills and new competences will be necessary.
6. Update and increase the education offer relevant for the S3 priorities by developing occupational and qualification standards for the renewable and health tourism subsectors.
7. Embed key competences, transversal skills and sustainable development concepts in the educational programmes. These should be acquired at all levels of education and beyond through lifelong learning.
8. Expand vocational training to secure a skilled workforce for S3 economic priorities by reinforcing the links between IVET and CVET providers. In general, SMEs and family-run businesses require innovative and flexible forms of education and training to meet skills needs.