Given the service orientation of the tourism industry and the nature of the accommodation sector, managers need to be equipped with multiple skills and knowledge to make a difference in the business (Hurd, Barcekona & Meldrum, 2008). Various studies have identified skills and knowledge needed by managers to effectively function in the hospitality environment, but the applicability and relevance of those to accommodation managers are unknown. After an extensive literature review of previous studies regarding skills and knowledge needed by managers in the tourism industry, the following were identified as recorded in Table 1.

As evident in Table 1, the first important set of skills and knowledge includes forecasting skills and knowledge. These are essential because of the extensive impact on the future development of accommodation establishments (Louw, 2011; Saayman & Saayman, 2008). Factors such as the price of service (Perloff, 2007), transport costs (Brakke, 2005), exchange rates (Forsyth & Dwyer, 2009), culture (Getz, 2008) and population (Hamilton, 2004) are some of the most important aspects that impact the future development of any accommodation establishment, and these can be forecast. Effective forecasting will guide all decisions in the establishment and assist in assessing the industry environment to the benefit of the establishment. It is, however, not known whether this set of skills and knowledge is important to managers of smaller accommodation establishments.

Because of the intense focus on the daily operations of accommodation establishments, some managers might lose track of the strategic direction of the business. However, the capital and labour-intensive aspects of the accommodation industry (Harrington & Ottenbacher, 2010) force accommodation managers to set future goals (Jeou-Shyan et al., 2011) and make instant decisions that have long-term implications (Connolly & McGing, 2006). These studies emphasise the importance of strategic management skills and knowledge for managers, which might also apply to the set of skills and knowledge needed by accommodation managers.

Service in the accommodation sector relies on good human resources (Hartman, 2011; Haynes & Fryer, 2000). The ability of managers to effectively direct employees in knowing what is expected of them and delivering quality service is one of the core management competencies (Tsaur & Lin, 2003). Good human resource management also contributes to a decrease in the turnover rate of employees in the accommodation sector (Baum, 2012).

Communication skills are essential to all spheres of the establishment and various problems can arise from poor communication. Managers must display the ability not only to communicate internally with employees, but also to facilitate the external flow of communication with new and existing guests (Bang, 2004; Brown, 2001). Within the service environment, managers must be able to speak fluently directly to guests (Johanson, Ghiselli, Shea & Roberts, 2010). This skill is essential regardless of the department or level of management, according to Bobanovic and Grzinic (2011). Saayman (2009b) identified communication barriers, inclusive of failure to analyse the needs of the receiver as well as poor listening and feedback from management, as service success influencers. These barriers can be overcome by managers if they are able to communicate using various communication channels to ensure that the right message is conveyed and received by all parties influenced by the conveyed message (Ewing, 2007).

According to Ewan (2012), information technology enhances communication channels but there is still a lack of research on the importance and impact of information technology on communication amongst role-players in the accommodation industry. Information technology is developing at a rapid rate and the tourism industry is known for the utilisation of online programmes and mechanisms as part of the management of accommodation establishments. Information technology not only enables fast and flexible operation (Posavec, 2008), but also allows for easy access to a large amount of stored data influencing the service encounter between guest and establishment (Stamboulis & Skayannis, 2003). Implementing and utilising the correct information technology is therefore vital for accommodation establishments (Hudson & Gilbert, 2006; Sun & Howard, 2004) and managers must master information technology in order to ease operations.

Solving problems and being able to manage any crisis are essential skills for managers (Brownell, 2008; Richie, 2005), especially because this industry is about people. Kay and Russette (2000, p. 53) state that managers must ensure a win-win resolution approach for both the organisation and the guest. The ability of managers to solve problems will affect service provision of an accommodation establishment (Connolly & McGing, 2006) as well as the return rate of guests. The creation of an internal service culture, focusing on serving and satisfying guest needs (Kotler et al., 2006), might minimise problems. No accommodation establishment operates without encountering problems, which may include aspects such as billing errors, service catastrophes, unresponsiveness from employees and having limited product knowledge (Lovelock & Wirtz, 2011). These situations occur unexpectedly and the manager must demonstrate his or her ability to solve these situations.

Service is the foundation of the accommodation sector (Chathoth et al., 2014). Ensuring outstanding service provision is very costly for accommodation establishments and must be well managed (George, 2013). Rajaratnam, Munikrishnan, Sharif and Vikneswaran (2014) found that consumers who are satisfied with the service received will influence the image of the accommodation establishment positively through word-of-mouth. During the past 10 years, service quality has received the needed attention by academic institutions and hospitality practitioners (Dhar, 2015). The realisation of this led to action plans being put in place in order to minimise negative service experiences and maximise effective customer experiences (Allen, 2004) so as to contribute to positive financial prospects for the accommodation establishment (Burgess, 2007). Clearly, this is a critical aspect that needs to be managed.

Financial management, in the case of smaller accommodation establishments, mostly consists of monitoring the overall financial practice of an organisation (Lovemore & Brummer, 2010) and comparing spending patterns within a set budget (Bennet, Dunne & Carre, 2000). Even though many accommodation establishments have admitted that they outsourced their financial accounting function, it is no longer always possible because of the complexity and variety of all the internal departments and management control requirements (Burgess, 2007). Financial managers face certain challenges daily, which include gaining access to capital and managing the cost of employee turnover (Patiar & Mia, 2009). According to Tassiopoulos (2010), successful financial management and projection can be ensured only if a manager possesses the skill to calculate and implement good financial practice.

Lastly, various authors, as evident in Table 1, have emphasised marketing as an essential skill for accommodation managers (George, 2013; Kotler et al., 2006; Slabbert & Saayman, 2003). It is not about mass marketing anymore, it is about building long-term relationships with customers (Saayman, 2009a) and getting to know their needs. Marketing is changing on a daily basis and the electronic environment has created exciting opportunities for managers to effectively reach their target markets. Effective marketing can assist in creating a competitive advantage, which is much needed in the accommodation sector where high levels of competition are evident. Understanding and utilising the correct marketing tools remain important (Cant et al., 2008).

In addition to these skills and this knowledge, various sources have emphasised the importance of certain personal characteristics (Leiper, 2004; Page, 2007; Patiar & Mia, 2009; Sternberg & Zhang, 2000). According to Page (2007), a manager must display an investigative personality, while Patiar and Mia (2009) found that managers must display trust, provide inspirational motivation and promote intellectual stimulation amongst co-employees. Kay and Russette (2000) as well as Suh et al. (2012) identified that accommodation managers must be able to provide effective feedback to employees regarding their work performance, promote hard work, manage conflict and promote integrity in the workplace. Within the accommodation sector, managers must be able to act as mentors for employees (Leiper, 2004) and be able to take employee feedback into consideration to ensure personal development (Sternberg & Zhang, 2000).

With the accommodation sector showing continuous growth (McManus, 2000), Saayman (2009b) identified the ability to adapt in such an environment as an important characteristic for accommodation managers. However, to adapt in a changing environment brings about challenges for employees; therefore, accommodation managers must possess the ability to promote training opportunities to overcome the barriers to change (Hough & White, 2001).

It is clear that a challenging and ever changing external environment necessitates that managers possess a variety of skills and knowledge, enhancing certain personal characteristics enabling them to successfully manage an accommodation establishment. Even with this knowledge, a gap appears to exist between the offering of tourism higher education programmes and the needs of the tourism industry (Zehrer & Mössenlechner, 2009). This is supported by Swanson and Holton (2009) in studies that revealed that employees are not supplying the industry with the necessary skills and knowledge. Higher education institutions need updated insight from industry regarding these skills and knowledge in order to adapt education programmes where necessary and to present applicable programmes. This will directly contribute to the growth of the tourism industry and the employability of graduates. The question addressed by this article therefore remains: What are the key competencies needed by accommodation managers in the South African tourism industry?

The results indicated that the first factor, labelled personal characteristics, which had a mean value of 4.11 and a Cronbach’s a of 0.966, is the most important factor amongst the 10 identified factors. The top three characteristics to be displayed by an effective accommodation manager include trustworthiness (M = 4.52; SD = ± 0.735), responsibility (M = 4.39; SD = ± 0.799) and self-motivation (M = 4.26; SD = ± 0.773). Being sensitive was rated as the least important characteristic (M = 3.82; SD = ± 0.957). This finding supports the results of similar studies that indicated the importance of certain characteristics in a management position (Baum, 2007; Nieuwenhuizen & Rossouw, 2012; Patiar & Mia, 2009; Thekiso, 2011); however, the extent of its importance in comparison to management competencies is novel on a management level in this industry. According to Cronje, Du Toit, Motlatla and Marais (2006), personality characteristics influence job performance; therefore, it should play a role in the selection of students applying for tourism management programmes in higher education institutions. It is evident that certain personality characteristics add significant value to the task of managers in the accommodation sector in the same vein as accountants need to be focused on detail and nurses need to be caring. To a certain extent, these characteristics cannot be trained for and can be considered as inherently part of a person (Horng, Tsai, Yang, Lui & Hu, 2016; Leung & Law, 2010). To become a manager in the accommodation sector requires a certain set of characteristics that should play a role in selection and admission processes. More than that during job interviews, a number of questions directly relate to personality characteristics and thus there is value in taking cognisance of this as part of training.

The forecasting skills factor ranked eighth most important amongst the set of skills and knowledge with a mean value of 3.59 and a Cronbach’s a of 0.935. The most important forecasting skills include the identification of the effect of increased operational costs (M = 3.74; SD = ± 0.866), risk prediction (M = 3.72; SD = ± 0.850) followed by the ability of a manager to predict the effect of seasonality on the accommodation establishment (M = 3.71; SD = ± 0.892), a unique attribute of the tourism industry. In a study conducted by Louw (2011), it was concluded that managers in accommodation establishments must be able to predict future developments in order to successfully interpret tourist behaviour and consumer demands. Given the growth of the tourism industry in South Africa, the change in source markets and the development of domestic markets (WTTC, 2014), management needs this skill to grow the organisation. Notwithstanding the importance of forecasting skills in the literature, this ability was not amongst the top three management skills identified by respondents.

The strategic management skills factor, with a mean value of 3.56 and a Cronbach’s a of 0.955, ranked the ninth most important factor. The important aspects in this factor included the ability of managers to react swiftly to changing external environments (M = 3.73; SD = ± 0.778), their ability to manage internal change (M = 3.69; SD = ± 0.818) and their ability to formulate goals (M = 3.66; SD = ± 0.801). Even though the importance of strategic management is evident in various studies, it was not considered critical in this study. Saayman (2009b) states that strategic management consists of more than just a vision and mission; it includes situational analysis that includes all aspects of the external environment, the formulation of strategic plans for an establishment to survive during any change in the external environment, the ability to implement the strategic plans and to ensure that strategic control is practised regarding the strategies implemented. Jeou-Shyan et al. (2011) state that a manager must be able to form goals and evaluate the applicability of these to decisions. Mason (2007) stated that strategic management skills are important for accommodation managers, enabling them to create a stable internal environment, especially in an ever changing external environment. In the case of this study, either the respondents do not consider strategic management important for the accommodation establishments per se or they function on a more short-term management level, and do not realise the value of strategic management skills.

This factor was ranked as the sixth (M = 3.64) most important factor for this study. According to Tsaur and Lin (2003), service orientation organisations must realise the important role of human resource management. The results in this study correlate with findings in the literature. The key competencies evident in the human resources management factor (M = 3.64), with a Cronbach’s a of 0.969, include a manager’s ability to motivate employees (M = 3.85; SD = ± 0.817), facilitate teamwork (M = 3.81; SD = ± 0.794) and to facilitate problem solving amongst employees (M = 3.81; SD = ± 0.813). Building a positive relationship between management and the employees is of great importance (Kusluvan et al., 2010). It becomes even more important to invest in employees to ensure an effective team working at the establishment in order to minimise staff-turnover and optimise a constructive working environment (Spowart, 2011).

This factor (M = 3.85) with a Cronbach’s a of 0.961 indicated that the key competencies for the factor problem solving and crisis management consisted of the ability of managers to act professionally in different situations (M = 3.97; SD = ± 0.868), followed by the ability to practise effective crisis management (M = 3.90; SD = ± 0.854). The results also indicated that it is important for managers to lead inexperienced employees within the accommodation establishment (M = 3.86; SD = ± 0.775). This was the third most important factor and supports Brownell (2008, p. 138) who states that hospitality managers must implement new strategies in order to successfully solve everyday problems. These skills are essential for the rapidly changing environment that the accommodation sector faces (Middleton, 2002).

The communication skills factor, ranked as the fifth factor, calculated a mean value of 3.68 and a Cronbach’s a of 0.946. Good communication skills are dependent on effective interaction with employees (M = 3.83; SD = ± 0.758), managers’ ability to communicate on all management levels (M = 3.78; SD = ± 0.764) and their ability to communicate in English (M = 3.76; SD = ± 0.858). This correlates with previous research which found that managers must be able to construct their message very carefully as this can be a great barrier if employees misinterpret the message provided (Huebsch, 1986). Mmope (2010) adds that managers must be able to communicate vertically, laterally and diagonally. Clearly, effective training is critical to improve and support managers’ communication abilities.

Key competencies in the information technology factor (M = 3.60) with a Cronbach’s a of 0.891 included managers’ ability to effectively use social media platforms to communicate vital information to guests (M = 3.71; SD = ± 0.847) as the most important aspect. This was followed by the ability to use different technologies within the accommodation establishment (M = 3.70; SD = ± 0.757) as well as the ability to operate MS Office (M = 3.68; SD = ± 0.850). This factor ranked seventh amongst the 10 factors identified. A study conducted by Ewan (2012, p. 1) found that a very limited understanding of the real effect that information technology has on an organisation is still prevalent amongst accommodation managers, as was the case in the current study. Making use of information technology can act as a cost saver, allowing small accommodation establishments to play in the bigger industry (Hudson & Gilbert, 2006). The application of information technology to the business environment consequently becomes more and more important.

As indicated in the literature, customer service skills were rated as highly important (second most important; M = 3.90; α = 0.949). The main contributors to this factor were managers’ ability to build customer relationships (M = 3.98; SD = ± 0.833), providing sustainable customer satisfaction (M = 3.98; SD = ± 0.845) and developing a service culture amongst employees (M = 3.96; SD = ± 0.847). These findings support Kotler et al. (2006) who stated that organisations offering a service must develop an in-house service culture, and that this development starts with top management. Allen (2004) adds that personal relationships can be built between the organisation and the guest, through accommodation, and service needs satisfaction. These aspects are very important because excellent customer service contributes to a customer returning to an accommodation establishment in future (Hartman, 2011).

Financial management skills remain a critical aspect, even in accommodation establishments of different sizes. This factor was considered to be the fourth most important factor (M = 3.72; α = 0.955). Managers must be able to monitor all financial activities of the accommodation establishment (M = 3.89; SD = ± 0.829), be able to determine the right price for products and services (M = 3.84; SD = ± 0.833) and construct and develop a budget within an establishment (M = 3.80; SD = ± 0.871). Lamminmaki (2008) notes that small, medium and micro organisations (SMME), under which the accommodation sector falls, tend to experience financial challenges; therefore, these competencies are extremely important for successful business management (Bowdin et al., 2011).

The marketing skills factor (M = 3.54; α = 0.960) was considered to be the least important skill for managers. This factor included the knowledge of compiling a business plan (M = 3.61; SD = ± 0.800), the ability to determine the return on investment of marketing campaigns (M = 3.60; SD = ± 0.816) and launching and managing a marketing campaign (M = 3.58; SD = ± 0.813). This differs from the literature where George (2013, p. 14) states that marketing skills are vital, especially for small accommodation establishments, in order to survive in the current competitive environment.

In Table 4, it is evident that the top three skills and characteristics included personal characteristics (M = 4.11): customer service skills (M = 3.90), problem solving and crisis management skills (M = 3.85). Although all the identified skills and knowledge should be taught at higher education institutions, it is clear where the specific focus should fall.