Original Scientific Article
Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
Barbara Pavlakovič
Faculty of Tourism, University of Maribor, Slovenia
barbara.pavlakovic@um.si
Eva Jereb
Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Maribor, Slovenia
eva.jereb@um.si
Industrial tourism, as a specific type of tourism, emerged over a century ago but was
not studied widely until recently. However, most of the current research is focused
either on heritage industrial tourism or on several aspects, such as visitor charac-
teristics, relation to the local economy, and similar. This paper attempts to highlight
the human resources aspect of industrial tourism in different organisations.Our pri-
mary research methods were observation with participation (joining factory tours)
and semi-structured interviewswith company representatives.We define various ex-
isting categories of industrial tourism human resourcesmodels of organisations that
carry out industrial tourism, the necessary competences for the workplace, and the
methods of educating industrial tourism employees. Based on the gathered results,
we propose some guidelines for companies to follow in forming their products of
industrial tourism.
Keywords: hr, competence, education, industrial tourism, hr model
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.13.51-65
Introduction
Human resources are the basis of an organisation’s ac-
tivities, since the organisation does not exist without
them. One of the most critical aspects of hr manage-
ment is the concern for the development of employee
knowledge, that is, the implementation of education
and training. With this, the organisation ensures con-
tinuous development and progress and maintains and
strengthens its value on the market (Armstrong, 2012;
Bratton & Gold, 2012). Education and training take
place in various forms and are adjusted to the posi-
tion of an employee within the organisation, to his/her
previous knowledge and abilities. Here we encounter
another essential aspect of hr management. Employ-
eesmust have the appropriate competences to perform
the work efficiently and effectively (Svetlik, 2005). The
task of the supervisor is to recognise the capabilities of
employees and, firstly, to place them in a specific po-
sition, and then to ensure that these competences are
further upgraded in the process of education or train-
ing.
In this research, we focused on the study of the nec-
essary competences and the practice of developing the
knowledge of employees in companies that carry out
industrial tourism. Industrial tourism, as a particular
tourist product, is distinct from the production pro-
cess itself and, as such, does not provide added value in
the creation of a factory’s primary product. However,
with a thoughtful strategy, the product of industrial
tourism can become a powerful marketing tool and,
at a very developed stage, it can be a new product of
an organisation that can be marketed independently.
Employees involved in the implementation of indus-
trial tourism become the first representative of the or-
ganisation, before visitors and potential buyers of the
company’s primary product. Therefore, they must be
Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020 | 51
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
properly selected, have the appropriate competences,
and take care of the development of their knowledge.
The purpose of the research was to present a hu-
man resourcesmodel for industrial tourism. To achie-
ve this purpose, several research objectives were devel-
oped. First, we wanted to define the types of employ-
ees that carry out industrial tourism. We were inter-
ested in whether there are any differences between the
companies engaged in industrial tourism. The second
objective was to identify competences that are neces-
sary for the implementation of industrial tourism. The
third objective was to outline the modes of the educa-
tion of industrial tourism employees.’ In the research,
we examined how Slovenian companies carry out in-
dustrial tourism and how they take care of the person-
nel involved in this product.
Literature Review
Industrial Tourism
The concept of industrial tourism can be defined as
a type of tourism that includes visits to operating
companies and industrial heritage sites. Visitors can
taste edible products, view production processes, try
out interactive applications, and experience histori-
cal insights into the company (Otgaar et al., 2010;
Rodríguez-Zulaica, 2017). According to Ifko (2010)
and Vargas-Sánchez et al. (2014), industrial tourism
can be considered to be a viewing of industrial heritage
or operating processes, although it is not necessarily
considered as a type of tourism but as a marketing
activity (Chow et al., 2016; Otgaar, 2012). There is ev-
idence that tourists have been visiting companies for
over a hundred years (Frew, 2000; Page & Connell,
2014). For example, in France, they visited vineyards
and chocolate factories, in the United States whiskey
distilleries, and elsewhere in the world anything from
tobacco factories tomines and stock exchanges. In this
regard, industrial tourism is perceived as a tourist at-
traction; such attractions (Edelheim, 2015) are a strong
motivator for travel and can be divided into several
groups, including cultural attractions, natural sights,
events, recreation and entertainment; they can also
be categorised as being natural or manmade (Goeld-
ner & Ritchie, 2003; Holloway & Humphreys, 2016).
Industrial tourism can be placed in the category of
cultural sites and is a form of cultural tourism (Ya-
mashita, 2014). Cultural tourism places particular em-
phasis on education and entertainment components
(Frank Orel & Medarić, 2018) and industrial tourism
offers precisely that: education about industry and en-
tertainment while observing production processes or
participating in interactive displays.
As a form of cultural tourism, industrial tourism is
an important factor in European countries, especially
for those with long industrial traditions, such as Great
Britain, Spain or Germany. However, more and more
central and east European countries are recognising
the benefits of industrial tourism, since they also built
their economy on different industries and are nowa-
days still strongly dependent on them. For example,
the Czech Republic and its town Ostrava are build-
ing their tourism on industrial tourism (Kajzar & Vá-
clavínková, 2016). However, other countries with rich
industrial heritage still lack further industrial tourism
development; for example, Hungary only has heritage
industrial tourism (Boros et al., 2013), and Croatia has
some initiatives about power plant and mining visits
(Gržinić et al., 2009). Industrial tourism and its offer
of factory tours and visits to industrial heritage sites
is also present in Slovenia. However, the local scien-
tific research is primarily focused on industrial her-
itage (e.g., mines) (Ifko, 2010).
Meanwhile, industrial tourism can be an appropri-
ate alternative to the existing tourism services, since in
Slovenia and abroad there are many operating plants,
well-organised companies with innovative business
processes, and interesting service activities that tour-
ists would visit. Thus, industrial tourism becomes a
critical socio-economic phenomenon for which in-
terest is growing. As stated by Xie (2006) and Mac-
Cannell (2013), one of the reasons for the popular-
ity of industrial tourism is that society is in the de-
industrialisation phase in which we are beginning
to forget the traditional methods of production and
are more involved in the service industry. By view-
ing traditional production processes, we nostalgically
look upon our technical heritage and regain forgotten
knowledge.
Since industrial tourism is a relatively less explored
field of tourism, education in this area is particularly
52 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
important. Organisations need to provide suitable
and qualified personnel for implementing industrial
tourism. Training at work and continuous improve-
ments are particularly important for maintaining the
competitiveness of the organisation (Salas & Cannon-
Bowers, 2001; Rakowska, 2014; Bratton & Gold, 2012).
There are several essential points in performing indus-
trial tourism that relate to the skills and knowledge of
employees. First, as stated byOtgaar et al. (2010), there
are numerous contact points of employees with visi-
tors. The company must provide an appropriate and
qualified guide that will lead the group around the
company and present the operation of the organisa-
tion (Marsh, 2008). Furthermore, the company must
also arrange the contact points of visitors with em-
ployees within the regular working process. In doing
so, viewing should not interfere with the work pro-
cess, and employees should not feel pressured by the
visitors (Otgaar, 2010). There are also positive effects
of such tourist visits, since employees are much more
motivated, productive, and proud of their work in the
presence of the public.
Human Resources and the Tourism Sector
Employees are one of the basic pillars of the organisa-
tion, since the success and the survival of it depends
on their performance. This is particularly so in the
tourism sector, which is a service activity and is based
on the interaction of employees with tourists (Madera
et al., 2017). Employees are defined as human resources
or people who in any form participate in an organised
form of human work and, therefore, work in an eco-
nomic, political, sports, or similar organisation (Flor-
jančič et al., 2004). They are also presented as work
force that can be regarded as macro-meso-micro con-
ceptualisations of the tourism workforce phenomena
(Baum et al., 2016). Employees are the most essential
element of each organisation, and they are involved in
the process of achieving a group or individual goals
(Bratton & Gold, 2012).
Thus, employees represent the human capital of the
organisation deriving from their knowledge and expe-
rience, education, professional competence, psycho-
metric features, personality characters and abilities,
entrepreneurial enthusiasm, innovation and creativ-
ity, satisfaction, ability to adapt to changes, and similar
(Moustaghfir, 2014; Armstrong, 2012). Human capital
creates the value of an organisation and, therefore, it is
necessary to manage it strategically. Moreover, recent
studies emphasise that sustainable human resource
management (Baumet al., 2016; Baum, 2019; Robinson
et al., 2019)will replace strategic human resourceman-
agement. Thus, a higher level of quality and practices
that are responsible toward the environment, local so-
ciety, culture, and economy should be also introduced
in human resources management. This includes jus-
tice and equality, transparent hr practices, profitabil-
ity, and employee well-being (Wikhamn, 2019).
Mihalič (2006) summarises Ulrich, stating that
human capital management represents overall edu-
cation and training of employees, developing their
skills for them to contribute to the goals and needs
of the company in which they work, and create added
value. Similarly, Nickson (2013) states that successful
human resources management leads to the organisa-
tion’s success via appropriate recruiting, introducing
new employees to their work, education and train-
ing, rewarding, and motivating employees. Human
resources development takes place through the ed-
ucation and training processes, which represent the
acquisition of new skills through various training pro-
grammes, courses and workshops (Heery & Noon,
2008; Wilton, 2016). This is particularly important in
the tourism sector, in which employees have constant
contact with customers and are continuously under
the tourist gaze (Urry & Larsen, 2012) of their cus-
tomers. In the case of industrial tourism, employees
in production organisations also become visible. The
most visible to visitors are the factory tour guides,
which are representatives of the organisation. They
must represent organisational values (Gorenak, 2019)
and the organisation itself at its best with their knowl-
edge, behaviour, and attitude. However, this requires
proper education and training.
Education and Training of Tourism Personnel
The process of permanent education within the or-
ganisation can be defined as a network of events and
activities for the development of the person’s distinct
abilities (Florjančič et al., 2004). We can also use the
Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020 | 53
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
term ‘training’ for a systematic and planned prepa-
ration of the learning process, acquiring the knowl-
edge and skills necessary to achieve the goals of the
organisation (Boštjančič, 2011). Nickson (2013) defines
training as activities with a focus on immediately im-
proving employee performance by developing certain
skills, acquiring knowledge and competences. Nick-
son (2013) also states that organisations in the tourism
and transport sectors allocate the most resources for
education and training to improve customer service
and at the same time follow strict legal regulations on
safety, health and nutrition standards. Another reason
is the high rate of employee turnover, which requires
the organisations to continuously educate new and in-
experienced staff.
According toMihalič (2006) and Bratton andGold
(2012), the goal of education and training is to increase
the competency of employees for the work they do,
and consequently increase their efficiency and effec-
tiveness at work. In doing so, employees effectively
develop their ability to adapt quickly and respond
to changes that have occurred and to learn for the
contemporary and future increasingly turbulent en-
vironment of modern organisations (Wojtczuk-Turek
& Turek, 2015). This promotes innovation, productiv-
ity, and employee satisfaction, their affiliation to the
organisation, personal career development, the pro-
motion of individuals and the organisation as a whole.
All of this is also essential in the tourism sector, which
requires educated, well-trained, intelligent, energetic
employees with entrepreneurship skills and knowl-
edge of several foreign languages in order to provide
high-quality customer service, and hence efficiency
and profitability of the tourist services (Gupta, 2011).
The acquisition of knowledge can be divided into
external (implemented outside the organisation) and
internal (implemented within the organisation) (Mi-
halič, 2006), but we can also define formal and in-
formal acquisition of knowledge. Formal education
and training of workers usually takes place outside
the workplace (Florjančič & Vukovič, 1999), is pre-
planned and structured. Informal acquisition of knowl-
edge takes place in the form of information exchange,
mutual assistance and joint problem solving (Frazis
et al. in Rozman & Kovač, 2012). Methods and forms
of acquiring knowledge are highly diverse: lectures,
discussions, demonstrations, conferences, case stud-
ies, teamwork, role-playing (simulation), computer-
assisted learning (cai), simulations, manager games,
e-learning, video lectures, courses, seminars, work-
shops, symposiums,meetings, and consultations (Flor-
jančič et al., 2004; Mihalič, 2006). However, organi-
sations are currently increasingly less inclined to use
classical education methods. Modern forms of knowl-
edge acquisition, such as e-learning, coaching, men-
toring, simulation learning, job shadowing, rotational
education, independent learning and other similar
forms of new employee training methods are increas-
ingly in use (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2013). Re-
search shows that advanced foreign organisations use
only ten per cent of classical forms of acquiring knowl-
edge to educate their employees (Mihalič, 2006). As
Bhattacharya andCohen (2017)write, English-langua-
ge literature indicates the characteristics of a worker
that can be acquired through learning with the abbre-
viation ksa: knowledge – skills – abilities/attitudes.
Likewise, we can label all of these characteristics as
an employee’s competence.We follow the definition of
competences as a pool of knowledge, abilities, skills,
experiences and values of the individual collected dur-
ing education and career (Gorenak, 2013).
Competences
Competences have been studied and defined by sev-
eral authors. The beginnings of the use of this term
date back to the early 1970s, when David McClelland
introduced the concept to improve the process of se-
lecting personnel (Thanopoulos et al., 2011; Brophy
& Kiely, 2002; Gelhard, 2017). McClelland has identi-
fied competences as knowledge, skills, traits, attitudes,
self-concepts, values or motives directly related to job
performance or critical life outcomes and shown to
differentiate between superior and average perform-
ers (Thanopoulos et al., 2011). Svetlik (2005) proposes
a definition according to which competences are de-
fined as the ability of the individual to activate, use,
and connect the acquired knowledge in complex, di-
verse, and unpredictable situations. Rozman and Ko-
vač (2012), Jauhari (2006), Kohont (2005) and others
also cite similar definitions.
54 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
The literature presents several approaches to the
concept of competences. Competences are considered
to be an individual’s capacity, as an organisation’s abil-
ity, and as a tool for better communication between
the education system and the labour market (Kalargy-
rou & Woods, 2011; Fominiene et al., 2015). In human
resources, competences are used primarily to describe
employees and estimate their ability to perform pro-
fessional duties in different situations; according to
employee competence, we can distinguish between
average and above average employees; organisations
can better achieve their strategic goals when recruit-
ing employeeswith appropriate competences (Judrups
et al., 2015).
To recognise the capabilities of employeesmore ef-
ficiently, competencemodelswere designed. Swiderski
(1987 in Thanopoulos et al., 2011) proposed three ba-
sic clusters: hard, soft, and conceptual competences.
The first one includes technical and administrative
skills; soft competences are also known as interper-
sonal skills, which include sensitivity, adaptability, cre-
ativity and flexibility; conceptual competences can be
defined as critical thinking, problem-solving, judg-
ment and decision-making.
In contrast, Spencer and Spencer (in Thanopou-
los et al., 2011) distinguished two categories of compe-
tences. The first are threshold competences (like writ-
ing skills) that every employee must have; they are not
exceptional behaviour. The second are differentiating
competences (like decision-making ability) that show
the difference between an average and extremely suc-
cessful individuals.
Mihalič (2006) divided the basic competences into
three sets. The first set are personal and behavioural
competences (decision-making ability, strategic think-
ing, ethics, the ability of analytical and creative think-
ing and expression). The second set is the compe-
tence to work with people (the ability of interpersonal
communication, public speaking, delegating, conflict
management, negotiation, teamwork). The third sec-
tion covers competences forworkingwith information
(project management ability, knowledge of business
processes, sense of space, accuracy and promptness).
Regarding competences, one of the most impor-
tant factors is that the organisation determines the
basic competences that are crucial for all employ-
ees and the additional competences that employees
need in certain positions or departments of the or-
ganisation (Moustaghfir, 2014; Stevens, 2012; West-
eren, 2017). In the tourism sector, high-quality staff
is of key importance, as tourism is a service activity
that largely depends on the capable and hospitable
employees (Gupta, 2011; Nickson, 2013). Gorenak and
Gorenak (2012) analysed the competences needed by
tour guides while performing a guided tour. There
are different requirements among the European coun-
tries, since some emphasise theoretical knowledge of
history and geography while others emphasise com-
munication skills, managerial skills, foreign language
knowledge, planning and problem-solving skills. As
the basic competence of tourist guides, they cite ex-
cellence in tour-guiding techniques and communica-
tion competences. Fominiene et al. (2015) also confirm
that the developed personality characteristics and in-
terpersonal communication are the most important
competences in the tourism sector.
Therefore, soft skills (hospitality, kindness, com-
passion) are farmore important than hard or technical
skills (knowledge of information technology), and this
is reflected in the tourism industry. Employers state
that their employees must not only know their profes-
sional field and theoretical content perfectly, but also
have to respect themselves and others, be indepen-
dent, responsible for their activities and end-results, be
innovative, adaptable, be team-players, be able to com-
municate, participate, think critically and constantly
set new goals.
Baum (2015) suggests that changes in the world
contribute to shifts in the workforce skills demands
while employersmove their focus from technical skills
to soft skills, for example. social media management
knowledge, a wider portfolio of language, cultural and
green skills. Moreover, employees must have a broad
skillset; thus, they can performaflexible range of tasks.
Therefore, to enhance this skill set, training is vital.
The Aims and Purpose of the Research
and Research Questions
As we wrote in the literature review, employees are a
key element of the organisation’s performance. This is
Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020 | 55
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
particularly true in the tourism sector, which is a ser-
vice activity and, as such, is even more dependent on
the employees themselves: on their knowledge, skills,
character, characteristics and also on their current
well-being. Several research studies have already ad-
dressed various groups of tourism professionals, such
as managers and tourist guides. However, we were in-
terested in the state of industrial tourism employees.
Industrial tourism is a relatively less explored area of
tourism; at the same time, it is a mix of tourist services
and factory production processes. Regarding this fea-
ture, we wanted to explore who is performing indus-
trial tourism (or who is guiding factory tours), what
competences are required for this work, and how they
gain necessary knowledge. Considering that there is
not a large number of organisations in Slovenia that
allow visitors to view their production processes, we
decided to focus the study on individual cases of pro-
duction factory tours. We have designed the following
research questions:
rq1 Who performs industrial tourism in organisa-
tions (organisation employees or is industrial
tourism arranged by outsourcing another or-
ganisation)?
rq2 What are the responsibilities of industrial tour-
ism employees (is this their basic job or do they
have other tasks)?
rq3 Which competences and what knowledge should
the industrial tourism employees have?
rq4 How is the organisation concerned with knowl-
edgemanagement of industrial tourism employ-
ees (do they arrange training)?
Methods Used
After reviewing the existing literature in the fields of
human resources and industrial tourism, observation
with participation in the process of viewing the pro-
duction process itself was used as a method of re-
search. We decided to visit four Slovenian companies
that offer factory tours, since industrial tourism in
Slovenia is in the emerging stage and thus provides
different case studies to examine. Our research sam-
ple was composed of four companies that advertise
this product on their web sites and are among large
companies in the country. The tours were held on 24
April 2018 at the location of Revoz (Renault automo-
bile production), Novo mesto; on 21 May 2018 at the
location of Pivovarna Laško Union (Union Brewery),
Ljubljana; on 26May 2018 at the location of Pivovarna
Laško Union (Laško Brewery), Laško; and on 1 June
2018 at the location of the company Droga Kolinska,
Food Industry (production of Argeta pâté), Izola. We
told companies that we would take part in the factory
tour, but to ensure greater credibility of the tour per-
formance, we always joined a group that was already
on the schedule. This was not possible at Revoz, be-
cause the company was in the confidentiality phase,
and visits were not possible, except in specific circum-
stances. However, the tour of Revoz took place just as
if a random group of visitors had attended it. During
and after the end of the visits, we made notes about
the delivery of the tour and double-checked the infor-
mation at the end with the tour guide.
As a method of data acquisition, we also used a
semi-structured interview with representatives of the
departments responsible for industrial tourism plan-
ning (see list of informants in Table 1). At Revoz, we in-
terviewed a representative of the Communication and
Public Affairs Department; at Pivovarna Laško Union,
we interviewed the head of the Corporate Events De-
partment and the Union Experience (this person is re-
sponsible for industrial tourism in both visited brew-
eries); at DrogaKolinska, the questions were answered
by the head of production and by the marketing de-
partment. The basic questions were sent to the com-
panies’ representatives first via e-mail; they also an-
swered additional questions after the factory tour was
conducted. If factory tours were performed by another
person and not by the company’s industrial tourism
representative, we also asked tour guides some of the
same questions and obtained their answers.
Findings
We have found that each company has a different
personnel policy in the implementation of industrial
tourism. Thus, we can identify four types of industrial
tourism human resources from our studied cases:
1. Staff, employed for the sole purpose of imple-
menting industrial tourism.
56 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
Table 1 List of Study Informants
Respondent Company Department in the Company Work tasks in industrial tourism
Respondent A Revoz Communication and Public Affairs De-
partment
Strategic planning, reservations, visitor
communication, tour guiding, presenting.
Respondent B Pivovarna Union Corporate Events Department and the
Union Experience
Strategic planning, recruiting tour guides.
Respondent C Pivovarna Laško Corporate Events Department Strategic planning, communication with
outsourcing organisation.
Respondent D Droga Kolinska Marketing department; Production Strategic planning, scheduling production
workers for guiding tours.
2. Staff, employed in Communications, pr, Mar-
keting, and similar departments.
3. Staff, employed in the production process.
4. Staff from outsourcing organisations.
Theworkplace of the first type of industrial tourism
employees is the post of industrial tourism operator.
Thismeans that people are employed as hostswho take
care of regular factory tours, visitor programmes, and
presentation of the company. In the case of Pivovarna
Laško Union, this type of employees can be found at
the Union Brewery in Ljubljana. Their hosts are stu-
dents or people on working contracts. Nevertheless,
these employees have no influence on the content of
the factory tour or on the strategic decisions regarding
industrial tourism. The decision-makers in this pro-
cess are themanagement of the corporate relations de-
partment and the company’s management itself. The
workplace of the second type of industrial tourism
employees is in the department for communication,
public relations, marketing and similar. Such an ex-
ample can be found at the automotive company Revoz
in Novo Mesto, where the representative of the Com-
munications and Public Affairs Department conducts
factory visits, represents the company and is in con-
tact with visitors. The reasons that this is under their
department are given by Respondent A:
We used to have a network of tour guides who
were experts from the production departments.
But it turned out that visitors were not inter-
ested in technical details as in an interesting and
fun presentation itself. So, we made the deci-
sion to hand over tour guiding to the communi-
cation department. Why? As a department, we
are constantly near information, factory inno-
vations, and we have excellent communication
skills.
Their work also includes planning and strategic in-
sight into the implementation of industrial tourism
and, as such, are also responsible for the future devel-
opment of this kind of service. Nevertheless, the com-
pany’s management confirms the final strategic deci-
sions.
As a third type of industrial tourism employees,
a person who is employed in production can carry
out industrial tourism. An example is the production
of Argeta pâté plant in Izola, Droga Kolinska Com-
pany. There, the visitors are welcomed by a person,
employed as a technologist in production, which is, in
fact, the position of the company’s production process.
Respondent D explained the process of selecting tour
guides.
Factory tours are guided by those employees,
who know the production process and speak
the language of the visitors. Usually, this is done
by the head of production, but we also make
daily agreements who gets to guide which tour,
since this is related to our ongoing activities that
we perform besides factory tour guiding.
This person pauses his/her professional obligations
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Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
at the time of carrying out the factory tour, takes over
the group, takes it through the production premises,
and presents the company and the production process.
In doing so, he/she can use his/her expertise, which
he/she uses in everyday work. However, this person
does not participate in the strategic planning of the de-
velopment of industrial tourism. For this, the heads of
production and marketing department are responsi-
ble.
The last type is cooperation with external organ-
isations who carry out factory tours. This form of
outsourcing can be found in the company Pivovarna
Laško Union, more precisely in the brewery in Laško.
There, employees of the public institution ‘Centre for
Sport, Tourism, Information andCulture Laško’ (Cen-
ter za šport, turizem, informiranje in kulturo Laško –
stik) carry out the factory tours. Their tasks include
contacting and guiding visitor groups, presenting the
company and its production processes. They are in
contact with the company Pivovarna LaškoUnion, but
do not influence the strategic decisions regarding the
implementation of industrial tourism. The decision-
makers in this process are the management of the cor-
porate relations department and the company’s man-
agement itself. After the interviews, we could see com-
panies’ need for different employees’ competences.
Thus, in the Union brewery, where we detected the
first type of industrial tourism human resources, they
highlight competences, such as the expert knowledge
of the factory history and the process of brewing beer.
In addition, the guides need to have good communi-
cation skills and a good sense for people. For visitor
groups, requiring specific knowledge of production
processes, production employees, who can provide
more detailed information on professional issues, are
recruited as tour guides.
Most of the groups are guided by our presenters;
these are students or contract workers. When
hosting specific groups (Biotechnical Faculty,
Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Biotechnical
educational centre, . . .) I ask for help from other
production employees, like engineer officers,
energetics expert, microbiologists or food sci-
ence experts. [Respondent B]
It is also desirable for a factory tour guide to be in-
ventive and adjustable to the group needs in order to
choose an appropriate way of guiding. For example, it
is possible to select only an oral representation of the
factory or visitors can participate in a treasure hunt
where information is thus conveyed in a fun manner.
In doing so, the guide must have the skills to perform
the playful treasure hunt. The knowledge of foreign
languages (Slovene, English, Croatian) is also impor-
tant.
The second type of industrial tourism human re-
sources, carried out by Revoz, highlights the impor-
tance of knowing the production process, the knowl-
edge and use of ict (PowerPoint, video, headphones),
the time availability of the guide and his/hers tour
guiding experience. Since the guide is responsible for
the whole process from booking to guiding, he/she
must also master communication skills, know how to
make a system announcement, check the operation
of ict and security equipment, know the procedures
for arranging a possible catering offer for certain visi-
tors, and personally engage in the performance of the
tour itself. Furthermore, since the guide is also re-
sponsible for the development of industrial tourism,
it is expected that he/she also has the skills of strategic
planning, is creative, and takes initiative. As the most
important element, they point out that a person who
carries out factory tours must have good communica-
tion skills, as well as sense for people in order to judge
what a particular group is more or less interested in,
so that the guide can adjust explanations accordingly
(e.g., students compared to business partners).
Moreover, he/she has to know the production pro-
cess, be aware of the innovations in production, and be
widely educated. If there is a group that requires more
specific knowledge of the company, one of the produc-
tion employees also joins the tour and gives more de-
tailed information. The factory set up this system after
production employees first performed the tours, but it
turned out that visitors were not interested in many
technical details. They much more prefer an interest-
ing and attractive interpretation of a tour guide with
excellent communication skills.
In the case of industrial tourism in the production
of Argeta pâté, where we detected the third type of
58 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
industrial tourism human resources; important com-
petences are knowledge of the production process,
safety and sanitary rules, knowledge of the visitor’s
language and time availability of the guide with regard
to his/hers other duties.
The fourth type of industrial tourism human re-
sources was found in the Laško brewery. The guides
must have guiding expertise and especially good com-
munication skills, according to Respondent C:
Groups that stik brings to the Laško Brew-
ery are guided by their tour guides, who are
trained for the job. In addition to expert knowl-
edge about the production process, they have to
have foremost a good sense for communication
with people.
For groups requiring specific information about
the production processes, they invite additional pro-
duction employees (e.g., technicians) to provide more
detailed information on professional issues. Since the
factory is located near a health resort and a spa, host-
ing tourists fromdifferent countries, knowledge of for-
eign languages, such as Italian, English, Spanish, Ger-
man, and Serbian, is also essential. They also point out
the flexibility of the guide to the situation and to the
group needs, as well as the guide’s administrative skills
needed to carry out visits booking and collect entry
fees.
Companies also take care of the knowledge devel-
opment of their industrial tourism employees. In the
Union brewery, training is carried out at the annual
level or, if necessary, each time there is something new
in the production process. The new guides are intro-
duced to industrial tourism in such a way that they
firstly attend a factory tour as visitors, when someone
else guides a tour. Further, it is recommended to use
‘job shadowing’ and monitor experienced employees
at the workplace. Then they receive a text with the in-
formation data that they have to learn for their presen-
tation. Prior to their first officially executed tour, they
conduct an internal factory tour for their co-workers
to check their knowledge and skills. In addition, guides
also conduct haccp training and practice their skills
of how to pour a beer correctly. Guides hold regular
meetings on current affairs, occasionally attend vari-
ous training courses, such as psychological lectures on
people skills, training on gamification, branding, and
similar.
Revoz does not organise special training for guides.
Before new guides begin with the factory tours, they
can study a guidebook with the main information
about the company and the factory tour process. They
used to have regular meetings with tour guides, but
since guiding has been taken over by the communica-
tion department, there are no more such meetings, as
there are not many people involved in the process.
We don’t have trainings for factory tour guides.
In the past, we used to have regular meetings
with tour guides, when there was still a network
of tour guides. But since communication de-
partment took that over, that is gone. [Respon-
dent A]
For guides who are conducting the tour of Ar-
geta pâté production, the company does not carry out
training or has no introduction lessons. There are only
regular short coordination meetings about the divi-
sion of groups among different guides and other spe-
cial arrangements. In contrast, the Laško brewery pro-
vides annual training sessions for their tour guides and
especially when there is something new in the produc-
tion process. Furthermore, the guides coming from
stik must take part in the training for local tourist
guides; before they start conducting factory tours, they
study literature about the brewery, so they can learn as
much about the factory and the production process as
they can.
Discussion
Companies use different types of industrial tourism
human resources, which is mainly dependent on the
availability of personnel and the degree of importance
that industrial tourism has for the company itself. Re-
garding staff availability, the most basic type of in-
dustrial tourism human resources could be identified
as employees working only for the purpose of imple-
menting factory tours, as the staff is most easily acces-
sible.
Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020 | 59
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
The importance of industrial tourism is reflected
in the significance of this offer for the company. The
product is most important in companies for which the
supply of industrial tourism is considered as a self-
contained product, and is not just a marketing tool
but can become a self-standing tourist attraction of
the destination. Thus, in the Union brewery, they offer
a unique experience product, ‘Union Experience,’ for
which they employ staff solely for implementing in-
dustrial tourism. Since the product is regularly accessi-
ble to visitors, there is also a need for a greater number
of employees. In addition, the product is designed and
adjusted to different groups of visitors; thus, employ-
ees should consider this characteristic while preparing
for a factory tour. This type of human resources seems
to be most appropriate, since employees best know
their work tasks; they specialise in group tours and
develop all the necessary competences for conducting
industrial tourism. However, in the case of this com-
pany, tour guides do not participate in the strategic
planning of industrial tourism: they are only service
providers. Here, the company should consider how to
incorporate guides into strategic planning, since they
know both the situation in the production areas and
the characteristics, needs, and wishes of the visitors
with whom they are talking during the tours.
For the other three types of industrial tourism hu-
man resources, employees’ time is much less available,
since their basic tasks are in other areas, or they are not
employed at the factory and thus are not permanently
present. The importance of industrial tourism is re-
flected in the strategic plans for industrial tourism and
employee involvement in these decisions. This was the
highest in the case of Revoz, where the tour guide also
develops the product of industrial tourism itself, as
the company wants to develop a factory tour as a self-
contained product in the future.
As we have found in the study, the competences
of industrial tourism employees are critical. Among
them, the most outstanding is the knowledge of the
production process itself that all companies require
from their tour guides. Communication skills, for-
eign language skills, and flexibility were also common
responses, which means that companies expect their
employees to master soft and hard skills (according to
Swiderski, 1987 in Thanopoulos et al., 2011) or compe-
tences for working with people and for working with
information (according toMihalič, 2006). In one com-
pany (Revoz), the employee is also responsible for the
development of industrial tourism, so that personality
and behavioural competences are also expected (ac-
cording to Mihalič, 2006), which shows that the em-
ployee is capable of decision-making, strategic think-
ing, analytical and creative thinking. According to
these findings, companies that offer industrial tourism
can search for potential employees who already have
communication skills, speak foreign languages, and
are willing to learn about the company itself and the
production process. Since we suggest that guides are
also involved in the strategic development of the prod-
uct, potential employees may also have characteristics
of creativity, planning skills, and the like.
While the desired competences of employees in
all companies are similar, the situation is different
when examining the field of knowledge development
among companies. Basic training is mainly placed at
the beginning of the work when an employee is in-
troduced to industrial tourism. At that, either compa-
nies time carry out internal training or employees read
the guidebooks on industrial tourism in the company.
Later, only one company responded that employees
also organise additional training in the areas of people
skills, brand knowledge, gamification, and others. Two
companies also prepare training for the introduction
of new features production, which potentially influ-
ence the course and content of the factory tours.
It can be noted that companies that see industrial
tourism as a stand-alone product are investing more
in the development of the knowledge of industrial
tourism employees. Thus, the Union’s Union Expe-
rience is currently a stand-alone product: a tour of the
Union brewery, forwhich guides are systematically ed-
ucated about the production process and guiding skills
while the company simultaneously takes care of the
development of their soft competences. This could be
followed by other companies that plan to introduce a
self-contained tourist product. At the beginning, they
would prepare the introduction courses for the new
guides, prepare a guidebook with basic information,
and instruct and train the employees in the field of soft
60 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
skills, since they all stated that the ability to commu-
nicate is the most important. Hence, soft skills should
be more emphasised in employee training. All of these
findings are summarised in the model of industrial
tourism personnel, which is presented in Figure 1.
As shown in the model, we start with proposed
three sets of competences that employees in indus-
trial tourism need. These include the necessary com-
petences for working with people, for working with
information, and for personal and managerial compe-
tences. According to the obtained data in the literature
and the study, we propose three types of workplaces
that deal with industrial tourism. They are an inde-
pendent department for industrial tourism, industrial
tourism as part of the marketing and pr department,
and the participation of an outsourcing organisation.
The independent industrial tourism department
consists of the head of the department and factory tour
guides. The head is responsible for the development of
the industrial tourism product, but he/she should also
include guides in strategic decisions, although they
have a more operational role to play. This form is used
when the product of industrial tourism is already well
developed.
In the second form, a factory tour guide is also a
person who is responsible for the development of the
product; that person is a member of another depart-
ment, presumably marketing or public relations de-
partment. This form of industrial tourism workplace
is used when the product of industrial tourism is in
the development phase.
The third form of industrial tourism organisation
is the outsourcing to an external organisation that pro-
vides guides for the factory tours and other assign-
ments. Meanwhile, a person who takes care of the de-
velopment of the industrial tourism product is amem-
ber of another department (presumably marketing or
public relations). This form of industrial tourism or-
ganisation is used when the product is in the develop-
ment stage, and there is a simultaneous lack of avail-
able company staff to conduct tours.
In all three cases, we propose a system of train-
ing for all personnel involved in industrial tourism.
First, training should be prepared prior to the begin-
ning of work, where more emphasis is placed on pro-
fessional knowledge about the factory and about guid-
ing techniques. Then, during the implementation of
factory tours, a number of additional training sessions
should be prepared annually, which focus on soft com-
petences. Based on this model, the organisation can
select the most suitable employees for the implemen-
tation of industrial tourism, place them to the appro-
priate workplace, and continuously care for the devel-
opment of their knowledge.
Conclusion and Implications
In this study, we focused on industrial tourism and
industrial tourism human resources. Regarding the
situation in the four studied cases at the companies
(Revoz, Pivovarna Laško Union (Union and Laško
Brewery) and Droga Kolinska), we can summarise
our findings and answer our research questions. In
response to the first two research questions, four types
of industrial tourism human resources can be identi-
fied: staff employed only for the purposes of industrial
tourism; staff employed in the communication, pr, or
another department; staff employed in core produc-
tion process; staff outsourced from an external organi-
sation. The first three types are represented by employ-
ees working in the parent organisation, while the latter
type includes employees who primarily work outside
the parent organisation. Employees duties include vis-
itor guiding and presentation of the factory, while the
other type of employees (employees coming from the
communication or pr department) also strategically
plan the product development. In other cases, strategic
planning is a part of management tasks.
Further on, we were interested in which knowl-
edge and competences industrial tourism employees
should possess. Here we have found that the critical
competences are, first of all, professional knowledge
of the production process. Communication skills, for-
eign language skills, and flexibility were also common
responses; hence, soft skills are also very important in
industrial tourism as in other tourismworkplaces (Fo-
miniene et al., 2015; Baum, 2015). Such competences
are required primarily with factory tour guides that are
in direct contact with visitors. The guides embody the
company and, therefore, they need to know accurate
and interesting factory technical information and use
Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020 | 61
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
Competences for working
with people
Competences for working
with information
Personal and managerial
competences
• Communication skills
• People skills
• Flexibility
• Team work
• Knowledge of production process
• Knowledge of safety regulations
• ICT knowledge
• Accuracy and promptness
• Decisionmaking ability
• Strategic thinking
• Creativity
• Analytical thinking
Industrial tourism human
resources
Workplace 1:
independent industrial
tourism department
Workplace 2:
part of PR or marketing
department
Workplace 3:
outsourcing
Training
Before starting
at industrial tourism
workplace
During position
at industrial tourism
workplace
• Professional knowledge about the company
(seminars, guidebooks)
• Guiding skills (workshop, job shadowing)
• Fluent in foreign languages (attending course)
• Knowledge of safety regulations (seminar)
• Upgrading communication skills (workshop, simulation)
• Learning about visitor’s psychology (seminar, role playing)
• Encouraging creativity (teamwork, visiting comparable products)
• Strengthen knowledge of strategic planning (consultation, workshop)
• Refresh the knowledge of production processes and novelties (meetings)
Figure 1 Industrial Tourism Human Resources
the correct way of presenting this information in order
to attract the visitors.
All in all, one of themotives for the implementation
of industrial tourism for the studied companies ismar-
keting of their basic product, which is also done by the
factory tour guide. In addition to the guide, industrial
tourism also needs people who are strategically devel-
oping this tourism product. In one case, this person
is also a guide; in other cases, this person is a part of
management from marketing or pr department. Per-
sonnel at such positions also need the competence of
strategic planning, analytical thinking, and creativity,
which ensures that operational employees can provide
quality industrial tourism services and strive for its
continuous improvement, so that the product will be
even more impressive for visitors and will represent
the excellency of the visited company.
For employees to achieve basic competences, the
final research question was addressed. The key find-
ing is that studied companies provide a short list of
required trainings. In companies that offer training, it
is primarily placed at the beginning of an employee’s
job in industrial tourism, so he/she can acquire some
expertise for the factory tour. This is done in the form
of self-learning from a guidebook or with the help
of experienced co-workers. Especially coaching and
mentoring are among highly used new learningmeth-
ods, which is characteristic of industrial tourism em-
62 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Barbara Pavlakovi and Eva Jereb Human Resources in Industrial Tourism
ployee training as well as for general employee train-
ing (Marchington & Wilkinson, 2013). Insofar as in-
dustrial tourism has been developed as a stand-alone
product of the company, the company offers more
training possibilities, which are also aimed at the at-
tainment of other competences not just professional
knowledge of the factory. Thus, the guide can also be
trained in communication skills and the psychology
of visitors.
As shown in the literature review, studies about
industrial tourism neglected this specific viewpoint;
thus, research about human resources in industrial
tourism brings new insight into the field. Based on the
presented findings, we can propose that companies
wishing to develop an independent industrial tourism
product strategically plan for the staff they need for the
implementation of it. They can follow the proposed
model in Figure 1 and, according to the availability of
employees, choose themost appropriate type of indus-
trial tourismhuman resources. It is recommended that
the guide, insofar as it is an independent workplace or
an outsourced co-worker, will also be involved in the
strategic planning of the development of this product,
as it is he/she who daily encounters visitors and knows
their needs and the situation of the premises where the
tour occurs. By selecting a type of human resources,
the company must also be aware of the competences it
seeks for these employees.
Considering that, we recommend the involvement
of guides in strategic decisions; the company should
also look for personal and behavioural competences
in guides in addition to the competences for working
with people and the competences to work with infor-
mation.
In any case, the company must provide constant
employee training. Before starting their position in
industrial tourism, employees must be equipped with
professional knowledge of the company, knowledge
of foreign languages and security provisions. Prior to
starting work and during the course of work, the or-
ganisationmust provide for the improvement of com-
munication skills, people skills, as well as competences
for encouraging creativity and knowledge of strategic
planning. Therefore, the organisation should have a
training plan for new and existing industrial tourism
employees. When providing personal and knowledge
development, the organisation will direct its focus to-
wards sustainable human resource management and
thus secure better working conditions for its employ-
ees.
The study has shown that there are quite a few dif-
ferences between companies, as well as some similar-
ities, based on which we revised the human resources
in industrial tourism. The proposed industrial tourism
human resources model could be used by organisa-
tions that want to improve their industrial tourism
process or are only beginning to implement industrial
tourism, thus choosing the type of human resources
best suited to their situation and capabilities.
The researchwas conducted on the small sample of
Slovenian companies that carry out industrial tourism.
The sample itself is a considerable limitation of this
research, since the number of factory visits should be
higher to strengthen the results. In addition, multi-
ple visits to each factory would provide greater insight
into the process itself; however, due to the time limi-
tation of the study, only one visit per factory was con-
ducted. Nevertheless, we presume that the results are
representative of the studied issue and provide a gen-
eral picture of industrial tourism employees. Despite
the fact that the situation is expected to be similar in
other factories and countries, we propose that further
research would be directed to companies abroad. In
particular, the most important findings will be from
the case studies of companies that have a long tradi-
tion of implementing industrial tourism and offer it
as a stand-alone product. Furthermore, they can pro-
vide an environment for a more in-depth study of the
industrial tourism employees not only focusing on
their skills or training but also on their other char-
acteristics, their background, the conditions in which
they work, their performance, and service/experience
delivery.
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