Causes of deprofessionalization of tourism and hospitality industry workers: a social media analysis

In the context of the active development of domestic tourism in Russia and the implementation of numerous investment projects aimed at creating new tourist infrastructure facilities, the issue of personnel provision in the domestic tourism industry has become of great importance. Along with training professional staff, retaining employees in the tourism and hospitality industry and preventing their departure from the profession is a crucial task. This article focuses on the problem of deprofessionalization of workers in the tourism and hospitality industry, identifying its causes using Brand Analytics social media monitoring system, state statistics available in the public domain, statistical studies by major analytical companies, and surveys posted on social media in various communities dedicated to tourism and hospitality. The aim of the article is to propose an up-to-date HR strategy for reducing the risks of deprofessionalization in the tourism and hospitality industry, as well as for retaining and preventing employee burnout on an individual basis based on identified causes. The article tests the hypothesis that the problem of deprofessionalization of workers in the tourism and hospitality industry is associated with the peculiarities of the existing HR strategy in enterprises, such as insufficient training, lack of adaptation for new employees, low pay, non-standardized schedules, lack of motivation, and limited opportunities for career growth. Additionally, the problem of deprofessionalization is linked to the specifics of tourism activities, including seasonality, changes in technologies and service standards, communication complexity in the "person-to-person" system, high conflict, and competition in the tourism market. Overall, this article provides valuable insights into the challenges facing the tourism and hospitality industry in Russia and offers practical solutions to mitigate these issues.